Homiletic

Homiletics (Gr. homiletikos, from homilos, "assembled crowd, throng"), in religion, is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or studies homiletics may be called a homilist, or more colloquially a preacher.

Homiletics means the art of preaching. Homiletics comprises the study of the composition and delivery of a sermon or other religious discourse. It includes all forms of preaching, viz., the sermon, homily and catechetical instruction.

It may be further defined as the study of the analysis, classification, preparation, composition and delivery of sermons.

The formation of such lectureships as the Lyman Beecher course at Yale University resulted in increased emphasis on homiletics, and the published volumes of this series are a useful source of information regarding the history and practice of the discipline.

The "Standard Dictionary" defines Homiletics as "that branch of rhetoric that treats of the composition and delivery of sermons or homilies". This definition was particularly influential in the 19th century among such thinkers as John Broadus. Thinkers such as Karl Barth have resisted this definition, maintaining that homiletics should retain a critical distance from rhetoric. The homiletics/rhetoric relationship has been a major issue in homiletic theory since the mid-20th century.

The first form of preaching was largely the homily.

Jesus preached and commissioned His Apostles to do so. His preaching included two forms of sermon, the missionary and the ministerial (to which correspond the magisterium and the ministerium of the Church) - the former to outsiders, the latter to those already part of his movement. Of the latter we have a striking example in the discourse after the Last Supper ().

It cannot be said that His preaching took any definite, rounded form, in the sense of a modern sermon; His aim was to sow the seed of the word, which He scattered abroad, like the sower in the parable. His commission to His Apostles included both kinds. For the former or missionary preaching, see ; ; ; . St. Paul's sermon referred to in exemplifies the second kind of preaching. In this the Apostles were supported by assistants who were elected and consecrated for a purpose, for example, Timothy and Titus; as also by those who had been favoured with charismata. The homily referred to in Justin Martyr's Apology gives an example of ministerial, as distinct from missionary, preaching.

...
Wikipedia