As One Without Authority

Preachers for years had been drilled in relaying an authoritarian three thesis points taken from the biblical text and then encouraged to finish off the oration with a poem/ hymn/ story as illustration. Craddock completely turned the sermon "event" on its head. It now seemed the whole sermon was story, with a quick thesis summary "gotcha" at the end. By the use of "induction," that is reflecting upon life, experience and the daily grind, as opposed to "deduction" -- "Thus saith, the Lord!" Craddock single-handedly reinvented the homiletical wheel. This is the book that started it all in the early 1970's. While not without some minor flaws--who among us can do anything like Craddock can? Still one of those groundbreaking, epoch making books after all of these years. We're still indebted to Craddock even now for inspiring us to think about the sermon in a different light.

Fred Craddock, one of the great preachers of the past 50 years, is famous for his inductive style of preaching. Instead of the rigid, deductive, traditional three-point sermon, this book lays the groundwork for a natural, narrative style that involves the congregation, and takes seriously their ability to draw their own conclusions, thereby "finishing" the sermon themselves. I actually read an older edition (the 3rd edition) than what is available now, so I don't know if any of it was revised, but what I read seemed heavily weighted toward the theoretical. (For the practical, that's apparently covered in Craddock's textbook "Preaching", which I own and will be reading soon.) Inductive preaching is not easy. It takes hard work, and even with that, can anyone do it as well the master (speaking of Fred, not Jesus here!!)? Of course, being a proponent of a certain approach means that it sometimes comes off as the only approach worth taking, which isn't necessarily true. At the church I attend, the pastor preaches a deductive, topical style sermon with points and subdivisions, even handing out an outline with blanks in it for the congregation to fill in, and the people like it that way. I wish, just once, he'd attempt an inductive sermon! Fred Craddock could tell him how.

Fred B. Craddock is one consumate preacher of the Gospel and one committed student of the Gospels. Whenever one of his students in the quarterly Monday Morning class at the Cherrylog Christian Church asks about his style, Dr. Craddock says, "I am known as a narrative preacher, but that's not the whole story..." He often follows that with his own definition of "narrative preacher." For every Monday there are invitations sent to regulars and there will be 30-40 present for the 3 hour session and lunch. His chosen topic usually comes around to his humorous approach into using "inductive methods" and results of opening-up the text into the context of everyday life experiences. When he has come to the point of his lecture for questions, they are asked from every table in the room--often from the mouths of the feminine half of students. His comments and stories are like the gems and jewels from an unopened treasure chest. His creatively authentic and textually authoritative suggestions are received gladly and gratefully. This reprinted treasure becomes a continuing example and stable ingredient for all students of preaching. It is the composite we needed and hoped for, out of his lengthy practice of preaching the Gospel. His footnotes are more numerous than any of his commentaries, such as Luke. He has maintained original footnotes of sources that go back to Thomas de Quincey of 1882. They also include Barth, Bonhoeffer, Bultmann, Ebeling, Max Picard, Alfred North Whitehead, even Igor Stravinsky. What a Scholar! No wonder his teaching has changed the face of preaching! Nobody worth their salt as preacher/teacher should be without! Fred W Hood, Retired Chaplain, Fayetteville, GA (USA)