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Passion in the Pulpit: How to Exegete the Emotion of Scripture
Biblical exegesis doesn't stop with the words alone. Faithful preachers exegete the emotion of the text as well.
It's easy to let our own personalities dictate the emotional dimension of our sermons, but the best preachers mirror the Bible's emotive intent in their sermons. In Passion in the Pulpit, Jerry Vines and Adam Dooley will teach you how to exegete not just the verbal content of Scripture, but its emotional appeal as well. They show you the role the Bible's emotional intent should play in each stage of sermon prep, and:
Offer exegetical steps to discern the biblical pathos
Teach you how to avoid manipulation while making your sermons emotional
Help you determine the appropriate limitations of emotional appeal
Give you verbal, vocal, and visual techniques to help convey the biblical emotional intent in your sermons
When we elevate the Bible's emotional intent above our own, we preach truth rather than personality.
It's easy to let our own personalities dictate the emotional dimension of our sermons, but the best preachers mirror the Bible's emotive intent in their sermons. In Passion in the Pulpit, Jerry Vines and Adam Dooley will teach you how to exegete not just the verbal content of Scripture, but its emotional appeal as well. They show you the role the Bible's emotional intent should play in each stage of sermon prep, and:
Offer exegetical steps to discern the biblical pathos
Teach you how to avoid manipulation while making your sermons emotional
Help you determine the appropriate limitations of emotional appeal
Give you verbal, vocal, and visual techniques to help convey the biblical emotional intent in your sermons
When we elevate the Bible's emotional intent above our own, we preach truth rather than personality.
- GenresChristian
208 pages, Hardcover
Published July 3, 2018
About the author
Jerry Vines
46 books8 followersDR. JERRY VINES (B.A., Mercer University; Th.D., Luther Rice Seminary) retired as pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida in 2006, where he served for 24 years. He served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Jerry is author of a number of books including Power in the Pulpit: How to Prepare and Deliver Expository Sermons, and A Practical Guide to Sermon Preparation. He and his wife, Janet, have four adult children and five grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 9, 2018
Review coming --
August 15, 2019
This book explains that what you say matters, but so does how you say it. The two authors argue that we need emotion in our preaching--not to manipulate with it but to bring out the intent of the passage and impart that emotion to the audience. One author explained the reasoning and the how-to while the other author gave examples of how he's done those things with his sermons in the past. They talk about the importance of determining the mood and tone conveyed by the text and conveying that through your preaching (tone of voice, movements, what you say, etc.). They suggest looking at the genre of the passage, the words used, the background and big picture, and the intent of the writer. While I found the information interesting, I discovered that I'd already been doing much of what they suggested when I prepare my Sunday School teaching for elementary age children. Maybe children just draw out a more emotion-engaging style. (This book is aimed at preachers for adults in the main church, but I thought I might get something useful out of it, too. And I did.)
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through Amazon Vine.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through Amazon Vine.
June 4, 2018
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Moody Publishers/Net Gallery. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]
Like many readers of this book, I come to this volume having read the author's previous two books on important qualities speakers need with regards to homiletics [1]. It should be noted, though, that this particular book focuses much more on the concern of rhetoric than previous books did. If previous books were all about the rhetorical approach of speakers, it was done in a way that did not require a great deal of knowledge or interest in the forms of classic Greco-Roman rhetoric. In this book, though, it is clear that the author wishes to focus on Christian pathos in giving sermon messages and its connection to ethos and logos. Obviously, these are matters of great importance, in that emotionally fraught manipulation is all too common in our present world and that all too many people give sermon messages without an understanding or appropriate use of pathos, including the biblical pathos that exists in passages. By and large, though, I must admit that as a student and occasional practitioner of rhetoric that I certainly came to this volume with a great deal of sympathy and understanding of the authors' aims.
