TJieodore W. Jennings, Jr. The Meaning of ... - Quarterly Review

Jon L. Berquist
The Minister's Bookshelf:
Preaching the Hebrew Bible
Achtemeier, Elizabeth. Preaching from the Old Testament.
Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989. 187
pages.
Brueggemann, Walter. Finally Comes the Poet: Daring Speech
for Proclamation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989. 164 pages.
In recent years, many books on preaching have appeared,
including technical treatises, anthologies of sermons, exhortatory
essays, books on different styles in preaching, tomes on preaching in
individual traditions and on specific topics, and discussions of the
use of the Bible in preaching. Many of these books are tremendously
helpful, but in the midst of the veritable flood of new volumes, one
should certainly ask if enough is being said to warrant all these new
words.
Two contributions to the recent dialogue on preaching were
published in late 1989 by well-known writers on the Hebrew Bible
and preaching: Elizabeth Achtemeier and Walter Brueggemann.
These two books deserve consideration by those who wish to
integrate Hebrew Bible texts and ideas more thoroughly into their
preaching. Though their general topic is the same, these books
approach the issues from very different perspectives.
Jon L. Berquist is Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Phillips
Graduate Seminary, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
THE MINISTER'S BOOKSHELF 77