PT 508 - HOMILETICS I
Fall Term 2011, Tuesdays 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Reformed Theological Seminary/Charlotte
Dr. John W. P. Oliver
COURSE PROSPECTUS
The fall terms of Communication/Homiletics Classes are primarily lecture courses. The spring
terms are laboratories. This course concentrates on the understanding, the construction and
delivery of biblical expositions. The latter part of the term is reserved for each student to deliver
a Bible exposition from a text of his own choosing. Preaching by students will begin at the end
of October or the first week in November, depending on the final tally of those taking the course
for credit. If necessary, a second section for preaching sermons will be established.
While the course is a lecture course, assignments accompanying the lectures will provide
opportunity to implement the material being presented. For example, when the lecture material
deals with the introduction of a sermon, students will prepare and submit an introduction for a
sermon on an assigned passage from Scripture.
The text to be used for these assignments will be the same for all and different from the sermon
to be preached. All will use Romans 15:14-21 for assignments, i.e. an introduction, a
proposition, an outline etc. until a full sermon structure (without a full manuscript) has been
constructed in the course of the term.
Passages/texts selected by the student for the biblical exposition to be preached this term are to
be submitted in writing during class on September 27, 2011. A form is attached at the end of
this prospectus.
The sermon to be preached during the latter portion of this term must be presented in written
form (full manuscript) to the professor on the day it is delivered orally. While a full text of the
sermon must be submitted for grading, the student does not thereby necessarily need to deliver
the sermon by reading the manuscript. The delivery may be from memory, the use of full
notes, the use of limited notes or by using the manuscript. Delivery may (possibly) be
commented on as a part of the evaluation. However, the construction and content of the sermon
are the primary bases for rating the sermon delivered during the fall term. Delivery is a major
portion of the laboratory experience during the spring term and forms part of the basis, along
with the construction and content, of the spring term grade. The sermon in both written and oral
forms constitutes a significant portion of the grade earned for the fall term.
“Unannounced quizzes,” in the form of a brief assignment given without prior notice and to be
submitted the following week, may be expected. These can serve as a means of discipline to
keep pace with lectures in the incremental development of a homiletical structure for a sermon
on Romans 15:14-21. The written assignments related to the sermon construction from Romans
15:14-21 will be evaluated and returned during the term.
There will be no mid-term examination.
A supplemental/complementary text is required: the one by Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical
Preaching, the Development and Delivery of Expository Messages. This is to be read in its
entirety as a supplement/complement to Broadus. Robinson, as other writers on the expository
method, base a considerable amount of their writing on Broadus, but speak in the present setting
and reflect their own developments and insights. Students will be required on the final
examination to indicate whether or not this supplemental text and the 23 chapters of Broadus
were read in their entirety. Robinson will be a tremendous help in expanding the student=s
understanding and employing that understanding in the development of the homiletical structure.
There will be a relatively brief, objective final examination during the examination period at the
end of the term. The content will be a basic review of what constitutes a biblical exposition and
the construction of the various parts of it as those things are learned from reading Broadus and
Robinson and from the lectures.
Two DVDs will be listened to during the term. The first is by the Rev. Ian Hamilton, a
Presbyterian pastor in Cambridge, England, from his series of messages on Experimental
Calvinism. The second DVD is a Bible exposition by the Rev. Vaughn Roberts, rector, St. Ebb’s
Church, Oxford (Church of England). Dr. Oliver will provide those DVDs early in the term. A
one page critique on each DVD and on separate pages when submitted should indicate an
understanding of the spirit called for in Calvinistic preaching in Hamilton’s tape and the
exemplary construction and development of a biblical exposition in Roberts’s tape. These
reports are due on November 1, 2011.
Reading assignments for the basic text (Broadus – PLEASE NOTE: STUDENTS NEED THE
FOURTH EDITION) will be generally indicated week by week as lectures and assignments
develop. This will indicate the pace to be maintained. Again, the reading of the text by
Robinson is at the student’s pace, but it must be accomplished!
PUBLIC READING OF SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Each student will read an assigned chapter of Scripture as a means of developing skill in the
immensely important art of public reading of Lessons from the Word of God. This term the
following Gospels will be used for such reading: St. John and St. Matthew. Oral Interpretation is
a needed skill for pastors/preachers.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Basic Text
On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, John A. Broadus (Fourth Edition only, revised by
Vernon L. Stanfield), through chapter 23 for Fall Term.
Supplemental Text (required reading)
Biblical Preaching, the Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, Haddon W.
Robinson
Supplemental Book (required reading)
Why Johnny Can’t Preach, T. David Gordon
Recommended
(Herewith are some suggestions. This is far from a full bibliography!)
The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, Robinson and Larson
The Art of Prophesying, William Perkins
Biblical Preaching, Proclaiming Truth with Clarity and Relevance, Donald Sunukjian
The Big Idea of Biblical Preaching, Keith Willhite & Scott Gibson (editors)
Expository Preaching, John MacArthur
Feed My Sheep, Albert Mohler et al
Heralds of God, James Stuart Stewart
Him We Proclaim, Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures, Dennis Johnson
Making a Difference in Preaching , Haddon W. Robinson
The Moody Handbook of Preaching, John Koessler (ed.)
The Preacher and Preaching, Logan (ed.)
Preachers and Preaching, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Preaching With a Purpose, Jay E. Adams
Princeton and Preaching, James Garretson
The Protestant Pulpit, Andrew Blackwood
Rediscovering Expository Preaching, John MacArthur, Jr.
Secrets of Dynamic Communication, Ken Davis
Speaking in Public - Effectively, Richard Bewes
Special-Day Sermons for Evangelicals,Andrew Blackwood
Spirit Empowered Preaching, Arturo Azurdia
Spirit, Word and Story, Calvin Miller
Stones for Bread, A. Daniel Frankforter
The 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching, Wayne McDill
CLASS ATTENDANCE
Attendance will be taken weekly in order to ensure that the progress of the course and
development in the assignments are being met, and in order to promote the benefit of vital
interaction among the students, an essential part of a course on preaching. Absences should be
because of true emergencies and not because of the plethora of interruptions common to our
lives. Part of the reason for attendance-taking, deemed more appropriate for lower levels of
education by the professor (!), is the “discipline of regularity” needed in the pastorate, which
will, in turn, have a plethora of interruptions and distractions making time for study and sermon
preparation a matter of determination and discipline. A poor attendance record can lower the
term grade.
SUMMARY OF DATES FOR ASSIGNMENTS
September 27, 2011 - Submit the passage/text to be preached
November 1, 2011 - Submit the reviews of the two dvds
October 25 or November 1, 2011 - Student Sermons commence
Text/Passage to be Preached in the Latter Weeks of Fall Term
Student’s Name (printed, please)___________________________________________________
Text/Passage to be preached_______________________________________________________
Date
submitted_____________________________________________________________________
Reading Report
(To be submitted with the final examination)
Student’s Name (printed, please)_________________________________________________
Broadus: Read through chapter 23 - Yes_____ No_____
Robinson: Read in its entirety - Yes_____ No_____
Gordon: Read in its entirety – Yes_____No_____
(There is no partial credit; it is “all or nothing.”)
Signature______________________________________________________________________
Date__________________________________________________________________________