How to Preach Narrative (Preaching Biblical Literature)

by Jeffrey D. Arthurs

Publisher:

Fontes Press

, 2022

Overview

Expository preachers pay attention not only to content, but also to form. They strive to say what the text says as well as how it says it. The main formal features of narrative are plot, character, setting, and point of view. In Part One of this book, Arthurs treats each formal feature in its own chapter, exploring the literary artistry and rhetorical effects that biblical narrators generated. In Part Two, Arthurs demonstrates how to reproduce these rhetorical effects in sermons. The reader will encounter six strategies, explained and illustrated, to preach in ways that bring to life the formal features of narrative texts of Scripture. Two sample sermons with commentary illustrate the strategies and provide a model for preaching narrative in an engaging and effective manner.

Key Features

• Explores the literary artistry and rhetorical effects that biblical narrators generated
• Demonstrates how to reproduce these rhetorical effects in sermons

Contents

Part One: Biblical Narrative as Literature and Rhetoric

• Defining Biblical Narrative
• Plot
• Character and Characterization
• Setting
• Point of View

Part Two: Strategies for Saying What the Text Says and Doing What the Text Does

• Introduction
• 7. Strategies for Preparation and Exegesis
• 8. Strategies for Presentation: Language and Delivery
• 9. Strategies for Form, Part One
• 10. Strategies for Form, Part Two
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Scripture Index Subject Index

Praise for How to Preach Narrative

Jeff Arthurs clearly and thoroughly shows how the parts of narrative—plot, character, setting, and point of view—combine to bring biblical stories to life. He then goes on to show how your sermon can use the same narrative skills to capture your twenty-first century listeners. Continuous biblical and sermon examples make this a book preachers will file and return to when preparing messages on passages he mentions.

—Don Sunukjian, Professor of Preaching Emeritus, Talbot School of Theology

Jeffrey D. Arthurs is one of the best narrative preachers I know. As a gifted exegete, homiletician, and storyteller, I am grateful that he has gifted preachers, pulpits, and people in the pews with his latest, How to Preach Narrative. Arthurs showcases the beauty of the narrative genre in Scripture and provides experience-proven techniques for telling the story of God in God’s way. Pick up a copy today. Your listeners will thank you for it. They may even respond with a story of their own.

—Matthew D. Kim, Professor of Practical Theology and Raborn Chair of Pastoral Leadership, Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University

This book is a wonderful combination of the theoretical foundations and the practical applications involved in preaching narrative texts. Jeff knows the beautiful struggle of preaching and with this book he makes the struggle easier for all of us, mentoring us in the joy and craft of preaching. I strongly recommend it for book groups, classes, and anyone who wants to give their preaching some new life.

—Mary Hulst, University Pastor, Calvin University

Product Details

• Title: How to Preach Narrative
• Author: Jeffrey D. Arthurs
• Series: Preaching Biblical Literature
• Publisher: Fontes Press
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 180
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Preaching › Study and teaching
• ISBNs: 9781948048804, 1948048809
• Resource ID: LLS:HWPRCHNRRTV
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-09-23T19:23:57Z

About Jeffrey D. Arthurs

Since being hired in 2002, Dr. Arthurs has brought a wide range of ministry and communication experience to his position at Gordon-Conwell. An experienced teacher and pastor, he has taught at every level, from grade school to grad school. His passion is preaching, and he currently serves as the teaching pastor at St. Paul’s Collegiate Church in Storrs, CT. He also carries on an active ministry of pulpit supply and conference speaking and is past president of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. In addition to serving regularly as a teacher and pastor, Dr. Arthurs served for one year as a missionary in the Philippines, where he and his wife assisted a church planter by training lay ministers. He has also had experience working part-time as an announcer at two radio stations and providing consulting services to businesses and churches. His most recent consulting work has involved training churches on leading worship services and reading Scripture. Throughout these varied roles, his personal mission statement has remained the same: “To communicate the truth and to equip others to do the same.†An active scholar and author, Dr. Arthurs’ scholarly interests include the intersection of exegesis and homiletics, preaching the literary forms of Scripture, public reading of Scripture and rhetorical theory. His personal interests in the past have included acting in college and grad school productions. Now, he enjoys tennis and disc golf, exercising and playing games. He and his family reside in South Hamilton, MA.