The Eloquence of Grace: Joseph Sittler and the Preaching Life

James M. Childs · Richard A. Lischer

oct 2012 · Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute of Preaching Series Libro 1 · Wipf and Stock Publishers

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Joseph A. Sittler (1904-1987) was one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, distinguished for his pioneering work in ecology and for his preeminence as a preacher. He gave both the Beecher Lectures at Yale and the Noble Lectures at Harvard. As the "preacher's theologian," Sittler approached the interpretation of Scripture with a clear understanding of current critical scholarship, but also in the freedom of the gospel at the center of Scripture and with the humility of a theologian of the cross. In following the trajectory of the text into the preaching situation he gave a lively, timeless, and eloquent expression to the fact that the interpretation of texts is in the service of proclamation.

This collection of readings from Sittler's rich legacy contains a great many presentations and sermons that have never before appeared in print. Theologically serious preaching, close attention to language, engagement with the best of sacred and secular culture, and a deep respect for the text, all characteristics of Sittler's work, are the sort of features that continue to edify. They remain as benchmarks for good preaching even as styles and contexts evolve.

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Richard Lischer is James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor of Preaching at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America (1995) and The End of Words: The Language of Reconciliation in a Culture of Violence (2005). James M. Childs Jr., formerly the Joseph A. Sittler Professor of Theology and Ethics at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, now serves there as Senior Research Professor. He is the author of Ethics in the Community of Promise: Faith, Formation, and Decision (2nd ed., 2006) and The Way of Peace: Christian Life in the Face of Discord (2008).