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99-503: Theologians used the neo-Aristotelian form of presentation, already popular in academia, in their writings and lectures. They defined the Reformed faith and defended it against the polemics of opposing parties. While the Reformed often used "scholastic" as a term of derision for their Roman Catholic opponents and the content of their theology, most Reformed theologians during this period can properly be called scholastics with respect to

198-413: A scriptural , theological , or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. Elements of the sermon often include exposition , exhortation , and practical application. The act of delivering a sermon is called preaching. In secular usage, the word sermon may refer, often disparagingly, to a lecture on morals . In Christian practice,

297-564: A deeper faith , and to inspire them to practice works of love for the benefit of the neighbor, rather than carry on with potentially empty rituals. In the 18th and 19th centuries during the Great Awakening , major (evangelistic) sermons were made at revivals , which were especially popular in the United States. These sermons were noted for their " fire-and-brimstone " message, typified by Jonathan Edwards ' famous " Sinners in

396-528: A hierarchical church government), Independents or Congregationalists (who advocated the autonomy of local churches), and Baptists (who through the influence of Dutch Anabaptists practiced only believer's baptism ). The 1647 Westminster Confession of Faith established a consensus among them. During the eighteenth century the scholastic method of theology began to stagnate in favor of exegetical and historical theology . The Age of Enlightenment brought about greater reliance on reason and less dependence on

495-549: A legacy of the work of Thomas Aquinas was known as Thomism , and was especially influential among the Dominicans , and later, the Jesuits . Using Albert's and Thomas's commentaries, as well as Marsilius of Padua's Defensor pacis , 14th-century scholar Nicole Oresme translated Aristotle's moral works into French and wrote extensively comments on them. After retreating under criticism from modern natural philosophers,

594-618: A major and profitable literary form, and category of books in the book trade, from at least the Late Antique Church to about the late 19th century. Many clergymen openly recycled large chunks of published sermons in their own preaching. Such sermons include John Wesley 's Forty-four Sermons , John Chrysostom 's Homily on the Resurrection (preached every Easter in Orthodox churches) and Gregory Nazianzus ' homily "On

693-544: A man is not perfected in philosophy if it weren't for the knowledge of the two philosophers, Aristotle and Plato) Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the pupil of Albertus Magnus, wrote a dozen commentaries on the works of Aristotle. Thomas was emphatically Aristotelian, he adopted Aristotle's analysis of physical objects, his view of place, time and motion, his proof of the prime mover, his cosmology, his account of sense perception and intellectual knowledge, and even parts of his moral philosophy . The philosophical school that arose as

792-463: A message with the same precision as people using detailed notes or memorizing detailed aspects of their speech. While some might say this style is distinct from impromptu preaching, and that the preacher gives no specific preparation to their message, what Charles Spurgeon referred to as "impromptu preaching" he considered to be the same as extemporaneous preaching. He, in his sermon "The Faculty of Impromptu Speech", describes extemporaneous preaching as

891-544: A powerpoint, images and videos. In some churches, messages are grouped into thematic series. The one who brings the message is usually a pastor trained either in a bible college or independently. Evangelical sermons are broadcast on the radio, on television channels ( televangelism ), on the Internet, on web portals , on the website of the churches and through social media like YouTube and Facebook . Roman Catholic preaching has evolved over time but generally

990-569: A priest, or on rare occasions a deacon, preaches standing and wearing his biretta . In most denominations, modern preaching is kept below forty minutes, but historic preachers of all denominations could at times speak for several hours, and use techniques of rhetoric and theatre that are today somewhat out of fashion in mainline churches. During the Middle Ages, sermons inspired the beginnings of new religious institutes (e.g., Saint Dominic and Francis of Assisi ). Pope Urban II began

1089-612: A process of the preacher immersing himself in the Scriptures and prayer, knowing it so well that he only needs to find the appropriate words in the moment that the sermon is given. He states, Only thoughtless persons think this to be easy; it is at once the most laborious and the most efficient mode of preaching[.] Henry Ware Jr. states, The first thing to be observed is, that the student who would acquire facility in this art, should bear it constantly in mind, and have regard to it in all his studies and in his whole mode of study. On

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1188-433: A regular beat; finally, he reaches an emotional peak in which the chanted speech becomes tonal and merges with the singing, clapping, and shouting of the congregation. Impromptu preaching is a sermon technique where the preacher exhorts the congregation without any previous preparation. It can be aided with a reading of a Bible passage, aleatory opened or not, or even without any scriptural reference. The Bible says that

