Thoughts on preaching by J. W. Alexander (Available from Amazon or free here) - Commence 'Eloquence of the French Pulpit' by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'The Oration for Henrietta, Princess of England and daughter of Charles I' (page 301 in the Banner edition).
Today we only read of the work of Bossuet who first appeared in Paris in 1659.
After a brief description of Bossuet's abilities, we are given a number of examples of his preaching from his sermons.
I liked the point that a preacher must be on par with his hearers and even be above them - very difficult in a period of French history where reason reigned with such great thinkers: 'To be truly eloquent, the speaker must feel on a level with his auditors—at times even exercise a kind of dominion over them. The sacred orator, speaking in the name of God, can do this under any government; in the most arbitrary monarchy, he can display the same lofty freedom which the equality of citizens gives to a speaker in the active scenes of a republic. Hence, in a country where no civil freedom was enjoyed, there was an eloquence of the loftiest kind, which long flourished, which was carried to the greatest height, and which is still the object of warm admiration.'
If we are to be the voice of God then we must be above our hearers in some sense and the hearers should feel that it is so.
This is one reason why in my sermons I try to remove most of the first person plural pronouns (we, our, us) and replace them with second person pronouns (you, your). Someone once told my use of 'you' sounded like I was above the hearers and I should stop it, but that is exactly what I wanted.
Conclude
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