What kind of Christian wisdom and character are required to hear and speak the Word of God with authenticity? How does the person of the preacher -- his or her spiritual life, moral formation, wisdom, and virtue -- affect the spoken sermon?

Following Augustine's assertion that the preacher must become -a living sermon- -- a person whose language and life are one with the truth of God incarnate in Christ -- Michael Pasquarello here puts forth a vision of preaching that is grounded in personal character, wisdom, judgment, and discernment. Pasquarello's holistic vision draws deeply...

That John Wesley was not a systematic theologian is a point frequently made. Yet if that be the case, what kind of theologian was he? To look at his literary output over the course of his long life and ministry is to recognize the central role that sermons played. Thus, claims Michael Paquarello, Wesley was a homiletical theologian, one for whom the Word preached was the core means of reflecting on and understanding the meaning of the Gospel.

In this "preaching life" of Wesley Pasquarello places Wesley's sermons in the larger religious, political, and intellectual world of their...