William Perkins is the newest addition to the Puritan Rewrites page.
The Art of Prophesying was first written in Latin and then translated into English in 1607. It is generally counted as the founding Puritan handbook on preaching. Perkins asks how a preacher should open the Word, and how he should apply it to the different people sitting in front of him. Much of what came after in Puritan preaching grew from this book.
The original is hard going for a modern reader, so I’ve rewritten it in plain English. I kept Perkins’s own order and divisions. His numbered points are now headings, and his long lists of examples are cut down to their conclusions where the argument doesn’t depend on every case. All Scripture is quoted from the ESV and labelled. Where the ESV reads differently from the text Perkins argues from, a short italic note says so.
It’s useful for anyone who preaches or teaches. It’s also useful if you just want to hear a good sermon with an informed ear.
You can read it online or download the PDF from the same page.