Paul Wilson s The Practice of Preaching has introduced a generation of students not only to the how of preaching, but also to the why. In this thoroughly revised edition, Wilson has strengthened this essential textbook even more, principally in two ways. First, he has further emphasized the role of practices in preaching, leading the reader through the preacher s week as she or he constructs and prepares to deliver the sermon. Second, he has surveyed the current debate in homiletics over what preaching the text means, and constructed a far-reaching theological argument that the sermon s most central task should be about preaching the gospel.

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It is tempting for preachers in this digital age of plurality and diversity to offer quick sound bytes 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 spectrum andinvite 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 PoetryPaul 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."

Throughout the modern period, history has been the dominant lens through which preachers have viewed the biblical text. The historical-critical method--with its emphasis on the context of a scriptural text's origins--has been the principal, or sole, tool with which preachers have approached the question of the text's meaning. Preachers have been in danger of losing the Bible as revelation and with that losing the rich varieties of God-centered meanings that our ancient forebears understood were the purpose of Scripture. They devised multiple 'lenses' through which the preacher was enabled to study Scripture, seeking to find there the Spirit's word to the congregation.

Paul Wilson draws on the practice of patristic and medieval exegesis to inform the contemporary preacher's encounter with Scripture. He begins by examining what earlier exegetes meant by the 'literal' meaning, which, at its core, centered on the theological message that the text was intended to convey about the gospel. He then demonstrates how a critical and informed understanding of the 'spiritual' meanings of the text, rather than importing meaning into the text as is often claimed, opens new possibilities for a faithful proclamation of the biblical witness.

Doing justice to the complexity of the preaching task and the questions that underlie it, Wilson organizes both the preparation and the content of the sermon around its "four pages." Each "page" addresses a different theological and creative component of what happens in any sermon. Page One presents the trouble or conflict that takes place in or that underscores the biblical text itself. Page Two looks at similar conflict--sin or brokenness--in our own time. Page Three returns to the Bible to identify where God is at work in or behind the text--in other words, to discover the good news. Page Four points to God at work in our world, particularly in relation to the situations described in Page Two.

From the apostle Paul, Origen, and Chrysostom through Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley to Harry Emerson Fosdick, James S. Stewart, and Martin Luther King, Jr., this volume traces the history of preaching by focusing on the work of 20 key Christian preachers. Wilson analyzes how preachers through history have structured their sermons and shows how preaching today embodies the theological ideas of an era.

This guide to contemporary preaching focuses on exciting and innovative ideas that have recently emerged. Wilson demonstrates with clarity and detail how Scripture and personal experience can be used to train the imagination, thus strengthening and enlivening the task of preaching.

The New Interpreter s Handbook of Preaching is a major reference tool for preaching, with articles on every facet of Christian sermon preparation and delivery. This resource is both scholarly and practical. It focuses on the most distinctive feature and greatest strength of homiletics as a discipline: It is rooted in interdisciplinary scholarship and it develops theory geared to practice. Its theory arises out of the study of both excellent preaching past and present and actual sermon preparation and composition. When theory and practice critique each other, it is possible to produce guidelines that assist greater excellence and economy in preaching the gospel. Excellence in standards is an area in which homiletics needs to grow, and this project will be both a means to encourage and develop it. A guiding question throughout will be, Will it preach? The answers will be offered in the sense that here is something that works well, rather than here is something to try.

Preachers will turn to this resource with the expectation that they will find scholarly treatment of topics, brief bibliographies of relevant key books and articles, along with practical methodological suggestions for preachers to employ. The contributors are homileticians, preachers, and writers in various disciplines who are committed to the pulpit through practice."