Reading for Preaching: The Preacher in Conversation with Storytellers, Biographers, Poets, and Journalists

by Cornelius Plantinga Jr.

Cornelius (Neal) Plantinga makes a singular claim: preachers who read fine writing will likely become deeper and defter preachers.

In his own winsome writing style, Plantinga shows how a general reading program benefits preachers. First, he says, good reading generates delight, and the preacher who enters the world of delight goes with God. Good reading can also help tune the preacher’s ear for language—his primary tool. General reading can enlarge the preacher’s sympathies for people and situations that he had previously known nothing about. And, above all, the preacher who reads widely has the chance to become wise.

Though aimed especially at preachers, this beautifully written book will benefit anyone interested in the wisdom to be derived from reading.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity, Church, Leadership

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church and has served as a pastor in Webster, NY and supply preacher in Cliffwood Beach, NJ. Before joining the faculty at Calvin Theological Seminary, Cornelius Plantinga Jr. taught at Princeton Theological Seminary (1976 - 78), Fuller Theological Seminary (1985, 1987) and Regent College (1997). From 1996 to 2002 he served as the first ever Dean of the Chapel at Calvin College. He now serves as President of the seminary and teaches systematic theology.

Reviews

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Calvin said the church sends the preacher into the Bible every week to dig up treasure and bring it back in Sunday's sermon. Plantinga doesn't want to displace the Bible but to set the preacher on course to complement and adorn its primacy by broad and attentive reading. He has good recommendations and insights.

I wanted to rate this book higher but it has some hairy flies in the ointment. One is Plantinga's egalitarianism. He wants ministers in skirts, and refers to the preacher as "her" most of the time. Given the ratio of male to female preachers, this is odd and telling. The other major fly is more due to what he doesn't say. For example, when speaking of the diversity of audiences a preacher may face, he notes "Some of the congregants believe that an agonized decision to end a pregnancy may be justified while others believe that abortion is always a form of homicide. Both groups hold their position tenaciously and each may think the other is morally tainted." "All of these Christians...progressive, conservative, pro-choice, pro-life, plus everybody with heartfelt positions on LGBT issues...." (p. 66).

The fact that you have people in church of all spectrums is true, and so the preacher must be winsome, courageous, loving, and principled. Plantinga doesn't endorse life vs. abortion, marriage vs. sodomy, but leaves the impression that reasonable and of course passionate people hold both positions. In the end, this book is about making sermons interesting with little view of making them prophetic and courageous. The order of the day is both--the truth set on fire. If we don't set the truth on fire, then ten people will hear it. But if we set grass on fire, the fire dies down quickly as the bleeding mainline denominations are demonstrating.

[Daniel Piva · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book for insights, but it is not reformed, because he accepts woman on preaching.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading books. I also love reading books about reading. This book is one part "the pleasures of reading," and one part practical homiletics. It reads like Anne Lamott writing a book about preaching. Kind of.

Plantinga sets a bar for preachers to be wide readers, shows the values of wide reading, and then even gives some practical works with which to start. And with it being so short, you can read in an afternoon and have your appetite whet for other reading.

Some quibbles aside (mainly, the distracting usage of changing the pronoun for "preacher" from masculine to feminine with each alternating chapter), this was a very excellent book that will help preachers - and Christians! - think deeply about the value of a wide reading regiment.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful inspiration

I found this book inspiring, in a good way, and it added to my “to-read” list. I especially liked the idea that such reading broadens and deepens us as persons, not just as preachers.

[Connor Longaphie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book is meh. Thought it was really weird that the guy kept going out of his way to say that the hypothetical pastor is a she just to put the point across that he believes in women's ordination when that is not in the least way revelation to this topic

[Luke Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every preacher should read this. It's speaks to my heart and also affirms what I have always believed: for every book of non fiction a preacher should read two books of fiction.

