Apostil orpostill (Latin:postilla;German:Postille) was originally a term forBible commentaries. It is derived from theLatinpost illa verba textus ("after these words from Scripture"),[1] referring to biblical readings. The word first occurs in the chronicle (with reference to examples of 1228 and 1238) ofNicolas Trivetus, but later it came to mean onlyhomiletic exposition, and thus became synonymous with thehomily in distinction from the thematic sermon. Finally, after the middle of the fourteenth century, it was applied to an annual cycle of homilies.[2]
From the time ofMartin Luther, who published the first part of his postil under the titleEnarrationes epistolarum et evangeliorum quas postillas vocant (Wittenberg, 1521), every annual cycle of sermons on the lessons, whether consisting of homilies or formal sermons, is termed apostil. A few of the most famousLutheran postils are those of M. Luther (Kirchenpostille, Wittenberg, 1527;Hauspostille, 1542, 1549),P. Melanchthon (Evangelien-Postille, Germ., Nuremberg, 1549; Lat., Hanover, 1594),M. Chemnitz (Evangelien-Postille, Magdeburg, 1594),L. Osiander (Bauern-Postille, Tübingen, 1597), andJ. Arndt (Evangelien-Postille, Leipzig, 1616).[2]
By 1530 postils were commonly used in Catholic preaching, at least in Germany.[3] The two (in Latin) byThomas Stapleton proved popular.[4] Frymire has tabulated the development from 1520 (Catholic and Lutheran).[5]
The termpostil fell into disuse during the period ofPietism and theEnlightenment, but was revived byClaus Harms (Winter-Postille, Kiel, 1812;Sommer-Postille, 1815). It has again become common throughW. Löhe (Evangelien-Postille, Frommel 1848;Epistel-Postille, 1858), and M. Stuttgart (Herzpostille, Bremen, 1882, 1890;Hauspostille, 1887–88;Pilgerpostille, 1890).[2]
Reformed Churches, which disregard a regular series of lessons, have no postils; in theRoman Catholic Church the term has been kept, especially throughLeonard Goffiné (Hand-Postill oder christ-catholische Unterrichtungen von allen Sonn- and Feyr-Tagen des gantzen Jahrs (Mainz, 1690; popular, illustrated ed., reissued twenty-one times by H. Herder, Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1875–1908; Eng. transl., T. Noethen, New York, n.d.).[2]
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This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "Postil".New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.