De arte praedicatoria

He saw Jacob's ladder, reaching from earth to heaven, by which angels ascended and descended.¹ The ladder is the advancement of a catholic man, which is built up from the beginning of faith to the perfection of the complete man.

On this ladder the first step is confession; the second, prayer; the third, thanksgiving; the fourth, examination of the Scriptures; the fifth, if any doubt arises in Scripture, inquiry from someone greater; the sixth, exposition of Scripture; the seventh, preaching.

A man doing penance for sin, therefore, must first plant his foot on the first step of this ladder by confessing his sin; second, ascend the second step by praying to the Lord that grace be granted to him. The third step is ascended through the giving of thanks for the grace bestowed. The ascent to the fourth step is made through the examination of Scripture, in order to preserve the grace that has been given, for sacred Scripture teaches how the grace bestowed may be preserved. Next comes the fifth step, when a doubt arises and the reader seeks understanding from someone greater. The sixth step is ascended when the reader expounds sacred Scripture to others. He ascends the seventh step when he openly preaches what he has learned from Scripture.

But since various authors have proposed various treatises about the other steps, how and when one ought to ascend through them, while concerning preaching itself, what sort it ought to be, of whom, and to whom it should be proposed, and about what, and how, and when, and where, since few things have been said on this at present, we have thought it worthwhile to compose some treatise on these matters, for the benefit of our neighbors.

First, then, it must be seen what preaching is, and what sort it ought to be as regards the surface of the words and the weight of the meanings, and how many kinds of it there are; second, of whom preaching ought to be; third, to whom it should be proposed; fourth, why; fifth, where.