The Consolations of God: Great Sermons of Phillips Brooks

by Phillips Brooks

Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), best known today as the author of the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem," has been called the greatest American preacher of the nineteenth century. Yet his magnificent sermons, which brought standing-room-only crowds to Trinity Church in Boston, have long been out of print. "The Consolations of God" gathers twelve of Brooks's best sermons, allowing a new generation of readers to be touched by the man who, says Peter Gomes in the book's foreword, "was always destined to be our contemporary." As exemplified by the volume's title sermon, Brooks's messages are illuminating expressions of faith that still retain a robust relevance for Christian life and spirituality.

Genres: Christianity

152 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835 – January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts, and particularly remembered as lyricist of the Christmas hymn, "O Little Town of Bethlehem".

In the Episcopal liturgical calendar he is remembered on January 23.

Born in Boston, Brooks was descended through his father, William Gray Brooks, from the Rev. John Cotton; through his mother, Mary Ann Phillips, he was a great-grandson of Samuel Phillips, Jr., founder of Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts). Three of Brooks' five brothers – Frederic, Arthur and John Cotton – were eventually ordained in the Episcopal Church.

In 1877 Brooks published a course of lectures upon preaching, which he had delivered at the theological school of Yale University, and which are an expression of his own experience. In 1879 appeared the Bohlen Lectures on The Influence of Jesus. In 1878 he published his first volume of sermons, and from time to time issued other volumes, including Sermons Preached in English Churches (1883) and "The Candle of the Lord" and Other Sermons (1895).

Brooks also introduced Helen Keller to Christianity and to Anne Sullivan.

Reviews

[David Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. The Secret of the Lord, Psalm 25:14 | Excellent message. Clear outline. Brooks' remarks about election (page 6-7) indicate that he does not appear to be a Calvinist.
2. The First Sunday in Advent, Ephesians 4:13 | A masterpiece! Preach during December. Don't miss the Gospel at the end of the message - "Jesus is more than a patter, but power." Otherwise the message will be reduced to a moralistic you-gotta-do-better sermon.
3. The Egyptians Dead upon the Seashore, Exodus 14:30 | Brooks uses the Crossing of the Red Sea as a parable of defeating the slavery in our lives (ultimately sin). We will never defeat the "Masters" fin our lives until we cross over to new territory (salvation) to begin the journey to the Promised Land.
4. The Man of Macedonia, Acts 16:9 | God gives all of us dreams to go...often to people and places who do not know us or want the Gospel message we have to offer. Brooks does a masterful job of calling his listener to God. Another masterful message.
5.The Withheld Completions of Life, John 13:37 | A very comforting and inspiring pastoral message.
6. A Whitsunday Sermon, Acts 14:2 | An excellent "Pentecost/Whitsunday" message.
o No matter how you explain being “filled with the Holy Spirit” you must not take the mystery
out of Christianity. Is Christianity based on empirical evidence and truth? Absolutely! But
true Christianity is not a sterile lifestyle guided by dry, codified statements of faith (they have
their place), Christianity is a living faith endued so by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit
in the individual Christian’s life.
7.The Consolations of God, Job 15:11 | A pastoral sermon that invites the listener to take a journey, with each point (four points) building on the other until Brooks arrives to the Gospel. An excellent sermon.
8. The Need of Self-Respect, Ezekiel 2:1 | For the one who is prostrate before God in humility (a good thing), the ultimate goal of God is for you to get back up on your feet and to walk away a changed and better man or woman.
9. The Nearness of God, Acts 17:27 | An excellent application of this text.
10. The Seriousness of Life, Exodus 20:19 | I am not sure if placing this sermon and the previous sermon together was intentional but they certainly go together. Another excellent application of the text.
11. The Transfiguration of Christ, Mark 9:5-6 | Masterfully done. This sermon brought home to me the horrible tragedy of the Fall. Like the line of the Switchfoot song, "Meant to Live" - We were meant to live for so much more.
12. The Tree of Life, Genesis 3:24 | A fit way to end a book of sermons - Three trees: The Tree in the Garden (the fall); Calvary (redemption); The Tree of Life (eternal life).

[Paul Dubuc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of sermons which are as relevant today as when they were preached and published in the latter part of the 19th century. I came across this book from a recommendation in one of Dallas Willard's books and I can see why he valued it for its keen insights into our spiritual formation. Yet this has apparently not been a very popular selling book since it's now out of print and there are those trying to sell it on Amazon.com for hundreds of dollars. I was happy to get a copy at a much more reasonable price.

The language of these sermons can be difficult to follow for modern readers but the higher demands made on our powers of concentration pays off I think. I think most readers will have a hard time getting past the use of the male pronoun in the generic sense which was very common in that day and not so long ago today.