# How Often Do You (or Your Pastor) Quote During a Sermon?



## Backwoods Presbyterian (Sep 7, 2009)

What I mean by this is how often is a quotation used in the sermons you preach (or that you hear)? Not meaning here Scriptural citations but quotes from authors or other commentators, etc...? 

It is not something I do often but wanted to hear from those who are much better preachers than I what was your practice (or that of your Pastor)?


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## KMK (Sep 7, 2009)

Rarely...


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## Curt (Sep 7, 2009)

Seldom. I quoted Matthew Henry once this past Sunday. Before that I don't remember the last time I used a quote other than Scripture (but I'm relatively sure it was Thomas Boston).


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## Michael (Sep 7, 2009)

Not exactly on topic here...but direct quotes or not, I would probably start to worry if my pastor wasn't plagiarizing from the pulpit.


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## Lady of the Lake (Sep 7, 2009)

When a pastor quotes extra-biblical sources frequently I begin to wonder what he used for the foundation of the message.


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## fredtgreco (Sep 7, 2009)

Almost never. And when I do, it is far more likely to be a quick paraphrase or attributed illustration. I think it is exceedingly difficult for the congregation to follow a lengthy quote in a sermon, and its force is usually quite blunted because of the necessity of looking down and reading it.


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## Hamalas (Sep 7, 2009)

Sometimes......


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## N. Eshelman (Sep 7, 2009)

At least 50 times.

















Just kidding. 2 tops. I tend to like short ones, and I like to say, "A pastor once said... or a teacher once said...." instead of saying the name of the author. Most people do not know and do not care who said what. (Unless it's Calvin).


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## Idelette (Sep 7, 2009)

My Pastor rarely quotes extra-biblical material....only on a few rare occasions he's used the Confessions or perhaps a quote from a commentary, but its only been a handful of times.


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## Caroline (Sep 7, 2009)

I think my pastor quotes 2-3 times per sermon, usually. Although I am loathe to criticize his sermons, I think fredtgreco is correct (that it makes it a little difficult to follow). I like the fact that he reads up on things. I would be nervous about a pastor who pulled all of his sermons solely out of his own thoughts and assumed he was right about all his interpretations.

But the man has never learned to read slowly, so the effect rather like we are cruising peacefully along ...


 

and suddenly we hit the rollercoaster Free Fall of Death ... 




and then we're back to recover at the end of the quote ...




And things return to cruising peacefully along...


 


PS The one that stays smiling is the really deaf old lady who never knows what the pastor is saying, but she is always sure that it is something wonderful. Every congregation has one.


My pastor could have worse habits though, so I'm not really complaining.


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## Hamalas (Sep 8, 2009)

Caroline said:


> I think my pastor quotes 2-3 times per sermon, usually. Although I am loathe to criticize his sermons, I think fredtgreco is correct (that it makes it a little difficult to follow). I like the fact that he reads up on things. I would be nervous about a pastor who pulled all of his sermons solely out of his own thoughts and assumed he was right about all his interpretations.
> 
> But the man has never learned to read slowly, so the effect rather like we are cruising peacefully along ...
> 
> ...



 Wow! That made my day.


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## N. Eshelman (Sep 8, 2009)

Let me add that I do quote small portions of the Confession or Catechisms as they are applicable. I think that this is important for instilling the fact that we are a Confessional Church. The Confessions are not just there for the Pastors and Teachers- but are there for the congregation as well. 

 (That is the little old lady that thinks what I say is wonderful... she must be REALLY deaf).


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## strangecharm (Sep 8, 2009)

My pastor preaches using the Heidelberg Catechism alongside his scripture texts. Every so often, he quotes Calvin, Owen, or another well-known figure.

He usually keeps things very simple, such that the uneducated in the congregation get the point.


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## JonathanHunt (Sep 8, 2009)

I have an unwritten rule with myself to keep the quotes down to two - one for a hymn verse that might be useful, one for a comment from a commentator. But often, none.


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## FenderPriest (Sep 8, 2009)

Depends on who's preaching and what he's preaching on (i.e. less in a book of the Bible preaching series, _maybe_ a little more in a topical-exegetical series). Less these days than before, and it's never a distracting point. Most times, I've found, it's a way of my pastors caring for people in the congregation as a means of saying "Hey, I benefited from X guy in this area, and I think you will to." Hence the quotation.


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## jwithnell (Sep 8, 2009)

My pastor, and others that I listen to, tend to make indirect quotations from time to time when it helps to make a point a bit more clear; they rarely will give direct quotes. I _do_ like to know the source of the quote. Same goes for scripture, I really don't like to hear "John said ..." without knowing exactly which scripture is being quoted ... if the additional text from scripture really helps to illuminate the passage being studied, I will likely want to note it in the margin.


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## reformedminister (Sep 8, 2009)

Occasionally. Probably one in four sermons I will use a quote from someone like Calvin or Matthew Henry.


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## JBaldwin (Sep 8, 2009)

My pastor tends to quote from his favorite commentators, and I've noticed he does it when the passage we are studying is complicated and open to more than one interpretation or when the quotation drives home his point. He always cites where he gets the quotation and why he is using it. 

A good example of that would be this past Sunday when he was preaching on Genesis 39 regarding Potipher's wife and Joseph. He pointed out that Potipher's wife was consumed with lust and wanting pleasure for the moment (In contrast to Joseph who who was concerned about offending God by disobeying His commands). 

The pastor then read from I Corinthians 6 where Paul talks about how it is both sinful and unnatural to use sex in a way that God never intended. He then quoted CS Lewis who said that having sex without marriage was like eating food and immediately throwing it up. 

When appropriately used, quotations can be helpful, and I don't think my pastor is any less of a scholar for using them.


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## fredtgreco (Sep 8, 2009)

I don't think it is a matter of scholarship. My point was that (esp) long, read quotes break up the flow of a sermon.

I will, for example, cite the Shorter Catechism on occasion to emphasize a point. I do that (and not the Confession or WLC) because I can do that from memory, and it is shorter. I also prefer to paraphrase Calvin or Henry, or anyone instead of reading a lengthy quote.

I think sometimes a preacher can be tempted to find a really good, in-depth quote and use it to support a point, but when it is long and convoluted, hard to follow when not in front of people, and read, it does not really help.

If there were a "perfect" quote on point, I'd be tempted to put it somewhere in the bulletin.


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## Puritan Sailor (Sep 8, 2009)

I don't do it often, and when I do I usually just say "a pastor/scholar/theologian said it this way... etc." and almost never give the name, (though I have it in my foot-notes in case anyone asks afterward.) I want to keep the attention on the text, not on the author of the quote. Usually I paraphrase too since the Enligsh is often older and would not flow well with modern usage. I did quote the Eagles once, just to illustrate the folly of unbelief.


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## Don Kistler (Sep 8, 2009)

I do it quite often, actually, mostly from the Puritans, though I've quoted from secular authors also. These men say it much better than I could. I like what Spurgeon said, "I am amazed at what men will make of what God has said to them, but so little of what God has said to others."


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## JimJr (Sep 29, 2009)

I may quote anywhere from 0 to 3 times in a message, to help reinforce a point. When someone else has said it better than I can, there's no sense trying to reinvent the wheel. I can't remember ever using a lengthy quote, however.


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