Predikan som kommunikation av Evangeliet. Om C. O. Rosenii förkunnelsesätt speglat i bevarade predikoutkast från 1860-talet

• Main Author: Torbjörn Larspers
• Format: Article
• Language: Danish
• Published: NLA University College 2021-02-01
• Series: Theofilos
• Subjects: carl olof rosenius (1816–1868); preaching; ex tempore; betlehemskyrkan in stockholm; new-evangelism; rang-dahlbergska historicasamlingen; sermon outlines
• Online Access: https://theofilos.no/issues/theofilos-2020-2-3/predikan-som-kommunikation-av-evangeliet-om-c-o-rosenii-forkunnelsesatt-speglat-i-bevarade-predikoutkast-fran-1860-talet/
• ISSN: 1893-7969; 2703-7037

Carl Olof Rosenius (1816–1868) was one of Sweden’s most widely heard and highly esteemed preachers in his time. Many of his sermons were later printed in the magazine Pietisten and were spread in various reprints and editions. Most people who were influenced by Rosenius met his preaching and teaching through his printed words, but what was it like to hear Rosenius himself preach? How did his spoken words impress his contemporary listeners? To read an outlined, revised and printed sermon afterwards and to listen to it the moment it was delivered are two different things. In the written sermon the reader is not able to hear the preacher’s emphases, pauses, stresses etc. Readers don’t feel the pulse of the moment. Do we know the way in which Rosenius gave his sermons and the impression they made on his contemporary listeners? Since Rosenius has not been recorded we have to rely on various written sources giving at least glimpses of his sermon delivery. Some of these sources consist of eyewitness accounts of those who heard him preach and Rosenius’ own written remarks about his preaching. But there are also some sermon outlines on which he based his preaching. These outlines are kept in the archives of the Swedish Evangelical Mission, Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen (EFS) (1856-), one of the institutions Rosenius helped establish, but they have been used very little by previous research. What can the study of these preserved sermon outlines tell us of Rosenius’ preaching method? Do they tell us more about his preparing and preaching?