|
The imperative of preachingA theology of sacred rhetoricSet fire to your pulpit!THE IMPERATIVE OF PREACHING Each chapter in this book is worth the price of the whole. The book is mind-stretching: but this is a useful exercise for preachers, particularly when the mind is stretched in the right direction. Useful too in another respect: its contents page reads like the contents of a book on English grammar. Most preachers could do with improving their grammar, and the author is a superb educator. But these are just the incidental benefits of what is one of the finest books written on the subject of preaching. What then has English grammar got to do with preaching? Dr. Carrick provides the answer. The indicative mood deals with the facts and statements and the historic basis of the Christian faith, e.g. 'The Word became flesh'. It calls for proclamation, exposition and explanation - a large part of a preacher's commission. The imperative mood is expressed in exhortation and deals with the outworking and application of the Christian faith, e.g. 'Repent and believe the gospel'. These two categories provide the framework within which the preacher should operate. Also the use of exclamation and questioning (the interrogative) will serve to re-enforce the effectiveness of his preaching. Dr. Carrick illustrates the appropriate use and balance of these categories in the preaching of notable preachers such as Edwards, Whitefield, Samuel Davies, Nettleton and Lloyd-Jones. To secure the right balance is essential to faithful preaching. The liberal places undue emphasis on the imperative without the support of the indicative because he disparages truth and facts, and frequently seeks salvation by works. The non-experiential and theoretically orthodox preacher puts all the emphasis on the indicative and neglects the imperative, i.e. the practical outworking of the truth. This book is not some ivory-tower exercise; it raises issues of vital importance for present day evangelicals. Take 'Christianity Explained'; that is the indicative, but is that all that is required? What of the imperatives of repentance and faith? And what of an almost obsessive preoccupation today with the exposition and explanation of Scriptures which leaves the hearers unmoved and unaffected, because there has been no real application of the Word? Something more than mere explanation is required, and even more than proclamation. Many people in our churches are spiritually starved because all they hear from the pulpits are running commentaries on passages of Scripture - strictly in context, let it be said - or else, deadly dull Reformed expositions which leave their souls untouched. If Dr. Carrick helps us to regain a right balance in our preaching, then we will have been well-served by this timely book. Let us hope that most preachers will read it. Paul E.G. Cook,
|