The Story of Preaching - Softcover

Prickett, T. A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1456769243 ISBN 13: 9781456769246

Verlag: AuthorHouse, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

The Story of Preaching is a fresh look at the preacher and preaching from the early days of the Church until today. It is not a history of preaching because there are some obvious gaps in the time line. What I have attempted to do is to describe the preacher and the characteristics of the period in which he or she lived. One of the things which I have tried to do is to show how the preachers handled the issues of their day. One of my objectives in doing this is to help the preachers of my day to address the issues of this era as the preachers of old addressed the issues in their time. The book will show that some who dared to challenge the attitudes of their day faced many challenges, and some even faced death because of their commitment to apply the principles of the gospel to the status quo of their day. However, the book will show that there were those who challenged the mode of their time without facing death or threats of death. They found a way to present their concerns to their constituents in a way that lead to success.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

T. A. was born in 1934 in rural Alabama near the end of the great depression. His education pilgrimage began in the public schools of Chilton County, Alabama. He attended the Verbena Elementary School and Verbena High School through the tenth grade. His last two years of high school were at the Starke University School, a private military school in Montgomery, Alabama. In his senior year he was selected to the All City Football Team of Montgomery. After high school T. A. enrolled in Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, Alabama. During his college days he served as pastor of the Haysop Baptist Church, which was about fifty miles from the college. After graduating from college, he served for three years as associate pastor of the Forest Lake Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In 1961 he resigned from the Forest Lake Church in order to attend the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated in 1965 with a Master of Divinity degree. During his seminary days, he served as pastor of the Bethabara Baptist Church near Owensboro, Kentucky. After graduating from the seminary, T. A. became pastor of the Seven Hills Baptist Church in Owensboro where he served for thirty-four years. While serving in Owensboro he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Seminary. He retired in 1965 and has kept himself busy serving as interim pastor of six churches, serving two of the churches twice. In retirement T. A. has written four books: two books of his sermons, a book on preaching, and his memoirs.

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The Story of Preaching

By T. A. Prickett

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 T. A. Prickett
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-6924-6

Contents

WHAT IS PREACHING.......................................5PREACHING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT..........................7PREACHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT..........................9APOSTOLIC PREACHING.....................................11PREACHING IN THE EARLY CHURCH...........................14PREACHING IN THE MIDDLE AGES............................19PREACHING IN THE RENISSANCE PERIOD......................24PREACHING IN THE REFORMATION PERIOD.....................31POST REFORMATION PREACHING..............................39PREACHING IN AMERICA....................................49Billy Graham............................................91Martin Luther King......................................97Bibliography............................................105

Chapter One

WHAT IS PREACHING

Before we begin thinking about the story of preaching, I think it would be in order to ask, what is preaching? If we are to be serious in our study of preaching, we need to be sure we understand what we mean by preaching.

To preach means to make a proclamation as a herald. A herald (preacher) is a public messenger who lifts up his voice and claims public attention to some definite news he has to announce. Christian preaching is the public proclamation of the good news, i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ to the non-Christian world. Yet there is a difference between the proclamation of a town crier and the preaching of the gospel. A herald may be more or less indifferent to the news he proclaims. The Christian preacher, to the contrary, is a man who himself has been "Laid hold onby Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12) and who personally believes in the good news he announces to others.

The New Testament draws a clear distinction between "to preach" and preaching; and on the other hand between "to teach," and teaching. Preaching is the proclamation of the gospel to men who have not yet heard about it. Teaching is instruction or explanation of various aspects of the Christian life, and it is addressed to a community already established in the faith (The Interpreters Bible, volume 3, page 868). In other words preaching is proclamation, and teaching is explanation.

PREACHING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Old Testament writers seldom used the term "preaching" to describe the mission of the prophets. In fact, their commission was to exhort the elect to remain faithful to their God. It may be compared to the role of the Christian pastor (preacher) in the Contemporary church. The prophets of the Old Testament were not to bring news; rather they were pleading for a better and stricter obedience to the given laws and customs.

However, in two distinct cases the terms "preaching" and "to preach" seem to reflect preaching in the Old Testament as it is described in the New Testament. The first is in the Book of Jonah (3:2) when the prophet is told to preach the preaching (proclaim the message) of God to non-Jews which is to fulfill a missionary duty. The second is in Isaiah. There the term "to evangelize" and "to preach" are used by Isaiah (61:1-2) to announce the good news of eschatological salvation (see Luke 4:16-21, Interpreter's Bible)

Additionally we need to note that in many cases we misrepresent the role of the prophet in the Old Testament as being that of one who foretells the future. Admittedly this is the case in some instances; but on many occasions the prophet of the Old Testament was a forth-teller declaring the message of God. In that sense New Testament preaching and preachers today stand in the tradition of the Old Testament prophet.

PREACHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

John the Baptist is the first preacher of note in the New Testament. Admittedly, he came before Jesus and before Christianity was a reality. Not much is known about John. All the New Testament offers is the episode in the wilderness when Jesus was baptized by John, who was preaching that the people should repent and turn away from their sinful ways. By this John means they should return to the strict observance of the Law and traditions of Judaism, i.e. that they should live pure and clean lives, and that they should be baptized as a sign of their commitment.

John the Baptist stood in the tradition of the Old Testament prophet; and I suppose it would be fair to say that he was a part of the Old and the New. He was without a doubt a disciple of old Judaism; and he was also in a sense a factor in the launching of the ministry of Jesus.

THE PREACHING OF JESUS

Jesus is seen more as a teacher than he is as a preacher. However, when he proclaimed that "time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15) he was not teaching. He was preaching, and he was not just continuing the preaching of John the Baptist, he was accomplishing it, and assuming the role of the "greater one" whom John declared would come.

The Sermon on the Mount is not to be seen as a sermon; but it is Jesus teaching his disciples and all the others who assembled on that mountainside that day.

Luke 4:16-27 reports a synagogue sermon which Jesus preached in Nazareth, his hometown. This is indeed a sermon that challenged the hearers to the point that they ran him out of town. In the sermon he implied that he was the Messiah.

APOSTALIC PREACHING

The preaching of the apostles is seen in the Book of Acts. There is evidence there of the preaching of three of the early leaders of the church.

THE PREACHING OF PETER

The preaching of Peter is seen in Acts 2:14-40 which is the sermon preached at Pentecost. Another sermon by Peter is seen in Acts 3:12-26 which is the sermon which followed the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful. It took place just inside the Temple in the area of Temple porticoes or porches. There is also a sermon by Peter in Acts 5:29-32 when he defended himself and others before the Sanhedrin, when Gamaliel came to the defense of Peter and the others saying, "Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God' (Acts 5:38-39).

THE PREACHING OF STEPHEN

The Preaching of Stephen is a good example of New Testament preaching. He boldly recites the rebellious nature of the forefathers of his accusers. You can see this in Acts 6:8-7:53. Stephen's sermon might be outlined in the following manner:

I. Recitation of the History of the Jews regarding God's presence among them and their refusal to follow A. Abraham (Acts 7:2-8) B. Joseph (Acts 7:9-19) C. Moses (Acts 7:20-36) II. Accusations Against the Forefathers A. Refused to Follow Moses; wanted to return to Egypt (Acts 7:37-44) B. Tabernacle vs Temple (Acts 7:44-47) Conclusion: You are just like your forefathers...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: AuthorHouse
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1456769243
• ISBN 13: 9781456769246
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 116
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland