Homiletics

I needed something to get me out of the rut of thinking of homiletics as some sort of Sunday catechism class for adults, and Barth did it! He reviews the thinking of several other great theologians concerning homiletics, then he lays a very articulate, compassionate and encompassing theology of homiletics from his own experience. Those who are trying to find a source for the ABC's of writing a homily, however, should be aware that although there is a brief section on this, on the whole, this book is more about the thinking behind homiletics overall rather than a primer on writing homilies.

I am not a pastor, nor do I feel "the call," (yet) but this book is one of the only ones that make me want to preach! Why? Not becuase I think I can put out a whiz-bang, knock-their-socks-off sermon, nor because Barth's book gave me some good ideas to preach on, but because Barth portrays sermons to be a truly theological task - not something most preachers I hear these days believe, nor would agree with. "Theology is sermon preparation..." This is one of the quotes in this book that essentially showed me that preaching CAN be redeemed, if only more people would read it. Preaching is expounding the Word of God to the Church...pure and simple. It is not meant to evoke a psychological response (though it may) and it is not about the preacher's own experience. The preacher is one with humility before God whose lips merely mumble in response to reading the Bible. Listen preachers: read this and Charles Campbell's book "Preaching Jesus" and your sermons will be world changing; better put, the world of the bible will change the world of your listeners through your sermons. Read and Enjoy!

A great book for a lay person to read who is trying to get a handle on how sermons work. Actually a book for the about-to-be-preacher, Karl Barth provides parameters to the form, function and contents of sermons from the perspective of his own theology. For Barth, the best sermon is part of the liturgy - not an aside - serving sacramentally to join the congregation in communion with God's word. If you are tring to determine what distinguishes a good speaker from a good preacher, Barth may provide some guidleines you find useful.