1287-510: A sermon is usually preached to a congregation in a place of worship, either from an elevated architectural feature, known as a pulpit or an ambo , or from behind a lectern . The word sermon comes from a Middle English word which was derived from Old French , which in turn originates from the Latin word sermō meaning 'discourse.' A sermonette is a short sermon (usually associated with television broadcasting, as stations would present

1386-592: A sermonette before signing off for the night). The Christian Bible contains many speeches without interlocution, which some take to be sermons: Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7 (though the gospel writers do not specifically call it a sermon; the popular descriptor for Jesus' speech there came much later); and Peter after Pentecost in Acts 2:14–40 (though this speech was delivered to non-Christians and as such

1485-571: A time when Aristotle's method was permeating all theology, these treatises were sufficient to cause his prohibition for heterodoxy in the Condemnations of 1210–1277 . In the first of these, in Paris in 1210, it was stated that "neither the books of Aristotle on natural philosophy or their commentaries are to be read at Paris in public or secret, and this we forbid under penalty of ex-communication ." However, despite further attempts to restrict

1584-472: A universal form and the matter shaped by it. David Malet Armstrong was a modern defender of Aristotelianism on the problem of universals. States of affairs are the basic building blocks of his ontology, and have particulars and universals as their constituents. Armstrong is an immanent realist in the sense that he holds that a universal exists only insofar as it is a constituent of at least one actual state of affairs. Universals without instances are not part of

1683-760: Is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle , usually characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics . It covers the treatment of the social sciences under a system of natural law . It answers why-questions by a scheme of four causes , including purpose or teleology , and emphasizes virtue ethics . Aristotle and his school wrote tractates on physics , biology , metaphysics , logic , ethics , aesthetics , poetry , theatre , music , rhetoric , psychology , linguistics , economics , politics , and government . Any school of thought that takes one of Aristotle's distinctive positions as its starting point can be considered "Aristotelian" in

1782-462: Is a style of preaching involving extensive preparation of all the sermon except for the precise wording. The topic, basic structure and scripture to be used are all determined in advance, and the preachers saturate themselves in the details necessary to present their message so thoroughly that they are able to present the message with neither detailed notes nor perhaps even an outline. Consequently, unprepared preachers may find themselves unable to deliver

1881-452: Is also contained in some of the other gospel narratives. During the later history of Christianity , several figures became known for their addresses that later became regarded as sermons. Examples in the early church include Peter (see especially Acts 2:14b–36 ), Stephen (see Acts 7:1b–53 ), Tertullian and John Chrysostom . These addresses were used to spread Christianity across Europe and Asia Minor , and as such are not sermons in

1980-508: Is based on God foreseeing a person's faith, brought about the Synod of Dort , which defined the Reformed doctrine on this matter in greater detail. The 1594 treatise by Huguenot theologian Franciscus Junius On True Theology was the first Protestant work to distinguish archetypal theology (God's knowledge of himself) and ectypal theology (our knowledge of God based on his condescending revelation to us). This distinction, which has its roots in

2079-610: Is not identical with Western philosophy as a whole; rather, it is "the best theory so far, [including] the best theory so far about what makes a particular theory the best one." Politically and socially, it has been characterized as a newly 'revolutionary Aristotelianism'. This may be contrasted with the more conventional, apolitical, and effectively conservative uses of Aristotle by, for example, Gadamer and McDowell. Other important contemporary Aristotelian theorists include Fred D. Miller, Jr. in politics and Rosalind Hursthouse in ethics. Neo-Aristotelianism in meta-ontology holds that

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2178-408: Is not quite parallel to the popular definition of a sermon). In Islam , sermons are known as khutbah . In Christianity, a sermon is typically identified as an address or discourse delivered to a congregation of Christians, typically containing theological or moral instruction. The sermon by Christian orators was partly based on the tradition of public lectures by classical orators. Although it

2277-600: Is officially known as the Order of Preachers ( Ordo Praedicatorum in Latin ); friars of this order were trained to publicly preach in vernacular languages, and the order was created by Saint Dominic to preach to the Cathars of southern France in the early 13th century. The Franciscans are another important preaching order; Travelling preachers, usually friars, were an important feature of late medieval Catholicism. In 1448

2376-508: Is often called a homily , the original distinction between a sermon and a homily was that a sermon was delivered by a clergyman (licensed preacher) while a homily was read from a printed copy by a layman . In the 20th century the distinction has become one of the sermon being likely to be longer, have more structure, and contain more theological content. Homilies are usually considered to be a type of sermon, usually narrative or biographical ( see § Types below ). The word sermon

