A rare and important study offering a complete review of John Calvin's preaching activity, purpose, method, and style. Parker's work includes Calvin's theological considerations, expository methods, applications of Scripture to the needs of his congregation, and his views of the preacher's office, duty and the congregation's active participation. Appendixes.

Not only was John Calvin a magisterial theologian and one of the great transformative forces of modern history, he also was a consummate preacher who delivered over two thousand sermons in St. Pierre's Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland, where he pastored from 1536 until his death in 1564. What better way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth and his towering legacy to the church than by gathering sixteen of the preeminent Reformed pastors of our day to preach commemorative sermons in St. Pierre's! Preaching Like Calvin faithfully presents the text of these sermons. Reading the sermons shows how Calvin's theology grew from a clear understanding of the Biblean understanding and a theology that are alive and well in the church today.

While the effects of historical criticism on theology in the modern period have been well documented, their implications for modern preaching have been largely ignored. Dawn DeVries examines the content of and reasoning behind the preaching on the Synoptic Gospels by John Calvin and Friedrich Schleiermacher in order to ascertain their responses to the historical Jesus. By doing so, DeVries demonstrates that the shifting of emphasis in modern preaching from the miraculous aspects of the Gospel narratives to the "internal" miracles of faith has historical, intellectual, and spiritual grounding in the work of these classical theologians. The Columbia Series in Reformed Theology represents a joint commitment by Columbia Theological Seminary and Westminster John Knox Press to provide theological resources from the Reformed tradition for the church today. This series examines theological and ethical issues that confront church and society in our own particular time and place.

Given the conclusions of recent research, that predestination was no central dogma to, and did not affect the method of reformed theology, this study investigates the question of if and how the doctrine of predestination affected the ideas and practice of preaching. The relation of predestination and covenant, congregation, atonement, faith etc. are researched in the theology and sermons of John Calvin, Theodore Beza, John Diodati, and Theodore Tronchin, Francis Turretin, and Benedict Pictet. This study shows that in Genevan Reformed Theology from Calvin to Pictet, predestination and the external call were inseparably connected, but that the doctrine of predestination neither dominated the content nor restricted the address of the external call.

Based on years of experience as a pastor and professor of theology, John Leith reflects on the dilemma of the church today as primarily "a crisis of faith." He states that renewal is found within Scripture and the tradition of a believing, worshiping community--in hearing the word of God, particularly in preaching, in teaching, in the sacraments, and in Christian conversation.

Drawing on performance studies and sacramental and liturgical theology, Ruthanna B. Hooke develops a theology of proclamation grounded in the body’s experience of preaching. The author explores the claim that preaching is a sacramental event of communion with the triune God by comparing the steps involved in voice production with the fourfold shape of the Eucharist. This comparison yields a description of preaching as an event of self-offering that allows space for the humanity of the preacher and as an encounter with the Holy Spirit that is communal and prophetic. Preaching draws participants into Christ’s dying and rising, and hence into a mode of power known in vulnerability. Calling hearers into the eschatological event of the resurrection, preaching inherently moves toward proclamation on political and ethical issues. Hooke uses this theological framework to offer ways of preaching on environmental crisis and on racism. The author calls preachers to embodied engagement with preaching and describes a way for preachers to bear witness to Jesus Christ not only in the content of their proclamation, but in their way of being in the preaching event.

Offers a theological discussion of ten important Bible passages connected with the doctrine of incarnation, bringing historical and literary questions about the text into dialogue with Christian tradition, drawing out the implications of the passage for preaching. --from publisher description.

According to the Reformers, preaching is the word of God. As the word of God, preaching is a foundation for the church. It is also vital for the personal growth of a Christian. But Christians are poorly equipped to understand how preaching is the word of God. Some Christians look for preaching that closely reproduces the text in the Bible. Other Christians look for preaching that creates maximal emotional and existential impact. And there is a lot of name-calling with Christians accusing preachers of "not preaching the word." But what type of preaching is the word of God? The purpose of this book is to equip Christians to understand how preaching can be God speaking. It accomplishes this with a survey of the problem in the history of the church, a detailed overview of key biblical texts, and finally the application of the contemporary philosophical tool of speech act theory.

This anthology provides a broad overview of the social history of preaching throughout Western and Central Europe, with sections devoted to genre, specific countries, and commentary on the appeal of the Reformation messages.

A Legacy of Preaching, Two-Volume Set--Apostles to the Present Day explores the history and development of preaching through a biographical and theological examination of its most important preachers. Instead of teaching the history of preaching from the perspective of movements and eras, each contributor tells the story of a particular preacher in history, allowing these preachers from the past to come alive and instruct us through their lives, theologies, and methods of preaching. Each chapter introduces readers to a key figure in the history of preaching, followed by an analysis of the theological views that shaped their preaching, their methodology of sermon preparation and delivery, and an appraisal of the significant contributions they have made to the history of preaching. This diverse collection of familiar and lesser-known individuals provides a detailed and fascinating look at what it has meant to communicate the gospel over the past two thousand years. By looking at how the gospel has been communicated over time and across different cultures, pastors, scholars, and homiletics students can enrich their own understanding and practice of preaching for application today. Volume One covers the period from the apostles to the Puritans and profiles thirty preachers including: Origen of Alexandria by Stephen O. Presley John Chrysostom by Paul A. Hartog Augustine of Hippo by Edward L. Smither Gregory the Great by W. Brian Shelton Bernard of Clairvaux by Elizabeth Hoare Francis of Assisi by Timothy D. Holder Saint Bonaventure by G. R. Evans Meister Eckhart by Daniel Farca? John Huss by Mark A. Howell Martin Luther by Robert Kolb John Calvin by Anthony N. S. Lane Jonathan Edwards by Gerald R. McDermott John Wesley by Michael Pasquarello III George Whitefield by Bill Curtis and Timothy McKnight and many more Volume Two covers the period from the Enlightenment to the present day and profiles thirty-one preachers including: Catherine Booth by Roger J. Green Charles Haddon Spurgeon by Thomas J. Nettles Henry Ward Beecher by Michael Duduit John Albert Broadus by Hershael W. York D. L. Moody by Gregg L. Quiggle Billy Sunday by Kristopher K. Barnett Karl Barth by William H. Willimon Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Keith W. Clements D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones by Carl Trueman John Stott by Greg R. Scharf Harry Emerson Fosdick by Dwayne Milioni Aimee Semple McPherson by Aaron Friesen Gardner C. Taylor by Alfonza W. Fulwood and Robert Smith Jr. Billy Graham by John N. Akers Martin Luther King Jr. by Alfonza W. Fulwood, Dennis R. McDonald, and Anil Sook Deo J. I. Packer by Leland Ryken and Benjamin Hernández and many more