[Kelsey Grissom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every word of this book. As a bonus, the author has a profound understanding of the challenges a preacher faces, and is able to articulate them in helpful ways. First book this year that I’ve been genuinely sad to finish.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just could not get through this book. I already read a lot; I spend any hours that most people would spend on TV or other hobbies reading. Because of this, perhaps, the suggestions about reading seemed like no-brainers. There are occasional excerpts from literature that could be helpful, but I had to wade through a lot of chatty musings on the benefits of reading, none of it very specific (read poetry because the spare but powerful use of words will rub off on you, but probably don't quote it a lot in a sermon; read a variety of genres, including [xyz all the possible genres]). One section talks at length about not throwing too much at a congregation. The example is talking about shame in a sermon, and the dangers of a preacher trying to include too many interesting elements and quotations, but it's not the kind of thing that can be taught using one detailed example.

The problem here is that real readers don't need these exhortations, but non-readers probably would not be motivated to read Plantinga's book.

I suspect the problem is that Plantinga wrote the book much the same way he'd present a lecture at one of his conferences on Reading for Preaching; but it's just too conversational, all over the place without the admirable organization, forward movement, and sentence structure -- all those things that are hard to pin down but that make good writing good -- that he seems to admire so much. The conferences probably are/were a lot of fun, but again, I'm betting most people who attend a Reading for Preaching conference already read a lot and want to discuss their favorites and get some new recommendations.

And using the example of the passage on shame -- this would be great discussion material at a conference, even better if people could bring samples of their writing to critique one another -- but I couldn't see how that specific example could go very far.

I did read the introduction and first two chapters, and then I thumbed through every page, reading a paragraph or so when a heading would grab my attention, and I kept not finding anything solid that seemed helpful or particularly interesting, except maybe the fairly long excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath (the diner scene). Even the suggested reading at the end seemed too idiosyncratic to grab my attention.

Ironically, the previous two books I read -- Fools Crow by James Welch and Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry -- offered me far more solid material for my own preaching. The moral of the story for me: read a lot, but forget reading about reading. Or at least forget reading about reading for preachers, as I have thoroughly enjoyed and been inspired by several books about books.

My two favorites are probably One for the Books by Joe Queenan (my very favorite; so entertaining, interesting, and inspiring, although it left me with a reading list longer than my life-span will allow!) or Indelible Ink: 22 Prominent Christian Leaders Discuss the Books that Shaped Their Life by Scott Larsen (which includes 22 Christian leaders' recommendations in detailed essay form, and far more at the end in abbreviated list form).

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stars means, "I didn't like it." Three stars means, "I liked it." This is one of those occasions where I'm stuck somewhere between. I didn't like the concept of preaching presented in this book--a twenty-four minute sermon, full of literary illustrations and allusions, delivered by a man or a woman. I also didn't like the fact most of the examples came from fiction works.

I liked the main premise of the book: preachers who read widely will most likely become better preachers. I liked the many benefits of reading explained in this book. I liked the author's attempts to eschew the utilitarian reading-for-illustrations mindset. He wrote such things as, "Illustrations can be tricky, as we shall see, and reading expressly for them is probably not such a good idea." And, "But reading just for illustrations feels a little too much like work. It also feels as if I am missing the point of reading, just as if I read the Bible only to see what it has to say about the colors green and red. I want to be reading stories and articles for nobler reasons while an incident or insight or saying rises up from the page and begs to slip into one of my sermons."

Good points are scattered throughout this book. You may also have your interest piqued and directed to some new books for you. New reading ideas are always welcome. I don't recommend reading for illustrations, though occasionally a quote or reference might be useful. I prefer reading good works the way Tolkien envisioned it, to add duff to the forest floor of your mind.

