The Liberating Pulpit

Catherine and Justo Gonzalez provide a valuable resource for preaching and biblical interpretation. An account of liberation theology's impact on the task of preaching is offered by two historians of doctrine who are intimately aware of the need to be open to marginalized perspectives in the church. Early Christian preachers had much to say on issues such as the origins and proper use of wealth, the rights and duties of the poor and rich, and the nature of ownership. The Gonzalezes recapture this early Christian spirit offering concrete ways that the interpretation of specific biblical texts may be enriched or corrected in order to speak directly to the whole life of the whole church. Often used as a text in preaching courses, 'The Liberating Pulpit' helps to clarify and to bridge the gap between those whose preaching and hermeneutics tend to be more traditional and the various minorities who tend to read Scripture in a different way.

Catherine and Justo Gonzalez provide a valuable resource for preaching and biblical interpretation. An account of liberation theology's impact on the task of preaching is offered by two historians of doctrine who are intimately aware of the need to be open to marginalized perspectives in the church. Early Christian preachers had much to say on issues such as the origins and proper use of wealth, the rights and duties of the poor and rich, and the nature of ownership. The Gonzalezes recapture this early Christian spirit offering concrete ways that the interpretation of specific biblical texts may be enriched or corrected in order to speak directly to the whole life of the whole church. Often used as a text in preaching courses, The Liberating Pulpit helps to clarify and to bridge the gap between those whose preaching and hermeneutics tend to be more traditional and the various minorities who tend to read Scripture in a different way.

"After a careful discussion of the basis and background of liberation theology [the authors] deal with the primary question of biblical interpretation. They thoroughly discuss the obstacles which impede a liberating interpretation of scriptural passages, offer specific suggestions for overcoming these obstacles, and bring new light on how to hear afresh familiar scriptures in order to appropriate their meaning in a liberating ways"--P. [4] of cover.

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

A History of Preaching brings together narrative history and primary sources to provide the most comprehensive guide available to the story of the church's ministry of proclamation. Bringing together an impressive array of familiar and lesser-known figures, Edwards paints a detailed, compelling picture of what it has meant to preach the gospel. Pastors, scholars, and students of homiletics will find here many opportunities to enrich their understanding and practice of preaching. Volume 1 contains Edwards's magisterial retelling of the story of Christian preaching's development from its Hellenistic and Jewish roots in the New Testament, through the late-twentieth century's discontent with outdated forms and emphasis on new modes of preaching such as narrative. Along the way the author introduces us to the complexities and contributions of preachers, both with whom we are already acquainted, and to whom we will be introduced here for the first time. Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Bernard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Edwards, Rauschenbusch, Barth; all of their distinctive contributions receive careful attention. Yet lesser-known figures and developments also appear, from the ninth-century reform of preaching championed by Hrabanus Maurus, to the reference books developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the mendicant orders to assist their members' preaching, to Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands, preachers of the eighteenth-century Welsh revival, to Helen Kenyon, speaking as a layperson at the 1950 Yale Beecher lectures about the view of preaching from the pew. Volume 2, available separately as 9781501833786, contains primary source material on preaching drawn from the entire scope of the church's twenty centuries. The author has written an introduction to each selection, placing it in its historical context and pointing to its particular contribution. Each chapter in Volume 2 is geared to its companion chapter in Volume 1's narrative history. Ecumenical in scope, fair-minded in presentation, appreciative of the contributions that all the branches of the church have made to the story of what it means to develop, deliver, and listen to a sermon, A History of Preaching will be the definitive resource for anyone who wishes to preach or to understand preaching's role in living out the gospel. "...'This work is expected to be the standard text on preaching for the next 30 years,' says Ann K. Riggs, who staffs the NCC's Faith and Order Commission. Author Edwards, former professor of preaching at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, is co-moderator of the commission, which studies church-uniting and church-dividing issues. 'A History of Preaching is ecumenical in scope and will be relevant in all our churches; we all participate in this field,' says Riggs...." from EcuLink, Number 65, Winter 2004-2005 published by the National Council of Churches

Accompanying CD-ROM contains the full text of volume one and two. Volume two contains primary source material on preaching drawn from the entire scope of the church's twenty centuries. Each chapter in volume two is geared to its companion chapter in volume one's narrative history.

Sharon E. Heaney describes how the life-giving interruption of Latin American poets, novelists, artists, and theologians changed her life in a conflict-ridden Northern Ireland. An outsider, in this study she provides an engagement with a stream of theology in the United States she takes to be exemplary. Latino/a/x theology is teología en conjunto (collaborative theology). It models ways to examine complicated and contested histories and identities, and it resists dominant assumptions about theological points of departure in favor of also valuing the everyday as locus theologicus. Identifying major themes and foundational thinkers, alongside more recent developments, Heaney offers an overview and invites readers to further reading, study, and formation. Modelling what it esteems, each chapter closes in conversation with a Latino/a/x leader in the church. The conclusion is written by practical theologian, Altagracia Pérez-Bullard. She affirms, this “is not just an intellectual exercise, . . . this engagement . . . is the practice of our lives as we journey with God and as we journey with one another. . . . It is an exciting journey. It changes us.”