Thinking In Story: Preaching in a Post-Literate Age

by Richard A. Jensen

We are living on the boundary between the print and electronic era. Richard A. Jensen says that as we move into the electronic world, we must seriously rethink most of what we do. This book calls us to reinvestigate preaching in our time.

Well-grounded in an understanding of communication cultures, this book is a rare gift. In theory and practice, Jensen helps preachers rethink what they are doing and offers a strategy for effective communication in an electronic era.
Richard L. Thulin, Th.D.
Dean and Professor of Preaching
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Jensen's ""thinking in story"" thesis provides a scholarly, logical rationale for why it both ""feels"" and ""is"" so right; Jensen applies his ""thinking in story"" concept to biblical material as well. His approach helps us to see individual texts/stories in light of the larger biblical story, which opens up many new avenues for preaching.
Thomas Rogers
Assistant Professor of Homiletics
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary Berkeley, California

These are solid prescriptions for our media-saturated times, calling for a shift in our very approach to proclamation. Jensen is quite right in this goal, that preaching needs to compel participation in the narratives of scripture, not merely an understanding of them.
James Nieman
Assistant Professor of Homiletics
Wartburg Theological Seminary
Dubuque, Iowa

Richard A. Jensen is a trained systematic theologian, having taught these subjects at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1971-1981. He is author of Telling The Story . Since 1982 he has served in the communication department of the American Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He produces the weekly radio program ""Lutheran Vespers,"" and several series of television programs.

145 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kendall Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Jensen's book has a few helpful nuggets and perspective on narrative and preaching, the argument overall is ruined by Jensen's poorly researched and poorly executed ideas. Most notably, Jensen's account of literate and oral culture is an absolute mess. He tries to found these distinctions on utterly absurd linguistic premises. For example, the ancient Jews tell so many stories in the OT because their writing system doesn't encode vowels. Jensen is right to recognize a difference in culture and communication dynamics, but he both oversells this difference and provides overly rigid suggestions of what constitutes communication in oral/post-literate culture. Jensen's theology and exposition of the scriptures is a mess. He sloppily applies a crude Fordean version of Law and Gospel to the task of preaching. Finally, several of the sermons Jensen includes were not terribly impressive and didn't seem to put into practice the ideas he was talking about very well. Perhaps these sermon are too dates at this point, but most of them didn't work for me.

I do appreciate Jensen's emphasis on story as a manner of thinking rather than merely a method of developing or illustrating ideas.

[Miguel Gonzalez-Feliciano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this work will likely not appeal to those who don't already agree with Jensen. Much of his background work towards creating a foundation for thinking and story, it comes from an odd presupposition based on the differences between the Hebrew alphabet and the Greek alphabet, which I find less than convincing.

However, when it comes to his view towards storytelling, preaching, and orality I find Jensen to be largely helpful. Towards the end of his work, he does a good job in laying down the foundation that storytelling does not replace hard theological work. This charge is one that I've heard often as I talk about narrative preaching.

Too often, those who are very logical thinkers approach narrative preaching as if it is a cheap substitute for well thought out and reasoned sermons. Similarly, the statement comes from ill-informed supporters that narrative sermons are simply a way of entertainment to keep the congregation's attention. Jensen does a good job in refuting both of these claims towards the end of his work.

If you are a pastor looking for a resource that will point you towards other works that will be helpful in formulating narrative sermons, this work is a quick read and easy for you in a busy schedule. I would skip the sermons personally, as I don't think they were actually helpful. In this regard, I would say Jensen has a really good theory but does not display the best execution in his own work.

[Ted Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful new way of thinking about preaching tuned into McLuhan and Babin...Stereo catechesis.

[Dave Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book began with a history of communication and theory. Most of this was a good review. However, the gold in this book is found in the sermons which provide examples for presenting God's Word in an engaging manner.