Biblical, Linguistic, and Literary Conversions: John Donne, Lancelot Andrewes, and John Milton

Abstract:This essay traces the varying implications of the word-concept conversion from the early Reformation to its use in John Donne’s poems and sermons, in a sermon by Lancelot Andrewes, and in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Conversion is by definition a turning, usually a turning to or toward something, although also a turning back or even around, like a top. Historically, the English word derives from the Latin verb vertere, meaning “to turn,” and over time it develops a wide range of sociocultural applications. Its religious application—a redirecting, renewal, or reconfiguration of faith—is the most familiar. Another common word in the Renaissance that also means “turn” is trope, which refers to a figure of speech, such as metaphor. Like a trope (or turn), a conversion (or turn) involves a change, a shift, or a movement from one thing to another. Not surprisingly, given this intertwined background, controversies about the figurative or literal interpretation of the words with which Christ instituted the Eucharist in the Bible were at the very heart of religious conversion in England and on the Continent during the Reformation. Evident in these controversies is the changing perception of matter itself, of the material world, and of its relation to spirit. In Donne’s, Andrewes’s, and Milton’s writings, the persistence of religious tradition is equally evident, along with its radical appropriation to other meanings.