New Book on Homiletics
from Don Demaray
Reviewed by Donald N. Bastian, Bishop Emeritus

Introduction to Homiletics, revised third edition, by Donald E. Demaray, ISBN 0-89367-282-3, Light and Life Communications, PO Box 535002, Indianapolis, IN 46253-5002. 246 pages, Price $12.99. To order online, CLICK HERE.

Homiletics, an uncommon word to most people, deals with the science and art of preaching. That is, how does one prepare and deliver a sermon? Because homiletics is a branch of theology, no preacher can afford to consider its study unnecessary or even optional. There are different ways to address the task of preaching — right and wrong ways, effective and ineffective ways, productive and counterproductive ways. The study of homiletics helps the aspiring preacher sort these out.  

Donald E. Demaray’s revised third edition of Introduction to Homiletics, offers ample assistance to those who are called to do the sorting. Demaray has spent most of his adult life preaching, teaching young preachers, and listening to thousands of sermons in seminary practicums (both in and out of the classroom). His wealth of study and experience spills over as the book unfolds. The result is a readable and clearly instructive text for men and women who have heard the call to preach but ask nervously, "How do I go about it?"  

The book's structure is clear and logical:

• Part One addresses the preacher in personal terms — for example, the call, the anointing, the Spirit’s illumination, the issue of attitude.
• Part Two deals with a string of concerns about how to sermonize: where to start, how to get underway, how to make the body of the sermon compelling, how and when to conclude. Nestled in this section are gems that fill out the content.
• Part Three covers the actual experience of preaching — a daunting task for beginners especially. Up-to-date insights on the skill of communicating lead off the section: What makes people want to listen? How does the preacher maximize his own resources of body and mind?

To reinforce his points throughout the book, Demaray calls on a great cloud of witnesses. One is amazed that on practically every page there are references to specialists on preaching from past and present — Charles Finney, Jonathan Edwards, William Tyndale, George Buttrick, Harold Ockenga, Paul Rees, Charles Spurgeon. The list seems endless. He even cites Ronald Reagan, Lou Dobbs, Beverly Sills and Demosthenes as great communicators. This means that what he has to say about preaching is not intended to be novel or titillating; it is the bread and butter wisdom of the ages.  

One can read Demaray’s Introduction to Homiletics in at least two ways. It can be read straight through, chapter by chapter, as a sort of refresher course for the seasoned preacher. There is good to be gained in this approach. Or, one can read it as a textbook, underlining its main points, checking its footnotes for elaboration, reviewing its copious recommendations for supplementary readings and making full use of the nine growth sheets in its Appendix.  

I preached my first sermon in a church 61 years ago. Reading through Demaray’s Introduction to Homiletics six decades later felt like taking a refresher course. Many ideas leaped out at me with freshness and challenge. And although the book has been written with beginners in mind, no preacher ever masters the art and science of homiletics so completely that he or she does not need the refreshing of a book like this.