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Reason and Emotion in Early Christian Preaching

Module description

In this module you will learn how Christian preachers applied both theological and rhetorical skills to specific preaching situations. The module will cover the first few centuries of the church, with a particular focus on Latin and Greek sermons of the 4^th and 5^th centuries. All texts will be studied in English (although the convenor can advise about accessing texts in the original languages). You will analyse examples of Christian sermons with regard to their historical context, theological content and use of classical rhetorical and literary devices. You will use ancient and modern theories about public discourse to assess this material.

This module is best suited to students with some prior knowledge of either Christian theology or classical literature, but the tutor will give ample background. It would suit students interested in rhetoric, especially religious rhetoric.

Module aims - intentions of the module

You will study Christian preaching as a kind of practical theology and you will learn how theoretical ideas were applied to particular practical questions. You will also learn how preaching was a site where Christian beliefs and traditions interacted with (a) classical literature and (b) broader social expectations and concerns. How did preachers use their training in rhetoric? Which particular techniques and tools did they employ? How did those mesh with the theological content? By using evidence from late antiquity about the purpose of public discourse you will ask: to what extent can we establish what kind of practical effect preachers intended? What is our evidence for its actual effects? Using both ancient and modern sources on rhetoric and public discourse, you will ask questions about, e.g. intended effect; the interaction of reason and emotion; appeal to the senses; discourse, power and identity (including questions of gender, ethnicity and faith groupings). We will study a variety of examples which raise broader ethical questions, ranging from e.g. social justice to early Christian anti-Judaism.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of a selection of early Christian sermons and recent scholarly treatments and demonstrate a critical awareness of issues relating to their interpretation.
• 2. Use a rigorous historical method to relate Christian sermons to their historical context in late Roman church and society and to their literary (especially rhetorical and poetic) precedents, with an awareness of the limits of the evidence.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Explain systematically ancient and modern approaches to discourse, power and identity; apply this knowledge with confidence in the creation of your own nuanced evaluation of primary texts.
• 4. Iintegrate a range of approaches to ancient sources : (theological, historical, philosophical and literary), thereby achieving a comprehensive understanding of techniques appropriate to the discipline.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Rreflect critically on the way in which formal spoken discourse is used to describe, construct and critique competing understandings of human identity, especially in situations of disagreement or conflict, and, where appropriate, propose new hypotheses.
• 6. Pplan and direct your own learning, so as to advance your own knowledge and understanding and so as to produce written work and an oral presentation based on independent research.

Syllabus plan

Precise authors and texts will vary from year to year.

Authors may include: Ambrose of Milan, Augustine of Hippo, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom.

The module may include sermons on:

- social ills: e.g., poverty; drunkenness; anger; usury;

- recommended ways of life, especially asceticism and virginity;

- feast days (saints days; regular festivals such as Easter and Christmas);

- on biblical texts (e.g. the Lord’s prayer, on the Beatitudes, on books of the bible).

- on the practices/ideas of ‘outsider’ faith groups (e.g. heretics, Jews)

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Brown, Peter. Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992.
• Cameron, Averil. Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire: The Development of Christian Discourse. Berkeley [etc.]: University of California Press, 1991.
• Cook, James Daniel. Preaching and Popular Christianity: Reading the Sermons of John Chrysostom. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• De Wet, Chris L. Preaching Bondage: John Chrysostom and the Discourse of Slavery in Early Christianity. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2015.
• Glowasky, Michael. Rhetoric and Scripture in Augustine’s Homiletic Strategy: Tracing the Narrative of Christian Maturation. Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements 166. Leiden; Boston: BRILL, 2021.
• Holman, Susan R. The Hungry Are Dying: Beggars and Bishops in Roman Cappadocia. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Leemans, Johan, Wendy Mayer, Pauline Allen, and Boudewijn Dehandschutter, eds. ‘Let us die that we may live’: Greek homilies on Christian martyrs from Asia Minor, Palestine and Syria, c. AD 350-c. 450 AD. London: Routledge, 2003.
• Lyons, William John, and Isabella Sandwell, eds. Delivering the Word: Preaching and Exegesis in the Western Christian Tradition. Sheffield, UK; Bristol, CT: Equinox Pub., 2012.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
• The Works of Saint Augustine – available via the e-resource Past Masters
• Various translations, as recommended by tutor, from the e-resource series Fathers of the church
• Various translations, as recommended by tutor, from the e-resource series Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements.

Key words search

sermons preaching rhetoric power identity gender heresy ethnicity religion