Trevin Wax: <\/strong>What do you consider to be the most important (in terms of influence) sermon in American history and why?<\/em><\/p>\nLarry Witham: <\/strong>We\u2019d probably want to look at sermons that came early in our history, and that were therefore discussed at great length since then. So again \u2013 I\u2019ll opt for three!<\/p>\n\n- Massachusetts colony Governor John Winthrop\u2019s \u201cCity Upon a Hill\u201d (1630) sermon \u2013 actually about \u201cChristian charity\u201d \u2013 is seen by many as a charter for the founding of America.<\/li>\n
- A century later, Jonathan Edwards\u2019s \u201cSinners\u201d sermon is viewed as the most eloquent of all Calvinist arguments (and Calvinism played an immense role in U.S. mental culture until the Civil War).<\/li>\n
- Finally, to think a bit secularly, Abraham Lincoln\u2019s two addresses \u2013 at Gettysburg and especially his Second Inaugural \u2013 have been extensively read, asserting great influence on how we see religious-type oratory in the nation.<\/li>\n
- Well, now I\u2019m going to say four \u201cmost important\u201d! This allows me to include Martin Luther King\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream,\u201d which spurred a great social change and, by being on television, first introduced Americans broadly to the cadences of black preaching.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An interview of Larry Witham: OK, preachers, what\u2019s the best sermon you\u2019ve read or heard? [Make it one we can access.] Trevin Wax: What do you consider to be the most important (in terms of influence) sermon in American history and why? Larry Witham: We\u2019d probably want to look at sermons that came early in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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