Andreas Hyperius

[3] His work De formandis concionibus sacris (On the Making of Sacred Discourses) was the first Protestant text solely devoted to systematic homiletics, that is, to preaching considered as a branch of rhetoric.

[6] In his overall approach, Hyperius sought a firm basis in the Bible, rigidly, and held that before practical theology can be put in force, it must be made a part of systematic theological study, and must not be taught fragmentarily.

[7] His English translator, John Ludham (vicar of Wethersfield, Essex, 1570–1613),[8] published the De formandis as The Practise of Preaching, otherwise called the Pathway to the Pulpet (London 1577).

[9] Ludham went on to translate Hyperius's posthumously published De Sacrae Scripturae lectione ac meditatione quotidiana (Basle, 1569) as The Course of Christianity: or, as touching the dayly reading and meditation of the holy Scriptures (London 1579):[10] he then turned to the homilies of Rudolf Gwalther on the prophet Joel (London 1582)[11] before returning to Hyperius for A Speciall Treatise of Gods Providence (c. 1588), which included an exposition upon Psalm 107.

[12] Dietrich Bonhoeffer emphasised the role Hyperius had played in early Protestantism.