Book Review: The 12 Essential Skills For Great Preaching

May06
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Warner Smith

In The 12 Essential Skills For Great Preaching 1 Wayne McDill brings the strength of thirty five years of pastoral experience to bear on the task of preparing to deliver sermons from the biblical texts.  Currently serving as a professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, he has also written Evangelism in a Tangled World, Becoming Who You Are, Making Friends for Christ, and The Message.

McDill believes that “preachers can significantly improve their preaching by strengthening twelve specific skills used in the preparation of sermons” (2).  McDill does not accept that effective preaching is an endeavor which only the most gifted can pursue.  Rather, he believes that “anyone can learn the methods used in the preparation of good sermons” (13). McDill does not often use the term expository preaching preferring instead to discuss biblical preaching; however, it is clear by his definition that expository preaching is what he has in mind. He defines biblical sermons as those “in which the text shapes the sermon.  The purpose, the theme, the structure, and the development of the sermon are to reflect the text” (14).  Unlike many preaching texts this book seeks to deal with this single approach to preaching alone.

Following the introductory chapter, McDill works out his thesis through twelve chapters that each develop one of the skills for great preaching.  Each chapter contains exercises which are designed for self study so that the reader can improve this skill in preaching on his own.  The books seems to be directed toward the beginning preacher or the bi-vocational preacher who desires to engage in a directed self study.

The first three chapters deal with the skills necessary for inductive Bible study.  McDill posits that “a growing number of preachers are finding that the best approach to their text study is inductive” (21).  The first skill necessary for inductive study of the text is learning to see the structural relationship within the text.  In order to accomplish this skill, McDill introduces the reader to an exercise in developing structural diagrams.  His approach rests on the assumption that main points will be those with the most supporting ideas.  He also discusses the importance of discerning the connectives used by the author in assisting to determine his original intention.  In the next two chapters McDill provides guidelines for making observations about the text and asking the questions of the text which assist in discovering the  meaning of the author.

The next three chapters explain how one should contextualize the ideas of the biblical text and place them into the contemporary world of the audience.  McDill suggests the best way to determine the idea being put forward in a biblical text is to ask and answer the question, “What is the writer talking about?” (89), and that one should seek to obtain a one-word answer.  This subject should then be limited by identifying how the biblical writer limits the scope of the subject within the text itself.  According to McDill, this exercise will assist one in clarifying his thinking so that he will not become guilty of “the great fault of preaching is fuzzy thinking” (94).  McDill realizes that the biblical text must be understood on an emotional and personal level.  He offers that, by identifying the symptoms, assumptions, consequences and feelings of those in need of the text’s message, one can apply the biblical truths to the congregation.  McDill concludes this section by leading the reader across the application bridge.  He assists the reader in developing the textual and sermon ideas and relating these to the audience by means of an interrogative that is answered by means of the predicates which will serve as the divisions of the sermon.

The next two chapters are concerned with properly organizing one’s thought for the sermon.  McDill offers an exercise for clarifying the transition statements which will serve to bind the sermon together while also moving its argument along.  McDill suggests that the form of the sermon should consider the text’s form but not necessarily be constrained by it.  Instead he suggests that Alan Monroe’s motivated sequence outline be used as a template for insuring the communication value of sermons.

The next three chapters deal with finishing the sermon so that its thought will be easily understood by the audience.  McDill proposes that each division of the sermon undergo careful development of its “explanation, illustration,  argumentation, and application” (197), and that natural analogies be brought out that will enable the listener to understand that the truth of Scripture is like some particular from his own life experience which he both understands and to which he can relate.  This section is closed with a discussion of how the preacher can use figurative language and stories to drive his point home in the heart of his audience.

