Ecclesiastes: On the Art of Preaching (Latin : Ecclesiastes: sive de ratione concionandi) was a 1535 book by Desiderius Erasmus. [1] One of the last major works he produced, Ecclesiastes focuses on the subject of effective preaching. Previously, Erasmus had written treatises on the Christian layperson, Christian prince, and Christian educator. Friends and admirers, including Bishop John Fisher suggested that Erasmus write on the office of the Christian priesthood. He began writing the text in 1523, finally completing and printing Ecclesiastes in 1535.
Ecclesiastes is divided into four sections, but Erasmus himself declares that those sections cover three themes. Section one is a discussion of the value of the office of priest, and the qualities that an effective preacher exemplifies and cultivates. Sections two and three are a review of rhetorical devices that a good preacher should have in their repertoire. Erasmus believed that a priest should have a solid background in homiletics and hermeneutics in order to properly interpret scripture, and construct effective sermons on that interpretation. The fourth section is a resource bank of topics worthy of sermons, and scriptural references to draw from. This section is filled with practical examples and illustrations.
In the Ecclesiastes, Erasmus combines things that many contemporary religious figures vehemently wanted to separate. He advocated that priests combine historical and metaphorical interpretations of the Bible. For Erasmus, the metaphorical interpretation was built upon the historical biblical tradition, not opposed to it. He also was a proponent of priests using the classical rhetorical tradition to supplement their ability to deliver sermons and serve their laity.
According to the Ecclesiastes, the role of the preacher is to bring peace to the individual souls of the congregation. Priests bring that peace primarily through the teachings of Christ, and by encouraging their congregation to live their daily lives by those principles. The purpose of the sermon then is to effect a tangible change in their audience; to improve human conduct. The priest learns a heavenly doctrine, transfers that knowledge into a better earthly life through the congregation, thereby affecting a right and peaceful relationship with God.
At the time when he wrote Ecclesiastes, Erasmus was nearing the end of his life, and his health was failing him. This did not prevent him from producing a cogent and influential treatise on preaching, nor did it prevent him from sprinkling in some of his trademark humor. He writes: "If elephants can be trained to dance, lions to play and leopards to hunt, surely priests can be taught to preach."
It is difficult to gauge exactly how influential the Ecclesiastes was in the reform of preaching. It was certainly a popular text, going through four editions in the year between its first publishing and the death of Erasmus in 1536. "By 1545 there were as many as thirty-six hundred copies of the text in circulation." [2]
According to Jesuit historian John O'Malley, it was "the longest, most learned, and most comprehensive study of the theory and practice of preaching published up to that time. It was a landmark work that drove out of existence the medieval works on preaching, the Artes praedicandi." [3]
Erasmus proposed in the Ecclesiastes that the Church institute a competence training program. Bishops would train priests in the arts of rhetoric, weeding out the poor speakers and instilling the proper tools and traits needed to speak effectively: preachers needed to be thoroughly versed in the scriptures. Erasmus was not the only figure at the time to voice similar concerns, but the Council of Trent did refer to the Ecclesiastes and used its thought while implementing reforms. [2]
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and theologian, educationalist, satirist, and philosopher. Through his vast number of translations, books, essays, prayers and letters, he is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Northern Renaissance and one of the major figures of Dutch and Western culture.
Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly center of Renaissance humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln, where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus.
Origen of Alexandria, also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality. He was one of the most influential and controversial figures in early Christian theology, apologetics, and asceticism. He has been described as "the greatest genius the early church ever produced".
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II, was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for four periods, each lasting between 8 and 12 weeks, in the autumn of each of the four years 1962 to 1965, although it had been anticipated initially that the work of the Council would have been complete after three sessions.
Heinrich Bullinger was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Reformation, Bullinger co-authored the Helvetic Confessions and collaborated with John Calvin to work out a Reformed doctrine of the Lord's Supper.
John Colet was an English Catholic priest and educational pioneer.
