Homiletics
In religious studies, homiletics is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or studies homiletics may be called a homilist, or more simply, a preacher.
Explanation
Homiletics, the art of preaching, studies both the composition and the delivery of religious discourses. It includes all forms of preaching, including sermons, homilies and catechetical instruction. Homiletics may be further defined as the study of the analysis, classification, preparation, composition, and delivery of sermons.The formation of the Lyman Beecher course at Yale University resulted in an increased emphasis on homiletics. The published volumes of this series include information regarding the history and practice of the discipline.
Branch of pastoral theology
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines homiletics as "that branch of rhetoric that treats of the composition and delivery of sermons or homilies". This definition was influential in the 19th century among thinkers like John Broadus and Karl Barth. Karl resisted this definition of the term, saying that homiletics should retain a critical distance from rhetoric. The homiletic-rhetorical relationship has been a major issue in homiletic theory since the mid-20th century.The first form of preaching was largely the homily.
Christian tradition: The preaching of Jesus
preached and commissioned his apostles to do so. His preaching included two forms of the sermon, the missionary and the ministerial. Missionary sermons are given to outsiders and correspond the Catholic magisterium. Ministerial sermons are given to those already part of the movement, corresponding to the Catholic ministerium. For example, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is a missionary sermon. By contrast, his discourse after the Last Supper is ministerial.It cannot be said that Jesus' preaching took any definite, rounded form, in the sense of a modern sermon. His aim was to sow the seed of the word, which he scattered abroad, like the sower in the parable. His commission to his Apostles included both missionary and ministerial sermoning. For examples of missionary sermoning, see,,,. For examples of ministerial sermoning, see Paul the Apostle's sermon in. In this sermon, the apostles were supported by assistants who were elected and consecrated for a purpose. Some of these assistants had been favored with charismata.
Missionary preaching
In missionary preaching the apostles were also assisted, but informally, by the laity, who explained the Christian doctrine to their acquaintances amongst unbelievers who, in their visits to the Christian assemblies, must have heard something of it, e.g., cf. I Cor., xiv, 23-24. This is particularly true of Justin Martyr, who, wearing his philosopher's cloak, went about for that purpose. The sermons to the faithful in the early ages were of the simplest kind, being merely expositions or paraphrases of the passage of scripture that was read, coupled with extempore effusions of the heart. This explains why there is little or nothing in the way of sermons or homilies surviving from that period. It also explains the strange statement made by Sozomen, and by Cassiodorus in his "Tripartite History", which Duchesne apparently accepts, that no one preached at Rome. Thomassin's explanation of Sozomen's statement is that there was no preaching in the sense of an elaborate or finished discourse before the time of Pope Leo, with the exception, perhaps, of the address on virginity by Pope Liberius to Marcellina, sister of Ambrose, on the occasion of her taking the veil, which is regarded as a private discourse.And the reason for this he attributes to the stress of persecution. Neander says of Sozomen's statement: "The remark could not extend to the early times; but suppose it did, it meant that the sermon was only secondary. Or the fact may have been that this Eastern writer was deceived by false accounts from the West, or it may have been that the sermon in the Western Church did not occupy so important a place as it did in the Greek Church."
Homiletics in the Jewish tradition
Preaching as a regular part of worship services in Judaism can be traced back to the time of Ezra, who instituted the custom of reading a portion of the Torah, written in Hebrew, and then paraphrasing or explaining it in the vernacular, which at the time was Aramaic. This tradition was well established by the fourth century BCE. After the destruction of the temple, synagogues became central to Jewish worship and the role of the sermon increased. A regular structure arose: the speaker first quoted a verse from the Bible, then expounded on it, and finally closed with a summary and a prayer of praise. Sermons from highly regarded rabbis of this period have been preserved in the Midrash, forming part of the Talmud.Homiletics is taught as part of the typical curriculum at modern-day rabbinical seminaries.
