The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures, Vol. 6: The Modern Age

“When Hughes Oliphant Old launched his monumental, multi-volume history of preaching and worship, he set the bar of quality high. . . Old's achievement is prodigious from every standpoint. By any criterion, Old continues to give us epochal work in his amazing history of preaching. He cheers us and thrills us and saddens us and puzzles us. This book is nearly 1,000 pages long; but if you love preaching, you can hardly put it down.”

“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.”