Richard Whately And The Didactic Sermon

Abstract

Richard Whately's theories of the sermon itself and its role within Christianity were promulgated in numerous publications, sermons, lectures, diocesan charges, and parliamentary speeches. Even those of his contemporaries who strongly disagreed with him on many or all points of theology, politics, and philosophy conceded two things: first, that Whately was a clear and candid writer and thinker, constitutionally incapable of dissimulation, reticence, or even diplomacy, whose views were clearly and cogently articulated; and, second, that Whately's writings could legitimately be credited for substantially increasing 19th-century knowledge of and interest in logic, political economy, and rhetoric. This chapter discusses Whately's theological context for the sermon, method of scriptural interpretation, theory and contents of the sermon; sermon psychology and sermon form; and sermon arrangement and audience psychology. Whately's discussion of style, sensible, and well-presented, offers little specific to his construction of a theory of the didactic sermon. Keywords: audience psychology; didactic sermon; Richard Whately; scriptural interpretation; sermon psychology