New Online Course in the Theology of Preaching Forthcoming

Following the success of our online Davenant Latin Institute courses, the Davenant Trust is planning to branch out into a wider array of online course offerings in various areas related to our work. These will include, Lord willing, both full semester-length courses, and a variety of mini-courses introducing key texts and themes from the Protestant tradition. Our first such offering, we are pleased to announce, will be a course entitled “The History and Theologies of Great Preachers,” offered by Rev. Dr. Scott Kindred-Barnes, the minister of First Baptist Church, Ottawa, and Convener of the Richard Hooker Society.

The course will offer an introduction to the history and theologies of some of Christianity’s most influential preachers, with particular attention paid to the exegetical and pastoral methods of various eras and Christian movements. The course will introduce and contextual the major theological developments in Christian history as they relate to the practice of Christian preaching. By tracing the development of preaching from the early church through the Middle Ages and the Reformation to the Modern era, the course will aim to assist students to think theologically, historically and pastorally through the intersection of doctrine and devotion as related to the preaching event in Christian worship.

The course schedule will include the following 14 units:

  1. Introduction to the Theme, Purpose and Content: What is Preaching? A Historical and Theological Overview to an Important Question.
  2. The Homily Takes Shape: The Legacy of Origen
  3. The Eloquence in Cappadocia and the Literal Sense of Chrysostom
  4. The Latin Fathers and the Lasting Influence of Augustine of Hippo
  5. Preaching Through the Early Middle Ages
  6. The Pulpits of Spirituality and Protest in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries
  7. The Changing Times of the Renaissance and Reformation: Erasmus and Luther and Melanchthon
  8. Preaching in the Reformed traditions
  9. The Preaching of the Catholic Reform Movement
  10. Upheaval in Britain: Preaching of the English Reformation and its aftermath
  11. The Dawn of Modernity
  12. From Great Awakenings to Revival
  13. Revitalizing Trajectories in 19th and 20th Century Preaching: Part One
  14. Revitalizing Trajectories in 19th and 20th Century Preaching: Part Two

The full course, with recorded lectures and weekly video-classroom sessions, will likely be priced at around $500. Stay tuned for full details; if you are interested in possibly taking this course and would like to learn more, please email [email protected].


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