Power and the Pulpit
Recovering a Theology of Preaching
- Preaching & Worship
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
The evangelical tradition places the sermon at the center of church life. We build buildings around pulpits and preachers. We champion gifted communicators. We celebrate effective homiletical techniques. But too often, these emphases are not the result of deep theological convictions but of the church's adoption of modern visions of communication and success. In our day, preaching is easily unmoored from its biblical, theological, and historical anchors. Too often, it has become a tool of celebrity. We have seen pulpits and preaching taken captive by political and pragmatic ideologies. The teaching office of the church has sometimes been manipulated to secure and maintain human power. The present condition of much preaching in our time compels us to ask: What is our theology of preaching? Is our vision of the sermon rooted in the miracle of God's word proclaimed or in the desire to entertain? Is our preaching a function of a theology of glory or a theology of the cross? Reflecting on such questions, the essays in this volume seek to chart a path forward for word-centered, God-glorifying preaching.
Endorsements (2)
“Power and the Pulpit is a gift to the church. With practical wisdom, pastoral sensitivity, and scholarly insight, this book speaks to both head and heart, calling us toward preaching that is deeply cruciform. It clears away misconceptions, confronts misuses of power, and points us to the kind of ministry our world desperately needs. I’m deeply grateful for this resource.”
“Throughout the history of the church God’s word has gone out in power to create, direct, correct, and transform. Although sufficient and irreplaceable, it is historically and contemporarily true that a preacher’s trust in it can wane. Power and the Pulpit theologically anchors preachers in the wonder of declaring the Scriptures with humble confidence in God and in the cross of Christ.”
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