A postil or postill ( la, postilla; german: Postille) was originally a term for

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

commentaries. It is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''post illa verba textus'' ("after these words from Scripture"), referring to biblical readings. The word first occurs in the chronicle (with reference to examples of 1228 and 1238) of Nicolas Trivetus, but later it came to mean only

homiletic In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...

exposition, and thus became synonymous with the

homily A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...

in distinction from the thematic sermon. Finally, after the middle of the fourteenth century, it was applied to an annual cycle of homilies.

Early Lutheran postils

From the time of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

, who published the first part of his postil under the title ''Enarrationes epistolarum et evangeliorum quas postillas vocant'' (Wittenberg, 1521), every annual cycle of sermons on the lessons, whether consisting of homilies or formal sermons, is termed a ''postil''. A few of the most famous

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

postils are those of M. Luther (''Kirchenpostille'', Wittenberg, 1527; ''Hauspostille'', 1542, 1549), P. Melanchthon (''Evangelien-Postille'', Germ., Nuremberg, 1549; Lat., Hanover, 1594), M. Chemnitz (''Evangelien-Postille'', Magdeburg, 1594), L. Osiander (''Bauern-Postille'', Tübingen, 1597), and J. Arndt (''Evangelien-Postille'', Leipzig, 1616).

Catholic postils

By 1530 postils were commonly used in Catholic preaching, at least in Germany. The two (in Latin) by Thomas Stapleton proved popular. Frymire has tabulated the development from 1520 (Catholic and Lutheran).

Later postils

The term postil fell into disuse during the period of

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy and ...

and the Enlightenment, but was revived by

Claus Harms Claus Harms (25 May 1778 in Fahrstedt – 1 February 1855 in Kiel) was a German clergyman and theologian. Life Harms was born at Fahrstedt in Schleswig, and in his youth worked in his father's mill. At the University of Kiel he repudiated ...

(''Winter-Postille'', Kiel, 1812; ''Sommer-Postille'', 1815). It has again become common through W. Löhe (''Evangelien-Postille'', Frommel 1848; ''Epistel-Postille'', 1858), and M. Stuttgart (''Herzpostille'', Bremen, 1882, 1890; ''Hauspostille'', 1887–88; ''Pilgerpostille'', 1890).

Reformed Churches Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...

, which disregard a regular series of lessons, have no postils; in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

the term has been kept, especially through

Leonard Goffiné Leonard Goffiné (6 December 1648 – 11 August 1719) was a German Catholic priest who wrote devotional texts which remained influential in his country for two centuries afterwards. Born in Cologne, or according to some, Broich, at the age of ...

(''Hand-Postill oder christ-catholische Unterrichtungen von allen Sonn- and Feyr-Tagen des gantzen Jahrs'' (Mainz, 1690; popular, illustrated ed., reissued twenty-one times by H. Herder, Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1875–1908; Eng. transl., T. Noethen, New York, n.d.).

Notes

References

* * ;Attribution * {{Lutheran Divine Service History of Lutheranism Homiletics

Early Lutheran postils

Catholic postils

Later postils

See also

Notes

References