2475-494: Is often premissed upon a rejection of Aristotelianism's traditional metaphysical or theoretical philosophy. From this viewpoint, the early modern tradition of political republicanism , which views the res publica , public sphere or state as constituted by its citizens' virtuous activity, can appear thoroughly Aristotelian. Alasdair MacIntyre is a notable Aristotelian philosopher who helped to revive virtue ethics in his book After Virtue . MacIntyre revises Aristotelianism with

2574-594: Is rephrased, reorganized, and pruned, in order to make it more easily understood. This genre was allegedly invented by Themistius in the mid-4th century, revived by Michael Psellos in the mid-11th century, and further developed by Sophonias in the late 13th to early 14th centuries. Leo the Mathematician was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the Magnaura School in the mid-9th century to teach Aristotelian logic. The 11th and 12th centuries saw

2673-611: Is used contemporarily to describe many famous moments in Christian (and Jewish) history. The most famous example is the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus of Nazareth . This address was given around 30 AD, and is recounted in the Gospel of Matthew ( 5:1–7:29 , including introductory and concluding material) as being delivered on a mount on the north end of the Sea of Galilee , near Capernaum . It

2772-642: The Abbasid Empire , many foreign works were translated into Arabic , large libraries were constructed, and scholars were welcomed. Under the caliphs Harun al-Rashid and his son Al-Ma'mun , the House of Wisdom in Baghdad flourished. Christian scholar Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873) was placed in charge of the translation work by the caliph. In his lifetime, Ishaq translated 116 writings, including works by Plato and Aristotle, into Syriac and Arabic. With

2871-711: The Arab world . He incorporated Aristotelian and Neoplatonist thought into an Islamic philosophical framework. This was an important factor in the introduction and popularization of Greek philosophy in the Muslim intellectual world. In the 9th century, Persian astrologer Albumasarl 's Introductorium in Astronomiam was one of the most important sources for the recovery of Aristotle for medieval European scholars. The philosopher Al-Farabi (872–950) had great influence on science and philosophy for several centuries, and in his time

2970-769: The First Crusade in November 1095 at the Council of Clermont , France, when he exhorted French knights to retake the Holy Land . The academic study of sermons, the analysis and classification of their preparation, composition and delivery, is called homiletics . A controversial issue that aroused strong feelings in early modern Britain was whether sermons should be read from a fully prepared text, or extemporized, perhaps from some notes. Many sermons have been written down, collected and published; published sermons were

3069-908: The School of Salamanca Lutheran scholasticism during Lutheran orthodoxy Ramism among the Reformed orthodoxy Metaphysical poets in the Church of England The Jesuits against Jansenism Labadists against the Jesuits Pietism against orthodox Lutherans Nadere Reformatie within Dutch Calvinism Richard Hooker against the Ramists Neologists against Lutherans Spinozists against Dutch Calvinists Deists against Anglicanism John Locke against Bishop Stillingfleet In

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3168-597: The University of St. Andrews assured Calvinism's hold on Scotland. Following the Synod of Dort, which ended in 1619, the Reformed began to give greater definition and detail to their theological system by writing comprehensive systematic theologies. The period was also characterized by intense polemical writing against several groups. The Remonstrants, having been repudiated in the synod of Dort, became an independent movement with their own seminary and dogmatic textbooks, and

3267-527: The covenant of works and the covenant of grace . Though Cocceius himself rejected Cartesianism, some of his followers were influenced by it and this led to even more suspicion of the Coccieans on behalf of the rest of the Reformed. In France, Moses Amyraut at the Academy of Saumur taught a doctrine known as Amyraldism which is considered a compromise between the doctrine of predestination presented at

3366-540: The res publica , public sphere or state as constituted by its citizens' virtuous activity, can appear thoroughly Aristotelian. Mortimer J. Adler described Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics as a "unique book in the Western tradition of moral philosophy, the only ethics that is sound, practical, and undogmatic." The contemporary Aristotelian philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre helped to revive virtue ethics in his book After Virtue . MacIntyre revises Aristotelianism with

3465-538: The theologia traditiva were infralapsarian , arguing that God's decree to create men and allow the Fall logically precedes the decree to elect some men to salvation. They also, contrary to the Voetians, approved of some degree of governmental involvement in church affairs, were more lax with respect to Sabbath observance , and were in general more moderate polemicists. Differences between these groups decreased throughout

3564-549: The 12th century . The most productive of these translators was Gerard of Cremona , ( c.  1114 –1187), who translated 87 books, which included many of the works of Aristotle such as his Posterior Analytics , Physics , On the Heavens , On Generation and Corruption , and Meteorology . Michael Scot ( c.  1175 –1232) translated Averroes ' commentaries on the scientific works of Aristotle. Aristotle's physical writings began to be discussed openly. At

