Sermons on Important Subjects

Gilbert Tennent's collection of sermons emerged from his role as one of the most influential preachers of the Great Awakening in colonial America. A Presbyterian minister trained at the Log College founded by his father William Tennent, Gilbert became known for his passionate evangelistic preaching and his willingness to challenge both unconverted clergy and complacent congregations. These sermons, gathered and published in 1758, represent the mature fruit of decades spent in revival ministry throughout the middle colonies.

The collection demonstrates Tennent's central theological conviction that true Christianity requires genuine conversion, not mere formal adherence to doctrine or church membership. His preaching cuts through religious pretense with surgical precision, examining the marks of authentic spiritual experience while warning against the dangers of presumption. Tennent argues that many who consider themselves Christians have never experienced the new birth, and he provides both diagnostic tools for self-examination and clear exposition of the gospel remedy. His sermonic method combines rigorous biblical exegesis with searching application, moving systematically from doctrinal foundation to practical implication. The emotional urgency that characterized his oral delivery translates into written prose that refuses to let readers remain comfortable in unexamined assumptions about their spiritual condition.

These sermons have endured because they address the perennial tension between nominal and vital Christianity with unusual clarity and power. Tennent's diagnostic approach to spiritual self-examination influenced generations of evangelical preaching, while his balanced treatment of both law and gospel provided a model for awakening ministry that avoided the extremes of either harsh legalism or cheap grace. Ministers seeking to understand the theological foundations of revivalist preaching will find here a sophisticated example of awakening homiletics. Christians concerned about the authenticity of their own spiritual experience, or those wrestling with the difference between cultural Christianity and genuine faith, will encounter searching but ultimately hopeful guidance. This work is not for those seeking gentle encouragement or comfort, but for readers willing to submit to rigorous spiritual examination.