Lancelot Andrewes: Scholar, Preacher, and Saint
If you’re new to Anglicanism and researching its history, one name you will frequently encounter is Lancelot Andrewes, a formative figure in the decades after the English Reformation. His commemoration, on September 26th in the United States (a day earlier in England!), lists him as Bishop of Winchester and a Teacher of the Faith. But why this designation? Because, even many centuries later, Andrewes stands as an example of a rigorous, impactful scholar and powerful preacher whose works drew from his deep, abiding personal devotion to Christ.
The Life of Andrewes
Lancelot Andrewes was born in 1555 to a well-established family in London. He attended Cambridge in 1571 and quickly established a reputation for studiousness. He is listed as a founding scholar at Jesus College, Oxford, although his involvement beyond that inclusion is contested. His ministry, which he exercised during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, and, briefly, Charles I, included serving as bishop on an alternating basis in Chichester, Ely, and Winchester.
Sponsored
Andrewes’ rigorous scholarship, honed rhetoric, administrative skills, and fidelity to the English monarchy served to make him popular among the royalty, particularly with James, affording him the opportunity to preach often in the king’s court and serve as Lord Almoner from 1604 until 1619. His support of the civil magistrate proved a valuable tool to the King after the Gunpowder Plot’s failed attempt on the king’s life, as he preached and wrote in defense of James’s rule. His death in 1626, at the age of 71, was cause for mourning amongst both ecclesiastical and civil leadership.
A Remarkable Scholar
Andrewes’s scholarship was second to none in his own day. As mentioned earlier, even as a student, his prodigious learning led to his listing as a founding scholar at Jesus College at the young age of 16. His noteworthy faculties continued to bear fruit across his lifetime.
Andrewes’s command of language was particularly exemplary. For much of his life, he stayed with his family for a month each year, during which time he sought out a scholar with expertise in another language. This way, Andrewes learned nearly all the main European languages. Andrewes’s unique linguistic abilities, combined with his penchant for church and civil administration, led James I to appoint him as a lead translator of the Authorized Version of the Bible, commonly known as the King James Version. Andrewes provided general, informal oversight of the entire project, but the first several books of the Old Testament, from Genesis through 2 Kings, bear the particular marks of his skill as a translator, as he served as the official head of the translation committee for this section of the volume.
The Star of Preachers
Andrewes’ Sermons
Andrewes’ mastery of language was not reserved for translation, however. As he applied his eloquence to the pulpit, often preaching before royalty in the court of James I, he would eventually earn the title “Star of Preachers.” His collection Ninety-Six Sermons, published posthumously in 1641 with the involvement of the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, stands, if somewhat anachronistically, as the closest thing to a systematic statement of the faith made by the Caroline divinity—a distinct movement in the history of the Anglican tradition, during and surrounding the reign of Charles I, which emphasized the ritual elements of Anglican practice.
A Close and Imaginative Reader of Scripture
As one reads his sermons, one cannot help but notice Andrewes’ capacity for both breadth and depth. In his exegesis, Andrewes proves himself capable of bridging a divide between the Patristic imagination and modern grammatical analysis. One Christmas sermon finds the loquacious bishop spending ten pages analyzing the minutiae of the title “Immanuel” and its meaning in the original Hebrew text, while his Pentecost sermons outline an extensive picture of the water imagery in the Gospels, applying each one to the vision of baptism painted in the Book of Acts.
The Eternal and Relevant Preacher
Also noticeable in Andrewes’ preaching is a balance between his ability to focus on unchanging, eternal truths and relevant situations. While most of his Ninety-Six Sermons follow the liturgical calendar, he also wrote a collection of politically charged sermons denouncing ongoing rebellion efforts.
There is a lesson here for the Anglican preacher: the Church calendar and the lectionary can keep us grounded in Christ and rooted firmly in Scripture, while still speaking to the distinct needs of our own situations. While one may or may not accept Andrewes’s own political theology, the model he left behind of a ministry grounded in Scripture and the story of Christ’s life, death and resurrection that was able to speak into the needs of the world remains worthwhile today.
Andrewes the Saint
What ultimately led to Andrewes’ commemoration in the Anglican calendar, however, was not his great learning, his administrative talents, or his capable preaching. Instead, it was his godliness. Andrewes was known to spend five hours a day in prayer, and, despite his enormous achievements, the prayers we have recorded from him are all marked by deep humility. Consider the following evening confession:
Lord, as we add day to day, so sin to sin. The just falleth seven times a day; and I, an exceeding sinner, seventy times seven; wonderful, a horrible thing, O Lord. But I turn with groans from my evil ways, and I return into my heart, and with all my heart I turn to Thee, O God of penitents and Saviour of sinners.
Lancelot Andrewes, Private Devotions
It is a testament to Andrewes’ character that his Ninety-Six Sermons are only as popular as, if not less popular than, his Private Devotions, a volume of private prayers—originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin—which Andrewes does not seem to have intended for publication. The quote in the previous paragraph comes from this same volume. For an introduction to Andrewes, the Private Devotions is easily the most accessible and is marked by the eminent piety of one of the English church’s best theologians.
Conclusion
Andrewes is a rare but precious type of saint: a person marked by both holiness and depth of learning who bore faithful witness to Christ in his generation. His writings, while often difficult for modern taste, reveal a man with a rich Christian imagination, one who had a clear impression of eternity and a careful eye for the treasures of the Scriptures. May God grant the Church today the same wisdom, learning, and piety as was present in Lancelot Andrewes.
Image: Lancelot Andrewes, oil portrait copy from an original by Joseph Buckshorn (ca. 1660), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
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