3663-625: The 17th century, as they positioned themselves against a third strain, the Cocceians. The school of Johannes Cocceius differed from the Voetians and the rest of Reformed scholastic theology in teaching on the relationship of the Old and New Testament. The Cocceians taught that the Sabbath commandment was abrogated in the New Covenant and had other disagreements regarding the relationship between

3762-594: The Enlightenment had a significant impact on the shape of Reformed theology. Jean Alphonse Turretin , son of high orthodox scholastic Francis Turretin, along with Jean-Frédéric Osterwald and Samuel Werenfels rejected the doctrine of predestination, the Synod of Dort, and the Helvetic Consensus. Neo-Aristotelianism (philosophy) Aristotelianism ( / ˌ ær ɪ s t ə ˈ t iː l i ə n ɪ z əm / ARR -i-stə- TEE -lee-ə-niz-əm )

3861-680: The French Gallican Confession of 1559 served as boundary markers for the new faith and as starting places for theological development. The formation of the Genevan Academy in 1559 also enabled Reformed theologians to receive extensive academic training and participate in the wider academic theological discourse. It also served as a model for other Reformed institutions of higher learning throughout Europe. Counter-Reformation attacks from Roman Catholic writers such as Jesuit Cardinal Robert Bellarmine were written in

3960-526: The Gentiles. 19: But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20: For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. According to some people, when Jesus says "take no thought how or what ye shall speak" he is saying that it is better not to script your speeches or sermons, but to let

4059-452: The Hands of an Angry God " speech. In these sermons the wrath of God was intended to be made evident. Edwards also preached on Religious Affections , which discussed the divided Christian world. In Evangelical Christianity , the sermon is often called the "message". It occupies an important place in worship service , half the time, about 45 to 60 minutes. This message can be supported by

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4158-480: The Holy Spirit gives disciples the inspiration to speak: Matthew 10:16-20 16: Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17: But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18: And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and

4257-485: The Holy Spirit of your Father speak through you. Others see the expression as simply a comforting exhortation not to worry or be anxious, but to rest confident that God is in control (cf. Phil. 2:12-13). In other places the apostle Paul emphatically underscored the importance of diligent work in study and preparation (I Tim. 4:13-16; II Tim. 2:15). Today impromptu preaching is practiced by unprogrammed Quakers , Mennonites and some Pentecostals . Extemporaneous preaching

4356-705: The Islamic scholars and based his Guide for the Perplexed on it and that became the basis of Jewish scholastic philosophy . Although some of Aristotle's logical works were known to western Europe , it was not until the Latin translations of the 12th century and the rise of scholasticism that the works of Aristotle and his Arabic commentators became widely available. Scholars such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas interpreted and systematized Aristotle's works in accordance with Catholic theology . After retreating under criticism from modern natural philosophers,

4455-579: The Netherlands, three strands within Reformed orthodoxy may be distinguished, though all of these stayed within the boundaries provided by the Canons of Dort. The theologia traditiva was most notably represented by Samuel Maresius and Friedrich Spanheim the Elder and Younger . This strain was in many ways aligned with a second strain, the school of Voetius. Unlike the Voetians, however, the followers of

4554-666: The Reformed wrote against them with even greater intensity. Reformed polemics were also directed against the increasingly influential Socinians , who denied the Trinity and other traditional Christian doctrines. Early Socinians had already had some influence on the development of Remonstrantism during the early orthodox period. In addition, the rise of Cartesianism provided another target for Reformed scholastics such as Dutch theologian Gisbertus Voetius , who argued that Descartes 's philosophical skepticism placed reason above revelation instead of subjecting reason to biblical revelation. In

4653-418: The Synod of Dort and that of Arminianism. Amyraut taught that God elects to salvation in two ways. First, the entire human race is elected to salvation on condition of their faith in him. Then, based on his foreknowledge that no one would have faith, God elects some to salvation in a second, particular election. Most Reformed scholastics rejected Amyraut's views, arguing that it was a return to Arminianism because

4752-763: The Theophany, or Birthday of Christ" (preached every Christmas in Orthodox churches). The 80 sermons in German of the Dominican Johannes Tauler (1300–1361) were read for centuries after his death. Martin Luther published his sermons ( Hauspostille ) on the Sunday lessons for the edification of readers. This tradition was continued by Martin Chemnitz and Johann Arndt , as well as many others into

4851-647: The Western Europe. Albertus did not repudiate Plato . In that, he belonged to the dominant tradition of philosophy that preceded him, namely the "concordist tradition", which sought to harmonize Aristotle with Plato through interpretation (see for example Porphyry 's On Plato and Aristotle Being Adherents of the Same School ). Albertus famously wrote: "Scias quod non perficitur homo in philosophia nisi ex scientia duarum philosophiarum: Aristotelis et Platonis." ( Metaphysics , I, tr. 5, c. 5) (Know that

