"Reversing the predominant critical interpretation of La Ceppede and the Theoremes, this study claims that literary contexts and avatars act as a point of entry into devotion. The book reads La Ceppede from the inside out, asking principal question: "How does the literary initiate an exploration of the theological?" Focusing on the ways in which the Theoremes transform literature into "a potential instrument of salvation", the text looks at La Ceppede's adaptation of different Renaissance lyric types."--BOOK JACKET.