Preaching. By Fred B. Craddock. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985. 222 pages. Cloth, $16.95.  

With all the new books on preaching, why should we have another one? Read this one by Fred B. Craddock, Professor of Preaching and New Testament at Candler School of Theology and Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University in Atlanta, and you will have a good answer.  

Craddock offers this volume as a textbook in preaching and intends it for all who preach — those still in seminary and those involved in continuing education, the “practicing” preachers. One text can serve both groups, says Craddock, if its pedagogical approach is based on recognition rather than recall and if it provides the reader a clear walk through the entire process of sermon preparation and delivery. The format of his book meets both conditions.  

Part One is an overview of preaching in three chapters, with a chapter of introduction, another on the various contexts of the sermon, and a third on the theology of preaching. His chapter on theology of preaching is one of the strong points of the book and is based on the conviction that “preaching is understood as making present and appropriate to the hearers the revelation of God” (p. 51). The term “revelation” is used in the sense of mode.  

Part Two addresses the crucial topic of having something to say in preaching. The section contains a chapter with plain talk about the minister’s life of study. For example: “Time spent in study is never getting away from daily work but getting into work” (p. 70). Also, Part TWo has three excellent chapters on interpretation.  

In Part Three Craddock provides instruction on “Shaping the Message into a Sermon.” Among the four chapters the one on the formation of the sermon is most creative and underscores emphases Craddock makes in other books on preaching. He declares that “no form can be identified as ‘sermon’ ” and contends for variety in sermon form, pointing to the Bible for examples. The book concludes with a good chapter on delivering the sermon.  

Craddock has answered the question: “How do I prepare and deliver a sermon?” Furthermore, he has told the reader what preaching is and why one preaches. The book is thorough, practical, and written in a readable style. There are no footnotes, and that is a calculated risk, but the last two pages contain suggested resources for further study. For the student or pastor who wants help learning to preach or to preach better, this book is good news. It is one of the best new texts in homiletics.