4950-409: The advent of reception theory , researchers also became aware that how sermons are listened to affects their meaning as much as how they are delivered. The expectations of the congregation, their prior experience of listening to oral texts, their level of scriptural education, and the relative social positions—often reflected in the physical arrangement—of sermon-goers vis-a-vis the preacher are part of

5049-608: The argument that the highest temporal goods, which are internal to human beings, are actualized through participation in social practices. The original followers of Aristotle were the members of the Peripatetic school . The most prominent members of the school after Aristotle were Theophrastus and Strato of Lampsacus , who both continued Aristotle's researches. During the Roman era , the school concentrated on preserving and defending his work. The most important figure in this regard

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5148-475: The argument that the highest temporal goods, which are internal to human beings, are actualized through participation in social practices. He opposes Aristotelianism to the managerial institutions of capitalism and its state, and to rival traditions—including the philosophies of Hume , Kant , Kierkegaard , and Nietzsche —that reject its idea of essentially human goods and virtues and instead legitimize capitalism . Therefore, on MacIntyre's account, Aristotelianism

5247-585: The authority of authoritative texts such as the Bible, leading to the rise of biblical criticism and natural theology . In the Netherlands the "Green Cocceians" (named after Henricus Groenewegen, Groen = Green in Dutch) surpassed the Voetians who had been dominant in the 17th century. They attempted to find a mediating position between Enlightenment thought and Reformed theology, which resulted in intense controversy with other Reformed scholastics. Enlightenment thought

5346-569: The church authorities seated at Angers prohibited open-air preaching in France. If a sermon is delivered during the Mass it comes after the Gospel is sung or read. If it is delivered by the priest or bishop that offers the Mass then he removes his maniple , and in some cases his chasuble , because the sermon is not part of the Mass. A bishop preaches his sermon wearing his mitre while seated whereas

5445-443: The concrete, spatiotemporal world. Aristotelians, on the other hand, deny the existence of universals outside the spatiotemporal world. This view is known as immanent realism. For example, the universal "red" exists only insofar as there are red objects in the concrete world. Were there no red objects there would be no red-universal. This immanence can be conceived in terms of the theory of hylomorphism by seeing objects as composed of

5544-510: The distinctively Aristotelian idea of teleology was transmitted through Wolff and Kant to Hegel , who applied it to history as a totality. Although this project was criticized by Trendelenburg and Brentano as un-Aristotelian, Hegel's influence is now often said to be responsible for an important Aristotelian influence upon Marx . Postmodernists , in contrast, reject Aristotelianism's claim to reveal important theoretical truths. In this, they follow Heidegger 's critique of Aristotle as

5643-445: The distinctively Aristotelian idea of teleology was transmitted through Wolff and Kant to Hegel , who applied it to history as a totality. However, this project was criticized by Trendelenburg and Brentano as non-Aristotelian, Hegel's influence is now often said to be responsible for an important Aristotelian influence upon Marx . Recent Aristotelian ethical and "practical" philosophy, such as that of Gadamer and McDowell ,

5742-441: The early Reformers were deeply influenced by scholasticism and that later Reformed scholasticism was deeply exegetical, using the scholastic method to organize and explicate exegetical theology. Medieval schools of theology used methods of instruction known as lectio-meditatio-quaestio and disputationes . In the first method, teachers would first read an authoritative text with some commentary ( lectio ), allow students to consider

5841-514: The emergence of twelfth-century Byzantine Aristotelianism. Before the 12th century, the whole Byzantine output of Aristotelian commentaries was focused on logic. However, the range of subjects covered by the Aristotelian commentaries produced in the two decades after 1118 is much greater due to the initiative of the princess Anna Comnena who commissioned a number of scholars to write commentaries on previously neglected works of Aristotle. In

5940-479: The first decree of election was conditional on faith. The Swiss Formula consensus Helvetica was written primarily by Johann Heinrich Heidegger with help from Francis Turretin to repudiate Amyraldism. In England, many of the Reformed, along with some other Protestants refused to remain within the Anglican church and were thus known as Nonconformists . They were divided between Presbyterians (who maintained

6039-570: The following centuries—for example CH Spurgeon 's stenographed sermons, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit . The widow of Archbishop of Canterbury John Tillotson (1630–1694) received £2,500 for the manuscripts of his sermons, a very large sum. The Reformation led to Protestant sermons, many of which defended the schism with the Roman Catholic Church and explained beliefs about the Bible, theology, and devotion. The distinctive doctrines of Protestantism held that salvation

