Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Theological Theology: Simeon on Preaching


From Dr. Mark Thompson of Moore College, Sydney, Australia.

Theological Theology: Simeon on Preaching

I have just been listening to John Stott's talk on Charles Simeon, given at Taylor University in November 2004 (it can be found here: http://vimeo.com/17650814 DPV: We have it posted below). Simeon is one of the great evangelical heroes. The object of fierce opposition when he first took to the pulpit in Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, he went on serve God's people in that church for 54 years. He influenced generations of evangelical preachers and was active in a myriad of ways to transform the Church of England. His legacy continues in Anglican evangelicalism around the world today.

John Stott drew attention to Simeon's own summaries of his approach to preaching. They are worth pondering by new and old preachers alike.

Simeon aimed at:

--unity in his subject (likening a sermon to a telescope with one object in its field of vision)

--perspicuity in his arrangement (a recognisable and memorable structure to the sermon)

--simplicity in his diction (avoiding the temptations to display either rhetorical skill or a mastery of technical language)

He insisted that all his preaching (and all preaching in general) should be subjected to this test:

Does it uniformly tend to humble the sinner, to exalt the Saviour, to promote holiness?

Simeon's preaching could not, in the end, be separated from his manner of life. His personal integrity, the transparency of his personal relationship with the one about whom he spoke so powerfully, and his hard won personal humility, reinforced all that he had to say. His was a broken and contrite heart at the foot of the cross and that simple truth about the man gave his sermons enormous impact.

John Stott's entire address is worth listening to. Simeon has much to teach those who want to preach well and are prepared to do more than simply ape the self-proclaimed masters of preaching in our own time.



John Stott on Charles Simeon at Taylor University from Randall Gruendyke on Vimeo.

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