Biblical Preaching: How to Find and Remove the Barriers. By Richard C. White. St. Louis: CBP Press, 1988. 141 pages. Paper, $8.95.  

A prominent preacher recently told one of our Ph.D. students in preaching that “I try to put a lot of Bible in my sermons.” Richard C. White challenges this practice of “using” the Bible to support the preacher’s aim, calling it the central problem with modern preaching.  

White thinks many sermons lack biblical authority because preachers have only superficial knowledge of the passage or they use the passage to serve their own ends. He attributes this lacking to attitudinal barriers regarding authority, interpretation and creativity, and homiletical procedure. Section one identifies these barriers.  

Section two tells how to remove the barriers. White gives excellent guidance in studying a familiar text thoroughly enough to find a fresh, authentic sermon from it. White shows that a preacher can be interesting without twisting the text and can be biblical without being predictable. He walks us through two familiar passages in such a way that they burst with fresh insight and preaching possibilities.  

The main limitation of White’s presentation is that he applies his method only to narrative passages, though it could work with discursive passages with some modification. This and an annoying profusion of contractions are the only blemishes on what is an otherwise excellent book. His suggestions can restore freshness and biblical authority to preaching.