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6138-583: The founding of House of Wisdom, the entire corpus of Aristotelian works that had been preserved (excluding the Eudemian Ethics , Magna Moralia and Politics ) became available, along with its Greek commentators; this corpus laid a uniform foundation for Islamic Aristotelianism . Al-Kindi (801–873) was the first of the Muslim Peripatetic philosophers and is known for his efforts to introduce Greek and Hellenistic philosophy to

6237-411: The goal of ontology is to determine which entities are fundamental and how the non-fundamental entities depend on them. The concept of fundamentality is usually defined in terms of metaphysical grounding . Fundamental entities are different from non-fundamental entities because they are not grounded in other entities. For example, it is sometimes held that elementary particles are more fundamental than

6336-465: The greatest source of the entire tradition of Western philosophy. Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as critically developing Plato's theories. Some recent Aristotelian ethical and 'practical' philosophy, such as that of Gadamer and McDowell , is often premised upon a rejection of Aristotelianism's traditional metaphysical or theoretical philosophy. From this viewpoint, the early modern tradition of political republicanism , which views

6435-407: The macroscopic objects (like chairs and tables) they compose. This is a claim about the grounding-relation between microscopic and macroscopic objects. These ideas go back to Aristotle's thesis that entities from different ontological categories have different degrees of fundamentality. For example, substances have the highest degree of fundamentality because they exist in themselves. Properties, on

6534-489: The manner, frequency, licensing, personnel and content of preaching accordingly. There are a number of different types of sermons, that differ both in their subject matter and by their intended audience, and accordingly not every preacher is equally well-versed in every type. Some types of sermon include: Sermons can be both written and spoken out loud. Sermons also differ in the amount of time and effort used to prepare them. Some are scripted while others are not. With

6633-464: The meaning of the sermon. Albert Raboteau describes a common style of Black preaching first developed in America in the early 19th century, and common throughout the 20th and into the 21st centuries: The preacher begins calmly, speaking in conversational, if oratorical and occasionally grandiloquent, prose; he then gradually begins to speak more rapidly, excitedly, and to chant his words and time to

6732-736: The medieval Scotist distinction between theology in itself ( theologia in se ) and our theology ( theologia nostra ), limits the degree to which God can be known by sinful man and became important in later Reformed and Lutheran theology. Through the influence of refugees from continental Europe such as Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr Vermigli, late 16th century English theology was predominately Reformed in nature, though Arminianism gained dominance after 1700. Puritans William Perkins and William Ames were important figures in Reformed English theology during this period. Reformed theologians at

6831-560: The members of the Peripatetic school and later on by the Neoplatonists , who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings . In the Islamic Golden Age , Avicenna and Averroes translated the works of Aristotle into Arabic and under them, along with philosophers such as Al-Kindi and Al-Farabi , Aristotelianism became a major part of early Islamic philosophy . Moses Maimonides adopted Aristotelianism from

6930-500: The method of theology, though they also used other methods. J. V. Fesko describes scholasticism in this sense as "a method of doing theology that sets out to achieve theological precision through the exegesis of Scripture, an examination of how doctrine has been historically defined throughout church history, and how doctrine is expounded in contemporary debate." Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Aristotelianism Scholasticism Patristics Second scholasticism of

7029-454: The mid-twelfth century, thus making the complete Aristotelian logical corpus, the Organon , available in Latin for the first time. Scholars travelled to areas of Europe that once had been under Muslim rule and still had substantial Arabic-speaking populations. From central Spain , which had returned to Christian rule in the eleventh century, scholars produced many of the Latin translations of

7128-464: The modern sense, but evangelistic messages. The sermon has been an important part of Christian services since early Christianity , and remains prominent in both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism . Lay preachers sometimes figure in these traditions of worship, for example the Methodist local preachers , but in general preaching has usually been a function of the clergy . The Dominican Order

7227-817: The most famous Catholic sermons are St. Francis of Assisi 's Sermon to the Birds, St. Alphonsus Liguori 's Italian Sermons for all the Sundays in the year , St. Robert Bellarmine 's sermons during the counter-reformation period in Sermons from the Latins , the French The Sermons of the Curé of Ars by St. John Vianney and the Old English sermons of Ælfric of Eynsham . Khutbah ( Arabic : خطبة ) serves as

7326-488: The most fundamental form of existence. The problem of universals is the question of whether and in what way universals exist. Aristotelians and Platonists agree that universals have actual, mind-independent existence; thus they oppose the nominalist standpoint. Aristotelians disagree with Platonists, however, about the mode of existence of universals. Platonists hold that universals exist in some form of "Platonic heaven" and thus exist independently of their instances in