In terms of its structure and contents, this book is about 200 pages, of similar length to the first two books in the trilogy. The book consists of twelve chapters that show a similar structure and a unified intent to encourage the use of biblical pathos among preachers in their exegetical messages. The authors begin with three chapters that examine the context and dangers of pathos in spiritual communication, by pointing out that pathos is a missing dimension in many messages (1), that we have to be aware of personality-driven preaching that draws attention to us rather than communicating the truths of scripture to our audience (2) and avoiding emotional manipulation but rather motivating our audience to repentance and obedience (3). The next five chapters discuss various approaches that help a speaker to better understand the emotional pathos of a text, such as knowing genre (4), probing the vocabulary and syntax of a given passage (5), examining the world behind (6) and in front of (7) the text, and gauging the reactions one has to reading the text (8). A transition chapter discusses the issue of authenticity and hypocrisy in heartfelt preaching (9) before the authors conclude with three chapters that discuss verbal (10), vocal (11), and visual (12) strategies to move the audience. In the book as I read it the supplementary material like the foreword and acknowledgements were missing. Moreover, each chapter ends with a section by co-author Jerry Vines.
Although I was sympathetic to the authors in reading this book, I found much about the book that was unnecessarily irritating. For one, almost all of the sections from Jerry Vines focused on himself as a great expert of biblically driven pathos. I found it somewhat off-putting for the author to consider himself an expert on rhetoric and wished for a more humble approach that sought to bring more glory to God. The authors' attempt to portray themselves as experts on biblical pathos was greatly hindered by their deliberately antinominan approach--where they deliberately denigrated the importance of God's laws to contemporary believers, except for their passion to receive the tithes of their brethren. Apparently the only laws of God that they are passionate about defending are the laws that give them money. The fact that the authors approach the intersection of logos and pathos from a Southern Baptist perspective means that those who have a very different understanding of the Bible from the authors are left in a position of being critical of the authors and of their self-confidence in their own mastery of biblical truth and its proper emotional expression from the pulpit.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
Like many readers of this book, I come to this volume having read the author's previous two books on important qualities speakers need with regards to homiletics [1]. It should be noted, though, that this particular book focuses much more on the concern of rhetoric than previous books did. If previous books were all about the rhetorical approach of speakers, it was done in a way that did not require a great deal of knowledge or interest in the forms of classic Greco-Roman rhetoric. In this book, though, it is clear that the author wishes to focus on Christian pathos in giving sermon messages and its connection to ethos and logos. Obviously, these are matters of great importance, in that emotionally fraught manipulation is all too common in our present world and that all too many people give sermon messages without an understanding or appropriate use of pathos, including the biblical pathos that exists in passages. By and large, though, I must admit that as a student and occasional practitioner of rhetoric that I certainly came to this volume with a great deal of sympathy and understanding of the authors' aims.
In terms of its structure and contents, this book is about 200 pages, of similar length to the first two books in the trilogy. The book consists of twelve chapters that show a similar structure and a unified intent to encourage the use of biblical pathos among preachers in their exegetical messages. The authors begin with three chapters that examine the context and dangers of pathos in spiritual communication, by pointing out that pathos is a missing dimension in many messages (1), that we have to be aware of personality-driven preaching that draws attention to us rather than communicating the truths of scripture to our audience (2) and avoiding emotional manipulation but rather motivating our audience to repentance and obedience (3). The next five chapters discuss various approaches that help a speaker to better understand the emotional pathos of a text, such as knowing genre (4), probing the vocabulary and syntax of a given passage (5), examining the world behind (6) and in front of (7) the text, and gauging the reactions one has to reading the text (8). A transition chapter discusses the issue of authenticity and hypocrisy in heartfelt preaching (9) before the authors conclude with three chapters that discuss verbal (10), vocal (11), and visual (12) strategies to move the audience. In the book as I read it the supplementary material like the foreword and acknowledgements were missing. Moreover, each chapter ends with a section by co-author Jerry Vines.