Reading is beneficial for preachers and non-preachers as well. A reading mind is an expanding mind and a non-reading one is a shrinking mind. If you choose to read this book, read it carefully with discernment.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Cornelius Plantinga Jr., is president emeritus of Calvin Theological Seminary in Michigan and author of several works. In this brief read, Plantinga wishes to "present the advantages to the preacher of a program of general reading." (x) Plantinga's proposal is fascinating and certainly admirable. This book increased my desire to pay attention to fictional works, journalism, and poetry so as to aid my sermon crafting, since "the preacher who reads widely has a chance to become wise." (xi)

There is much to convince the reader of Plantinga's proposal: from the virtues of short fiction, illustrations, improving ones diction, retrieving wisdom, and becoming acquainted with the human condition in fictional works, 'Reading for Preaching' helps stimulate the possibilities of a pulpit ministry.

Perhaps the most powerful apologetic provided is Plantinga's own writing style which evidences deft illustrations and sketches from his own wide reading. At times I found his writing a little too flamboyant, especially if one was to craft sermons in a similar light. Nonetheless, this book has spurred me on to better my reading outside of all things strictly theological.

The book can be purchased from Goodneighbours or Amazon:

https://www.goodneighbours.org.za/sho...

https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Preach...

[John March · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well written and it's encouraging for those of us engaged in the weekly task of preaching. There isn't a lot of super insightful content here. Mostly, he is providing us with great examples of what engaging in a wide reading program will do for your preaching through shared quotes and stories in his writing. He also provides a bibliography for reading and gives great reasons/benefits for why we should read widely. I recommend it for preachers and others looking to expand their reading lists.

[Douglas Fyfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with lots of great quotes and one clear purpose - reading lots and widely is a key responsibility for any preacher. It will make you wiser and help you connect with he myriad themes of Scripture and life.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written reminder of the myriad ways reading makes us better. Not just for preachers, the book contains refreshing insights into human nature and how to live more wisely.

[Sarah Weisiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book- I really enjoyed some of his illustrations as to why reading can be a fruitful spiritual practice, not just for preaching, but for living.

[Luke Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of good in this book. There is an encouragement for pastors to read broadly, and not just for copy/paste sermon illustrations. The primary benefit of reading broadly is that you expand your experience in way that you could never do on your own. At one point, Plantinga relates this to the benefits of counseling, which exposes you to the graces, vices, and questions of a wide variety of people. Part of the help here comes in the form of dozens of examples from his own reading and recommendations for future reading. There is also a suggested reading list at the end.

There is also an encouragement for pastors to read discerningly. Although good authors will challenge your view of the world, Plantinga warns about the necessity of reserving some "islands of stability within the high seas of variability". This is all fine in the abstract. But taking the concrete example of the book in hand, there is evidence that he has abandoned a few too many of those islands to liberal theologians and cultural commentators. So we agree in principle. I'm just defending a bit more land. And given his obvious skill in thinking and writing on difficult topics, I would really prefer to have his help in this fight.

For the pastor looking for some practical (but not gimmicky) tools for adding color to his sermons, I would definitely recommend this book. Plantinga shares plenty of the fruit from his own reading, and I'm sure that this on its own would provide motivation to read more yourself.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

is my second time through this book and I was just as disappointed this time as I was when I first read it. Among the things that I do not like about this book are, first, although this book is supposed to be about reading, it is organized around the author's advice to preachers about illustrations, language, etc. Although I do not know the man, there is little evidence that he himself is a preacher, certainly not one that has preached weekly over many years. I feel misled by the general content of the book. Second, there seems to be no governing order in the author's choice of what to read. It appears that he has made a number of random choices about what he reads and then weaves them together into his advice to preachers. There is no suggested reading program or guidance into how a preacher who wants to read might make the best choices possible. Third (I know this will be controversial) he consistently referees to preachers throughout the book with the pronoun "she." Regardless of one's position on women in ministry, the reality is that the majority of preachers are males. Even if the author wanted to express his position that women can be preachers, more variation in the use of pronouns would certainly have been appropriate. Overall this book is very disappointing. Busy preachers want wise direction with respect to who and what to read in the limited time they have. This book is not very helpful in providing that guidance

