PREACHING:
The centrality of Scripture
By R. Albert Mohler. Banner of Truth Trust. 21 pages. £1.25
ISBN 0 8515 1823 0
With pressure on pastors to be 'successful' there can come a temptation to do what works, rather than what is right. This can lead to the sidelining of Scripture in the pulpit.
This excellent little booklet is the required antidote for such a condition. The author, Dr. Albert Mohler, is the President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Southern Theological Seminary at Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Basing what he has to say on 2 Timothy 4.1-5, he firstly diagnoses the current crisis in preaching and particularly laments the tendency of many evangelical preachers to find the text that suits their own agenda, rather than serving God's word to their congregations.
Jim Packer has suggested, in short, that preaching should be 'an activity of letting texts talk'.
He then goes on to explore the revolt against Scripture and uses the words of one liberal scholar to make his point: 'Given a rejection of biblical inerrancy, and the acceptance of historical-critical methods, what is the basis of the claim that something preachable is necessarily in the text?'
He ends this fine challenge by quoting the last words of Dr. John Broadus, the famous 19th century Professor of Homiletics, to his students: 'Young gentlemen ... be men Mighty in the Scriptures.'
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