Preachers mount the pulpit steps terribly burdened by the conviction that they are somehow responsible for the growth and spiritual well-being of their congregants. How, they ask themselves, can mere words communicate the reality of God, bring life to a congregation, or foster spiritual growth? This study argues that effective sermons function much like Jesus' parables--by bearing witness to divine power. Parables and preaching both testify to something beyond themselves: to a life-giving dynamic that far outstrips the force of words alone. Preachers are not go-betweens or gatekeepers for the kingdom of heaven: rather, they imitate Jesus by dying to themselves in the very act of proclamation, relying directly on God for their sermons to bear fruit. As well as offering a novel interpretation of Jesus' agricultural parables, Of Seeds and the People of God presents a Christ-shaped theology of preaching. Beyond exegesis or rhetoric alone, faithful proclamation is a question of spirituality, of preachers and listeners together yielding to God's gift of new life.
"Michael Knowles has written a stunning and demanding book on
preaching. His central point is the life-giving power of God, which
is exemplified in Jesus's agricultural parables. Over and against
'how to' books, Knowles advocates homiletical helplessness as a
primary virtue, which involves putting to death our reliance upon
rhetorical techniques. Preaching is testimony to what God does
rather than to what the preacher does. The book is richly
exegetical, theologically expansive, and ultimately deeply
practical because everything is cast upon the practice of
God."
--Andrew Purves, Professor of Reformed Theology, Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA
"Studies of homiletical method are legion. Michael Knowles offers
us something finer, richer, and more honest: a deep consideration
of the God of life, whose cruciform Spirit graces our inadequacy
and failures in the pulpit to bear faithful witness to a power that
is not our own. Professor Knowles's approach is at once profoundly
scriptural, traditionally sensitive, theologically grounded, and
spiritual in the most authentically Christian sense. Only an author
of seasoned wisdom and great compassion could have written Of
Seeds and the People of God. May it find its way into the hands
of all who preach, particularly those doubtful that their preaching
makes a difference. It does--as surely as we depend on the
trustworthy God 'who gives life to the dead and calls into
existence the things that do not exist.'"
--C. Clifton Black, Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology,
Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ
"How does preaching convey the life-giving power of God? In an age
of self-absorbed preachers and preaching, Michael Knowles answers
with a 'parabolic' and 'cruciform' homiletics of dependence, dying
and rising with Christ, and testimony that points away from the
preacher. A must-read for those serious about the possibility of
Christian preaching today."
--Michael J. Gorman, Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical Studies
and Theology, St. Mary's Seminary & University, Baltimore,
MD
"Michael Knowles has written a stunning and demanding book on
preaching. His central point is the life-giving power of God, which
is exemplified in Jesus's agricultural parables. Over and against
'how to' books, Knowles advocates homiletical helplessness as a
primary virtue, which involves putting to death our reliance upon
rhetorical techniques. Preaching is testimony to what God does
rather than to what the preacher does. The book is richly
exegetical, theologically expansive, and ultimately deeply
practical because everything is cast upon the practice of
God."
--Andrew Purves, Professor of Reformed Theology, Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA
"Studies of homiletical method are legion. Michael Knowles offers
us something finer, richer, and more honest: a deep consideration
of the God of life, whose cruciform Spirit graces our inadequacy
and failures in the pulpit to bear faithful witness to a power that
is not our own. Professor Knowles's approach is at once profoundly
scriptural, traditionally sensitive, theologically grounded, and
spiritual in the most authentically Christian sense. Only an author
of seasoned wisdom and great compassion could have written Of
Seeds and the People of God. May it find its way into the hands
of all who preach, particularly those doubtful that their preaching
makes a difference. It does--as surely as we depend on the
trustworthy God 'who gives life to the dead and calls into
existence the things that do not exist.'"
--C. Clifton Black, Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology,
Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ
"How does preaching convey the life-giving power of God? In an age
of self-absorbed preachers and preaching, Michael Knowles answers
with a 'parabolic' and 'cruciform' homiletics of dependence, dying
and rising with Christ, and testimony that points away from the
preacher. A must-read for those serious about the possibility of
Christian preaching today."
--Michael J. Gorman, Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical Studies
and Theology, St. Mary's Seminary & University, Baltimore,
MD
Michael P. Knowles holds the George F. Hurlburt Chair of Preaching at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In addition to shorter studies in homiletics, pastoral theology, and biblical interpretation, his previous publications include We Preach Not Ourselves: Paul on Proclamation (2008) and The Unfolding Mystery of the Divine Name: The God of Sinai in Our Midst (2012).