RamistThomist
Puritanboard Assessor
Craddock, Fred B. Preaching. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010.
I will begin with one caveat: Fred Craddock held to the “New Homiletic,” which saw the aim of preaching as connecting the biblical text to the listener’s experience (and not necessarily the other way around). Not only is that theologically bad, but with today’s postmodernism it does not even make for good preaching. Craddock just happened to be very smart and a decent preacher, so he could get away with it.
With that said, the book contains much that is useful and while it should not be one’s foundation for preaching, neither should it be rejected. As with every preaching manual, he considers the basic assumptions that go into preaching; to wit, it is an engagement of the whole person to the whole person (Craddock 17). We need not accept the New Homiletic’s prioritization of the listener’s experience, but we should at least remember the listener when we write our sermons. (I remember hearing one young Macarthurite preach to a group of 70-80 year olds on the evils of cell phones for one’s devotion. Quite true and utterly irrelevant to the audience).
For Craddock, the background of preaching is the minister’s pastoral context. Although that does run the risk of fitting every sermon to the “need of the week,” it is in some sense inevitable. Craddock’s larger theology of preaching, comprising the next few chapters, while not particularly profound, is very basic and what one would expect in preaching manuals.
Reformed students will doubtless enjoy chapter four, “The Life of Study.” What is the difference between a pastor who plays “catch up” with his sermons and one who engages and constructs a theology? Craddock writes: “When the life of study is confined to getting up sermons, very likely those sermons are undernourished. They are the sermons of a preacher with the mind of a consumer, not a producer” (69). From there he gives the normal admonitions to choose wisely which books to study, etc. The young whippersnapper should note that “Thoroughly digesting one such book can be immensely valuable than racing through two dozen spin-offs” (76). In other words, you can skip that new book on the Five Points of Calvinism.
Beginning to Write the Sermon
First reading of the text: spontaneous. “This is the time to listen, think, feel, imagine, and ask” (105). Do not consult any secondary material. Jot down anything that comes to mind.
Second reading of the text: note the syntax, words, etc. Begin to establish the parameters of the text. Be aware that “In biblical studies, the historical disciplines have looked upon the text as the result of certain events and interactions, while the preacher looks upon the text as the cause, the generator, of events and interactions” (113).
The Sermon Itself
One, “What is the text saying? In one sentence, and as simply as possible, state the message of the text” (122).
Two, “What is the text doing?” This is derived from historical and literary contexts. It may be correcting, instructing, etc. In other words, the form determines the function.
Shaping the Message
State the message in the affirmative rather than the imperative (155). By making it a simple sentence rather than a compound/complex one, the preacher is better able to maintain “unity and singularity of direction.” Craddock gives the following example:
Text: Matthew 5:21-27
Theme: In the church, relationships take precedence over ritual.
Subject: Reconciliation as Priority
Title: Leaving Before the Benediction
Identifying with the Audience
The Form of a Sermon
The form of a sermon can be narrative, before and after, didactic, etc. If liberal hippies make everything “narrative,” conservatives can sometimes be guilty of a three point body slam. Let the text choose the form. If Jesus tells a story in the text, pay attention to how stories work. If Paul is making an argument, then the story might not be the best model.
Craddock then gives a list of sermonic and textual forms, since the latter should determine the former:
What is it?
Explore, Explain, Apply
The problem, the solution
What it is not, what it is
Either/or
Both/And
Promise/Fulfilment
Ambiguity/Clarity
Major premise, minor premise, conclusion (177).
Creating a Form
Craddock’s listener-oriented approach comes out heavily in this section, but we can still get a lot out of the rest of it.
First, write and place front and center the text, theme, subject (see above).
Second, list in phrases down the page the basic information and ideas. This begins to order the material.
Third, ask if an idea is clear.
Fourth, write in full sentences or even brief paragraphs those particular portions of the sermon which are complex.
Conclusion
Although dated in many regards, it is rightly considered a classic. In many ways, it was the text of mainline seminaries, for better or worse (probably worse). But one should not impute their failures to Craddock.
I will begin with one caveat: Fred Craddock held to the “New Homiletic,” which saw the aim of preaching as connecting the biblical text to the listener’s experience (and not necessarily the other way around). Not only is that theologically bad, but with today’s postmodernism it does not even make for good preaching. Craddock just happened to be very smart and a decent preacher, so he could get away with it.
