The Paradoxes of Preaching in Print: Seeing and Believing in the Sermons of Jacques Abbadie

Abstract

The boom in printed sermons in French in the latter half of the seventeenth-century is usually attributed, on the one hand, to the popularity of pulpit eloquence and, on the other, to the piety of both preacher and faithful. However, this study of the rhetorical organisation, imagery, and printing history of the sermons of Jacques Abbadie points to a more ambiguous explanation for the boom. Although the French Reformed Churches counselled their pastors against the pursuit of eloquence in their preaching, Abbadie made a display of it, and engaged in theoretical reflection to justify his practice. According to him, pulpit eloquence promotes receptivity in the faithful; but, with hindsight, it is clear that it also promotes the preacher. Publishing eloquent sermons publicised the hermeneutical and oratorical gifts of the preacher; the epistle dedicatory advertised his social connections; thus the printed sermon was also a strategy for advancing the career of the preacher.