Negative Preaching and the Modern Mind: a Crisis in Evangelical Preaching

Abstract

A number of publications have appeared in recent years attacking preaching as a mode of gospel communication. Most notable among these is David Norrington’s provocative title, To Preach or not to Preach, in which he highlights the inadequacy of traditional proclamation. The view put forward in this article goes in the opposite direction, challenging the present antipathy to preaching. These critics, it is argued, have gone too far, and have misunderstood what is being upheld in preaching, namely the sacrament of the Word. The churches’ time would be better spent, he contends, recovering this high view of preaching, and the language that pertains to the preached gospel, rather than always submitting to the criteria of relevancy and accessibility.