What do you think?
Rate this book
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,
Offer exegetical steps to discern the biblical pathosTeach you how to avoid manipulation while making your sermons emotionalHelp you determine the appropriate limitations of emotional appealGive 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,
Offer exegetical steps to discern the biblical pathosTeach you how to avoid manipulation while making your sermons emotionalHelp you determine the appropriate limitations of emotional appealGive 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.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 3, 2018
20 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Vines
48 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 9, 2018
Review coming --
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.
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.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews