David P. Gushee and Robert H. Long, A Bolder Pulpit: Reclaiming the Moral Dimension of Preaching (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1998). ISBN 0-8170- 1287-7. Paper, 203 pages.

Authentic preaching seeks not only to change the mind but to change the heart and the behavior. A Bolder Pulpit grows out of a conviction on the part of the authors that today's pulpit does too little to address the moral behavior of individuals and society.

It is a unique volume in that it is written by both an ethicist and a pastor. David Gushee is Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, TN, while Robert Long is pastor of the 6,000-member Walnut Street Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. This partnership offers an approach that provides a helpful perspective representing both theoretical and practical concerns.

From the outset, Gushee and Long stress that the book's purpose is "to assist ministers in the preparation of sermons related to the Christian moral life." They express concern that "the moral dimension of the gospel tends to be neglected or badly mishandled from the pulpit," either because ministers tend to shy away from addressing particular social issues (such as racism or abortion) or have not been trained to deal with such issues effectively. They cite the lack of literature which addresses the topic, and the failure of most seminary training to prepare ministers for such a task.

While recognizing that preaching on moral issues is not wholly absent in the contemporary pulpit, they argue that "the contrast between the moral witness of the Scriptures and the moral proclamation from the pulpit is striking. It is a deafening and profoundly troubling silence." This silence take many forms, from the absence of "moral vision" in preaching to the frequent exclusion from preaching of "morally focused" biblical texts from the prophets and the words of Jesus. They also argue that even when such texts are preached, the texts are often spiritualized so as to overlook the striking moral implications of the biblical material.

The authors proceed to identify what they see as the moral task of Christian preaching, laying out "a kind of moral grid" for the preacher's use. They discuss ways to plumb the depths of various types of biblical literature in addressing moral concerns, citing the kinds of "moral norms" which must be addressed in order to effectively deal with the moral dimensions of scripture.

Following three solid chapters in which they explore the issues, the authors provide a selection of eighteen sermons which offer models of preaching which faithfully addresses the moral dimension of scripture. This section offers a selection of interesting sermons which address a variety of moral concerns and issues.

I would disagree with them at one point regarding the issue of sermon form. By using Harold Bryson's definition of expository preaching as a series of sermons drawn from a Bible book which may use varied homiletical forms and "any amount of Scripture for a text," they adopt a definition which would not be generally accepted by many homileticians who deal with expository preaching.