Preaching

PREACHING, the proclamation of a Divine message, and the regular instruction of the converted in the doctrines and duties of the faith, is a distinctive though not a peculiar feature of the Christian religion. The Mohammedans exercise it freely, and it is not unknown among the Buddhists. The history of Christian preaching with which alone this article is concerned has its roots (I) in the activity of the Hebrew prophets and scribes, the former representing the broader appeal, the latter the edifica tion of the faithful, (2) in the ministry of Jesus Christ and His apostles, where again we have both the evangelical invi tation and the teaching of truth and duty. Whichever element is emphasized in preaching, the preacher is one who believes himself to be the ambassador of God, charged with a message which it is his duty to deliver.

The Patristic Age, to the Death of St. Augustine, 430.— From the Acts of the Apostles we gather something as to the meth ods adopted by St. Peter and St. Paul, and these we may believe were more or less general. The Apostles who had known the Lord would naturally recall the facts of His life, and the story of His words and works would form a great deal of their preaching. It is not until we come to Origen (d. 254) that we find preaching as an explanation and application of definite texts, a usage that Chris tianity adopted from Greek rhetoricians. The fourth century marks the culmination of early Christian preaching. In an age of doctrinal controversy, the intellectual presentation of the Christian position was thus developed. Preaching flourished chiefly in the East; especially noteworthy are the three Cappadocians, Basil (q.v.) of Caesarea, cultured, devout and practical; his brother Gregory (q.v.) of Nyssa, more inclined to the speculative and metaphysical; and Gregory (q.v.) of Nazianzus, richly en dowed with poetic and oratorical gifts, the finest preacher of the three. Foremost of all stands John of Antioch, Chrysostom (q.v.), who in 387 began his 12 years' ministry in his native city, and in 399 the six memorable years in Constantinople, where he loved the poor, withstood tyranny and preached with amazing power. In the West the allegorical method of Alexandria had more influence than the historical exegesis cultivated at Antioch. This is seen in Am brose of Milan and in Hilary of Poitiers. But the only name of first rank in preaching is that of Augustine, and even he is curious ly unequal. His fondness for the allegorical and his manifest care lessness of preparation disappoint as often as his profundity, his devout mysticism and his practical application attract and satisfy.

Augustine's De doctrina Christiana, bk. iv., is the first attempt to formulate the principles of homiletics.

• The Middle Ages.

Af ter the days of Chrysostom and Augus tine there was a great decline of preaching. The West did better than the East : at Rome Leo the Great and Gregory the Great could preach, and the missionaries Patrick, Columba, Columbanus, Augustine, Wilfrid, Willibrord, Gall and Bonif ace are known by their fruits. Then came the age when the papacy was growing out of the ruins of the old Roman empire, and the best talents were devoted to the organization of ecclesiasticism rather than to the preaching of the Word. But certain forces were at work which were destined to bring about a great revival, e.g., the rise of the scholastic theology, the reforms of Pope Hildebrand and the preaching of the First Crusade by Pope Urban II. (d. 1o99) and Peter the Hermit. In the 12th century the significant feature is the growing use of the various national languages in competition with the hitherto universal Latin. The most eminent preachers of the century were Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), the two mystics of St. Victor, Hugo and Richard, and Peter Waldo of Lyons, who preached a plain message to the poor and lowly. The 13th century saw the culmination of mediaeval preaching, especially in the rise of the two great mendicant orders of Francis and Dominic. Repre sentative Franciscan names are Antony of Padua (d. 1231), who travelled and preached through southern Europe; Berthold of Regensburg (d. 1272), who, with his wit and pathos, imagination and insight, drew huge crowds all over Germany; and Francis Bonaventura, the schoolman and mystic, who wrote a little book on The Art of Preaching. Of the Dominicans Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), the theologian, was perhaps also the greatest preacher. With the 14th century a new note, that of reformation, is struck; but on the whole there was a drop from the high level of the i3th. Among the popular preachers vigour was often blended with coarseness and vulgarity. Mysticism is represented by Suso, Meister Eckhart, above all Johann Tauler (q.v.) of Strasbourg (d. 1461), a true prophet in an age of degeneration. Towards the close of the century comes John Wycliffe (q.v.) and his English travelling preachers, who passed the torch to Hus and the Bohemians, and in the next age Savonarola.