Preaching in the New Creation: The Promise of New Testament Apocalyptic Texts

by David Schnasa Jacobsen

Book Overview

Most preachers have little fondness for apocalyptic texts because of their scathing language, surrealistic plots, and enigmatic symbols. David Jacobsen helps preachers move past these barriers with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 066425845X
• ISBN13: 9780664258450
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Must-have for Preaching from the Apocalyptic Genre

David Jacobsen has done preachers a favor. I knew this was an excellent book after reading the introduction, as Jacobsen explained the apocalyptic genre. Insightfully, he says we should not just ask how to interpret apocalyptic texts, but ponder if they are already interpreting us! The main thrust of the book was more than helpful. Jacobsen, somewhat echoing Ricoeur and paralleling aspects of Vanhoozer and others, suggests that we should not just focus on what apocalyptic texts say to the church but what they do to the church. That is, the genre itself communicates something -- and that should shape our sermons and be evident in our preaching from them. Using some helpful categories like rhetoric and symbols found in apocalyptic texts to help form our sermons, Jacobsen also gives the reader several homiletic examples. Thankfully he shows us how his methods and paradigms work out; he even has three sample sermons in an appendix to show the reader what it all looks like in real life. Please, preachers, consume this book before you preach apocalyptic texts! You won't be sorry; it will help you preach the gospel while not running roughshod over this important genre.