What makes for powerful preaching? Careful exegesis, logical structure, interesting illustrations, and clear speech can all help. But truly transformative preaching depends on divine power, not human skill alone. Those who would reduce preaching to simple systems or sure-fire strategies for success will find little of interest here. Instead, this book appeals to those (pastors and academics alike) who find themselves confounded by the occasional futility of their best preaching and the unexpected success of their worst. It invites readers to enter more deeply into the uncontrollable mystery that attends all efforts to speak in the name of Christ, above all on the topic of resurrection. Although the gospel always turns our attention to the crucified and risen Lord, preaching about resurrection calls us to trust that the same God who raised Jesus from death will likewise grant life to us as preachers, to our sermons, and to our hearers alike. Drawing on resources as diverse as Luther's understanding of the Christian gospel, Speech Act theory, and Bhabha's concept of ""Third Space,"" Third Voice: Preaching Resurrection argues that the true key to effective preaching is not rhetoric, but spirituality.
Industry Reviews
“Having been well-instructed by Michael Knowles in his previous books (like We Preach Not Ourselves), I expected that Third Voice would be a feast. I was not disappointed. Knowles is a master at working from biblical texts, particularly Paul’s letters, weaving in theological insights, bringing in a wide array of conversation partners, and thereby giving preachers a robust, theological rationale for our preaching. There’s not much wrong with contemporary preaching that can’t be cured by Knowles’ energetic invitation to preach as if God matters. He is so right: the ‘third voice’ in preaching is the voice that makes all the difference.”
—Will Willimon, Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School, and author of Accidental Preacher: A Memoir
“Michael Knowles’ homiletics trilogy culminates in this penetrating and eloquent account of preaching as a resurrectional, life-giving practice. He demonstrates that God’s resurrection power—displayed in the resurrected life of Jesus—is the source, substance, focus, and hope of preaching. At the same time, Knowles reminds us that resurrectional preaching is cruciform, the words of dependent, inadequate human witnesses to a crucified resurrected Lord. This is a much-needed biblical, theocentric theology and spirituality of preaching.”
—Michael J. Gorman, Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology, St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore
“How I wish that this book had been available in my juvenile study of homiletics and ordination to ministry. How certain I am to revisit it before returning to a pulpit. In exegetical acuity, capacious learning, careful reasoning, mature judgment, and eloquent clarity, Third Voice is one of the finest theologies of preaching I have ever read. ‘We are not the ones who make sense of Jesus’ resurrection; it is Jesus’ resurrection that makes sense of us, fashioning us into witnesses by virtue of its ability to create a coherence and vitality that we would otherwise lack.’ Amen.”
—C. Clifton Black, Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary
“This is a smart and bold book. For Michael Knowles, preaching the resurrection is not merely a matter of exploring a theological topic or dissecting a doctrine. It is about being drawn so fully into the life of God that preachers, their sermons, and their hearers are carried up into the great hurricane wind of God’s willingness and ability to raise dead hearers to life. Savor this book!”
—Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
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