The Times Greatest Sermons of the Last 2000 Years: Tongues of Angels, Tongues of Men - Hardcover

The past 2,000 years have seen an awful lot of sermons. The average Sunday homily from the local vicar rarely survives until the following week, but some sermons have stood the test of time.

Whether expounding a new theology, or placing a turning point in history in its spiritual context, many of the great religious dialogues of the past two millennia have started as sermons rather than books.This volume collects together the most outstanding, moving, theologically and politically significant sermons. Starting with the Sermon on the Mount, the collection will feature the giants of spirituality including *St Paul * Ambrose * Augustine * Benedict * Thomas a Becket * Aquinas * Erasmus * Martin Luther * Calvin * Ignatius of Loyola * John Donne * Cromwell * Vincent de Paul * Cotton Maher * John Wesley * Newman * Ronald Knox * Norman Vincent Peale * Pope John XXII * among many others.

For 2,000 years the sermon has been seen as a point of great learning, authority and wisdom. Whether expounding a new theology, or placing a turning point in history in its spiritual context, many of the great religious dialogues of the past two millennia have started as sermons rather than books.

The 'HarperCollins Book of Sermons' collects together the most outstanding, moving, theologically and politically significant sermons. Starting with the Sermon on the Mount, the collection features the giants of spirituality including St. Paul, Ambrose, Augustine, Benedict, Thomas a Becket, Aquinas, Erasmus, Martin Luther, Calvin, Ignatius of Loyola, John Wesley, Newman, Norman Vincent Peale and many others.

This full collection of sermons from key figures in Judeo-Christian history will be an essential item for the bookshelf of ministers and lay people alike.

St Matthew 6,38-45
38 – Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth:
39 – But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smile thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also,
40 – And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
41 – And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain,
42 – Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 – Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shall love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 – But I say unto you. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 – That ye may be the children always. Father which is in heaven: ... sun to rise on the evil and ... sendeth rain on the ...
46 – For if ye love them ... what reward have ye? Do not even the ...

John Thornton is an editor and literary agent. Katharine Washburn is a writer, editor and translator. Both from New York, they were the editors of the essay collection 'Dumbing Down: The Stripping of American Culture' (Norton 1996).