[Willis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Cornelius Plantinga's writing, and did find parts of this book particularly helpful and enlightening. But now that I've finished it, I'm confused who the intended audience is. For me, a preacher who has not been an avid reader in the past but wants to learn to read well, and for that reading to help my preaching, I was lost at times with references to certain works or authors. It was as if, writing to spark a preacher's interest in reading, he wrote to an already well-read audience. I also didn't resonate with several examples he used, even though I understood the points he was making. I believe the well-read would find the book interesting, but not all that challenging, while the under-read would find it good, but not all that helpful. All-in-all, I left with the same questions I brought to the book - primarily, how am I, a busy preacher, going to learn to read well and how can I digest works of literature for the purpose of preaching? Plantinga answers the why, but not, I do not believe, the how.

[Brandon H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who enjoys reading and hopes to preach someday, I enjoyed this book. If you can overlook the author's liberal bent, there is a lot of good, practical advice on preaching and how reading can help in that task.

A couple quotes -

"Surprises in the preacher's reading are the raisins in the oatmeal. They lie in material that is unsurprising, which is a good thing because it makes our reading intelligible. If everything in our reading were a novelty we would be disquieted, to say the least. We would be like a person who has been through a botched eyelid lift. The plastic surgeon was way too aggressive and so his patient now walks in the world wearing a look of perpetual astonishment. (Pg 95)

"The Bible is a supernatural book with a supernatural story of creation and redemption done by a supernatural God. Preachers without supernatural understandings and expectations end up preaching a tiny gospel about a disappointingly skinny God." (Pg 104)

[James Rickenbaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neal Plantinga sets out in Reading for Preaching to prove this thesis: Reading widely will make one a wiser, more attentive, and ultimately better preacher. He’s certainly on to something. Wide reading can give a preacher a breadth of illustrations and a wider net, as it were, to cast when fishing for people. All of that makes sense enough.

However, I feel that this book is a missed opportunity. So much space is allocated for illustrations from Plantinga’s own reading that it overwhelms his own reader. A second concern is that the illustration tail is wagging the sermon dog. Plantinga even has to reel himself in a bit on this score, saying that reading is not just about gathering illustrations for preaching (although he encourages you to make a database of such illustrations at the end of the book).

I guess, in the end, I was expecting a different book.

[Matt Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to be honest. I did not know what to expect from this book. As a reformed baptist by tradition, I admit that my exposition lacks illustrations. So I took the recommendation of this book. Simply, the book urges those who preach to read. And read secular things. Of all kinds. I did not appreciate the appeal to female pastors (an abomination in my tradition). Every other chapter using the feminine pronouns. He appeals to his own reformed tradition which also made me desire more than what it was. It really did not say how to harvest the illustrations. Rather it told about the different things to read and provided examples of what could be found in them. Maybe this book was talked up too much but I did not glean from it like I hoped that I had.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This may be the hardest 133 pages I’ve ever had to plow through on a subject in which I’m really interested.

In short, it just wasn’t accessible. It is like a literature course for those interested in oration. There was gold inside, but it had to be mined through some academic language. I loved the concept and fully agree—preachers can benefit from wide reading, especially fiction, classics. It will make them better humans in addition to providing some deep and nuanced sermon illustrations. But it just felt too heavy handed for most preachers who are beyond enrollment in higher education.

[Tom Greentree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, inspiring. More than just on reading, there’s good insight here on the craft of preaching, too, as well as living life wisely and attentively.

“I recommend a reading program for preachers for lots of reasons, but chiefly because it will tend to make the preacher wise. It will give her substance. This is especially so, I believe, with respect to one huge and obvious part of our preacher’s calling. Week by week the preacher has to have something intelligent to say on an intimidating list of topics raised by biblical texts. To do so she will need to become a minor expert on a good number of them.” (73)

[Tim Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved hearing about the breadth of writings that Plantinga draws from. However, as someone who speaks regularly and reads 50-75 books a year, what Plantinga suggested in the life of a teacher felt overwhelming. I would need to read 2x what I read currently and add poetry and authors that I’ve never heard of.

