The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10: Drummond to Jowett, and General Index

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 299K words
Chapters: 30

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10: Drummond to Jowett, and General Index. Author: , Language: English, Class: BV: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: Practical theology, Worship, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

This is Volume 10 of "The World's Great Sermons" series, containing sermons from Drummond to Jowett and a general index to the whole work. As a compilation of English Christian preaching texts, its value lies in preserving the textual appearance of religious oratory in the English-speaking world from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century: polished rhetoric, layered argument, scriptural exposition, and responses to the social and ethical issues of the time. For readers studying religious literature, oratorical rhetoric, and the evolution of English prose, such primary texts have more texture than later overviews. It should not be treated as a systematic theology textbook but rather as selected documentary reading: first read the general index to understand the persons and contents across volumes, then choose one or two preachers of interest for close reading, noting structure, allusion, and hortatory tone. As a public-domain ebook, typography and notes are simple, and readers need their own background knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students studying the tradition of English religious oratory and sermons
Readers interested in the rhetoric of nineteenth- and twentieth-century English prose
Libraries and reference rooms collecting public-domain Christian literature
English learners who want to encounter classic sermon texts in the original

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for systematic theology textbooks or catechisms
Beginner readers who prefer contemporary plain language and need detailed notes and introductions
Readers who only want single famous pieces and are unwilling to browse compilations and indexes

Reading tips

First browse the general index at the end of the volume to clarify the persons, contents, and relations among volumes before selecting readings.
Read one sermon closely at a time, marking argumentative structure and rhetorical devices, and take brief notes.
Read against background materials on basic Christian doctrine and nineteenth-century English history.
If used for language learning, read passages aloud and organize their allusions and quotations.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book contain complete sermons or excerpts?

According to the title and available information, this volume contains sermons from Drummond to Jowett plus a general index to the whole work, as one volume of a series compilation; the specific contents and whether they are excerpts must be checked against the ebook text, as the information does not describe each piece.

Can I understand it without a theology background?

It can be read, but you will encounter obstacles from scriptural quotations, doctrinal terms, and nineteenth-century cultural allusions. It is advisable first to learn basic Christian doctrine and the religious context of the English-speaking world at the time, or start with more general-themed pieces from the index.

What practical use is the general index?

A general index usually compiles names, titles, or themes across the whole series, making it easy to find the same preacher or topic across volumes. For readers of this volume, it is a practical tool for grasping the structure of the whole set and deciding the order of close reading.

What is the reading experience of the public-domain ebook like?

The Project Gutenberg edition is free and textually complete, but the layout is plain and notes and introductions are limited; you may need to adjust font size or convert it to a format convenient for annotation. Suitable for readers able to supplement background knowledge independently.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.