Metadata
Title
Gilbert Tennent sermons 65, "Sermo Valedictoria" (Farewell sermon), 1745
Date
1745
Digital Identifier
PHS.TennentSermons065
Description
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening.
Tennent delivered this farewell sermon in 1745, before leaving New Brunswick for Philadelphia. He begins the sermon by referencing Acts 20:31-32, "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified."
Tennent delivered this farewell sermon in 1745, before leaving New Brunswick for Philadelphia. He begins the sermon by referencing Acts 20:31-32, "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified."
Subject
Place
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Congregation
Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Holding Institution
Presbyterian Historical Society
Extent
33 pages
Format (Digital)
tiff
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Language
eng
Type
Text
Abstract
Sermo valedictorio (Farewell Sermon) According to the Metadata page Rev. Tennent delivered this farewell sermon in 1745, before leaving New Brunswick, N.J. for Philadelphia.
Transcribers remarks:
There may well be a farewell sermon to New Brunswick N.J. somewhere in the sermons yet to be transcribed but this sermon seems to be a draft of the one numbered 136, in which Rev. Tennent bids farewell to his 2nd Presbyterian Church congregation before his departure by ship for an overseas stay.
In Nov. of 1753 he voyaged to Britain to canvass for funds for the College of New Jersey, established as a theological school in 1746. In Sermon 65 as again in no. 136, he mentions having labored already 3 times 3 years (and one year more) beyond the three years that Paul spent in Ephesus. In the draft he mentioned that doors were being shut against his progress. Weary of 3rd and Arch? He bids farewell to his hearers as tho he might never see them again on this earth, understandable when anticipating a sea voyage. I'm thinking that somehow no. 65, a draft of his farewell sermon of 1753, got placed beneath a title page for the earlier New Brunswick presentation. (I hope the text for the New Brunswick farewell turns up.)
In both the actual texts of sermons 65 and 136,
he seems to speak with a different voice, sometimes less fluently given the many textual changes, but more openly and urgently. Text of 65 contains many inserted passages and inserted pages, many deletions, sometimes of entire paragraphs, which were not obliterated but kept legible-- even where he was clearly getting something off his chest-- along with draft sentences and re-wordings on the final pages.
The text for 136 is smoother, with personal comments more tempered, but borrows from the draft, sometimes word-for-word, crosses out material for use in another place in the text, and expands considerably on supporting Rev. Tennent's arguments with evidence from the Bible and, after many urgings that his hearers repent, encourages and comforts those who are struggling to grow in their faith.
Transcribers remarks:
There may well be a farewell sermon to New Brunswick N.J. somewhere in the sermons yet to be transcribed but this sermon seems to be a draft of the one numbered 136, in which Rev. Tennent bids farewell to his 2nd Presbyterian Church congregation before his departure by ship for an overseas stay.
In Nov. of 1753 he voyaged to Britain to canvass for funds for the College of New Jersey, established as a theological school in 1746. In Sermon 65 as again in no. 136, he mentions having labored already 3 times 3 years (and one year more) beyond the three years that Paul spent in Ephesus. In the draft he mentioned that doors were being shut against his progress. Weary of 3rd and Arch? He bids farewell to his hearers as tho he might never see them again on this earth, understandable when anticipating a sea voyage. I'm thinking that somehow no. 65, a draft of his farewell sermon of 1753, got placed beneath a title page for the earlier New Brunswick presentation. (I hope the text for the New Brunswick farewell turns up.)
In both the actual texts of sermons 65 and 136,
he seems to speak with a different voice, sometimes less fluently given the many textual changes, but more openly and urgently. Text of 65 contains many inserted passages and inserted pages, many deletions, sometimes of entire paragraphs, which were not obliterated but kept legible-- even where he was clearly getting something off his chest-- along with draft sentences and re-wordings on the final pages.
The text for 136 is smoother, with personal comments more tempered, but borrows from the draft, sometimes word-for-word, crosses out material for use in another place in the text, and expands considerably on supporting Rev. Tennent's arguments with evidence from the Bible and, after many urgings that his hearers repent, encourages and comforts those who are struggling to grow in their faith.
Thumbnail
IIIF Manifest
https://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/iiif.cfm/PHS.TennentSermons065/manifest
