Hortatory

Hortatory: Adding the prefix ex- to hortatory yields its synonym: exhortatory. Both words share a common etymology and mean to urge, encourage, incite, drive to action. Most form of exhort (exhortative, exhortation) have analogous forms without the ex- prefix, except exhort itself. These words do not share their etymology with horticulture.

Johnson, who read extensively in religion, called William Law's recently published book "the finest piece of hortatory theology in any language."

A Book for Today: Samuel Johnson by Jeffrey Meyers