Center for Pastor Theologians Journal 13, 1 (2026)

The Center for Pastor Theologians Journal (formerly the Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology) is published bi-annually by the Center for Pastor Theologians.

The latest volume carries the below essays on a theology of the Spirit.

The essays are available from here, or the whole journal can be downloaded as a pdf from here.

Adam Copenhaver

What Is Preaching?

This paper constructs a definition of preaching so that we can both better appreciate the role of preaching in the life of the church and better discern what it means to preach well. As we proceed, we will consider (1) the problem with terminology, (2) three levels of word ministry and where preaching fits within them, (3) a proposed definition of preaching, and (4) warnings regarding making too much and too little of preaching.

Paul J. Morrison

Cultivating the Unity of the Spirit: A Pneumatological Case for Triage

This essay argues that the task of theological triage is a work of the Holy Spirit and that the church is called to foster its unity by keeping to that task. The essay does not seek to make a distinct contribution to triage’s traditional categories; it will employ the basic descriptions of primary, secondary, and tertiary doctrines. Instead, it will aim to capture the essential truths of the argument for triage, make claims informed by those truths which need not be adopted universally, and offer practical applications which will hopefully bear fruit in any given ecclesial context.

Jim Samra

Should Solomon Have Asked for Something Else? The Holy Spirit and Preaching

Reflecting on Solomon’s request for wisdom and subsequent descent into folly, this article asks if Solomon should have asked for something else, namely, the Holy Spirit. Working through both Old and New Testament passages, the article argues in the affirmative. The better request for the Holy Spirit is then applied to pastoral ministry, specifically the preaching vocation, to encourage pastors to seek the Spirit as they labor to serve the church.

Austin Shaw

Can a Pastor Grow in Discernment?

This paper argues that while a pastor may or may not grow in certain rhetorical skills, he can grow in knowing the members of his congregation, studying the shared social context of his local church, and applying Scripture into their present situations.

Book Reviews

Dick Lucas at 100 (and James I. Packer on Preaching)

Several of my friends are rightly making much of the fact that Dick Lucas – known especially for his long ministry at St Helen's Bishopsgate in London and as founder of the Proclamation Trust – is 100 today.

Robin Sydserff has a helpful article here (which ought to be available to read, and apologies if it ends up being behind a paywall).

Actually, though, what struck me reading the article is the definition of preaching by James I. Packer folded into Sydserff’s reflections:

‘At the Evangelical Ministry Assembly in 1991, Jim Packer gave two addresses on preaching, summarised as “Some Perspectives on Preaching” in Preaching the Living Word: Addresses from the EMA (Christian Focus, 1999). “Christian preaching is the event of God himself bringing to an audience a Bible-based, Christ-related, life-impacting message of instruction and direction through the words of a spokesperson.”’

Packer continues: “Communication from the text is preaching, only as it is applied and brought to bear on the listeners with a life-changing thrust. Without this it would only be a lecture.”

As someone who preaches most Sundays, often twice, I found that a timely, succinct, and helpful reminder.

Center for Pastor Theologians Journal 12, 1 (2025)

The Center for Pastor Theologians Journal (formerly the Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology) is published bi-annually by the Center for Pastor Theologians.

The latest volume carries the below essays on a theology of the word.

These have arisen from the reflections of the community on a theology of the Word and preaching, in which three themes have taken on a central importance in their thinking: (1) The word of God is always God’s word; (2) the preacher as hearer of God’s word; (3) the community of hearers.

The essays are available from here, or the whole journal can be downloaded as a pdf from here.

Coleman Ford

“The Gospel Terrifies Me”: The Role of Scripture in Augustine’s Vision for Pastoral Virtue in Select Sermones ad populam

Aaron Friesen

Aimee Semple McPherson and the “This Is That” Character of Pentecostal Preaching

T. Michael W. Halcomb

Defining, Understanding, and Quantifying Love

Joel Lawrence

Pastors and the Church Struggle(s)

Benj Petroelje

Preaching and the Cross

Book Reviews

The Master’s Seminary Journal 34, 2 (2023)

The latest Master’s Seminary Journal has been posted online. According to the Editorial, ‘the focus of the current issue… is the biblical imperative to teach the Word of God faithfully by interpreting it accurately in order to deliver the divine intent of each passage’.

