Homiletics

Abstract

AbstractUndervalued and largely ignored until the last decade of the twentieth century, the topics of early Christian preaching and the early Christian homily have only recently begun to receive the attention they deserve. What is beginning to emerge from this growing area of research is a realization that the homily and the preaching of it are of far greater interest in their own right and are far more complex than had previously been imagined. That aside, the field itself is a minefield and full of traps for the unwary. If one is to take advantage of the riches offered by early Christian sermons and their preaching, one needs to approach every aspect of this complex field with care. This article describes the earlier approaches to this topic; revaluing early Christian preaching; the origins and early development of Christian preaching; problems of definition; basic Sources; and methodological issues.