Description
Book SynopsisIn Rhetoric of the Protestant Sermon in America: The Pulpit at the Turn of the Millennium, ten scholars analyze notable sermons from the fifty-year span between 1965 and 2015, during which the Protestant sermon has undergone significant change in the United States. Contributors examine how this turbulent time period witnessed a variety of important shifts in the arguments, evidences, and rhetorical strategies employed by contemporary preachers. Because religious practice is inextricably tangled in the culture, politics, and economy of its historical situation, the public expression of a faith is certain to move with the times. In their treatment of race, sex, gender, class, and citizenship, sermons apply ancient texts to current events and controversies, often to revealing effect. This collection, thoughtfully edited by Eric C. Miller and Jonathan J. Edwards, demonstrates how the genre of the Protestant sermon has evolved—or resisted evolution—across the years. Scholars of religion, rhetoric, communication, sociology, and cultural studies will find this book particularly useful.
Trade ReviewDelighting the reader with the predictable—the Puritans and Jerry Falwell—and the unexpected—Nadia Bolz-Weber and Otis Moss III—, Eric C. Miller and Jonathan J. Edwards have curated nine ground-breaking essays that introduce fresh critiques of American preaching and preachers. Rhetoric of the Protestant Sermon in America: The Pulpit at the Turn of the Millennium is worthy of attention from scholar-practitioners of rhetoric and homiletics alike. Bravo to Miller and Edwards for this exceptional edited volume from provocative intellectuals. -- Daniel S. Brown Jr., Grove City College
Table of ContentsIntroduction – The Protestant Sermon in America Eric C. Miller, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Chapter 1 – The Constitutive Sermon: Cotton, Winthrop, and the Long Puritan Legacy Lauren Lemley, Abilene Christian University Chapter 2 – The Opportunistic Sermon: Theology, Praxis, and Jerry Falwell Meridith I. Styer, University of Maryland Chapter 3 – The Apology Sermon: Jimmy Swaggart’s Mea Culpa Mark Ward Sr., University of Houston-Victoria Chapter 4 – The Self-Help Sermon: Prosperity Preaching in Pulpit and Print Luke Winslow and Daniel Young, San Diego State University Chapter 5 – The Political Sermon: Jeremiah Wright’s Partisan Paradox Jonathan J. Edwards, University of South Carolina Chapter 6 – The Leave Taking Sermon: Mark Driscoll and the Challenge of Authenticity Robert Stephen Reid, University of Dubuque Chapter 7 – The Confessional Sermon: Nadia Bolz-Weber’s Full Disclosure Kelsey W. Minnick, University of Denver Chapter 8 – The Coming Out Sermon: Brandan Robertson at the National Cathedral Cory Geraths, Wabash College Chapter 9 – The Prophetic Sermon: Otis Moss III Gets the Blues Theon E. Hill, Wheaton College
