ABSTRACT
Phillips Brooks is considered one of the greatest preachers in American church history. One commentator notes in late Victorian Boston, the brightest star in a galaxy of shining homiletical stars was Phillips Brooks of Trinity Church. Brooks was very unhappy at Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in Alexandria, Virginia. Much of the moralism in Brooks preaching was drawn from Romantic literature and Romanticized evangelicals. Harp notes that Brooks's critique of dogmatic systems naturally led to a new emphasis on moral behaviour over and above right belief. The following short topical presentations are representative of Brooks's social teaching, but certainly not exhaustive of his many themes. Brooks tended to look past denominational differences to focus on conversion and salvation in Christ. Brooks states physical cowardice is rarer than people think, noting the physical courage that is often seen in times such as war or shipwreck. Brooks emphasizes the eschatological end is not separate from the fulfillment of humanity in Christ.
