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Theology Is for Preaching: Biblical Foundations, Method, and Practice
Is it right to "just preach the text"?
Why do we preach and do theology? How do we relate them? And how do they relate to God's word?
Theology Is for Preaching helps preachers with theology and theologians with preaching. Though diverse in contexts and disciplines, the contributors share a commitment to equipping the saints to "rightly handle the word of truth." Through essays on foundations, methods, employing theology for preaching, and preaching for theology, this volume will equip preachers and theologians to engage deeply with the text of the Bible and communicate its meaning with clarity.
447 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 20, 2024
Brilliant. So many assumptions affect and change what we’re doing (or think we’re doing) in preaching. Here are some essays which gently nudge us to think harder, more biblically, and more theologically about what is involved. Many a minority report in here as well (which I love!)
Especially challenged by the articles that focused on the preacher himself (something my tribe doesn’t think much of). There’s God’s word, there’s the congregation—so why does God place the preacher in between? This to me raises a lot of questions, and opportunities for clarifying the preaching task.
As one essay concludes, sanctification is entirely the work of God’s spirit; no questions asked. But the word is the instrument by which this sanctification takes place, and we are the means by which that word is proclaimed. We are secondary, yes. But not unimportant either.
Especially challenged by the articles that focused on the preacher himself (something my tribe doesn’t think much of). There’s God’s word, there’s the congregation—so why does God place the preacher in between? This to me raises a lot of questions, and opportunities for clarifying the preaching task.
As one essay concludes, sanctification is entirely the work of God’s spirit; no questions asked. But the word is the instrument by which this sanctification takes place, and we are the means by which that word is proclaimed. We are secondary, yes. But not unimportant either.
August 2, 2021
A few chapters in the book were worth the price. But the vast majority of them were academically weighed down and unhelpful for this academically trained theologian pastor...
January 26, 2022
Good book overall. I especially liked that sections on "Methodology" and "Preaching for Theology."
April 13, 2021
Should preaching have priority in our Sunday gatherings? In Theology is for Preaching, Chase R. Kuhn & Paul Grimmond present a selection of essays on the biblical foundations, method, & practice of theological preaching.
The book is split into five parts: (1) Foundations, (2) Methodology, (3) Theology for Preaching, (4) Preaching for Theology, and (5) Theology Preached. 21 chapters are fit tightly into less than 350 pages. They read quickly and combine to be a robust work of academic study.
Calling and Ministry
In Chapter 5, Christopher Ash answers the question: How can we determine who ought to be a preacher? He shares four foundations: (1) Preaching is supremely the work of the pastor, (2) The triune God appoints pastors, (3) Scripture teaches the qualifications of pastors, and (4) The Church recognizes the appointment of God by the ordination or commissioning of pastors. Surprisingly, he concludes that pastors must remember the grace of God in their calling and ministry.
Most enjoyable to me was Daniel Y. Wu’s essay on Old Testament Challenges: Christocentric or Christotelic Sermons? Not only did I learn about the terms Christocentric and Christotelic, but I was convinced that both are simultaneously and mutually necessary. I hope to learn more and further think through these issues better.
Hear God’s Word
Graham Beynon takes Chapter 12 to speak on The Preacher as Person: Personality and Relationships in the Pulpit. It is a humbling thought to think that God uses clay vessels to hold and proclaim his Gospel. And I saw how important it was for the Word to sink deep into the heart of the preacher.
Towards the end of the book, Jane Tooher writes an excellent chapter on The People Who Listen: The Corporate Task of Hearing God’s Word. I was reminded that I am called to be a listener before I am called to be a preacher, and she gives practical tips on how we can help one another hear God’s Word with a soft heart.
Primacy and Importance
This book is an excellent entry in Lexham Press’ Studies in Historical Systematic Theology. I found each article interesting and compelling. While preachers and preaching itself might go in and out of fashion in modern Evangelicalism, this book brings it back to a place of primacy and importance.
Three overarching, major truths stood out to me throughout the book. First, preaching is of utmost importance. Next, preaching is to show the glory of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Finally, the power is not in the preacher – but in God himself.
I received a media copy of Theology is for Preaching and this is my honest review.
The book is split into five parts: (1) Foundations, (2) Methodology, (3) Theology for Preaching, (4) Preaching for Theology, and (5) Theology Preached. 21 chapters are fit tightly into less than 350 pages. They read quickly and combine to be a robust work of academic study.
Calling and Ministry
In Chapter 5, Christopher Ash answers the question: How can we determine who ought to be a preacher? He shares four foundations: (1) Preaching is supremely the work of the pastor, (2) The triune God appoints pastors, (3) Scripture teaches the qualifications of pastors, and (4) The Church recognizes the appointment of God by the ordination or commissioning of pastors. Surprisingly, he concludes that pastors must remember the grace of God in their calling and ministry.
Most enjoyable to me was Daniel Y. Wu’s essay on Old Testament Challenges: Christocentric or Christotelic Sermons? Not only did I learn about the terms Christocentric and Christotelic, but I was convinced that both are simultaneously and mutually necessary. I hope to learn more and further think through these issues better.
Hear God’s Word
Graham Beynon takes Chapter 12 to speak on The Preacher as Person: Personality and Relationships in the Pulpit. It is a humbling thought to think that God uses clay vessels to hold and proclaim his Gospel. And I saw how important it was for the Word to sink deep into the heart of the preacher.
Towards the end of the book, Jane Tooher writes an excellent chapter on The People Who Listen: The Corporate Task of Hearing God’s Word. I was reminded that I am called to be a listener before I am called to be a preacher, and she gives practical tips on how we can help one another hear God’s Word with a soft heart.
Primacy and Importance
This book is an excellent entry in Lexham Press’ Studies in Historical Systematic Theology. I found each article interesting and compelling. While preachers and preaching itself might go in and out of fashion in modern Evangelicalism, this book brings it back to a place of primacy and importance.
Three overarching, major truths stood out to me throughout the book. First, preaching is of utmost importance. Next, preaching is to show the glory of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Finally, the power is not in the preacher – but in God himself.
I received a media copy of Theology is for Preaching and this is my honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews