The world’s great sermons Volume 2

The World’s Great Sermons, Volume 2 is the second volume of a multi volume anthology of sermons edited by Grenville Kleiser, the Canadian American writer on rhetoric and self improvement who lived from 1868 to 1935. Kleiser produced a substantial body of educational and inspirational anthologies alongside his more famous self improvement and public speaking books, and the great sermons collection was one of his more substantial editorial projects.

The anthology brings together a selection of major Christian sermons from across the long history of Christian preaching, organized chronologically across the various volumes. Volume 2 typically covers a particular period of the history of Christian preaching, with selections drawn from the various major denominational and theological traditions that had produced significant sermon literature during the period covered. The selection process inevitably reflects the editor’s particular preferences and the assumptions of early twentieth century American Protestant religious culture, but the anthology generally tries to give some representation to the major figures of each period.

Kleiser’s interest in the anthology was partly literary, partly homiletical, and partly inspirational. He was interested in the great sermons as examples of effective public speaking that his readers interested in their own development as speakers could study with profit. He was interested in them as theological documents that gave the substantial American Protestant audience access to important religious thinking from various periods of Christian history. And he was interested in them as inspirational reading that could deepen the personal religious life of readers who would not otherwise encounter the major historical preachers of the Christian tradition.

The sermons included in the anthology cover a wide range of theological positions, preaching styles, and historical contexts. Kleiser does not editorialize at length about the various positions taken but generally lets the sermons speak for themselves, with brief introductory notes on each preacher giving the basic biographical and historical information needed to understand the context of the particular sermon.

The volume runs to several hundred pages and is best read by selecting particular sermons of interest rather than reading straight through. For readers interested in the history of Christian preaching or in early twentieth century American Protestant religious culture, this is a useful anthology. It pairs naturally with the other volumes of the World’s Great Sermons series.