For years, my grandparents had a sign in their yard that read, “Done Ploughing.”
Had my grandfather been a preacher in the sixteenth century, Hugh Latimer would
have taken issue with that sign.
Hugh Latimer (1490?-1555), the most illustrious preacher of the English Reformation,
believed preaching was indispensable to Christianity. Perhaps no preacher in
England in Latimer’s era believed in the need for preaching in the church and
the importance of preaching for the furtherance of reform as he.
Latimer was born in Thurcaston in Leicestershire, England, to yeoman stock.
In spite of his status in society, Latimer’s father kept him in school, allowing
the educational foundation he would need for his ministry. Raised a Catholic,
Latimer was a strong supporter of the old order in his early years. The one
whom critics later said had disseminated more heresies than Luther was, in his
own words, “as obstinate a papist as any was in England.”1
However, because of the testimony of Thomas Bilney (d. 1531), Latimer converted
to reform.
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Almost immediately, Latimer began disseminating reformation doctrines and condemning
the Roman Church in his sermons. Throughout his early reforming career, he devoted
himself to the restoration of preaching through the elimination of the corrupt
ecclesiastical practices that had become so prevalent in his day.
Initially, the political environment was favorable to Latimer’s preaching; however,
the adoption of “The Six Articles” in 1539 caused a shift in that climate. This
new situation resulted in Latimer’s resignation from his bishopric and a period
of eight years of silence, the last year and a half spent in the Tower of London.
However, when Henry VIII died and Edward VI took the throne, the political climate
became favorable once again, and Latimer was released from the Tower. On 1 January
1548, Latimer’s silence ended as he mounted the outdoor pulpit of Paul’s Cross
and delivered his first sermon in eight years to Edward VI and a throng of eager
listeners. Thereafter, Latimer was in high demand. Often called upon to preach
at critical moments in the history of the English church, Latimer’s prolific
preaching ministry earned him the title “Apostle to the English,” and, until
his martyrdom by Queen Mary, he preached reform.
Latimer
was a riveting preacher. Through rhetorical creativity and dynamic delivery,
all spoken in colloquial language, Latimer drew congregations into the proclamation
of the Word. On some occasions, Latimer would even employ daring communication
tricks, such as pulling a deck of cards from his garment, in order to communicate
his point. But Latimer’s success was only partially due to his effective delivery.
More central to his success was his homiletic, which placed emphasis upon the
person of the preacher, the content of preaching, and one particular aim in
preaching.