Spiritual Autobiography

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Stuart Sim (University of Sunderland)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Domains

Dissenters

Dates

Date of occurrence 1600-1750

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Genres and Modes

Autobiography (any)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Spiritual autobiography is a non-fictional form which rose to prominence in seventeenth-century England, although its roots can be traced as far back as such works of the early Christian tradition as St. Augustine’s

Confessions

. The form’s basic concern is to trace the progress of an individual believer from a state of sin to a state of grace, where the conviction takes hold that salvation has been guaranteed by God. Given the concentration on the individual, the form appealed most to Protestants, in particular the more militant sectarian movements (Baptists, Quakers, etc.) who broke away from the Church of England over the course of the seventeenth century - a period of marked religious division in English history. Aside from its purely historical interest, spiritual autobiography…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1152 words

Citation: Sim, Stuart. "Spiritual Autobiography". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1377, accessed 26 November 2024.]