The last chapter reminds the preacher that he is preaching for the purpose of eliciting a faith response from the listener. Particularly helpful in this chapter is McDill’s reminder that the preacher must not use words like ought or should, but must boldly proclaim, “Because of all we have said about God, ‘You can’” (255).  The entire process will fail if the preacher faithfully prepares the sermon but does not seek to cause those who listen to him to be convinced of the rightness of God’s cause and the need of everyone to place their own lives before Him.   The principle strength of this book is the practical step-by-step approach employed by McDill.  He does not loose his reader in discussion of Greek tenses or hermeneutical minutia but instead supplies a simple, clear approach to preaching.  For example, his discussion of the distinction between biblical hermeneutics and other interpretative exercises is wonderfully simple.  He states that three reasons that distinguish biblical interpretation from that of other things are: “the Bible is old . . .the Bible is fixed and stable as a written document . . . [and] the Bible . . . is about God and his dealings with mankind” (60-61).

Another strength is the clarity with which McDill presents his discussion of the textual and sermon ideas.  His treatment is simple and effective. He shows his reader how to bridge the gap between the author’s intended meaning and the sermon idea by way of an example based on the story of the fall of man in the garden of Eden (126).  In this example he shows how other Scripture can be used to limit the author’s idea and that the goal of the sermon is to present the timeless principle to a contemporary audience.

A weakness is the false distinction which McDill raises between inductive and deductive study.  His claim is that those who practice deductive study bring their own or another’s ideas to the text while those who study the text inductively are guilty of bringing presuppositions to the text. He states, “If [one] examines the text inductively . . . [one] suspends [one’s] own conclusions to let it speak, opening the way for the Spirit to disclose its meaning” (24).  This is an overstatement of his argument because the inductive method cannot in and of itself prevent one from bringing presuppositions to the text, nor can it be stated that the deductive method necessitates one bring presuppositions to the text.  Taken to its extreme this line of reasoning could be used to justify all manner of eiseigesis.  Many well-meaning Christians read the texts of Scripture and, waiting for the Spirit to tell them what it means, are lead astray by false teaching.  J. I. Packer points out that one danger of inductive study is “that [it] tells you to ‘observe’ without giving you any theological orientation to help you do it.”

Another weakness is McDill’s incorrect assumption that delivery of the sermon is not a “critical factor in what we recognize as great preaching” (10).  Many well-reasoned, clear arguments have been lost by the lack of pathos of the speaker.  Preaching involves persuasion, and if one will be successful in causing his audience to accept his position, one must prepare and concentrate both on the logic of his argument and on the methods of the delivery of his argument.

Yet another weakness is McDill’s proposition that Alan Monroe’s motivated sequence be utilized as the rubric through which all sermon forms must pass.  While McDill’s premise is sound in preaching from didactic texts and communicating truths to an audience, he has not engaged those who propose a narrative style of preaching.  To be fair, however, to engage the narrative preaching movement would be beyond the stated scope of this book (15).

The simple but thorough process described by McDill will assist anyone who reads this text.  In particular, this book would be excellent for bi-vocational preachers who will be unable to attend seminary or for those whose preaching has become dull and lifeless.  With so many books on preaching being written as surveys of various sermonic forms McDill has performed a service for those who seek to learn how to simply write a clear and effective sermon.

End Notes

1. Mcdill Wayne, The 12 Essential Skills For Great Preaching. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994.

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Learning from the Wisdom & Experience of Others

May05
2012 Written by Warner Smith

One of the first disciple habits which I began to practice following my conversion was to read the chapter in Proverbs which corresponded with the day of the month.  So today on the fifth of the month the devotion topic will be taken from the fifth chapter of Proverbs.  The book of Proverbs is the accumulated wisdom which is passed down from a father to his son.  While everyone receives pearls of wisdom from parents the biblical author has much which we (particularly men) need to hear.

First, we learn an important principle for learning from another’s wisdom.

1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, Proverbs 5:1 (ESV)

We must be attentive.  We have to be willing participants in the learning process.  This is why so much accumulated wisdom has been lost over the generations.  Often the person who possesses the wisdom is ready, willing and able to transmit that wisdom to the next generation, but those who need to learn are not ready to receive.  As a parent we need to be constantly transmitting our values and accumulated wisdom to our children because we can never be sure when they are listening.

Next, we learn the purpose for our paying attention to the wisdom of others.

