WRESTLING WITH THE WORD:
Preaching Tricky Texts
Edited by Kate Bruce and Jamie Harrison
SPCK. 159 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 0 281 076 482
Produced to celebrate 150 years of ‘Readers’ in the CofE, this symposium of sermons from 18 very varied contributors, along with perspectives drawn out by the editors, seeks to grapple with the challenges of preaching in our contemporary culture. It is largely generated out of Durham University and especially Cranmer Hall, which hosts ‘a research centre on engaging faith in digital culture’.
The opening chapters seek to wrestle with contemporary criticisms of preaching and to establish some theological principles on how to preach ‘tricky texts’. These are texts judged to be beyond human experience, or which are violent, terrifying, strange or abrasive and the wide intention is to help Bible readers and preachers. The book ends with perhaps its most instructive chapter, by David Day, on what he calls ‘the Application Emphasis’.
