Parables make up one-third of Jesus' speech in the New Testament. In this volume, Richard Lischer provides an expert guide to these parables and proposes an important distinction between reading and interpreting the parables.

Emphasizing the importance of reading the parables versus interpreting them, Lischer asserts that reading offers a kind of breathing space to explore historical, literary, theological, and socio-political dimensions of the parables and their various meanings, whereas interpreting implies an expert and critical position that must be defended.

In this volume, Lischer lays out four theories for reading parables: 1) parables obscure truth; 2) parables teach many truths; 3) parables teach one truth; and 4) parables undermine the truth. Ultimately, he concludes that biblical parables undermine dominant myths called "the truth" to shine light on the Truth that is Jesus, God's presence with us.

A guided tour of spiritual autobiography that grants readers new insights and appreciation of the genre The genre of spiritual autobiography has flourished ever since Augustine essentially invented it in the fourth century. In Our Hearts Are Restless, Richard Lischer-himself the author of two spiritual memoirs-takes readers on a guided tour of the genre, examining the life writings of twenty-one figures from the expected (Thomas Merton) to the surprising (James Baldwin); from the sublime Julian of Norwich and Emily Dickinson to the outrageous Anne Lamott. Lischer is a perceptive reader and an engaging guide in the art and craft of spiritual writing. Our Hearts Are Restless shows readers how history's most brilliant spiritual writers have sought and found a pattern of meaning in the face of tragedy, conflict, and the responsibilities of daily life.

The Preacher King investigates Martin Luther King Jr.'s religious development from a precocious "preacher's kid" in segregated Atlanta to the most influential America preacher and orator of the twentieth century. To give the most accurate and intimate portrait possible, Richard Lischer draws almost exclusively on King's unpublished sermons and speeches, as well as tape recordings, personal interviews, and even police surveillance reports. By returning to the raw sources, Lischer recaptures King's truest preaching voice and, consequently, something of the real King himself. He shows how as the son, grandson, and great-grandson of preachers, King early on absorbed the poetic cadences, traditions, and power of the pulpit, more profoundly influenced by his fellow African-American preachers than by Gandhi and the classical philosophers. Lischer also reveals a later phase of King's development that few of his biographers or critics have addressed: the prophetic rage with which he condemned American religious and political hypocrisy. During the last three years of his life, Lischer shows, King accused his country of genocide, warned of long hot summers in the ghettos, and called for a radical redistribution of wealth. 25 years after its initial publication, The Preacher King remains a critical study that captures the crucial aspect of Martin Luther King Jr.'s identity. Human, complex, and passionate, King was the consummate American preacher who never quit trying to reshape the moral and political character of the nation.

Description: Joseph A. Sittler (1904-1987) was one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, distinguished for his pioneering work in ecology and for his preeminence as a preacher. He gave both the Beecher Lectures at Yale and the Noble Lectures at Harvard. As the ""preacher's theologian,"" Sittler approached the interpretation of Scripture with a clear understanding of current critical scholarship, but also in the freedom of the gospel at the center of Scripture and with the humility of a theologian of the cross. In following the trajectory of the text into the preaching situation he gave a lively, timeless, and eloquent expression to the fact that the interpretation of texts is in the service of proclamation. This collection of readings from Sittler's rich legacy contains a great many presentations and sermons that have never before appeared in print. Theologically serious preaching, close attention to language, engagement with the best of sacred and secular culture, and a deep respect for the text, all characteristics of Sittler's work, are the sort of features that continue to edify. They remain as benchmarks for good preaching even as styles and contexts evolve. Endorsements: ""This book is a trove for discerning preachers. The text comes from one of the premier American theologians of the twentieth century. His vast work has been sifted for us by two similarly significant theologians of the present century: Richard Lischer and James M. Childs. Through their careful editing, we see three great minds at play in the field of homiletics and theology. After reading all the how-to books on preaching, read this one for the 'why to' of preaching. It will fund both beginning and experienced preachers with theological purpose through a preaching career."" --Clay Schmit, Provost, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary ""A problem with the legacy of a life like Sittler's, devoted as it is to the spoken word, is it disappears when its sound waves have died. . . . Yet, this book by its very existence demonstrates, ironically, how valid and valuable written rhetoric is, can be, and as books like this one live on, will be."" --From the foreword by Martin E. Marty About the Contributor(s): Richard Lischer is James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor of Preaching at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America (1995) and The End of Words: The Language of Reconciliation in a Culture of Violence (2005). James M. Childs Jr., formerly the Joseph A. Sittler Professor of Theology and Ethics at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, now serves there as Senior Research Professor. He is the author of Ethics in the Community of Promise: Faith, Formation, and Decision (2nd ed., 2006) and The Way of Peace: Christian Life in the Face of Discord (2008).