2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. Proverbs 5:2 (ESV)

Each of us have much to learn.  Beware of anyone who thinks he/she knows it all.  Those who have followed God will be the first to admit their own ignorance and waywardness.  Learning discretion (the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation) is a worthy goal and should be a topic of interest for every Christian.

Now the lesson and point of all this accumulated wisdom is simple and severe.

3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, 4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; 6 she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. Proverbs 5:3-6 (ESV)

Be careful!  You really cannot trust your lying eyes.  The weakness in your character is known by your enemy.  Satan will never show you the consequence of an action, he will simply entice you. As a pastor for twenty-four years let me tell you that moral failings bring great heartache, not just to the offender or the offended but to many innocents whom you would never wish to harm, but who will be harmed more than you can comprehend.

Each of needs to hear and learn this lesson, because the statement “there but by the grace of God, go I” is true.  None of us are beyond experiencing a moral failing! For this reason each of us who name Christ as our Lord, and claim to love our spouses, our children, and our testimony need to be vigilant and guard our eyes and our hearts.  Each of us need to follow Job’s example when he said:

1 I have made a solemn promise never to look with lust at a woman. Job 31:1 (GN)

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Book Review: Preaching The Whole Bible as Christian Scripture

May05
2012 Written by Warner Smith

As a lecturer in Old Testament, biblical theology and hermeneutics at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia, Graeme Goldsworthy is certainly qualified to write on the subject of Preaching The Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching. 1

Goldsworthy’s purpose in writing Preaching The Whole Bible as Christian Scripture “is to provide a handbook for preachers that will help them apply a consistently Christ-centered approach to their sermons” (ix). Later in the book he repeats and further clarifies his thesis as “to understand the place of the gospel in expository preaching” (95). Goldsworthy argues that all expositions should begin “with the definitive word of fulfillment in the gospel and allow this to show us what the real structure of the Old Testament revelation is” (97).

The book is divided into two parts. In the first Goldsworthy attempts to place himself in the pastor’s shoes and ask and answer the questions he would ask of the text, theology and preaching in general. The second part of the book is where he applies the biblical theological methods which he has proposed in the first part to various biblical genres. He begins by examining what evangelicals believe concerning the Bible. He concludes that the “proclaimed word of God [is] his chosen means of both creation and new creation” (45). Next he draws the reader’s attention to the way Jesus and the apostles approached the Old Testament texts.

From this examination he develops what he calls a “salvation history perspective” (142). According to his view the Scriptures from the creation up to Abraham serve as a “prologue to salvation history”(104). The period of time from Abraham to the reigns of David and Solomon are understood as the “progressive revelation of salvation and the kingdom of God” (104) or as “positive salvation history,” (104). The time following Solomon’s reign through the end of the Old Testament marks the “progressive decline of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah under judgement” (104) or a “negative salvation history” (104). The major prophets of the Old Testament operate during this epoch and provide a “view of salvation and the coming kingdom” (107). The final epoch is delineated by the coming of Christ, who ” fulfills all the expectations of the Old Testament” (109). Goldsworthy utilizes this “salvation history perspective” (142) for all of Scripture.

A major strength of Preaching The Whole Bible is the view of Scripture as God’s Word presented. Goldsworthy rightly points out that, “The preacher who does not have confidence in these teachings cannot preach according to the Bible” (13). He further states that though a composite of twenty-seven distinct documents, the New Testament is unified as a book about Jesus who is the Savior who came to live, die, and rise again; who comes to his people now through his word and Spirit (19).

Goldsworthy clearly reveals that Jesus himself held a high view of the Scriptures and understood that they spoke of him. Therefore, those who seek to deny the validity of the word written, in effect deny the Word incarnated because “the authority of Christ and the authority of Scripture stand or fall together”(47). Finally, Goldsworthy asserts that any approach to preaching that is biblical is predicated on “the determination of the preacher to sit under the authority of the word of God” (121).