Early Christian church
According to middle second-century writer Justin Martyr, the practice of the early church was for someone to read from the "Memoirs of the Apostles or the Writings of the Prophets", meaning readings from what was to become the Christian Bible. A discourse on the text followed the reading. This was the same practice as that of the synagogues, but now with the New Testament writings added, except that in Christian churches the same person who read the scripture also explained it and there was no set lectionary of readings. Origen, a third-century theologian, preached through most books of the Old Testament and many of the New, which we have today. Origen's sermons on the scripture are expository and evangelistic. By the fourth century, a system had developed where a reading from the Law, Prophets, Epistles, and Gospels were read in that order, followed by a sermon. John Chrysostom is recognized as one of the greatest preachers of this age. His sermons begin with exegesis, followed by application to practical problems.According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:
Decline in the West
After the age here described preaching was on the decline in the West, partly because of the decay of the Latin language, and in the East, owing to the controversies on Arianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Macedonianism, and other heresies. But still preaching was regarded as the chief duty of bishops; for instance, Cæsarius, Bishop of Arles, gave charge of all the temporal affairs of his diocese to deacons, that he might devote all his time to the reading of the Scriptures, to prayer, and to preaching. The next great name in preaching is that of Gregory the Great, particularly as a homilist. He preached twenty homilies, and dictated twenty more, because, through illness and loss of voice, he was unable to preach them personally. He urged bishops very strongly to preach; and, after holding up to them the example of the Apostles, he threatened the bishops of Sardinia. An edict was issued by King Guntram stating that the assistance of the public judges was to be used to bring to the hearing of the word of God, through fear of punishment, those who were not disposed to come through piety. The Synod of Trullo laid down that bishops should preach on all days, especially on Sundays; and, by the same synod, bishops who preached outside their own diocese were reduced to the status of priests, because being desirous of another's harvest they were indifferent to their own – "ut qui alienæ messis appetentes essent, suæ incuriosi". At the Council of Arles, bishops were strongly exhorted to preach; and the, in the same year, laid down that bishops should preach on Sundays and feast days either themselves or though their vicars. In the Second Council of Reims, can. xiv, xv, it was enjoined that bishops should preach the homilies and sermons of the Fathers, so that all could understand. And in the Third Council of Tours, in the same year, bishops were ordered to make a translation of the homilies of the Fathers into the rustic Roman tongue, or theodesque—the rustic Roman tongue being a species of corrupt Latin, or patois, understood by the uneducated. Charlemagne and Louis the Pious were equally insistent on the necessity of preaching. The former went so far as to appoint a special day, and any bishop who failed to preach in his cathedral before that day was to be deposed. Pastors, too, were ordered to preach to their people as best they could; if they knew the Scriptures, they were to preach them; if not, they were at least to exhort their hearers to avoid evil and do good.Middle Ages
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:Image:Giotto - Legend of St Francis - -17- - St Francis Preaching before Honorius III.jpg|thumb|Francis of Assisi Preaching before Honorius III
The preaching of the time was characterized by:
- heavy use of Biblical quotation, integrated throughout, sometimes with a mystical interpretation shaped by Eastern influences
- sermons targeted towards the poor and ignorant
- simplicity, the aim being to impress a single striking idea
- use of familiar maxims, examples, and illustrations from life
- vivid sensory imagery for dramatic effect
Philosophy regards man only as an intellectual being, without considering his emotions, and makes its appeal solely to his intellectual side. And, even in this appeal, philosophy, while, like algebra, speaking the formal language of intellect, is likely to be wanting from the view-point of persuasiveness, inasmuch as, from its nature, it makes for condensation rather than for amplification. The latter is the most important thing in oratory – "Summa laus eloquentiæ amplificare rem ornando." Fénelon describes it as portrayal; De Quincey, as a holding of the thought until the mind gets time to eddy about it; Newman gives an analysis of it; his own sermons are remarkable for this quality of amplification as are those of Bourdaloue on the intellectual, and those of Massillon on the intellectual-emotional side, v. g. the latter's sermon on the Prodigal Son. Philosophy, indeed, is necessary for oratory; philosophy alone does not constitute oratory, and, if too one-sided, may have an injurious effect – "Logic, therefore, so much as is useful, is to be referred to this one place with all her well-couched heads and topics, until it be time to open her contracted palm into a graceful and ornate rhetoric". What has been here stated refers to philosophy as a system, not to individual philosophers. It is scarcely necessary to say that many Scholastics, such as Thomas and Bonaventure, were noted preachers.