The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures, Vol. 1: Biblical Period

“The history of Christian preaching has not received the scholarly attention it merits. An age in which preaching itself is at a discount in much of the church in the West is a proper time to repair that neglect. The enterprise Hughes Oliphant Old here begins is monumental in scope yet judiciously focused. He explores not any old preaching but preaching as worship, hence the preaching of Scripture linked to the public reading of Scripture. This first volume, skillfully designed and lucid and scholarly in execution, gives solid promise of a project challenging us to rejuvenate a key bridging discipline in theological study. The firstfruits are at hand; we await the full harvest with a sharper appetite. ”

“This study of Scripture reading and preaching speaks a significant word for the church of the twenty-first century. Worship needs more Scripture and stronger preaching. Old calls us back to a tradition that has the power to reshape our worship and restore preaching that is both biblical and relevant.”

“Studying these volumes is like walking around a great cathedral. Every section, however distinctive, unites in a grand design whose aim is to restore preaching to its rightful place. This is easily the best history of preaching ever written, one that will serve generations of those whose faith comes by hearing. But far more, this work is the best defense of preaching available: it proves that in every era, though with astonishing variety, the ministry of the Word is central to the worship of God. ”

“Ecumenical in breadth, magisterial in authority, and pastoral in intentionality, Hughes Oliphant Old's multivolume history of preaching is a landmark in American intellectual history. Old views preaching as an act of worship, and his own prodigious scholarship likewise stands in service to God. Old has bequeathed to the church of the twenty-first century the definitive history of preaching, a spiritual feast for scholars and preachers alike for years and years to come.”