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We all know that written literature was preceded by oral literature – folk poetry. With Christianity, sermons also became part of it. The apostles were the first carriers of the oldest forms of public speaking – sermons. Sermons are also some of the oldest forms of written literature, says Professor Emeritus of the Tallinn University Institute of Humanities Rein Veidemann.

The Church of the Holy Ghost in Tallinn, in which I stand, can be regarded as the birthplace of Estonian literature. Georg Müller, an Estonian-born deacon and a successor of chronicler Balthasar Russow, held his sermons here in 1600-1607. The manuscripts for his 39 sermons were discovered in 1884, and they have since been an integral part of Estonian literary heritage.

Why does a sermon become literature, once we write it down? Foremost, a sermon is missive, like all literature. A sermon is a special kind of message, defined by the Greek word kerygma, which describes that the evangelist rises to the pulpit to deliver it. This emphasises the position of the preacher as the middle man between the congregation and the powers above.

The second factor to show that sermons and literature are similar, is the use of metaphors and allegories. Georg Müller’s sermons show very colourful and powerful word use. Many of us have read the sermons of Toomas Paul, which are known for their willpower and poetical wording.

Literatures and sermons are also similar as the forward stories, which we accept without questioning the truth in them. Literary truth and real life are often quite different.

As literature is divided into genres, sermons could be called “soul-care literature”. Sermons are written by pastors, which translates to “shepherd”, but the main character in the sermons is a higher spirit, and what and how touches the human soul.

During the 20^th century, more than 200 collections of sermons were printed in Estonia. This is a sacred periphery in Estonian literary history.