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1. SEBTS Adams Lecture - Clyde E. Fant, Jr. February 11, 1981

Description:
Clyde E. Fant, Jr. was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richardson, TX. The service begins with organ music (00:00-04:41). The speaker reads from Romans 1:16-17, and he gives a word of prayer (04:42-05:55). Clyde E. Fant, Jr. is introduced as the Adams Lecturer (05:56-07:59). The choir sings a song of worship (08:00-11:41). Fant’s lecture is entitled “Reformers, The Sermon and Sacrament,” and he begins by telling a funny story that illustrates the struggle of preachers to find wings for their words (11:42-18:03). Fant examines the sermons of proto-reformers John Wycliff and Girolamo Savonarola, and he says that both figures went against the preaching of their time because their preaching was tethered to biblical doctrine and in contrast to culture (18:04-32:19). Fant briefly criticizes the church for embracing preaching that is not in contrast with culture (32:20-37:28). Fant examines the theology of preaching of the Protestant Reformer’s Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and Ulrich Zwingli, and he says that these reformers revived the sacrament of the word by bring back its simple and Christ-centric nature (37:29-46:33). Fant concludes his sermon by examining the French Court preacher Jean-Baptiste Massillon of the Post-Reformation Era as a prime example of preaching for God’s glory rather than earthly flatter (46:34-55:56). The service ends with a benediction (55:57-56:23).
Subject:
Jesus Christ--Name--Sermons, Reformation, Sacraments, and Preaching
Creator:
Fant, Clyde E. and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Owner:
archives@sebts.edu
Location:
Wake Forest (N.C.)
Language:
English
Date Uploaded:
02/12/2026
Date Modified:
02/13/2026
Date Created:
1981-02-11
Resource Type:
Text and Audio
Identifier:
SEBTS_Adams_Lecture_Clyde_E_Fant_Jr_1981-02-11

2. SEBTS Adams Lecture - Clyde E. Fant, Jr. February 13, 1981

Description:
Clyde E. Fant, Jr. was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richardson, TX. The service begins with organ music (00:00-04:45). The speaker gives a word of prayer (04:46-06:24). Clyde E. Fant, Jr. is introduced as the Adams Lecturer (06:25-07:53). The choir sings a song of worship (07:54-12:00). Fant’s lecture is entitled “The Pulpit Today, Voices in the Wilderness and Echoes,” and he begins by saying the American preaching has been mainly inspired by the Puritans and American oratory style (12:01-14:09). Fant speaks about what brought the downfall of the Puritans, and he believes it was their legalism (14:10-22:33). Fant then moves to American oratory style, and he argues that its flaw is a lack of a prophetic voice and a countercultural message (22:34-38:16). Fant then describes what made good preaching of the past, and he says it was made people who took Scripture seriously, cared about piety, cared about the redemption of humanity, and took part in countercultural communication (38:17-48:52). Fant concludes his lecture by describing the echoers of good preaching who cared about a good performance and pleasing people over a good presentation of the gospel (48:53-58:24). The service ends with a word of thanks for Fant and a benediction (58:25-59:58).
Subject:
Preaching, Oratory--United States, and Puritans
Creator:
Fant, Clyde E. and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Owner:
archives@sebts.edu
Location:
Wake Forest (N.C.)
Language:
English
Date Uploaded:
02/12/2026
Date Modified:
02/13/2026
Date Created:
1981-02-13
Resource Type:
Text and Audio
Identifier:
SEBTS_Adams_Lecture_Clyde_E_Fant_Jr_1981-02-13

3. SEBTS Adams Lecture - Clyde E. Fant, Jr. February 12, 1981

Description:
Clyde E. Fant, Jr. was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richardson, TX. The service begins with organ music (00:00-04:41). The speaker gives a word of prayer (04:42-05:25). Clyde E. Fant, Jr. is introduced as the Adams Lecturer (05:26-08:18). The choir sings a song of worship (08:19-10:11). Fant’s lecture is entitled “The American Pulpit, Another Victim of Recent Bad History,” and he begins with Richard Baxter and John Bunyan of the Puritan tradition whose preaching were characterized as lively and personable yet legalistic and rigid (10:12-18:40). Fant moves to the Great Awakeners, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, and Timothy Dwight, and he says that their preaching was defined by great flair, utilitarianism, and sometimes exploitation (18:41-33:08). Fant then examines many 19th century preachers who transformed the sermon into printed form for popular consumption, but they fell to the elegance of print (33:09-40:42). Fant concludes with the recent bad history of American preaching, and he says that preaching in modern America suffers from legalistic moralizing, which he calls the Massachusetts Bay Error (40:43-51:17). The service ends with a word of prayer (51:18-51:53).
Subject:
Preaching, Great Awakening, and Puritan movements
Creator:
Fant, Clyde E. and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Owner:
archives@sebts.edu
Location:
Wake Forest (N.C.)
Language:
English
Date Uploaded:
02/12/2026
Date Modified:
02/13/2026
Date Created:
1981-02-12
Resource Type:
Text and Audio
Identifier:
SEBTS_Adams_Lecture_Clyde_E_Fant_Jr_1981-02-12

4. SEBTS Adams Lecture - Clyde E. Fant, Jr. February 10, 1981

Description:
Clyde E. Fant, Jr. was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richardson, TX. The service begins with organ music (0:00:00-0:03:43). President Randall Lolley gives a word of prayer (0:03:44-0:06:23). Lolley gives a word of remembrance for Theodore F. Adams, and Clyde E. Fant, Jr, is introduced as the Adams Lecturer (0:06:24-0:13:48). The choir sings a song of worship (0:13:49-0:19:11). Fant begins his lecture by giving two stories about preaching, and he gives two lessons: we are products of forces we often do not recognize, and to learn what something ought to be, we first need to learn what it ought not to be (0:19:12-0:27:03). Fant traces the history of preaching starting with John the Baptist and ending with Origen, John Chrysostom, and Augustine, and he believes these preaching never lost sight of the importance of God’s voice even though the culture had a heavy influence on their preaching (0:27:04-0:49:05). Fant criticizes the scholastic preachers such as Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis of Assisi who were bogged down by allegorical interpretation and philosophical preaching, and he believes Southern Baptists are falling into the problems of worldly and legalistic preaching that is similar to dry scholasticism (0:49:06-1:01:41). Lolley ends the service with a Scripture reading from Job and a word of prayer (1:01:42-1:02:37).
Subject:
Preaching, Fathers of the church, and Scholasticism
Creator:
Fant, Clyde E. and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Owner:
archives@sebts.edu
Location:
Wake Forest (N.C.)
Language:
English
Date Uploaded:
02/12/2026
Date Modified:
02/13/2026
Date Created:
1981-02-10
Resource Type:
Text and Audio
Identifier:
SEBTS_Adams_Lecture_Clyde_E_Fant_Jr_1981-02-10