Johannes Oecolampadius was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition from the Electoral Palatinate. He was the leader of the Protestant faction in the Baden Disputation of 1526, and he was one of the founders of Protestant theology, engaging in disputes with Erasmus, Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Luther and Martin Bucer. Calvin adopted his view on the Eucharist dispute.
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. Elements of the sermon often include exposition, exhortation, and practical application. The act of delivering a sermon is called preaching. In secular usage, the word sermon may refer, often disparagingly, to a lecture on morals.
The Brethren of the Common Life was a Roman Catholic pietist religious community founded in the Netherlands in the 14th century by Gerard Groote, formerly a successful and worldly educator who had had a religious experience and preached a life of simple devotion to Jesus Christ. They believed that Christianity should be practiced not only in formal religious settings, but also in everyday life, and they sought to promote a practical spirituality that emphasized personal piety and devotion.
Expository preaching, also known as expositional preaching, is a form of preaching that details the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. It explains what the Bible means by what it says. Exegesis is technical and grammatical exposition, a careful drawing out of the exact meaning of a passage in its original context. While the term exposition could be used in connection with any verbal informative teaching on any subject, the term is also used in relation to Bible preaching and teaching. The practice originated from the Jewish tradition of the rabbi giving a "Dvar Torah", explaining a passage from the Torah, during the prayer services. Expository preaching differs from topical preaching in that the former concentrates on a specific text and discusses topics covered therein; whereas, the latter concentrates on a specific topic and references texts covering the topic.
William Perkins (1558–1602) was an influential English cleric and Cambridge theologian, receiving a B.A. and M.A. from the university in 1581 and 1584 respectively, and also one of the foremost leaders of the Puritan movement in the Church of England during the Elizabethan era. Although not entirely accepting of the Church of England's ecclesiastical practices, Perkins conformed to many of the policies and procedures imposed by the Elizabethan Settlement. He did remain, however, sympathetic to the non-conformist puritans and even faced disciplinary action for his support.
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.
Christian humanism regards classical humanist principles such as universal human dignity, individual freedom, and the importance of happiness as essential and principal or even exclusive components of the teachings of Jesus.
The Form of Preaching is a 14th-century style book or manual about a preaching style known as the "thematic sermon", or "university-style sermon", by Robert of Basevorn. Basevorn's text was not the first book about this topic to appear but was popular because it is very thorough.
The Tyndale Bible (TYN) generally refers to the body of biblical translations by William Tyndale into Early Modern English, made c. 1522–1535. Tyndale's biblical text is credited with being the first Anglophone Biblical translation to work directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, although it relied heavily upon the Latin Vulgate and Luther's German New Testament. Furthermore, it was the first English biblical translation that was mass-produced as a result of new advances in the art of printing.
De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio is the Latin title of a polemical work written by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1524. It is commonly called The Freedom of the Will or On Free Will in English.
Over the last few decades in the United States, some homiletical theorists and preachers have questioned the hegemony of the traditional rhetorical approaches to preaching. Many alternative styles and approaches have been developed, many of which are called "narrative" in either style or content.
The reign of Elizabeth I of England, from 1558 to 1603, saw the start of the Puritan movement in England, its clash with the authorities of the Church of England, and its temporarily effective suppression as a political movement in the 1590s by judicial means. This led to the further alienation of Anglicans and Puritans from one another in the 17th century during the reigns of King James and King Charles I, that eventually brought about the English Civil War, the brief rule of the Puritan Lord Protector of England Oliver Cromwell, the English Commonwealth, and as a result the political, religious, and civil liberty that is celebrated today in all English speaking countries.
John William O'Malley was an American academic, Catholic historian, and Jesuit priest. He was a University Professor at Georgetown University, housed in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. O'Malley was a widely published expert on the religious history of Early Modern Europe, with specialities on the Council of Trent, the Second Vatican Council, and the First Vatican Council.
Desiderius Erasmus was the most popular, most printed and arguably most influential author of the early Sixteenth Century, read in all nations in the West and frequently translated. By the 1530s, the writings of Erasmus accounted for 10 to 20 percent of all book sales in Europe. "Undoubtedly he was the most read author of his age."