David: Five Sermons

Kingsley, Charles, 1819-1875Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 83K words
Chapters: 9

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.David: Five Sermons by Charles KingsleyAuthor: Kingsley, Charles, 1819-1875,Language: English, Class: BS: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: The Bible, Old and New Testament, Release Date: Nov 1, 2003

Editor's review

Charles Kingsley's David: Five Sermons is a collection of religious sermons that take the biblical figure David as their thread, belonging to the nineteenth-century British Christian writing tradition. The five sermons are independent yet echo one another; the author habitually links scriptural narrative with everyday ethics and choices of faith, and the language has the rhythm and exhortatory tone characteristic of the pulpit. Its value lies not in scholarly investigation but in showing how a Victorian clergyman explained David's story to ordinary listeners and brought the ancient text to bear on real life. For readers studying religious literature, the sermon genre, or the intellectual atmosphere of the nineteenth century, it is material that conveys the original tone directly. General readers without background in the Christian tradition may find the argumentation dense; they are advised to read slowly, treating each piece as a separate address and noting its metaphors and manner of exhortation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying Christian sermon style and nineteenth-century religious writing
Believers interested in the history of interpretation of the biblical David
Literary researchers seeking the Victorian context of ethics and religion
General readers with some English who are willing to read religious prose slowly

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic biblical scholarship or detailed historical background
Readers uninterested in the sermon genre who want only narrative storytelling
Beginners whose English is not yet proficient and who need line-by-line notes

Reading tips

Read the five sermons in order, pausing after each to summarize the author's central exhortation before continuing
Before reading, skim the biblical narratives about David to recognize the scriptural threads behind the sermons
Keep a pen to mark recurring metaphors and exhortatory phrases and observe the preacher's rhetorical habits
For research, compare with other Victorian sermon collections to contrast themes and tone

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

Can I understand this book without a Christian background?

Yes, but it takes some patience. The book cites biblical figures and verses extensively; without any familiarity with David's story, some arguments may seem disconnected. Learn the basic outline of David's narrative first, or look up the relevant verses as you read, and it will be easier to follow the preacher's thought and intent.

Are the five sermons continuous with one another?

Each explores a different aspect of David's life, and the themes echo one another, but they need not be read continuously to be understood. Each can be treated as an independent address with its own scriptural basis and exhortatory focus. Reading in order reveals the author's development; reading one alone does not prevent basic understanding.

Is this book suitable as devotional material?

For believers accustomed to traditional sermon style, it can serve as slow devotional reading; each sermon is moderate in length and suits reading in portions with reflection. Its expression is nineteenth-century, however, and its manner of exhortation differs from contemporary devotional works, so readers should adjust expectations and receive it as historical preaching.

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About the author

Kingsley, Charles, 1819-1875 Author

Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) was a British author, though specific details of his life are limited in publicly available sources. The library holds 48 of his works, commonly classified under inspirational growth. His representative works include Hypatia — or New Foes with an Old Face, The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby, Westward Ho!, The Heroes Or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, and Yeast: a Problem. These works cover a wide range of subjects, including historical novels set in late antiquity, fairy tales and Greek myths written for children, and novels concerned with social issues. Kingsley's writing often combines narrative, imagination, and moral instruction, with vivid language that conveys themes of growth, responsibility, and belief, and has had some influence on later children's literature and historical fiction.