A pdf of the journal can be downloaded here.

Iosif J. Zhakevich

Editorial: Accurate Interpretation of Scripture

John F. MacArthur

The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy: Expository Preaching

The special attention evangelicalism has given to the inerrancy of Scripture in recent years carries with it a mandate to emphasize expository preaching of the Scriptures. The existence of God and His nature requires the conclusion that He has communicated accurately and that an adequate exegetical process to determine His meaning is required. The Christian commission to preach God’s Word involves accurately transmitting that meaning to an audience, a weighty responsibility. A belief in inerrancy thus requires, most important of all, expositional preaching that does not have to do primarily with the homiletical form of the message. In this regard, expository preaching differs from what is practiced by non-inerrantists.

John F. MacArthur, Austin T. Duncan

Inerrancy and Exposition: A Conversation with John MacArthur

This dialogue between John MacArthur and Austin Duncan explores the battle for biblical inerrancy and its relationship to biblical exposition. With years of preaching

experience and wisdom, Dr. MacArthur provides counsel to pastors seeking to

accurately and boldly preach the Word of God. In the previous article… Dr. MacArthur explained the inseparable partnership inerrancy has with hermeneutics and expository preaching. In this conversation, Dr. MacArthur reinforces the fact that, as Scripture is the eternal Word of God, so the charge to interpret it accurately and preach it boldly is also timeless.

Brad Klassen

The Doctrine of Inspiration and Its Implications for Hermeneutics

The doctrine of inspiration affects biblical hermeneutics. If every word of Scripture is to be affirmed as simultaneously God’s Word and man’s word in the truest sense, if every portion and element of Scripture equally possess all the qualities of the divine and human intents, if there is no separation to be sought between what was meant by God and what was meant by the human writer, then what method provides the most appropriate principles to study such a text? Because God is the Author of Scripture, the Bible is to be read unlike any other book. Yet, because God has revealed His Word through human biblical writers, the Bible is to be read like other books. The hermeneutical method that best achieves the study of this unique text is the grammatico-historical method.

Michael J. Vlach

Hermeneutical Principles and the Bible’s Storyline: A Dispensational Approach

This article addresses the issue of interpretation principles for understanding the Bible’s storyline from a dispensational perspective. The particular questions discussed are the (1) consistent use of grammatical-historical hermeneutics in all Scripture; (2) consistent contextual interpretation of Old Testament prophecies; (3) passage priority; and (4) Jesus as the means of fulfillment of the Old Testament. Application of these principles leads to a proper understanding of the Bible’s grand narrative from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22.

Tom Pennington

The Pastor and Systematic Theology

Pastors committed to expository preaching often fail to grasp in theory and execute in practice the legitimate use of systematic theology in studying the biblical text and in crafting the sermon. Some tend to downplay its importance in the interest of being biblical, while others give systematic theologies, creeds, or confessions too exalted a role in both exegesis and exposition. Part of the path forward is to understand the scriptural guidelines for the illegitimate and legitimate use of systematic theology in the normal pattern of consecutive exposition.

Noah Hartmetz

The Expositional Method of John Chrysostom

This article recognizes Chrysostom as a noteworthy expositor in the early church and examines the key aspects of his technique. After surveying Chrysostom’s life and training, the article explores Chrysostom’s view on the inspiration of the Bible, the effect of biblical inspiration upon his hermeneutics, and the particular elements of his hermeneutical and homiletical methodology. Chrysostom’s method defined his exposition of the biblical text such that his homilies were a clear explanation of the literal sense of Scripture.

John Calvin (with an introduction by Ian P. Hazlett)

Calvin’s Latin Preface to His Proposed French Edition of Chrysostom’s Homilies: Translation and Commentary

The contribution below consists of two parts. First, Ian Hazlett offers a helpful introduction to Calvin’s preface on Chrysostom and the value Calvin saw in this preacher with a “golden mouth”… The second part is the actual preface by Calvin to the homilies of Chrysostom. In his preface, Calvin indicates that while he affirms the priority of Scripture, he also recognizes the benefit of resources that help interpret Scripture. He turns particularly to Chrysostom to feature him as an example of a preacher who explained the plain meaning of the text and who would be profitable to the study of Scripture. Thus, Calvin defends the use of secondary resources specifically for the goal of accurately expositing the Word of God.

