Preaching the Luminous Word: Biblical Sermons and Homiletical Essays
Overview
Inviting serious theological engagement with texts from all parts of the Christian Bible, Preaching the Luminous Word is a collection of fifty-one sermons and five related essays from noted preacher and biblical scholar Ellen F. Davis.
A brief preface to each sermon delineates its liturgical context and theological themes as well as distinctive elements of structure and style. Arranged in canonical order, the sermons treat a wide range of texts: Torah, Prophets, Writings, Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation. They are complemented by essays on various aspects of biblical interpretation for preaching.
At once accessible, theologically informed, and rhetorically rich, this volume will engage preachers, teachers, seminarians, church leaders, and serious lay readers.
- Introduces the liturgical context and theological themes of each sermon
- Covers a wide variety of biblical texts
- Includes essays on various aspects of biblical interpretation for preaching
Ellen Davis’s preaching has a fierce intimacy, a deft poetry, a profound playfulness, and a rigorous passion. Just like the Bible. And just like God.
—Samuel Wells, coauthor of Eucharistic Prayers and Shaping the Prayers of the People
Davis’s biblical interpretations have been widely admired for decades, but this volume exceeds even those that have gone before in its usefulness for preachers. If preachers pay attention to these essays, they will be shaken to the foundations, but when their foundation is the true Word of the living God, they—and their congregations—will be renewed from the Source. This book deserves the much-overused word ‘prophetic’ and should be close at hand on every preacher’s shelf.
—Fleming Rutledge, author of The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ
Ellen Davis is the rare academic—a brilliant academic—who takes seriously the art, craft, and calling of preaching. I am grateful that this book is in the world, in a moment in which the world so urgently needs the discerning, luminous word.
—Krista Tippett, executive producer and host of On Being
- Title: Preaching the Luminous Word: Biblical Sermons and Homiletical Essays
- Author: Ellen F. Davis
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 2016
- Pages: 356
- Resource Type: Sermons
- Topic: Preaching Resources
Ellen F. Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. Her previous books include Wondrous Depth: Preaching the Old Testament and (with Richard B. Hays) The Art of Reading Scripture.