Another strength of this work is the high Christology which is maintained throughout the volume. In conjunction with its thesis, Jesus may be preached from the whole of Scripture because he is “God’s final and fullest word . . . he is not simply fulfillment; he is further and final revelation” (79). Because of this work of Christ in expanding and completing the revelation of God, we need not be tentative in preaching the reality of Christ from Old Testament texts because “only in Christ is the veil set aside” (79). Furthermore, this revelation that is clarified in the New Testament announces that God’s work throughout history has always been designed to bring salvation to man, indicating that “the gospel is not an afterthought but is in fact the reason for the creation in the first place” (204). Goldsworthy also correctly asserts that the gospel, not “self-esteem, happiness, health, self-fulfillment or any other desirable quality,” is the appropriate subject of responsible preaching (80).

A third strength of Preaching The Whole Bible is that, in spite of his acknowledgment that the “term ‘expository preaching’ is fairly elastic” (119), he still presents a positive view of systematic expository preaching. While Goldsworthy’s approach is more of a refinement of Greidanus’ Bible-centered model than Vines’s unapologetic preference for systematic exposition, he does come close to accepting Vines’s position. In his discussion of preaching from Acts and the epistles, Goldsworthy states, the best preventative against legalism is systematic expository preaching, with this one proviso: no one sermon should ever be allowed to stand apart from the whole gospel-based thrust of the epistle (244).

According to Goldsworthy, “Expository preaching means biblical preaching and that biblical preaching involves a great deal more than the exegesis of a biblical passage” (124). He clarifies his position further when he states,

One-time sermons on any part of the Bible are . . . permissible, but a taste for the perspective of biblical theology cannot but commend expository preaching and more concerted efforts to expound the message of whole books. One can achieve this and still be selective in the portions of the books chosen (221).

While it is clear that Goldsworthy is using the term “systematic exposition” more in keeping with Vines’s term “general exposition,” it is refreshing to find an author who seriously discusses the need for doing systematic expositoin.

Another strength of Goldsworthy’s work is the charts he uses to enable the reader to visualize the historic time lines that he utilizes throughout the discussion. This feature may be less important to some, but those who think visually will be greatly helped by this inclusion. It also serves as an effective means of limiting the various strands within the discussion of his salvation history approach.

One glaring weakness of this work for a Southern Baptist is Goldsworthy’s attack of what he labels the distortion of “‘Jesus in my heart’ theology” (72) related to the gospel message. He argues that when “‘you must be born again’ is made to be the gospel, the real objective and historical nature of the biblical gospel is compromised” (72). While this perspective may be attributed to his Anglican heritage, one who takes Jesus’ command to evangelize the lost seriously and passionately must strongly disagree with his assessment. While it is true that many have misconstrued the gospel message and caused what Goldsworthy rightly deems a “‘feel good’ religion” (72), he is wrong to lump all who take Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus that “you must be born again” seriously, into this group. The gospel does contain a historic propositional core, but to only “rejoice when the answer [to the gospel] comes in the third person” (95) is to deny people through our preaching the need to appropriate the call of the gospel personally and be born again. This methodology leads people to intellectual assent of Christ only which denies them the power of the gospel unto salvation. This position is untenable in that it denies experience totally and makes human reason alone the means of salvation.

A second weakness related to that previously stated is the over-emphasis placed on Goldsworthy’s rubric of salvation history as being the means through which the entirety of Scripture must be interpreted. While one would never argue that salvation history is not a major theme of the entire corpus of the Scripture, Kaiser’s concept of promise, or the view of covenant, may be considered as a unifying theme with equally good results. Thus, while Goldsworthy’s perspective is helpful and valuable, he is guilty of overstating its importance.

Goldsworthy disagrees with McDill that expository preaching should utilize the inductive method alone; he sees nothing wrong with the method per se but recognizes that “this method alone is insufficient” (4). While discussing the exposition of prophetic texts, however, he does observe that “expository preachers are more inclined to be inductive in their approach”(181).

This book is well written, and the author’s argument is clearly stated. The scholarship evident by the footnotes is an example worthy of imitation. These outcomes are the result of the Goldsworthy’s intention “to keep technical language fairly muted while . . . providing necessary references and technical comments in footnotes” (ix). Pastors, professors, and students will profit from reading this book and carefully considering Goldsworthy’s emphasis on making the gospel central in our preaching.