7425-700: The ninth century, nearly all that was known of Aristotle consisted of Boethius 's commentaries on the Organon , and a few abridgments made by Latin authors of the declining empire, Isidore of Seville and Martianus Capella . From that time until the end of the eleventh century, little progress is apparent in Aristotelian knowledge. The renaissance of the 12th century saw a major search by European scholars for new learning. James of Venice , who probably spent some years in Constantinople , translated Aristotle's Posterior Analytics from Greek into Latin in

7524-460: The other hand, are less fundamental because they depend on substances for their existence. Jonathan Schaffer's priority monism is a recent form of neo-Aristotelian ontology. He holds that there exists only one thing on the most fundamental level: the world as a whole. This thesis does not deny our common-sense intuition that the distinct objects we encounter in our everyday affairs like cars or other people exist. It only denies that these objects have

7623-557: The other hand, it is distinct from many other forms of memorized preaching. Proponents claim that the importance of preaching demands it be extemporaneous. A reflecting mind will feel as if it were infinitely out of place to present in the pulpit to immortal souls, hanging upon the verge of everlasting death, such specimens of learning and rhetoric. The style was popular in the late 19th century among Baptist ( Primitive Baptist especially), Methodist , Unitarian , and some Presbyterians preachers, such as Blackleach Burritt . Some of

7722-486: The past, scholars described the theology of Protestant scholastics following John Calvin as more rationalistic and philosophical than the more exegetical biblical theology of John Calvin and other early Reformers . This is commonly described as the "Calvin against the Calvinists" paradigm. Beginning in the 1980s, Richard Muller and other scholars in the field provided extensive evidence showing both that

7821-456: The primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition. In societies or communities with (for example) low literacy rates, strong habits of communal worship, and/or limited mass-media , the preaching of sermons throughout networks of congregations can have important informative and prescriptive propaganda functions for both civil and religious authorities—which may regulate

7920-507: The primary objectives of the church and intended his theological works to be used by both preachers and common people. Many of his criticisms of purely speculative scholastic theology may be seen as a consequence of his desire to make theology accessible and useful for the church rather than solely for professional theologians in the schools. Though scholasticism can already be seen in early Reformed theologians, especially Vermigli and to some degree Calvin , it became much more prevalent during

8019-439: The same distinctions employed by the scholastics, and some of the criticisms he made of scholastic theology may have actually been based on his own misunderstanding. It is clear, however, that Calvin's use of scholastic theology is different in that, while medieval scholastic theology was solely employed by professional theologians in the schools, rather than by ordinary clergy in preaching , Calvin saw theological teaching as one of

8118-457: The subject matter is similar. As the famous St. Alphonsus Ligouri states, "With regard to the subject matter of sermons. Those subjects should be selected which move most powerfully to detest sin and to love God; whence the preacher should often speak of the last things of death, of judgment, of Hell, of Heaven, and of eternity. According to the advice of the Holy Spirit, 'Remember your last end, and you shall never sin.' (Eccl. vii. 40)." Among

8217-520: The teaching of Aristotle, by 1270, the ban on Aristotle's natural philosophy was ineffective. William of Moerbeke ( c.  1215 –1286) undertook a complete translation of the works of Aristotle or, for some portions, a revision of existing translations. He was the first translator of the Politics ( c.  1260 ) from Greek into Latin. Many copies of Aristotle in Latin then in circulation were assumed to have been influenced by Averroes, who

8316-448: The text silently ( meditatio ), and finally the students would ask questions of the teacher to get at the meaning ( quaestio ). Scholasticism was used by Protestant theologians primarily from 1560 to 1790, which is known as the period of orthodoxy because of the importance of adherence to and defense of the newly written Reformed confessions of faith for these theologians. John Calvin , unlike other early reformers like Martin Luther ,

8415-620: The third and fourth generations of Reformed theologians as a tool to institutionalize the faith by codifying it in confessions and works of systematic theology , as well as to combat the growing sophistication of counter-Reformation polemicists. Reformed confessions of faith such as the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 (commissioned by Elector Frederick III of the Palatinate ), the Belgic Confession of 1561, and

8514-475: The tradition of scholasticism and needed to be answered in kind. Reformed theologians such as Heidelberg professors Zacharias Ursinus and Girolamo Zanchi adopted the tools of scholastic theology such as the quaestio method to rigorously exposit the Reformed confessions. The early 17th-century Arminian controversy , in which a group known as the Remonstrants argued that predestination to salvation

