Abstract
The clergyman Robert Sibthorpe's description of Paul's Cross in 1617 suggests both the sheer number and variety of types that gathered there. This chapter examines how John Donne uses his significant skills as a preacher to reach out to this large and unsettled congregation and how he uses language to coerce and awe his hearers. It examines the visceral effects that the use of carefully selected diction, phrase, and rhythmic pattern can have on the listeners and how these effects can transform not only the congregation's sense of their individual salvation but the preacher's too. Donne's particularly vibrant style of preaching is, of course, not confined to his Paul's Cross sermons, his audiences and locations are many and varied, but his Paul's Cross congregation form possibly the most interesting group as their collectivity and sheer size provide that sense of ambiguity, uncertainty and, maybe, disquiet. Keywords: John Donne; Paul's Cross sermons; Robert Sibthorpe; salvation
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