The Witness of Preaching, 3rd ed.

by Thomas G. Long

Publisher:

Westminster John Knox

, 2016

This is a newly revised edition of one of the standard introductory preaching textbooks on the market today. Beginning with a solid theological basis, veteran preacher and best-selling author Thomas G. Long offers a practical, step-by-step guide to writing a sermon. Long centers his approach around the biblical concept of witness. To be a preacher, Long posits, is to be a witness to God’s work in the world—one who sees before speaking, one whose task is to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about what is seen.”

This updated edition freshens up language and anecdotes, contains an extensive new analysis of the use of multimedia and its impact on preaching, and adds a completely new chapter on plagiarism in preaching. Included for the first time are four complete sermons, with Long’s commentary and analysis. The sermons were written and originally preached by Barbara Brown Taylor, Cleophus J. LaRue. Ginger Gaines- Cirelli, and Edmund Steimle.

With this third edition, The Witness of Preaching reaffirms itself as the essential resource for seminary students as well as new and experienced preachers.

Key Features

• Focuses on the theological image of bearing witness to the gospel
• Provides direct conversation with other voices and opinions in the field of preaching
• Examines the essential practices of Christian preaching

Contents

• What Does It Mean to Preach?
• The Biblical Witness in Preaching
• Biblical Exegesis for Preaching
• The Focus and Function of the Sermon
• The Basic Form of the Sermon
• Refining the Form
• Beginnings, Connections, and Endings
• Images and Experiences in Sermons
• Preaching and Plagiarism
• From Desk to Pulpit
• Conversation along the Pilgrim Way
• Appendix A—“The Eye of the Storm” by Edmund Steimle
• Appendix B—“The Lost and Found Department” by Barbara Brown Taylor
• Appendix C—“Why Bother?” by Cleophus J. LaRue
• Appendix D—“Special Effects” by Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli

Praise for the Print Edition

The only preaching textbook that I can imagine improving on The Witness of Preaching is this third edition, which updates the content for the next generation of preachers. It features an updated version of the biblical exegesis process that takes cutting-edge methodologies into account, a chapter on digital technology in relation to preaching, and a new section that features Long’s analysis of the form of sermons by several of today’s most accomplished pulpit communicators. The Witness of Preaching equips today’s witnesses to preach compelling, coherent sermons to a new generation. It will take its place at the top of the required reading list as my mainstay `go-to' textbook for my next preaching class!

—Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Director of The Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

Product Details

• Title: The Witness of Preaching
• Author: Thomas G. Long
• Edition: Third Edition
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox
• Print Publication Date: 2016
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 348
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Preaching
• ISBNs: 9780664261429, 0664261426
• Resource ID: LLS:WTNSSPRCHNGTDTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-10-09T22:47:32Z

About Thomas G. Long

Thomas G. Long is Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He has taught preaching for over forty years, and his introductory textbook, The Witness of Preaching, has been translated into a number of languages and is widely used in theological schools around the world. Long has served as the president of the Academy of Homiletics and as senior homiletics editor of the New Interpreter's Bible. He has been editor of Theology Today and serves as an editor-at-large at The Christian Century. Long has been honored with the distinction of delivering the Lyman Beecher Lectures in Preaching at Yale Divinity School and was also named by Time magazine as one of the most effective preachers in the English language. A Presbyterian minister, Long has served churches in Georgia and New Jersey.