Although I was sympathetic to the authors in reading this book, I found much about the book that was unnecessarily irritating. For one, almost all of the sections from Jerry Vines focused on himself as a great expert of biblically driven pathos. I found it somewhat off-putting for the author to consider himself an expert on rhetoric and wished for a more humble approach that sought to bring more glory to God. The authors' attempt to portray themselves as experts on biblical pathos was greatly hindered by their deliberately antinominan approach--where they deliberately denigrated the importance of God's laws to contemporary believers, except for their passion to receive the tithes of their brethren. Apparently the only laws of God that they are passionate about defending are the laws that give them money. The fact that the authors approach the intersection of logos and pathos from a Southern Baptist perspective means that those who have a very different understanding of the Bible from the authors are left in a position of being critical of the authors and of their self-confidence in their own mastery of biblical truth and its proper emotional expression from the pulpit.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
July 25, 2018
**Disclosure**This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
About the Book:
Biblical exegesis doesn’t stop with the words alone. Faithful preachers exegete the emotion of the text as well.
It’s easy to let our own personalities dictate the emotional dimension of our sermons, but the best preachers mirror the Bible’s emotive intent in their sermons. In Passion in the Pulpit, Jerry Vines and Adam Dooley will teach you how to exegete not just the verbal content of Scripture, but its emotional appeal as well. They show you the role the Bible’s emotional intent should play in each stage of sermon prep, and:
Offer exegetical steps to discern the biblical pathos Teach you how to avoid manipulation while making your sermons emotional Help you determine the appropriate limitations of emotional appeal Give you verbal, vocal, and visual techniques to help convey the biblical emotional intent in your sermons
When we elevate the Bible’s emotional intent above our own, we preach truth rather than personality.
My Review:
If you want to amp up your speaking engagements and sermons many times we have to reach out to a fellow minister to do just that. My husband ministers every month to a group of people most often than not that are forgotten. He speaks to a group of people that are retired and living in a retirement community. He along with a few others volunteer here each month. These people are so encouraging and excited to see him as well as other fellow ministers.
The look forward to that interaction each week. And I have to admit my husband gains some from being around these individuals that are much more mature than we are. I love hearing their stories and many times we cry tears with them as they share their innermost thoughts, feelings, and prayers. Such strong people yet so weak and they may have forgotten many things but God is not one of them.
The mark of a good sermon my husband relates is that the scripture is exegeted correctly and appropriately for the congregation. Exegeting scripture is where you have basically tore it down and expanded on it and from what I hear, it isn't easy. But lucky for us there are many ministers and pastors out there willing to share their wisdom to help us grow in this area.
Passion in the Pulpit is a great book to help explain many of the notions that we as ministers would like to do but don't really have the knowledge of knowing exactly how to follow through. Passion in the Pulpit is divided into three parts: understanding the challenge, discerning the emotive design of a text, and employing persuasive techniques. Each of these points are strong and the authors are able to carefully guide us through this tricky get gainful process.
This book is very helpful and is interesting yet encouraging to those of this that still have a hard time in this area.
About the Book:
Biblical exegesis doesn’t stop with the words alone. Faithful preachers exegete the emotion of the text as well.
It’s easy to let our own personalities dictate the emotional dimension of our sermons, but the best preachers mirror the Bible’s emotive intent in their sermons. In Passion in the Pulpit, Jerry Vines and Adam Dooley will teach you how to exegete not just the verbal content of Scripture, but its emotional appeal as well. They show you the role the Bible’s emotional intent should play in each stage of sermon prep, and:
Offer exegetical steps to discern the biblical pathos Teach you how to avoid manipulation while making your sermons emotional Help you determine the appropriate limitations of emotional appeal Give you verbal, vocal, and visual techniques to help convey the biblical emotional intent in your sermons
When we elevate the Bible’s emotional intent above our own, we preach truth rather than personality.
My Review:
If you want to amp up your speaking engagements and sermons many times we have to reach out to a fellow minister to do just that. My husband ministers every month to a group of people most often than not that are forgotten. He speaks to a group of people that are retired and living in a retirement community. He along with a few others volunteer here each month. These people are so encouraging and excited to see him as well as other fellow ministers.
The look forward to that interaction each week. And I have to admit my husband gains some from being around these individuals that are much more mature than we are. I love hearing their stories and many times we cry tears with them as they share their innermost thoughts, feelings, and prayers. Such strong people yet so weak and they may have forgotten many things but God is not one of them.