With that said, the book contains much that is useful and while it should not be one’s foundation for preaching, neither should it be rejected. As with every preaching manual, he considers the basic assumptions that go into preaching; to wit, it is an engagement of the whole person to the whole person (Craddock 17). We need not accept the New Homiletic’s prioritization of the listener’s experience, but we should at least remember the listener when we write our sermons. (I remember hearing one young Macarthurite preach to a group of 70-80 year olds on the evils of cell phones for one’s devotion. Quite true and utterly irrelevant to the audience).
For Craddock, the background of preaching is the minister’s pastoral context. Although that does run the risk of fitting every sermon to the “need of the week,” it is in some sense inevitable. Craddock’s larger theology of preaching, comprising the next few chapters, while not particularly profound, is very basic and what one would expect in preaching manuals.
Reformed students will doubtless enjoy chapter four, “The Life of Study.” What is the difference between a pastor who plays “catch up” with his sermons and one who engages and constructs a theology? Craddock writes: “When the life of study is confined to getting up sermons, very likely those sermons are undernourished. They are the sermons of a preacher with the mind of a consumer, not a producer” (69). From there he gives the normal admonitions to choose wisely which books to study, etc. The young whippersnapper should note that “Thoroughly digesting one such book can be immensely valuable than racing through two dozen spin-offs” (76). In other words, you can skip that new book on the Five Points of Calvinism.
Beginning to Write the Sermon
First reading of the text: spontaneous. “This is the time to listen, think, feel, imagine, and ask” (105). Do not consult any secondary material. Jot down anything that comes to mind.
Second reading of the text: note the syntax, words, etc. Begin to establish the parameters of the text. Be aware that “In biblical studies, the historical disciplines have looked upon the text as the result of certain events and interactions, while the preacher looks upon the text as the cause, the generator, of events and interactions” (113).
The Sermon Itself
One, “What is the text saying? In one sentence, and as simply as possible, state the message of the text” (122).
Two, “What is the text doing?” This is derived from historical and literary contexts. It may be correcting, instructing, etc. In other words, the form determines the function.
Shaping the Message
State the message in the affirmative rather than the imperative (155). By making it a simple sentence rather than a compound/complex one, the preacher is better able to maintain “unity and singularity of direction.” Craddock gives the following example:
Text: Matthew 5:21-27
Theme: In the church, relationships take precedence over ritual.
Subject: Reconciliation as Priority
Title: Leaving Before the Benediction
Identifying with the Audience
- The human condition is presented with genuine insight.
- Primary attention is given to the specific and particular rather than the general.
- Sermon materials are realistic rather than contrived for homiletical purposes.
- Narrative and description are with emotional restraint and an economy of words.
- The sermon is reexperienced as it is related (162-165).
The Form of a Sermon
The form of a sermon can be narrative, before and after, didactic, etc. If liberal hippies make everything “narrative,” conservatives can sometimes be guilty of a three point body slam. Let the text choose the form. If Jesus tells a story in the text, pay attention to how stories work. If Paul is making an argument, then the story might not be the best model.
- Form gains and holds interest.
- Form shapes the listener’s experience of the material.
- Form shapes the listener’s faith.
- Form determines the degree of participation (172-174).
Craddock then gives a list of sermonic and textual forms, since the latter should determine the former:
What is it?
Explore, Explain, Apply
The problem, the solution
What it is not, what it is
Either/or
Both/And
Promise/Fulfilment
Ambiguity/Clarity
Major premise, minor premise, conclusion (177).
Creating a Form
Craddock’s listener-oriented approach comes out heavily in this section, but we can still get a lot out of the rest of it.
First, write and place front and center the text, theme, subject (see above).
Second, list in phrases down the page the basic information and ideas. This begins to order the material.
Third, ask if an idea is clear.
Fourth, write in full sentences or even brief paragraphs those particular portions of the sermon which are complex.
Conclusion
Although dated in many regards, it is rightly considered a classic. In many ways, it was the text of mainline seminaries, for better or worse (probably worse). But one should not impute their failures to Craddock.
