I love to read about, and be inspired by, the rich legacy of preachers throughout church history. John Chrysostom has become one of my favorites (more about his ministry later). To this end A History of Preaching by Dargan was a helpful introduction I used for many years. But more recently, my study of preaching has been molded by the literary productions of Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old (Dean, Erskine’s Institute For Reformed Worship). In his massive work, The Reading and Preaching of the Scripture in the Worship of the Christian Church, Old has traced the history of preaching from the Biblical era (vol. 1; 1998), the Patristic age (vol. 2; 1998), the Medieval church (vol. 3; 1999), the Reformation period (vol. 4; 2002), Moderatism, Pietism and Awakening (vol. 5; 2004) and now the most recent volume covering the Modern age of 1789-1989 (vol. 6; 2007). A seventh and final work is planned. Dr. Derek Thomas has written a very helpful and discerning review of Old’s newest volume on the Reformation21 website.

“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 multivolume work is easily the best history of preaching ever written, one that will serve generations of those whose faith comes by hearing.”

-William Edgar, Westminster Theological Seminary