End Notes

1. Goldsworthy, Graeme. Preaching The Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.

 

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Being A Godly Man Part 2

May04
2012 Written by Warner Smith

Satan’s modus operandi (a distinct pattern of operation that indicates or suggests the work of a single criminal in more than one crime) is to divide and conquer.  He seeks to destroy the affection that husbands have for their wife and the affection which a wife has for her husband.  As a Christian man it is prudent that I understand Satan’s method of attack and also that I become aware that my marriage is going to be a target of his attack.  Too many Christians are blissfully ignorant that Satan would attack their marriage.  To each and every married Christian I carefully and boldly declare; WATCH OUT!

You have an enemy in this world and it is not your spouse, it is Satan.

8 Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. 9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world. 1 Peter 5:8–9 (HCSB)

The chief means for resisting Satan as a godly man is to obey Christ.  In particular every married Christian man needs to obey the command to love your wife as Christ loved the Church.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:22–33 (ESV)

Did you get that? You are to love your wife and the pattern for your love of her is Christ’s love for His church.  Wow!  Does Christ ever quit loving His bride the church?  No!  So I am to keep loving my bride.  I am to love her as I love myself.  If you do not love yourself then you are also disobeying the second part of the second commandment.

36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36–40 (HCSB)

Unfortunately many men whose life does not turn out as they had planned become bitter.  This bitterness will sometime turn inward and develop into self loathing.  Other times this bitterness is directed outward and poisons all other relationships.  Men in particular need to know that they are much more than the sum of their 401k or of the things they have accumulated.  True success is measured by submitting to God’s will for your life.

If you are married, you can rest assured that one part of God’s perfect and permissive will for you life is that you love your wife.  Love is a choice.  You can choose to be in love or out of love.  Satan wants you to believe the lie that people fall in and out of love and that there is nothing you can do about it.  That is asinine (extremely stupid or foolish)!  You chose, courted and proposed to your wife.  During the course of your courtship you loved her.  Any negative changes to your feelings are within your and her power to alter. Your feelings are certainly under God’s authority.  If you find yourself feeling less love for your wife than you once did, then confess.  Ask God to increase your love for your wife.  Ask God to protect your marriage from Satan’s attack.

As a Christian man you need to understand that by loving and supporting your wife you are giving your children a godly example. Satan knows this and he is fighting you, and will to continue to fight you on the home front.  He always seeks to divide then conquer.  If he can keep you preferring to be away working, because you think providing things for your family is how you love them, then he wins.  Please understand that your wife and kids need less stuff and more of you!  There is no substitute for quality time and you can never know when quality time will occur, you cannot schedule it.  Therefore give your wife and children quantity time and the quality time will take care of itself.

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Book Review: Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

May04
2012 Written by Warner Smith

Sidney Greidanus’ experience as a pastor and professor of preaching enabled him, when confronted with the task of offering “Christocentric Preaching from the Old Testament” (xii) as an elective course in preaching, to write his own textbook when he was not able to find a suitable work. Thus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method 1 is a testament to both his dedication to his teaching and the extent of his scholarship.

Greidanus’ stated purpose in writing this work is

to provide seminary students and preachers with a responsible, contemporary method for preaching Christ from the Old Testament. A secondary, but no less important, aim is to challenge Old Testament scholars to broaden their focus and to understand the Old Testament not only in its own historical context but also in the context of the New Testament (xii).

He begins by first laying the groundwork for the need for preaching Christ from the Old Testament. The current trend among some scholars of referring to the Old Testament as the “Hebrew Bible” (xiii) can be attributed in part to a lack of appreciation for the Old Testament’s message among Christians throughout the church’s history. The severity of those expressing this opinion has fluctuated between Marcion, who rejected the Old Testament outright, to Schleiermarcher who viewed it as pre-Christian. While most preachers do not intend to express either position, their practice of preaching fewer than 20 percent of their sermons from the Old Testament (15) tends to foster “marcionism” (22). Greidanus gives six reasons why pastors must preach from the Old Testament:

  1. The Old Testament is part of the Christian canon.
  2. The Old Testament discloses the history of redemption leading to Christ.
  3. The Old Testament proclaims truths not found in the New Testament.
  4. The Old Testament helps us understand the New Testament.
  5. The Old Testament prevents misunderstanding the New Testament.
  6. The Old Testament provides a fuller understanding of Christ (25).