This unique volume draws on the wisdom of Christian thinkers and preachers from across the ages to present a warm and informative collection of insights on the art of preaching. Gathering the writing of figures as diverse as Augustine, John Chrysostom, Jonathan Edwards, Gardner C. Taylor, and Barbara Brown Taylor, The Company of Preachers provides experienced advice on effective preaching, direct from the pens of those who have known it best. The book is arranged in seven divisions, each covering a central component of the preaching task. Editor Richard Lischer, himself a distinguished preacher and teacher, gives a brief introduction to each selection. Aptly presenting a theological and historical cross-section of the church's homiletics, this volume will be invaluable to preachers, students preparing for ministry, and others seeking models of powerful Christian speech. - Features insights on preaching from: Augustine Karl Barth Dietrich Bonhoeffer Walter Brueggemann Rudolf Bultmann Horace Bushnell David Buttrick John Calvin John Cassian John Chrysostom , Fred B. Craddock C. H. Dodd Jarena Lee Jonathan Edwards Charles Grandison Finney P. T. Forsyth Harry Emerson Fosdick Gregory the Great George Herbert Martin Luther , Henry H. Mitchell John Henry Newman Phoebe Palmer Paul Ricoeur Oscar Romero Friedrich Schleiermacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon Barbara Brown Taylor Gardner C. Taylor John Wesley, and many more , -

In the tradition of Garrison Keillor, Open Secrets captures the friendships, rivalries, and rumors of small-town life by chronicling the lives of the citizens of a small Midwestern community through the eyes of a young minister.

Fresh out of divinity school and bursting with enthusiasm, Richard Lischer found himself assigned to a small conservative church in an economically depressed town in southern Illinois. It’s an awkward marriage at best--a young man with a Ph.D. in theology, full of ideas and ambitions, determined to improve his parish and bring it into the twenty-first century, and a community that is “as tightly sealed as a jar of home-canned pickles.” In Open Secrets, Lischer tells not only his own story but also the story of New Cana and its inhabitants. With charm, openness, and humor, Lischer brings to life the clash of cultures and personalities that marks his pastoral tenure, including his own doubts, as well as those of his parishioners, that a twenty-eight-year-old suburban-raised liberal can deal with the troubled marriages, alcoholism, teen sex, inadequate farm subsidies, and other concerns of the conservative, tightly knit community. But the inhabitants of New Cana--lovable, deeply flawed, imperfect people who stick together--open their arms to him in their own way, and the result is a colorful, poignant comedy of small-town life and all it has to offer.

The "Concise Encyclopedia of Preaching" is the most comprehensive reference work on preaching available in the English language. No other book so richly combines concerns for the practice of preaching with theological themes and historical tradition. Its scope ranges from the technical tasks of sermon preparation to thoughtful essays on such topics as narrative preaching, African American preaching, style, and prophetic preaching, as well as a host of issues that are shaping and challenging the contemporary pulpit. Also included are essays that explore the life and work of the church's most influential preachers, including such diverse figures as St. Augustine, Sojourner Truth, and Fulton Sheen.

After the horrors and violence of the twentieth century, words can seem futile. In this reflection on the place of preaching today, Richard Lischer recognizes that our mass-communication culture is exhausted by words. Facing up to language's disappointments and dead ends, he opens a path to its true end.

With chapters on vocation, interpretation, narration, and reconciliation, "The End of Words" shows how faithful reading of Scripture rather than flashy performance paves the way for effective preaching; Lischer challenges conventional storytelling with a deeper and more biblical view of narrative preaching. The ultimate purpose of preaching, he argues, is to speak God's peace, the message of reconciliation.

While Lischer's "End of Words" will surely be invaluable to pastors and preachers, his honest, readable style will appeal to anyone concerned with speaking Christianly.