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A história da pregação (volume 1)
A Legacy of Preaching, Volume One--Apostles to the Revivalists 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 the 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 revivalists and profiles thirty preachers including Paul, Origen of Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, George Whitefield, and many more.
Volume Two, available separately, covers the period from the Enlightenment to the present day and profiles thirty-one preachers including Charles Haddon Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Karl Barth, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Stott, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, and more.
Covering a broad range of preaching over the centuries, the two-volume A Legacy of Preaching reference set is the definitive reference for experienced preachers who wish to deepen their own preaching as well as aspiring students who want to learn from the masters of the past.
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 revivalists and profiles thirty preachers including Paul, Origen of Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, George Whitefield, and many more.
Volume Two, available separately, covers the period from the Enlightenment to the present day and profiles thirty-one preachers including Charles Haddon Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Karl Barth, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Stott, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, and more.
Covering a broad range of preaching over the centuries, the two-volume A Legacy of Preaching reference set is the definitive reference for experienced preachers who wish to deepen their own preaching as well as aspiring students who want to learn from the masters of the past.
873 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 14, 2020
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33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 8, 2025
É um livro realmente muito bom. É muito impressionante a multiplicidade de pregadores que Deus nos trouxe, de diversas tradições, mas igualmente interessados na glória do Altíssimo. Que o Senhor coloque em nosso coração o desejo de engrandecê-lo.
January 22, 2025
To be honest, I purchased the two-volume set of A Legacy of Preaching: Volume One: Apostles to the Revivalists: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers in eBook format for the second volume on more modern pulpiteers. However, I found that I was merely selecting from my favorites and not giving the volume adequate attention. The editor and contributors went to great lengths to systematically review the history of hermeneutics and proclamation via a chronological procession of impressive pulpiteers. How could I feel like I was gaining appropriate insights if I were treating such a carefully curated history like a Chinese take-out menu?
I couldn’t. So, I turned my attention to the first volume and began to use the volumes as one presumes they were intended. To be sure, there are still some chapters/lives which resonate more fully with me than others, but the benefit of a straightforward reading is that one sees more of the pulpiteer’s work in context and can more readily identify their concerns with their pastoral role. I found myself with a renewed appreciation for medieval preaching (a process which began when I read
There is also the reality that I tend to resist strict schema. I wouldn’t have made a good medieval theologian or composer of Elizabethan sonnets. Even in academia, I often tried to subvert the guidelines given by the professor (likely costing me more than one “A”). Yet, I am enamored with the vaue of the schema used in developing these books. A Legacy of Preaching: Volume One: Apostles to the Revivalists: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers is divided into five parts:
1) Preaching in the Early Church and Among the Patristic Fathers (Paul, Peter, Melito of Sardis, Origen of Alexandria, Ephrem the Syrian, Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostrom, and Augustine of Hippo);
2) Preaching in the Medieval Ages (Gregory the Great, Bernard of Clairvoix, Francis of Assisi, Saint Bonaventure, Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, John Huss, and Girolamo Savanarola);
3) Preaching Among the Reformers (Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Balthasar Hubmaier, William Tyndale, and John Calvin);
4) Preaching Among the Puritans (William Perkins, Richard Baxter, John Owen, John Bunyan, and Matthew Henry); and, of course,
5) Preaching Among the Revivalists (Francois Fenelon, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield.
Each pulpiteer/theologian receives a short biographical summary, a historical background of their ministry, an examination of their theology of preaching, a consideration of their methodology for preaching, a summation of their contribution to preaching, and a sermon excerpt. Personal aversion to overt structure aside, this consistency allows one to see the development of each preacher’s methodology, style, and content in a logical and appreciative way.
Each era offered characters or emphases which were previously unfamiliar to me. I was unaware of the rhyming homilies and sermons of Ephrem the Syrian prior to this volume. The summary of Meister Echart’s mysticism was useful to me, and I much appreciated the introduction to Johannes Tauler. While generally familiar with the Reformers, I was appreciative of the inclusion of the Catholic theologian turned Anabaptist, Hubmaier. Indeed, one insight into Calvin’s preaching offered encouragement to me. It appears that Calvin translated from the Hebrew or Greek “on the fly” in the pulpit. Yet, the results weren’t uniform. “Max Engammare has shown how Calvin would make a mistake in his translation one day, not having prepared adequately. For the next few days he prepared rigorously and then with time he prepared less until eventually he made another mistake. And the cycle started all over again.” (p. 351) It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who was occasionally sloppy in translating despite best intentions.
As for the Puritans, I would have never expected to be pleasantly surprised by a pastor who served as Oliver Cromwell’s chaplain. However, Richard Baxter seems like an excellent example for a would-be pastor. Not only did he preach biblically, but he visited approximately seven (7) families per day for the purpose of teaching them the Westminster Shorter Catechism. That’s an amazing amount of work atop his preaching load. Naturally, an awareness of John Owen, John Bunyan, and Matthew Henry preceded my reading of this volume, but I appreciated those chapters as well.
Among those enumerated as Revivalists, I was only vaguely aware of Francois Fenelon before reading this book. Both his biography and theological concerns intrigued me. I felt like this book was rather too kind to Jonathan Edwards. I know that, as the authors indicated, his purpose was to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ, but it still rather seems to me that he relished in the negative. So, I still have ambiguous feelings toward this pulpit pioneer.
