Craddock Stories

by Fred B. Craddock, Mike Graves (Editor), Richard F. Ward (Editor)

One of the things that makes Fred Craddock's sermons so compelling is his masterful use of storytelling, but, until now, few of his stories have ever been published. This collection offers for the first time hundreds of Craddock stories told in his own words and a glimpse of his life.

Genres: Religion

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Derek Kubilus · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a preacher myself, I've come to appreciate how stories fit within the context of a sermon. Most of my time writing sermons is spent picking out just-the-right-story that will serve a particular purpose in the flow of a sermon. These stories are divorced from both their real-world and homiletical contexts. Some are good, no doubt. Others are sentimental. Some are downright obtuse, especially with no idea what purpose the story originally served.

Craddock fans will love this, I'm certain, as will those who are reading for the sake of sentimentality. For those preachers desiring to learn how to better spin a yarn, his "Craft of Preaching" is probably the better text.

[Jerry Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of wisdom from one of the best pastors that ever stood in a pulpit. I still open this book frequently and use it for teaching and well as pure enjoyment and enrichment.

[Len Knighton · Rating 2 out of 5]

CRADDOCK STORIES was not on my TO READ list; indeed I had never heard of it although I was familiar with Fred Craddock. He is one of my favorite Bible commentators. He died in 2015.
How this book came into my possession is a mystery. A friend of mine believed it must be mine but there are initials inside the cover that do not correspond to my name. There is also a worship bulletin stuck between the pages from a church I’ve never attended, with notes inside that are not in my handwriting.
I told my friend about Craddock and she asked to borrow the book. When she returned it two days later, she said she didn’t like it, that she didn’t understand the stories. She asked me to read it and explain the stories to her.
In my three decades plus of ministry I have often said that we don’t read the Bible in a vacuum or hear a sermon in a similar state. CONTEXT is a key element in both activities.
In this case, the stories are pulled out of the imagination, life, pen, and voice of a very gifted preacher. They were probably valuable components in his sermons, but with no context surrounding the stories they are without value.
The editing of the stories was very poor. In many cases, the final paragraph or sentence should have been omitted, IMHO. Good stories fell flat because Graves and Ward didn’t know when to end them.
I’m sure they put this book together to honor Fred Craddock but their shoddy work and the stories which often don’t make sense do anything but.
I have only once given a book a one star rating. That was Ulysses by James Joyce. I haven’t come close to giving another book that dubious distinction until now. But Joyce still stands alone.

Two stars waning.

[Vikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these stories of Fred Craddock. He was a professor in the seminary at Phillips Univ. when I was in undergraduate school there. Dr. Craddock was the Teacher of the preachers. His sermons and he were very down-home but extremely poignant. I feel very privileged to read these stories. They take me back. Dr. Craddock was a narrative preacher. He drove home many a point by his stories. This book told of his ministry with Nettie his wife throughout the country but especially Okla., Tenn. and Atlanta. I loved this book of short stories of Fred Craddock.

[Ronald Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of excellent stories from the sermons of one of America’s most gifted preachers.

[Ken Pierpont · Rating 5 out of 5]

Treasure

This book is a treasure to me. From the introduction describing g a visit to the Craddock home to the very last morsel of story I savored it.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories told by Fred Craddock, shared in no particular order. All old-timey stories. Heartwarming.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

The preacher where I go to church is a big fan of Fred Craddock. When I saw this at Half Price Books, I figured that I'd buy it and read it. The stories are the types of stories that you would hear in a sermon. None of them are longer than two pages and most of them are parable-like. I thought it was an excellent read. If you see it on a shelf, you can read a couple of the stories and know whether or not it is for you.

[Eric Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone who preaches (or speaks publicly) should have this book. It's crammed with very short stories told by a master preacher. These stories pay repeated reading. Many end unresolved, leaving the reader wanting the whole sermon. Many others call for putting the book down to wonder, ponder, laugh, or regroup. The only fault I see in this book is the absence of an index; so, I made my own.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Graves was my homiletics professor at Midwestern Seminary and Richard Ward was my fellowship advisor at Yale Divinity School! Together, they've done a great job of distilling Craddock's preaching into a representative list of his stories. I've never met Fred Craddock.

[Byron Fike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed but not enough to stop reading. I guess I had my expectations too high. The stories are a mixture of fascinating, strange, interesting, weird, helpful, antiquated, etc. I marked a few that I may modify and use later but on as illustrations.

[Elsa Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great potpouri of Craddock stories