DESCRIPTION
The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church is a multivolume study by Hughes Oliphant Old that canvasses the history of preaching from the words of Moses at Mount Sinai through modern times. Volume 2,
The Patristic Age, continues Old's historical survey by focusing on preaching as it was developed and practiced by the Greek schools of Alexandria and Antioch. Old then goes on to consider preaching in the Syriac church and the flourishing of Latin preaching in the Christian Empire, concluding with the ministries of Leo the Great, Peter Chrysologos, and Gregory the Great.
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 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. "
Robert Webber
"I consider the work of Hughes Oliphant 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."
James F. Kay
"Ecumenical in breadth, magisterial in authority, and pastoral in intentionality, Hughes Oliphant 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. Old 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."