An Intertextual Discourse on Sin and Salvation: John Donne's Sermon on Psalm 51

Abstract

John Donne as preacher invokes the "Protestant paradigm of salvation," stressing the marring of human nature by Original Sin and the dependence upon God's grace for spiritual reatoration. This paradigm informs his participation in the intertextual discourse on sin and salvation begun by the biblical narrative of David and Bathsheba (II Samuel 11 and 12), and continued by exegetical texts. Donne's sermon on Psalm 51 reveals how he translates the biblical narrative on adultery and murder into an exhortation on the blinded state of the post-Fall Christian.