Johann Gerhard: Sämtliche Leichenpredigten

All of Gerhard’s funeral sermons which have been published as well as the sermon held for Gerhard’s funeral by his colleague in Jena, Johann Major, are included in this volume. These texts, available in a critical edition for the first time, provide examples of the many and varied rhetorical-homiletic and theological facets of an important literary genre of the early modern period and of the Lutheran »ars moriendi.« Although there has now been considerable research done on funeral sermons in the 17th century, up to now what has been missing completely is a scholarly text edition. Thanks to this edition, this has now changed. The annotation apparatus provides explanations of terms and subjects in addition to verification of the biblical and traditional material. An afterword provides an introduction to the relevance of the text in terms of the history of sermons, theology and piety. The edition also includes indexes of persons and biblical passages.