The mark of a good sermon my husband relates is that the scripture is exegeted correctly and appropriately for the congregation. Exegeting scripture is where you have basically tore it down and expanded on it and from what I hear, it isn't easy. But lucky for us there are many ministers and pastors out there willing to share their wisdom to help us grow in this area.
Passion in the Pulpit is a great book to help explain many of the notions that we as ministers would like to do but don't really have the knowledge of knowing exactly how to follow through. Passion in the Pulpit is divided into three parts: understanding the challenge, discerning the emotive design of a text, and employing persuasive techniques. Each of these points are strong and the authors are able to carefully guide us through this tricky get gainful process.
This book is very helpful and is interesting yet encouraging to those of this that still have a hard time in this area.
May 29, 2021
I am thankful for this subject- the emotion of the text is something I often neglect in my preaching! There are some helpful tips and helps here. The goal of the book worked for me- ask what the emotion of the text is and let your preaching reflect it.
However, I had a few critiques that kept this book from a more positive rating: 1. I found the “Jerry vines” parts of this book as unhelpful and at times prideful. Dooley could’ve written this book without vines. I don’t think Vines parts were necessary- he told a story about his own preaching and summarized what we just read. 2. This book became a bit too repetitive. This would do so much better as an 80-100 page preaching book. 3. The last few chapters of the book seem too specific- stand like this, pace the stage here, etc. seems a bit inauthentic at times.
However, I had a few critiques that kept this book from a more positive rating: 1. I found the “Jerry vines” parts of this book as unhelpful and at times prideful. Dooley could’ve written this book without vines. I don’t think Vines parts were necessary- he told a story about his own preaching and summarized what we just read. 2. This book became a bit too repetitive. This would do so much better as an 80-100 page preaching book. 3. The last few chapters of the book seem too specific- stand like this, pace the stage here, etc. seems a bit inauthentic at times.
June 18, 2026
I found the author's argument incredibly useful, and for that I am very grateful. Dooley has certainly improved my preaching! However, I would have been equally helped to simply read an article on the subject rather than these 200 pages.
This book uses far more words than necessary to say: recognize the emotion of the text, match that emotion in your preaching. The content is overly repetitive, addressing minor nuances rather than moving the reader along with the author's argument. The book reads like a dissertation lightly edited for print rather than rewritten for wide consumption. The chapter conclusions by Jerry Vines add nothing that Dooley didn't already say; they may as well not be included.
This book uses far more words than necessary to say: recognize the emotion of the text, match that emotion in your preaching. The content is overly repetitive, addressing minor nuances rather than moving the reader along with the author's argument. The book reads like a dissertation lightly edited for print rather than rewritten for wide consumption. The chapter conclusions by Jerry Vines add nothing that Dooley didn't already say; they may as well not be included.
May 19, 2019
Great Book. I am not a preacher, but I read this book to learn some tips about public speaking in church situations and how to teach the Bible better. I can't wait to use some of these techniques. Awesome advice. I highly recommend this book.
April 21, 2023
This was simply a solid book on preaching. There are helpful tips along with good advice from an experienced preacher.
April 17, 2026
This book was convicting. It reminded me that while ethos and logos are important, we cannot neglect pathos. One must correctly give the pathos in the text they are preaching. This book sharpened me!
September 3, 2018
This is a very interesting book, which explains the background to preaching. It is a great book for young preachers, explaining the dynamics concerning how to reach your audience, and how to develop the correct amount of emotional stress.
I found it fascinating. It places a special focus on pathos and is the third in a set of books on the subject.
Each chapter explains first the rules and science behind the subject, then in the last section the second author provides personal stories to back up the topic.
I found it fascinating. It places a special focus on pathos and is the third in a set of books on the subject.
Each chapter explains first the rules and science behind the subject, then in the last section the second author provides personal stories to back up the topic.
April 17, 2020
A helpful review of the importance of capturing the pathos of Scripture when preaching. Vines and Dooley bring together practical wisdom and foundational theology for preaching with passion.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews