The Folly of Preaching contains a wealth of theoretical and practical insights into preaching from some of today's best-known preachers, scholars, and homiletics teachers. Many of these contributions derive their inspiration from Paul's letters to the church at Corinth, in which the apostle vigorously defends both the message of the gospel and his own manner of proclaiming it. Several of the twelve exemplary sermons rounding out The Folly of Preaching continue reflecting on the key theme of grace amid weakness and need, expounding passages from Paul's Corinthian correspondence. Of all the current preaching books available, few come close to the compilation here of eminent figures in contemporary preaching. Contributors: Elizabeth R. Achtemeier Charles G. Adams Donna E. Allen John L. Bell David G. Buttrick Tony Campolo Stephen C. Farris John N. Gladstone Edwina Hunter Michael P. Knowles Cleophus J. LaRue Thomas G. Long Martin E. Marty Haddon W. Robinson John R. W. Stott Diane McLellan Walker

Osborn provides an in-depth look at how the preachers of a new Way drew thousands to the Christian faith during its first three centuries.

When you stand before your congregation, what do you hope to accomplish when you preach the Word? If people have Bibles and the freedom to read and pray on their own—why do they need you? In short, what do you bring to the table? Author, pastor, and professor John Koessler answers those questions and many more. Why does one sermon have a powerful effect on the audience while another falls flat? Why should listeners heed what the preacher says? Is human language adequate for facilitating an encounter with God? What is the point of preaching a sermon? Folly, Grace, and Power is a must-read for pastors, seminarians, and lay leaders charged with the task of preaching God’s word. This essential book is both a stern reminder of the sacredness of the awesome “job” of being a preacher, as well as a how-to that reveals the key to speaking powerfully on God’s behalf.

Campbell and Cilliars walk the fine line between the ugliness and beauty of the gospel and challenge readers toward a deeper engagement with its unsettling message.--Angela Dienhart Hancock, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary "Theology Today"

In this book Lutheran theologian Paul Hinlicky makes the deeply conflicted origins of Lutheran theology fruitful for the future. Exploring this intellectual and spiritual tradition of thought through its major historical chapters, Hinlicky rejects essentialist projects, exposing the debilitating binaries such programs engender and perpetuate, to establish an authentic Luther-theology or Lutheran theology. Hinlicky excavates the ways that throughout a five-hundred-year tradition the legacy of Luther texts has been appropriated, retooled, subverted, or developed. Readers of this introduction will thus be critically equipped to make intellectually honest appropriations of the Luther legacy in the plurality of contemporary contexts in which this iteration of Christian theology will continue.