Based on these reasons, every preacher should consider his own practice of selecting preaching texts more closely. One must not contribute to marcionism.

After showing the need for preaching Christ from the Old Testament Greidanus, next traces historically from the early church fathers, through the reformers, up to Spurgeon and Wilhelm Visher, the various usages the Church has employed in preaching Christ from the Old Testament. He shows that, in response to literalists such as Marcion, the apostolic fathers came to emphasize the hidden spiritual meanings of the Old Testament texts which gave rise to the use of the allegorical method of interpretation. In response to the abuses of this method, the Antiochian school began to emphasize the literal interpretation. These two methods were synthesized, resulting in the method of fourfold meaning which looked for

  1. The literal sense,
  2. The allegorical sense,
  3. The tropological or moral sense, and
  4. The anagogical sense (104).

These methods of interpretation served the Church until Luther introduced a new Christological method during the Reformation.

While Luther can be credited with the invention of a new form of sermon, “the scripture exposing sermon”(124), his method was not without weaknesses. Primarily, it tended to lead one to the eisegesis of reading Christ back into the text. Secondly, Luther’s insistence that every passage should be categorized as teaching either law or gospel caused God’s law to be underappreciated (125). Finally, Luther was unable to fully escape the allegorical method in which he had been trained. His contemporary , John Calvin, however, was more able to disavow himself of the allegorical method and greatly advance biblical interpretation.

Calvin’s theocentric interpretation lead the church into what is today considered sound hermeneutical methods. While his preaching tended to be homily that expounded the text phrase by phrase rather than verse by verse, his method of preparation set the stage for the historical grammatical method which is used by evangelicals today. Sadly Calvin’s method has not consistently been applied in the modern era as Greidanus shows in his discussion of Spurgeon and Vischer.

Spurgeon’s method of finding Christ in every passage, while effective in his context, is not a model which Greidanus wishes to perpetuate. He points out several instances where Spurgeon uses an Old Testament text as a “springboard” (160) to a New Testament concept that strained the original author’s intent. Greidanus also points out that Spurgeon based many of his Old Testament sermons on incomplete textual units. John Talbert examined 532 of Spurgeon’s sermons and found that he “used only one verse or a part of one verse . . . in almost 70 percent of the messages” (161).

Wilhelm Vischer (1895-1988) (163) lived and taught Old Testament in Nazi Germany. During this time anti-Semitism led most scholars to reject the Old Testament. Visher, however, refused and continued to argue for “the unity of the two Testaments” (167). Visher’s method, though laudable in its intent, exhibits weaknesses. He resorts to “typologizing and allegorizing (175), [failing] to fully appreciate the progression of God’s revelation” (174). Because he often fails to pay enough attention to the historical setting or stage in God’s revelatory process of Old Testament texts, and this leads him to a fairly consistent reading of the New Testament back into the Old Testament (175).

The New Testament writers offer valuable principles for how one should handle the Old Testament in preaching. One should always bear in mind that he never be guilty of Christomonism, separating Christ from God, in his interpretation. There is complete unity between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Greidanus’ great accomplishment in this work is the result of his decision, that instead of going to the Old Testament to seek types of Christ, he should reverse directions and begin with “Christ as we know him from the New Testament” (183) and then move back to the Old Testament. Based on this shift in direction, Greidanus develops five presuppositions one should hold when interpreting the Old Testament. These presuppositions are,

  1. God acts uniformly but progressively in redemptive history.
  2. Jesus ushered in the messianic or kingdom age.
  3. Jesus is truly God and as the Son of God, has existed with God the Father from all eternity.
  4. The understanding of the corporate personality of Israel.
  5. Read the Old Testament from the perspective of the reality of Christ (191-199).

