Homily (Gr. homilia) primarily signifies a discourse held with one or more individuals, but in ecclesiastical use it means a discourse held in the church. The practice of explaining in a popular form the lessons of Scripture read in the synagogues had prevailed among the Jews, and appears to have been adopted in the Christian churches from the earliest times; but we have no sample of this form of composition earlier than the homilies of Origen in the 3d century. The early Christian homily may be described as a popular exposition of a portion of Scripture, accompanied by moral reflections and exhortations. It differs from the sermon (Gr. logos, Lat. oratio) in following the order of the scriptural text or narrative, instead of being thrown into the form of a rhetorical discourse or a didactic essay. The name homily is, however, very frequently used almost as a synonym for sermon; and Homiletics is that branch of theology which deals with the rules for composing sermons and discourses of any kind, sometimes called 'sacred rhetoric.' Ancient collections of homilies or homiliaria are very numerous; the most notable being that compiled about 782 by Paulus Diaconus, under Charlemagne's authority.
The Homilies of the Church of England are a collection of sermons, the first part of which was published in 1547, the first year of the reign of Edward VI., to be read in the churches, partly in order to supply the defect of sermons, but partly, also, to secure uniformity of doctrine, and to guard against the heterodoxies, old and new, which at that time threatened the unconsolidated church. The second part was published in 1562, at the same time with the Articles, under Elizabeth. The 35th Article declares that 'the Book of Homilies doth contain a godly and wholesome doctrine, and necessary for these times.' The titles are enumerated in the article, and are twenty-one in number. The homilies are not now read in churches; but there is no law to prevent their being so read, and they are frequently appealed to in controversies as to the doctrine of the Anglican Church on the points of which they treat. The precise degree of authority due to them is matter of doubt.