Preaching as Poetry: Beauty, Goodness, and Truth in Every Sermon

by Paul Scott Wilson

It is tempting for preachers in this digital age of plurality and diversity to offer quick sound bites and PowerPoint-style presentations. These tend to invite a yes or no response, as in mathematical equations. But if we are to reach Christians across the theological spectrumandinvite non-Christians to seriously consider our faith, we must take a different approach. What is needed is greater attention to poetry and images meant to communicate the beauty of the faith and the wonder and mystery of God in everyday life. We must communicate the unity of our message of faith, the divine as truth, and justice and healing as expressions of God. Preaching as poetry (theopoetic preaching) allows for the bold imagery of scripture and the gentle invitation of art. Sermons can no longer always be neatly tied up, perfectly linear, with complete answers to every question. In Preaching as Poetry Paul Scott Wilson teaches why this new approach is necessary today, and demonstrates with multiple examples how it works in real sermons. He skillfully guides the reader to incorporate the classical values of beauty, goodness and truth in every sermon, and in ways that connect with congregants and listeners today.

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2014

Reviews

[Michael Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Scott Wilson imagined a paradigmatic shift in preaching to reflect cultural changes caused by postmodernism. His book is not about use of poetry in preaching, but about imagining preaching in a way that communicates beauty, goodness and truth without argumentation or reliance on destruction of straw man opponents. He built his book around Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. For preaching as poetry, the incarnation and resurrection of Christ plus the presence and work of the spirit are key. His section on civil discourse in the context of worship was perhaps the least satisfactory to me; I thought that he segued into "cafeteria religion" and did not fully explain how to preach about polarizing topics while encouraging civil discourse within the church and community. Nevertheless I thoroughly recommend reading and carefully considering Wilson's insights on how preachers may more effectively communicate in a postmodern context.

[Mjschuurman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Door de opkomst van de moderniteit is er veel veranderd in maatschappij, kerk en theologie. Volgens Wilson is de postmoderniteit niet alleen een bedreiging van de kerk, maar kan de postmoderniteit ook een bondgenoot zijn. Via theopoetry wil hij laten zien hoe het handelen van God in de verkondiging meer aan de orde kan komen. Theopoetry werkt hij uit aan de hand van de klassieke idealen schoonheid, goedheid en waarheid. Hij laat zien welke betekenisverandering deze idealen hebben ondergaan in de postmoderniteit. Ook laat hij zien wat die consequenties en de uitdagingen van die veranderingen zijn voor de verkondiging.