How to Preach Narrative (Preaching Biblical Literature)
Digital Verbum Edition
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.
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- Explores the literary artistry and rhetorical effects that biblical narrators generated
- Demonstrates how to reproduce these rhetorical effects in sermons
- Defining Biblical Narrative
- Plot
- Character and Characterization
- Setting
- Point of View
- 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
Part One: Biblical Narrative as Literature and Rhetoric
Part Two: Strategies for Saying What the Text Says and Doing What the Text Does
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