Preaching in the Patristic Era. Sermons, Preachers, Audiences in the Latin West offers a state of the art of the study of the sermons of Latin Patristic authors. Parts I and II of the volume cover general topics, from the transmission of early Christian Latin sermons to iconography, from rhetoric to reflections on the impact of Latin preaching. Part III offers fourteen chapters devoted to Latin preachers such as Augustine, Gregory the Great, Maximus of Turin, and to collections of sermons, such as Arian sermons, preaching in 4th-century Spain, or sermons translated from Greek. By outlining the relevant sources, methodologies, and issues, this volume provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of Latin patristic preaching. Contributors are Pauline Allen, Lisa Bailey, Andrea Bizzozzero, Shari Boodts, Andrew Cain, Nicolas De Maeyer, François Dolbeau, Jutta Dresken-Weiland, Geoffrey Dunn, Anthony Dupont, Camille Gerzaguet, Bruno Judic, Rémi Gounelle, Johan Leemans, Wendy Mayer, Robert McEachnie, Bronwen Neil, Gert Partoens, Adam Ployd, Eric Rebillard, Maureen Tilley, Sever Voicu, Clemens Weidmann and Liuwe Westra.

From earliest times the Christian church has been devoted to the service of the word -- by which is meant the scriptures, works of the great teachers and theologians, and the ordinary preaching through which the church confirmed its faith. Preaching was especially crucial in the first days of the church. .......from back cover.

The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church is a multivolume study by Hughes Oliphant Old that canvasses the history of preaching from the words of Moses at Mount Sinai through modern times. In Volume 1, The Biblical Period, Old begins his survey by discussing the roots of the Christian ministry of the Word in the worship of Israel. He then examines the preaching of Christ and the Apostles. Finally, Old looks at the development and practice of Christian preaching in the second and third centuries, concluding with the ministry of Origen.

The Word made flesh is manifested in the lives of those dedicated to his proclamation. The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh presents seven early preachers who show, by life and speech, the divine Word’s power at work in weak human life. The book is inspired by this question preached by Origen, “For what does it profit if I should say that Jesus has come in that flesh alone which he received from Mary and I should not show also that he has come in this flesh of mine?” In seven chapters, The Power of Patristic Preaching studies the exemplars of Origen for holiness, Ephrem for the humility of repentance, Gregory of Nazianzus for purification and faith, John Chrysostom for the hope of salvation, Augustine for love, Leo the Great for love of the poor and the weak, and Gregory the Great for accepting our own weakness. With an emphasis on the incarnation, deification through the virtues, and proclamation, The Power of Patristic Preaching serves as a resource for those dedicated to the ministry of the Word (clerical, religious, and lay), and as a text for students of early Christian theology and practices. A Catholic work for a broad ecumenical audience, the book gives a cry from the heart in a suffering Church traveling through a world that is passing away.

The first part of this work describes the development of Reformed Worship from 1500-1542. The story begins with liturgical reforms of the Christian Humanists in Alsace, continues through the establishment of the first Protestant worship services in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Basel, joins with the currents of French evangelical thought flowing from Meaux, and finally reaches Geneva with the publication of Calvin's first psalter. Reformed worship is presented as the fruit of an inner-church liturgical renewal movement begun well before the Reformation which was then cultivated by the Rhineland Protestant Reformers. In order that we might be clear about how patristic literature affected this process, we turn next to discover what the Reformers knew about the church fathers. We show evidence of the impressive patristic knowledge of such men as Zwingli, Brucer, Hedio, Oecolampadius, and Calvin. An extensive bibliography of patristic editions known and used by the Reformers concludes the second part of the book. Finally we analyze each element of Reformed worship to show its development and to indicate its scriptural and particularly its patristic roots. The Prayer of Confession, the Prayer of Intercession, the Communion Invocation, and the Benediction are studied to show their liturgical purpose. How the Reformers understood their use of the lectionary, the sermon, psalmody, and hymnody is presented in the light of their understanding of the practice of the ancient church.

The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching is an ancient Christian work, written by St. Irenaeus in the second century for converts to Christianity. St. Irenaeus' work is a clear definition of the Apostolic message.

IT is a remarkable fact, and much to be regretted, that none of the works of St Irenæus, the greatest theologian of the second century, have come down to us in the language in which they were written. Of his chief work, the five books Against Heresies, we have a very early Latin translation, and a few fragments of the original Greek preserved through quotation by other writers. The work now before us, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, has recently been found in an Armenian translation, and no portion of it seems to have survived in any other language. Aeterna Press

The Word made flesh is manifested in the lives of those dedicated to his proclamation. The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh presents seven early preachers who show, by life and speech, the divine Word's power at work in weak human life.The book is inspired by this question preached by Origen, "For what does it profit if I should say that Jesus has come in that flesh alone which he received from Mary and I should not show also that he has come in this flesh of mine?" In seven chapters, The Power of Patristic Preaching studies the exemplars of Origen for holiness, Ephrem for the humility of repentance, Gregory of Nazianzus for purification and faith, John Chrysostom for the hope of salvation, Augustine for love, Leo the Great for love of the poor and the weak, and Gregory the Great for accepting our own weakness. With an emphasis on the incarnation, deification through the virtues, and proclamation, The Power of Patristic Preaching serves as a resource for those dedicated to the ministry of the Word (clerical, religious, and lay), and as a text for students of early Christian theology and practices. A Catholic work for a broad ecumenical audience, the book gives a cry from the heart in a suffering Church traveling through a world that is passing away.

It would be practically impossible to understand this monumental transition from the Roman world to Christendom without taking into account the pivotal role played by Leo the Great. In this regard, his sermons provide invaluable data for the social historian. It was Leo--and not the emperor--who went out to confront Attila the Hun. It was Leo who once averted and on another occasion mitigated the ravages of barbarian incursions. As significant as his contribution was to history, Leo had an even greater impact on theology.

A survey of the principal themes of patristic writing, touching on the major Greek and Latin Fathers of the Church.