What Gives Preaching Its Power? Heralding Reality with Thomas Chalmers

“The expulsive power of a new affection.” These words are the title of a sermon. It might seem to have several strikes against it.The first strike is the title itself — not one that would pass muster in many congregations today. The second is that it was preached two hundred years ago (toward the close of 1819, to be more precise). Third, it was preached by a man with a pronounced Fife accent (Scottish accents are very varied and sometimes “thick,” as this one was). Fourth, the preacher read the