Book Notices -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Trinity Journal
Volume: TRINJ 14:2 (Fall 1993)
Article: Book Notices
Author: Anonymous


Book Notices

All the books noted below have been selected by the respective department’s
faculty as being works worthy of your notice.

Practical Theology/Homiletics

Grant, Reg and John Reed. The Power Sermon: Countdown to Quality Messages for Maximum Impact (A New Eleven-Step Model). Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993.

The continuing Niagara of books on preaching bespeaks the encouragingly high level of interest in the craft of communicating the Word of God to our times. Now in the tradition of Haddon Robinson and Donald Sunukjian, two Dallas professors have given us their eleven-step method. While the flight manual analogy wears a bit thin, this is a lively and sprightly contribution which contains some very helpful visualization and a sample sermon which demonstrates the method.

The strong emphasis on the primacy of exegesis is what we would expect. The concern to wed exegesis to theology is salutary, but separate treatment of the two areas should not allow anyone to think that the barest exegetical statement is anything other than a theological assertion. While treatment of the classic components is satisfying, I wish there were more explicit address to application. While application is mentioned (and I do miss an index), this book reflects our current weakness in moving from the “then” to the “now.”

The model sermon is a Christmas sermon preached to the seminary community from Matt 15:1–28. This is a strange text for Christmas. Don’t we need something in relation to the Incarnation of Christ? Notwithstanding this stretch, I commend this book as sound and stimulating.

David L. Larsen

Hamilton, Donald L. Homiletical Handbook. Nashville: Broadman, 1992.

Are your homiletics rusty? Here’s a refresher course offering new insights by one of “Trinity’s own.” Dr. Donald Hamilton is a member of the class of 1968 who now teaches preaching at Columbia Biblical Seminary. The author is candid in his expression of indebtedness to Dr. Lloyd Perry. A generation of TEDS graduates will identify with his appreciation both for the Perry method and the enduring influence of the life of a beloved seminary prof. Following a brief introductory section, Homiletical Handbook features a discussion of the broad range of sermonic alternatives from the well-worn keyword method to the increasingly popular narrative approach. Each technique is made practical with samples of homiletical organization. The Handbook is further designed to stimulate creativity by teaching how to capitalize on the remarkable variety of biblical texts, “Our Homiletical

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