(c) 2009 Dr. Phil Corr
The following material is from Dr. David Larsen’s introduction to his The Company of the Preachers: A History of Biblical Preaching from the Old Testament to the Modern Era (Kregel, 1998).
He opens with a quotation from John Piper in The Supremacy of God in Preaching– “The goal of preaching is the glory of God in the glad submission of his people….”
Here is how Larsen opens this chapter: “The focus of this study is biblical preaching, the central concern of which is to communicate and apply what the Bible teaches. Thus, biblical preaching necessarily must be defined and developed in relationship to the nature and character of God.
“The widespread focus on humanity’s horizontal relationships and psychological experience in the preaching of our time reflects the increasingly pervasive banishment and exile of God from Western culture–even in [some] enclaves of conservative Christianity. The contemporary thinning and vivisection of evangelical theology make this study all the more imperative…. Preaching… as an act which brings ultimate glory to God himself, should and must reflect both the objective truths of God’s very nature and his character as expressed in the vertical relationships of Creator to creation and Redeemer to the redeemed.
“The basic premises and essential presuppositions which will govern this study, therefore, need to be clearly stated at the outset.
The Importance of the Word of God
The God of the Bible is a speaking God. The God of the Bible has revealed himself in nature and in the person of Jesus Christ. The Holy Scriptures give written and propositional interpretation to the mighty acts of God. What the Scriptures represent as fact and truth is indeed fact and truth. The words of Scripture are the words of God, and therefore the Scripture’s assertions are totally trustworthy and reliable (John 10:34-36).
“Moses declaimed ‘the word of the Lord’ (Deut. 5:5)…. We must examine the Bible’s claim itself to be in truth the Word of God.
“Christ and the apostles taught a doctrine of Scripture (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17). The submitted themselves to the text of Scripture….Our study of the history of preaching is grounded on the undying conviction of the absolute authority and total sufficiency of the Bible as the inerrantly and infallibly inspired Word of God.
“The secularism of the Enlightenment mounted a relentless assault on the authority of Scripture…. Our perspective here is the orthodox and received doctrine of the full inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.”
The Importance of the Preaching of the Word of God
… “This conviction that the message comes from God is fundamental to effective preaching.” Leon Morris
“What we believe about the Bible shapes our view of what preaching is to be….
“So central and pivotal is preaching that it would not be overstatement to say that the history of the Christian church is the history of preaching….
“The concentration of this study is not on preaching in a generic sense, however, but on biblical preaching as such. John Stott puts it with admirable succinctness: ‘To preach is to open up the inspired text with such faithfulness and sensitivity that God’s voice is heard and God’s people obey him.’”
The Importance of the History of the Preaching of the Word of God
“In every age of Christianity, since John the Baptist drew crowds into the desert, there has been no great religious movement, no restoration of Scripture truth, and reanimation of genuine piety, without new power in preaching both as cause and effect.” John Broadus
…”Preaching has always been the life-blood of the Christian church….
“Every discipline is well served by historical investigation and reflection….
“Reading the sermons of master preachers humbles us as we survey the high standards of many who have preceded us; revealing that even the best had their own weaknesses and were children of their times encourages us….
“Laypersons as well need the history of preaching. There is no such thing as great preaching if there is not great listening, what Aaron Copeland called ‘talented listening.’… If preaching is as important as we are arguing that it is, then the history of preaching assumes an importance rarely accorded it in our time.”
The Importance of the History of Preaching in Our Time
“The fundamental issue is the issue of the truth.”
–Carl F. H. Henry in God, Revelation and Authority (and whatever else he wants to write about!)
“When the church gives to prayer and preaching their true biblical priority, she is able, under God, to meet the challenge of every generation.
–D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“This study advances, then, on the premise of the priority of the Word of God and its proclamation….
“The corroding doubts of twentieth-century thought have tended to undermine all structures of authority. Mounting biblical illiteracy and an increasingly acerbic struggle for attention confront us constantly as we seek to maintain that Christianity and the Bible are true….
“There has never been a time when we had a greater need for the perspectives and patterns that can be drawn from the history of biblical preaching. In that interest and with that concern, we commence our journey into the fascinating and exciting terrain that looms before us.”
Phil Corr’s work on the web can be seen at: haystack06.org and fccofcc.com
