DESCRIPTION
The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church is a multivolume study by Hughes Oliphant Old that explores the history of preaching from the words of Moses at Mount Sinai through modern times. In Volume 5,
Moderatism, Pietism, and Awakening, Old brings the story of preaching up through the eighteenth century, showing how, after the tumultuous age of the Reformation, preaching in the eighteenth century was driven in several very different directions. The book's first chapter considers moderatism, an inevitable reaction against the high tensions of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. In the second chapter Old discusses pietism, examining the contributions of Philipp Jakob Spener, Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Samuel Davies, and other preachers. The remaining seven chapters delve into a variety of national or denominational schools of preaching.
REVIEWS
William Edgar
"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 multivolume work is easily the best history of preaching ever written, one that will serve generations of those whose faith comes by hearing."
James F. Kay
"Ecumenical in breadth, magisterial in authority, and pastoral in intentionality, Old's multivolume history of preaching is a landmark in American intellectual history. Old views preaching as an act of worship, and his own prodigious scholarship likewise stands in service to God. He has bequeathed to the church of the twenty-first century the definitive history of preaching, a spiritual feast for scholars and preachers alike for years and years to come."
Robert Webber
"I consider this series by Old 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."
Anglican & Episcopal History
"A very useful introductory tool, spanning the disciplines of the church history, theology, and practical theology, which should lead to more detailed study of hermeneutic and homiletic methods in the history of the church. It leaves the reader with a rich list of sermon texts to explore further, should time ever permit."