Theology Today - Vol 42, No. 1 - April 1985 - BOOK REVIEW

94 - Preaching Christian Doctrine

Preaching Christian Doctrine
By William J. Carl III
Philadelphia, Fortress, 1984. 167 pp. $8.95.

Preaching Christian Doctrine is an interesting and helpful book both for those who are preparing for the preaching ministry and for those who, having preached for years, still strive for greater integrity and effectiveness.

Its primary significance, however, is not to be found in what the author says about preaching, but in what the author reveals about himself. If some books on the subject of preaching, and many sermons, are egocentric, focusing the reader's attention on the personality of the author rather than on the nature of the gospel and the ministry of the church, this book has about it a sense of humility and excitement born of conviction and commitment. William Carl is obviously a person as well as a preacher under claim, for whom the preaching and doctrine of the church are not only important, but matters of passionate concern. In the author's own words, this book arises "out of a love of preaching and a deep interest in doctrine," out of his "struggle to do a better job of the former and to know more of the latter" (p. 1). Thus, the primary contribution he makes, at least to this preacher, is to underscore the fact

96 - Preaching Christian Doctrine

that there exists a community within which this particular love, interest, and struggle are of paramount and passionate concern.

The book is also significant because of its brief but apt analysis of the state of the church. The contemporary church, the author suggests, suffers from a theological identity crisis. Although this may not be so on the Protestant right wing, it is certainly so in the mainline denominations. People do not know what they believe. There is a lack of consensus within the church as to what the gospel is. People do not know why they are Christian, nor do they discern the boundary lines that separate the Christian confession from the plethora of other confessions proclaimed by the culture at large. Furthermore, Carl is on target when he points to the pervasive lack of doctrinal preaching in the American church for most of this century as one of the primary causes for the theological amnesia of the church, if by that he means the lack of theological substance in much contemporary preaching.

The problem is that we are not quite certain that Carl means precisely that, for he goes on to make the statement that "the church today, just as the early church and the church of the Reformation and the two Great Awakenings, needs clear and sound preaching on the doctrines of the faith" (p. 5), as if to equate theologically substantive preaching with the preaching of doctrines. The great preaching moments in the history of the church have not been characterized by the preaching of doctrines, but by the preaching of the gospel. Doctrine, and particular church doctrines that have won a certain consensus within the community of faith, are aids to theologically substantive preaching, but they have never been considered to be identical with the gospel itself. The biblical witness to the gospel of God, Christians believe, is a living tradition or word, which often calls doctrine into question and requires a reformation of the various doctrines of the church. The title of the book, therefore, tips the author's hand as to what he really means by doctrinal preaching, raising the question of whether theological substance from the pulpit is to be gained from a recovery of church doctrine or from a recovery of Scripture with the aid, among other things, of doctrine.

There are many positive things about this book, which confirm the integrity of the author's love, interest, and struggle, and which will benefit all who share in this community of preachers. One is the emphasis on getting behind the ancient language of church doctrines to the faith experience of the believing community in order to help the contemporary Christian relive that experience, intellectually, spiritually, and morally. Doctrinal preaching can become the mere repetition of worn-out formulations of faith unless it helps people to understand the historical relativism of all creeds and tries to recover the particular insight into the nature of revelation contained therein.

Carl's admission throughout the book that there are many valid ways to preach should be a liberating word to those who have felt forced into one style or another. Effective preaching is possible when one begins with a theological affirmation, the meaning of a sacrament, the signifi-

98 - Preaching Christian Doctrine

cance of a particular time on the liturgical calendar, or an issue raised by the culture, as well as when one moves directly from the biblical text to a sermon. He rightly warns the preacher who begins outside Scripture of the danger that the sermon might lose its orientation in the gospel, and cautions us that the homework increases the farther one dares to go beyond Scripture; the methodological freedom of preaching is fully affirmed and encouraged.

Homiletical diagrams (pp. 9, 18, 29) are rarely illuminating for the preacher, nor are ten guidelines for this (pp. 44f.) or six steps to that (pp. 61f.) generally helpful. Preaching is terribly difficult, and maybe impossible, to teach. To treat it in these mechanical ways is certain to produce mechanics rather than theologically articulate preachers. Furthermore, there are numerous unguarded theological statements and assumptions throughout the book that might cause the reader concern: "But in traditional Western theologies, dogma usually precedes ethics; belief usually precedes action" (p. 12); "The reason is that people tend to be more religious than we think" (p. 19); "Doctrines are the words on which the Christian church has been built'? (p. 31); "Christ, in creed, leads to deed" (p. 136).

The conclusion of the book, however, is good evidence of the direction in which the author seeks to move us, namely, that the end of preaching is mission. The point that the end of preaching is deeper understanding of the gospel and faithful witness to it in the life of the believer is well taken and often forgotten. if this book does not offer universally satisfactory answers to the question of bow the preaching ministry of the church is to address the theological identity crisis in its membership, at least it raises the issue in a way that elicits thought and requires response. For this we are all in the author's debt.

Wallace M. Alston, Jr.
Nassau Presbyterian Church
Princeton, New Jersey