Meet the Early-day Saints Episode 2: Preaching, with Kristian Heal
Meet the Early-day Saints Episode 2: Preaching, with Kristian Heal
“Preaching punctuated the religious experience of early Christians.”
Ancient Christians didn’t “give talks,” they didn’t have monthly “fast and testimony meetings.” But Dr. Kristian S. Heal says the preaching of sermons about the gospel of Jesus Christ was a central part of early Christian experience. We discuss his chapter “Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis,” from the book Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints.
About the Guest
Kristian S. Heal is a Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. He earned a PhD in Theology from the University of Birmingham.
About the Host
Blair Hodges earned a bachelor’s degree in communications (journalism) at the University of Utah and a master’s degree in religious studies at Georgetown University. He hosts Fireside with Blair Hodges and previously hosted the Maxwell Institute Podcast at Brigham Young University.
Meet the Early-day Saints Episode 2: Preaching, with Kristian Heal
Hi Bryan, thanks for your comment. This is what I included in the chapter to guide further reading:
Useful surveys of the history of early Christian preaching are found in Yngve Brilioth, A Brief History of Preaching (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1965); and, more effusively, in the first three volumes of Hughes O. Old, The reading and preaching of the scriptures in the worship of the Christian church (7 vols; Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 1998). More detailed studies of Greek sermons are found in Mary Cunningham and Pauline Allen eds., Preacher and Audience: Studies in Early Christian and Byzantine Homiletics (A New History of the Sermon 1; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 1998), and of Latin sermons in Anthony Dupont et al., eds., Preaching in the Patristic Era: Sermons, Preachers, and Audiences in the Latin West (A New History of the Sermon 6; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2018). The most thorough treatment is still Alexandre Olivar, La predicación Cristiana Antigua (Barcelona: Editorial Herder, 1991). A valuable, and brief, introduction to the interpretation of scripture, with a very nice selection of sources, can be found in Karlfried Froehlich, Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church (Sources of Early Christian Thought; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984). For a deeper engagement, the best place to start is Frances M. Young, Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2002).
For anyone wishing to read more early Christian sermons, there is a splendid collection in M. F. Toal, The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers (New ed. 4 vols; San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000). Modern translation of the sermons of individual early Christian preachers can be easily found among the Fathers of the Church series (The Catholic University of America Press), the Ancient Christian Writers series (Paulist Press), and the Popular Patristics series (Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press).
Blair and Kristian, this was great! I learned a ton. Thank you.
I was really moved by the sermon Kristian read. Is there a resource you can recommend for getting a handle on some of the best early Christian sermons? Perhaps a reader or anthology of some kind?