Ironically, the most glaring weakness in the volume was in regard to the very reason I purchased the set. Some of the sermon excerpts are very useful, but most of them are too brief and too generic to be of use. It may be my fault, but I didn’t think I really got a feel for the style and substance—particularly of those who were described as expositional. I am cognizant of space requirements, but this was the most disappointing aspect of the volume for me. The volume was definitely useful to me and I will schedule my complete reading of Volume 2 reasonably soon.
I couldn’t. So, I turned my attention to the first volume and began to use the volumes as one presumes they were intended. To be sure, there are still some chapters/lives which resonate more fully with me than others, but the benefit of a straightforward reading is that one sees more of the pulpiteer’s work in context and can more readily identify their concerns with their pastoral role. I found myself with a renewed appreciation for medieval preaching (a process which began when I read
There is also the reality that I tend to resist strict schema. I wouldn’t have made a good medieval theologian or composer of Elizabethan sonnets. Even in academia, I often tried to subvert the guidelines given by the professor (likely costing me more than one “A”). Yet, I am enamored with the vaue of the schema used in developing these books. A Legacy of Preaching: Volume One: Apostles to the Revivalists: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers is divided into five parts:
1) Preaching in the Early Church and Among the Patristic Fathers (Paul, Peter, Melito of Sardis, Origen of Alexandria, Ephrem the Syrian, Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostrom, and Augustine of Hippo);
2) Preaching in the Medieval Ages (Gregory the Great, Bernard of Clairvoix, Francis of Assisi, Saint Bonaventure, Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, John Huss, and Girolamo Savanarola);
3) Preaching Among the Reformers (Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Balthasar Hubmaier, William Tyndale, and John Calvin);
4) Preaching Among the Puritans (William Perkins, Richard Baxter, John Owen, John Bunyan, and Matthew Henry); and, of course,
5) Preaching Among the Revivalists (Francois Fenelon, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield.
Each pulpiteer/theologian receives a short biographical summary, a historical background of their ministry, an examination of their theology of preaching, a consideration of their methodology for preaching, a summation of their contribution to preaching, and a sermon excerpt. Personal aversion to overt structure aside, this consistency allows one to see the development of each preacher’s methodology, style, and content in a logical and appreciative way.
Each era offered characters or emphases which were previously unfamiliar to me. I was unaware of the rhyming homilies and sermons of Ephrem the Syrian prior to this volume. The summary of Meister Echart’s mysticism was useful to me, and I much appreciated the introduction to Johannes Tauler. While generally familiar with the Reformers, I was appreciative of the inclusion of the Catholic theologian turned Anabaptist, Hubmaier. Indeed, one insight into Calvin’s preaching offered encouragement to me. It appears that Calvin translated from the Hebrew or Greek “on the fly” in the pulpit. Yet, the results weren’t uniform. “Max Engammare has shown how Calvin would make a mistake in his translation one day, not having prepared adequately. For the next few days he prepared rigorously and then with time he prepared less until eventually he made another mistake. And the cycle started all over again.” (p. 351) It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who was occasionally sloppy in translating despite best intentions.
As for the Puritans, I would have never expected to be pleasantly surprised by a pastor who served as Oliver Cromwell’s chaplain. However, Richard Baxter seems like an excellent example for a would-be pastor. Not only did he preach biblically, but he visited approximately seven (7) families per day for the purpose of teaching them the Westminster Shorter Catechism. That’s an amazing amount of work atop his preaching load. Naturally, an awareness of John Owen, John Bunyan, and Matthew Henry preceded my reading of this volume, but I appreciated those chapters as well.
Among those enumerated as Revivalists, I was only vaguely aware of Francois Fenelon before reading this book. Both his biography and theological concerns intrigued me. I felt like this book was rather too kind to Jonathan Edwards. I know that, as the authors indicated, his purpose was to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ, but it still rather seems to me that he relished in the negative. So, I still have ambiguous feelings toward this pulpit pioneer.
Ironically, the most glaring weakness in the volume was in regard to the very reason I purchased the set. Some of the sermon excerpts are very useful, but most of them are too brief and too generic to be of use. It may be my fault, but I didn’t think I really got a feel for the style and substance—particularly of those who were described as expositional. I am cognizant of space requirements, but this was the most disappointing aspect of the volume for me. The volume was definitely useful to me and I will schedule my complete reading of Volume 2 reasonably soon.
May 7, 2024
This is a really great introduction to some of history's greatest preachers. While it's obvious that the editors support expository preaching (which I do as well), they still include some variety of both preaching styles and theological convictions, and I learned about a lot of new people. Since it's an edited volume, there are some chapters that are better than others, but overall, I found this to be a really inspiring look at the art of preaching and the importance of keeping Scripture central in the worship experience.
September 16, 2023
Like any book with multiple contributors, the chapters were of varied quality but overall this was a solid work. I was introduced to some preachers I had not heard of and learned some new things about some I was familiar with. Long read though!
January 25, 2022
Um livraço pra quem deseja conhecer a vida dos maiores evangelistas que já passaram por este mundo. Evidente que algumas pessoas consideradas também grandes evangelistas não estarão nesse livro. Mas creio que os que ali estão, são inquestionáveis. Não há como lê-lo e ficar insensível as suas vidas e métodos de pregação. Além da sua teologia. Recomendo a todos que desejam aprender um pouco da vida dos maiores pregadores que já viveram. Este volume 1 começa em Paulo, Pedro e termina com George whitefield.
January 19, 2021
A good overall survey of preaching through the centuries. Each section gave a brief biography and summary for the various preachers and a sample of their work. The bibliography is also helpful.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews