Polishing the Pulpit

Preaching by Fred B. Craddock, Abingdon, $16.95

Preaching: The Art of Connecting God and People by F. Dean Lueking, Word, $12.95

Reviewed by Gregory P. Elder, assistant priest, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Del Mar, California

An Anglican bishop is said to have dismissed one of his subordinates by saying, "That man deserves to be preached to death by wild curates." More than one congregation has imagined itself so condemned.

But as any experienced pastor will affirm, it requires hard work to produce an interesting and challenging sermon. To help practiced and aspiring preachers, Fred B. Craddock and F. Dean Lueking have both written books titled Preaching, offering doctrinal wisdom and practical advice to proclaimers of the Word.

Craddock, presently professor of preaching and New Testament at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, writes, "Preaching is understood as making present and appropriate to the hearers the revelation of God." He explained in a phone conversation, ...