Hughes Oliphant Old surveys the history of preaching in the Greek schools of Alexandria and Antioch, in the Syriac church, and throughout the Christian Empire, concluding with the preaching of Leo the Great, Peter Chrysologos, and Gregory I.
“What interests us much more is the way Gregory used classical Greek rhetoric to drive home rather complicated theological reasoning. It was for this reason that Greek rhetoric was born.” (Page 67)
“With the Hexaemeron we discover Christian preaching taking a different direction. The series is tremendously important because it shows a new day in preaching; after a century or more of strongly allegorical interpretation, we find in this series of sermons a reemphasis on the value of the literal sense of Scripture.” (Page 43)
“Classical rhetoric, as it was taught in the schools of ancient Greece and Rome, gave much attention to the arrangement of a speech. An orderly arrangement of one’s thoughts, according to the teaching of rhetoric, was essential to a clear communication of one’s thoughts. In its simplest form it was put this way: A well-constructed oration must begin with an exordium, or introduction. Having given a fitting introduction, one presents the main material first as narratio, or the statement of the peroratio proposition that one wants to maintain, then by its confirmatio, that is, the arguments in its favor, then by a refutatio, or refutation of arguments against it. Having put one’s material in this orderly arrangement, one ends the presentation with a peroratio, or conclusion.” (Page 49)
“Daily preaching must have been Cyril’s theological workbench. It must have been in the day-by-day preparation of these sermons, going through one book of the Bible after another, that he thought out these theological issues. His exegetical studies as we find them in his sermons on the Gospel of Luke are careful and thoughtful. Cyril is gifted at finding parallel passages of Scripture to illuminate the text under consideration. And, especially in Cyril’s day, without the concordances and lexical aids we have today, this gift demanded an extensive knowledge of Scripture. A scholar had to have the passages in his head. It could not be faked! Cyril was simply one of the best biblical scholars of the patristic age.” (Page 112)
Studying these volumes is like walking around a great cathedral every section, however distinctive, unites in a grand design whose aim is to restore preaching to its rightful place. This multi-volume work is easily the best history of preaching ever written, one that will serve generations of those whose faith comes by hearing. But far more, this work is the best defense of preaching available: it proves that in every era, though with astonishing variety, the ministry of the Word is central to the worship of God.
—William Edgar, Westminster Theological Seminary
I consider this . . . to be most timely. The current unfortunate trend to dumb down worship with less Scripture and with popular topical sermons needs the corrective offered in this comprehensive and readable work.
—Robert Webber, Wheaton College
1 rating
Glenn Crouch
9/10/2016