Great Preachers and Evangelists

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Great Preachers and Evangelists

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Great Preachers and Evangelists

• Richard Allen
• (1760 1831)

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Great Preachers and Evangelists

• John Jasper
• (1812 1901)

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Great Preachers and Evangelists

• Amanda Smith
• (1837 1915)

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Great Preachers and Evangelists

• What makes a great sermon/ preacher?
• Great theology?
• Timelessness?
• Are these two mutually
• Relevance? exclusive?
• A heart for God?

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Great Shapers of the Saintly Ideal
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Great Shapers of the Saintly Ideal

• Tertullian
• (ca. 150 - ca. 212)

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Background The Late Second Century

• Christianity and Philosophy
• Christianity is the fulfillment of Greek
  philosophy (Justin Martyr).
• Christianity is completely opposed to Greek
  philosophy (Tertullian).
• Christianity and Popular Paganism
• Accommodation
• Rejection

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Tertullian The First Puritan

• Little is known of his life.
• His education was very good, and he may have
  practiced law.
• He seems to have been a layperson, not a priest.
• He was married, and his wife may have died young.
• Sometime in later life, he joined the Montanists.

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The Use of Scripture

• Restrictive
• Whatever is not forbidden is acceptable (cf.
  Luther much later).
• Prescriptive
• Whatever is not explicitly affirmed is prohibited
  (cf. Zwingli much later).

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The Use of Scripture

• For if it shall be said that it is lawful to be
  crowned on this ground, that Scripture does not
  forbid it, it will as validly be retorted that
  just on this ground is the crown unlawful,
  because the Scripture does not enjoin it. What
  shall discipline do? Shall it accept both things,
  as if neither were forbidden? Or shall it refuse
  both, as if neither were enjoined? But the thing
  which is not forbidden is freely permitted. I
  should rather say that what has not been freely
  allowed is forbidden.
• -- Tertullian, On the Crown 2.4

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Tertullian On Shows
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Tertullian and the Christian Ideal

• How valid is the argument that it is wrong for
  Christians to take part in anything with pagan
  origins?
• Is this just a negative or world-rejecting
  Christianity? If not, what is its positive side?
• How appropriate is a prescriptive view of
  Scripture?
• How great is Tertullians influence on us? How
  great should that influence be?
• Does Tertullian stand as an indictment of
  American Christianity?

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Great Shapers of the Saintly Ideal

• Francis of Assisi
• (1181 1228)

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Great Christian Writers

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Great Christian Writers

• Bede
• (ca. 673 - 735)

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Two Christian Traditions in the Early Middle Ages

• Roman Christianity
• Based in the episcopacy
• Focused on the Church as an institution
• Celtic Christianity
• Based in the monastery
• Focused on the Church as an evangelistic and
  civilizing agent

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The Absorption of Celtic Christianity

• Roman missions to Britain (ca. 600)
• Conflict between Celtic and Roman Christianity
• The Synod of Whitby (664)

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Wearmouth and Jarrow

• A Northumbrian bishop named Biscop spent much of
  his life traveling between England and Rome,
  collecting books for his library.
• Biscop founded the monastery of Wearmouth in 674
  and Jarrow in 682.
• The monasteries were decimated by a devastating
  plague in 685-6.
• After Biscops death in 689, the books were given
  to the monasteries.
• The monasteries were abandoned around 600 because
  of Viking invasions.

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Bedes Life

• He entered the monastery of Wearmouth at age 7
  (ca. 680) and spent the rest of his life there.
• He became a deacon at age 19 and a priest at 30.
• He dedicated his life to study, teaching, and
  writing.
• He wrote 21 biblical commentaries, 4 books of
  hagiography, 2 genuine historical books, at least
  50 sermons, at least 16 hymns, and 5
  scientific/educational textbooks.
• At the time of his death, he was translating
  Johns Gospel into Old English.

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Bede the Writer

• He pioneered the use of marginal notes to
  indicate his sources.
• He perfected the art of harmonizing his
  authorities into a seamless exegesis.
• He popularized the use of anno Domini dating of
  events.
• He pioneered the writing of national history, as
  he sought to show that England was important in
  Gods purposes.
• He bequeathed to the Middle Ages its picture of
  the early Church in general and early English
  history in particular.

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A Highlight from

• The Ecclesiastical History of the English People

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Great Christian Writers

• John Bunyan
• (1628 - 1688)

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Elizabethan England (late 16th century)

• Elizabeths middle course
• The Elizabethan Settlement
• Longing for a fuller reformation, along Scottish
  and Genevan lines

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The Puritans

• Desire for explicit biblical warrant for all
  practices
• The attack on ornamentation
• The positive stance
• Scripture alone
• Sunday observance
• Priority of preaching in Christian life

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Factions within Puritanism

• Attitude toward civil government
• Loyalists
• No separation of Church and State
• Longing for a Reformed State such as Calvins
  Geneva
• Separatists
• Church should be uncontaminated by government
• Complete separation of Church and State

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The Kings and the Puritans

• James I (ruled from 1603-25)
• In favor of Calvinistic wing of Church of England
• Sympathetic toward Puritans
• Adamantly opposed to Presbyterian form of
  government
• Charles I (ruled from 1625-48)
• Arminian in theology
• Parliament controlled by Puritans

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The Revolution

• Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)
• Saw civil war (1642) in religious terms
• Defeated opposition in Scotland, Ireland, and
  England
• Had Charles I executed (1648) and instituted a
  republican form of government
• The restoration of the monarchy (1660)

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Bunyans Life

• He was from a poor family in Elstow, near London.
• He joined the Puritan army from 1644-47.
• He married in 1647 and began to take Reformed
  Christianity seriously.
• He joined Bedford Community Congregation in 1653.
• He felt a call to preach in 1655 and was
  recognized as a preacher in 1657.
• He was arrested for preaching in 1658, and again
  in 1660.
• He became pastor of the Bedford church in 1672.
• He published nearly 50 books, including the two
  parts of The Pilgrims Progress in 1678 and 1784.

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The Pilgrims Progress

• Part I
• Individual and personal aspects of faith
• Grim in tone, views Christian life as a battle
• Part II
• Communal aspects of Christian life
• Much more relaxed in tone, less militant

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Some Highlights from

• The Pilgrims Progress

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Great Christian Writers

• C.S. Lewis
• (1898 - 1963)