Plantinga’s chapter on Sin and Grace—which is the final chapter—provides a moving look at how writers and journalists portray the destructive path of sin. While preachers often veer from speaking about sin, journalists and authors (e.g., Steinbeck, Dostoevsky, and O’Flannery) expose the shame, cruelty, and deception of sin.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute little gem of a book. It reminded me a lot of Austin Carty's "The Pastor's Bookshelf," which I also love.

Plantinga writes with a deft touch, humorous at times, somber and reflective when appropriate, but always joyful at the prospect of experiencing more of the world through books. Without being heavy-handed, he makes a winsome case for wide reading that improves the life of the preacher, as well as that person's ability to confidently articulate truths in a complicated world. As a wide-reading preacher, I need to read books like this on occasion to both comfort and inspire me to keep going. I loved it, and will likely be re-reading it regularly.

[Jeremiah Batson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an inspirational, quick read for preaching pastors. After overcoming the denominational and political differences (Platinga is part of the PCA and seemingly politically progressive, though self-identifying as a reformed evangelical), this book has inspired me to recognize the value in general reading, specifically for preaching. Here, he outlines examples of good literature, the connection to the preaching process, and makes a solid case for why the preacher should not only read Holy Scripture but poetry. Not only commentaries, but great novels. The reading list at the end will be invaluable over the next couple of years.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable and insightful book helping preachers go far beyond the perennial habit of mining ‘resources’ for illustrations. Plantinga shows how our diction, worldviews, and empathy are all enriched by wide reading. The result is that our audiences are fed and sustained far more healthily.

It would therefore be a real shame if some are distracted or put off by what some could dismiss as political correctness in the writing style or doctrinal stance. There is important stuff here, and in fact he does a much better and more sympathetic job than others I’ve read on these lines.

[David West · Rating 3 out of 5]

For preachers, the best illustrations often come from other places in the text. Let Scripture interpret and explain Scripture. But there are many places in a sermon for a good illustration taken from a wide selection of reading. Plantinga makes the case that exegesis and hermeneutics come first, then illustration. This book argues for reading as a great place to find those illustrations.

The premise of this book was sound and I believe it could apply to communicators of many stripes; preachers, teachers, writers, etc...

[Theunis Snyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book about the advantages of reading good novels and stories for the preacher. He gives good advice not only for preachers, but also for anyone who has to teach other people. If they don’t believe in the Christian message they will still find many useful ideas, just as Christians find some good ideas in the books of people who are not Christians. Non-Christians don’t have to accept the Christian message but they will find much that is useful. And at the end the author gives a list of good books to read. And I don’t think that many have been written by Christians.

[Élizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

La plume de Plantinga est exceptionnelle : j'ai été ravie de le lire!
J'ai grandement apprécié son aide dans ma compréhension du procédé de rédaction d'un texte chrétien et du rôle des illustrations, surtout dans leur évaluation. Il est, bien sûr, question du sermon (d'où le titre "Reading for preaching") mais ses conseils sont facilement applicables aux articles de blogue, livre, etc. Il m'a mit au défi tout en me montrant des pistes de solution pour améliorer la communication en gardant l'oeil ouvert.

[Jordan Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating book. The main thesis of the book is that for preachers, developing a reading program that includes poetry, fiction, journalism, etc can help one in his/her preaching. The reason for this is because reading broadly allows one to see things like sin, grace, and wisdom portrayed in the normal/fictional world. It helps the gospel cross over different bridges and relate it to different context and helps people to understand it in deeper and more profound ways.

Good read and would recommend it to anyone who wants to enhance preaching ability.