This thesis aims to portray the theology and practice of preaching in the ministry of one of the most prominent Evangelical ministers in the Church of Scotland in the eighteenth century, Dr John Erskine (1721-1803). There will first of all be a survey of Erskine's role and stature in the Church of Scotland of the eighteenth century and of his image in contemporary and subsequent literature. We will then proceed to a general survey of the history of preaching in the Christian Church until the eighteenth century to grasp how it was understood and practised and to set the subject of this thesis in its wider historical context. This will be followed by a focus on the history of Scottish preaching in particular. This is to gain some understanding of Erskine's place in the history of preaching and some of the influences which may have shaped his preaching. There will then be an examination of the elements of the preaching event as understood by Erskine: the synergy of preacher, the congregation and the Holy Spirit working through the proclaimed Word. Finally, there will be an examination of Erskine's homiletic practice: his preparation for the pulpit, the structure of his sermons, his contemporaneity, his theological emphasis and his delivery