8613-530: The use of the lectionary for selecting texts for preaching, the Swiss Reformers, such as Ulrich Zwingli , Johannes Oecolampadius , and John Calvin , notably returned to the patristic model of preaching through books of the Bible. The goal of Protestant worship, as conditioned by these reforms, was above all to offer glory to God for the gift of grace in Jesus Christ, to rouse the congregation to

8712-615: The western end of the Mediterranean Sea , during the reign of Al-Hakam II (961 to 976) in Córdoba , a massive translation effort was undertaken, and many books were translated into Arabic. Averroes (1126–1198), who spent much of his life in Cordoba and Seville , was especially distinguished as a commentator of Aristotle. He often wrote two or three different commentaries on the same work, and some 38 commentaries by Averroes on

8811-485: The widest sense. This means that different Aristotelian theories (e.g. in ethics or in ontology ) may not have much in common as far as their actual content is concerned besides their shared reference to Aristotle. In Aristotle's time, philosophy included natural philosophy , which preceded the advent of modern science during the Scientific Revolution . The works of Aristotle were initially defended by

8910-509: The works of Aristotle have been identified. Although his writings had an only marginal impact in Islamic countries, his works would eventually have a huge impact in the Latin West , and would lead to the school of thought known as Averroism . Although some knowledge of Aristotle seems to have lingered on in the ecclesiastical centres of western Europe after the fall of the Roman empire, by

9009-421: The world. Taking a realist approach to universals also allows an Aristotelian realist philosophy of mathematics , according to which mathematics is a science of properties that are instantiated in the real (including physical) world, such as quantitative and structural properties. Preaching A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher , usually a member of clergy . Sermons address

9108-595: Was Alexander of Aphrodisias who commentated on Aristotle's writings. With the rise of Neoplatonism in the 3rd century, Peripateticism as an independent philosophy came to an end. Still, the Neoplatonists sought to incorporate Aristotle's philosophy within their own system and produced many commentaries on Aristotle . Byzantine Aristotelianism emerged in the Byzantine Empire in the form of Aristotelian paraphrase: adaptations in which Aristotle's text

9207-487: Was among the first medieval scholars to apply Aristotle's philosophy to Christian thought. He produced paraphrases of most of the works of Aristotle available to him. He digested, interpreted and systematized the whole of Aristotle's works, gleaned from the Latin translations and notes of the Arabian commentators, in accordance with Church doctrine. His efforts resulted in the formation of a Christian reception of Aristotle in

9306-584: Was by faith alone , and convincing people to believe the Gospel and place trust in God for their salvation through Jesus Christ was the decisive step in salvation. In many Protestant churches, the sermon came to replace the Eucharist as the central act of Christian worship (although some Protestants such as Lutherans give equal time to a sermon and the Eucharist in their Divine Service ). While Luther retained

9405-551: Was even more influential in Germany and England, leading to the rise of deism, biblical criticism, and rationalism at the expense of scholastic modes of thinking. John Gill defended the English particular Baptists , who taught the Reformed doctrine of limited atonement , from the influence of Arminianism and Socianism and is considered one of the most important Reformed scholastics of the 18th century. Reformed scholastic theology

9504-606: Was more dominant in Scotland. The Marrow Controversy , which began in 1718, was caused by disagreements between so-called the neonomians and antinomians over the relationship of the covenant of works and covenant of grace. The opposing sides often used scholastic distinctions and methods. The controversy ended with the split of the Church of Scotland and the establishment of the Associate Presbytery . In Switzerland

9603-457: Was not formally trained in theology. Calvin was trained in law. Luther was trained in both law and theology. Like many early reformers, however, he was influenced by Renaissance humanism , which led to an interest in the original meaning of biblical and patristic texts and criticism of medieval scholastics for straying from this meaning in favor of philosophical distinctions. Analysis of his work, however, shows that he found himself using some of

9702-543: Was suspected of being a source of philosophical and theological errors found in the earlier translations of Aristotle. Such claims were without merit, however, as the Alexandrian Aristotelianism of Averroes followed "the strict study of the text of Aristotle, which was introduced by Avicenna, [because] a large amount of traditional Neoplatonism was incorporated with the body of traditional Aristotelianism". Albertus Magnus ( c.  1200 –1280)

9801-518: Was widely thought second only to Aristotle in knowledge (alluded to by his title of "the Second Teacher"). His work, aimed at synthesis of philosophy and Sufism , paved the way for the work of Avicenna (980–1037). Avicenna was one of the main interpreters of Aristotle. The school of thought he founded became known as Avicennism , which was built on ingredients and conceptual building blocks that are largely Aristotelian and Neoplatonist. At

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