Preaching and Sermons

Preaching means communicating the word of God in human speech to awaken faith. Most Christians base the call for preaching on passages in the Gospels, the four books of the Bible that tell of Christ's life and teachings. These passages describe Christ proclaiming the "Good News" about the Kingdom of God and commanding his followers to spread the faith to all nations.

In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, preaching commonly took place during the Roman Catholic religious service, or Mass, after the reading of the Gospel. There were many other opportunities for preaching, such as sermons during the Christmas and Easter seasons, funerals, and in times of sickness or hunger. Officially, the right to preach belonged to bishops, who extended it to priests. Laypeople* sometimes preached as well—although church leaders did not always approve of this practice and sometimes forbade it.

The Importance of Preaching. During the Renaissance, many people claimed that the quality of preaching had fallen into decline. Catholic leaders sought to address this problem at church councils. As early as 1215, a council declared that bishops were responsible for preaching and religious education. Another council in 1516 warned the faithful about incompetent preachers and advised bishops to keep watch over their preachers.

The Council of TRENT (1545–1563), called to address the concerns raised by Protestant reformers, issued the strongest statements about preaching. The council reaffirmed the idea that preaching was the "special duty of bishops." It instructed them to use plain language to describe the vices Catholics should avoid and the virtues to which they should aspire. Both Catholics and Protestants began to view preaching in a new light. Several RELIGIOUS ORDERS made preaching a priority, and some—especially the Jesuits*—applied new methods of rhetoric* to preaching.

Preaching Styles. In the early days of the church, speakers simply rose whenever they felt moved to preach. But by the time of the Renaissance, church officials had regulated preaching. They stressed that preaching required much preparation and training in Scripture. Also, most importantly, it called for holiness in the preacher. In addition, all aspects of the sermon—the theme, length, language, subject matter, and style—should fit the occasion.

Two forms of preaching became common during the Catholic Mass. The homily, a flexible form of preaching, began with an opening address followed by a discussion of a passage from Scripture read at that Mass. Then came an appeal for good moral behavior and praise to God. During the Renaissance the homily became more attractive to scholarly clergymen, who felt they could apply the methods of rhetoric used so effectively by early Greek and Roman church leaders.

The other common type of preaching was the sermon, a more formal speech. Preachers used their sermons to teach moral and spiritual lessons based on texts from Scripture. Sometimes the sermon differed little from the homily, but during the Middle Ages it took on a more formal structure. Many religious scholars of the time argued that the sermon should teach and convince listeners of the truths of their faith. They developed handbooks with specific rules for each aspect of the sermon—from invention and arrangement to delivery and use of rhetoric.

By the 1500s handbooks for preaching fell out of favor, especially in Italy. Humanist* clergy members came to view preaching in light of the three main aims of classical* rhetoric: to move, to teach, and to delight. The Dutch humanist Desiderius ERASMUS wrote a book explaining how to apply classical rhetoric to Catholic preaching. His work inspired countless preaching manuals, which became popular with both Catholics and Protestants.

Jewish Preaching and Sermons. Despite their differences in theology*, Jewish and Christian preachers shared similar styles. During the Renaissance some Jews used rhetoric to improve their preaching. For example, the Italian scholar Judah Messer Leon turned to the works of the ancient Roman authors CICERO and Quintilian. In his best-known work, Leon praised the ideal of eloquence. He argued that the Hebrew Bible provided a model of eloquent speech.

Leon's ideas had an immediate impact. In the 1500s, training in the preparation and delivery of sermons became part of the schooling for Jewish males. However, drawing on classical models sometimes caused problems for Jewish preachers. In 1598 Jewish leaders criticized David Del Bene for referring to myths in a sermon.

The Italian rabbi Judah Moscato often used Greek myths in his sermons. He avoided criticism by comparing Greek and Roman philosophers and Christian scholars to Jewish thinkers and Scripture. Moscato may also have been the first Jewish preacher to give his sermons titles.