Based on these considerations, Greidanus finds that the writers of the New Testament use the Old Testament to preach Christ in six ways. They utilize contrast, longitudinal themes, analogy, typology, promise-fulfillment and redemptive-historical progression (203). Greidanus next applies these six methods of preaching Christ from the Old Testament to current hermeneutical discussions.

The hermeneutical method which Greidanus proposes “falls somewhere between Calvin’s theocentric method and Luther’s christological method” (227); he calls it the “christocentric method, or more precisely, the redemptive-historical christocentric method” (227). Two critical elements in Greidanus’ redemptive-historical process are the importance of understanding the text “in its own historical context” (228) and understanding the message of the text withing the context of the “canon and redemptive history” (230). Greidanus then shows how one can combine his christocentric method with the New Testament writers’ use of the Old Testament into a process for preaching Christ from the Old Testament. He then closes the work with five examples from traditionally misused Old Testament texts.

The major strength of this work is the call to preach from the Old Testament and not inadvertently foster Marcionism. Greidanus has recognized a major weakness in current homiletics, and this book serves as a needed and informative corrective. Greidanus is correct to point out that most preachers preach from the New Testament because it is less difficult to do so. The six reasons why one must preach from the Old Testament are on target and will hopefully have their intended effect.

Another strength of the work is found in the five presuppositions Greidanus argues should be held as one prepares to preach from an Old Testament text. Historically those who have preached from the Old Testament frequently have used typology or allegory to interpret the text. Greidanus’ five presuppositions will help one avoid these pitfalls of allegory and typology by giving one greater confidence that he may properly approach the Old Testament texts.

Greidanus also rightly argues that historical meaning be maintained as a proper hermeneutical method. He is correct to point out that “historical meaning . . . offers the only objective point of control against driving from the text all kinds of subjective and arbitrary messages” (228).

Greidanus’ admission of his change of mind related to Christ-centered preaching, is refreshing in that it reveals that scholars also need to correct their own thinking from time to time. Because of his great fear of forced interpretation in The Modern Preacher, he taught that in some biblical texts one could not legitimately preach Christ. In these cases he rationalized that one should preach a God-centered message but not force Christ. In this book, however he makes plain that he is “arguing . . . not merely for the general category of God-centered preaching but for the more specific category of explicitly Christ-centered preaching” (37). He still maintains that one must guard against forcing one’s interpretation upon a text, but he has come to the conclusion that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Yet another strength of this book is Greidanus’ commitment to clarity. At the risk of sounding verbose he is careful to state what he means and does not mean so as not to be misunderstood. For example, many homilticians state that they are in favor of Christ-centered preaching, but never clearly state what they mean by that phrase. Greidanus specifies exactly what he means by stating “To preach Christ is to proclaim some facet, person, work, or teaching of Jesus of Nazareth so that people may believe him, trust him, love him, and obey him” (8).

One weakness of the book is Greidanus’ attack on Spurgeon’s preaching Christ for the purposes which Greidanus himself has advanced (see above). He lists a shortcoming of Spurgeon’s preaching to be his “sole focus on individual salvation” (162). While the point that Spurgeon did not always live up to current theological and hermeneutical standards is well taken, to advance the idea that his focus on salvation had a reductionist tendency on the gospel strains credulity. Since the whole point of the gospel is the salvation of individuals, Greidanus’ point is not well taken.

Another weakness is technical in nature and could be construed as nit picking by some. Greidanus takes Ken Mathews to task concerning a “disappointing” (293) sermon outline with which he concluded an article about preaching from historical narratives. Greidanus goes on to use the article positively to make several points. The problem is that in the first footnote, Greidanus misspells Mathews name. If one is going to take on a scholar one should at the very least get his name right (293, Note 27).

Greidanus has done the Church and the field of homiletics a wonderful service with the writing of this book. While the book is not easy to read, it is profitable reading and should be required for all who take seriously the preaching of God’s word. This author has certainly been challenged to preach from the Old Testament more often. The methodology Greidanus has listed in this volume is also readily transferable to preaching from the New Testament.

End Notes

1. Greidanus, Sidney, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

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