John Calvin

The Epistle Dedicatory: John Calvin on Exposition and the Book of Romans

The contribution below consists of two parts. The first part (“A Man Worthy of All Honour”) is a letter that Calvin wrote to another scholar and friend Simon Grynæus, describing to him the practice of Bible exposition. Calvin noted that the goal of exposition is to explain the mind of the author to the reader, both with simplicity and brevity. The second part (“Epistle to the Romans: The Argument”) is Calvin’s introduction to Romans in which Calvin moved through the book chapter by chapter in summary form. Calvin thereby illustrated exposition by demonstrating how Paul advances through his argument in the epistle. The ultimate purpose of Calvin’s work is to mature the believers in their love for Christ.

Reviews

McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry 23 (2021–22)

The latest McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry is online, containing the below articles along with a goodly collection of book reviews.

Articles and reviews are available to download from here.

Stuart Blythe

Preaching as a Rhetorical Act: Practices and Possibilities with Reference to the Rev. Dr. John Gladstone (1921–2005)

Laura Reece Hogan

Poetry

Vilma Blenman

Poetry

David J. Fuller

Fault Lines in Evangelical Hermeneutics: Divergent Accounts of Patristic and Reformation-Era Interpretive Approaches in Recent Works by Carter and Provan

Earl R. Bunch Jr.

Will the Cosmos Be Destroyed and Re-created or Instead Renovated?

Stephen J. Bedard

Jesus, the Resurrection, and Disabilities in the Afterlife

Reviews

Southeastern Theological Review 13, 2 (Fall 2022)

The most-recent issue of the Southeastern Theological Review is online, containing the below essays centred around preaching – and particularly preaching Christ from the Old Testament. It is available as a pdf here.

Ronjour Locke

Introduction: Preaching the Word

Eric C. Redmond

The Use of Psalm 68 in Ephesians 4: A Typological Approach Toward a Solution

The grammatical changes Paul makes to the Greek quotation of Ps 68:18 (Ps 67:19 LXX) in Eph 4:8 raises a question about his hermeneutics. Some scholarly proposals for a solution include Paul’s misquotation of Scripture, a nuanced reading, a “reading” as opposed to “exegesis,” or use of an unknown Hebrew manuscript. At question in Paul’s quotation of the OT verse also is the identification of Moses as the ascending one in the Targum tradition. The Targum reading provides an avenue to consider Paul’s use as a typological reading of the exodus narrative in light of viewing Christ as the final ascending Moses in the work of redemption.

Ryan Ross

About Whom Does the Prophet Say This? The Implications of Prosopological Exegesis for Christ-Centered Preaching of the Psalms

Modern advocates of Christcentered preaching have championed typology as one of the best strategies to preach Christ from the Old Testament. In this article, I seek to show that when it comes to the book of Psalms, prosopological exegesis offers a better way to preach Christ from many of the Psalms than typology. To demonstrate this claim, I first define prosopological exegesis, then provide examples of the practice from early church Fathers. After this, Psalm 22 and 69 are used as “case studies” to demonstrate instances where the apostles interpreted the Psalms prosopologically. Finally, I discuss the implications of prosopological interpretation for Christcentered preaching of the Psalms, showing how it supplements typology as another exegetical practice to preach Christ from the Old Testament, and in many cases, provides a richer way to preach Christ from the Psalms than typology.

Jared Bumpers

Christ Crucified: The Necessity of Preaching Christ from All of Scripture

Must every sermon contain the gospel? This question has frustrated homileticians for the last several decades. While some homileticans argue preachers have a responsibility to preach Christ in every sermon, others argue preachers have a responsibility to preach the text (although they would affirm the importance of preaching Christ often). This article argues Christian preachers should preach Christ in every sermon and provides three reasons to substantiate this claim. First, the pattern of preaching in the New Testament was undeniably Christ-centered. Jesus, the apostles, and Paul embraced and practiced gospel-centered preaching. Second, Christ-centered preaching benefits the church. When Christ is preached, unbelievers are certain to hear the gospel and struggling Christians are comforted. Third, failing to preach Christ every week negatively affects the church. Christless preaching robs unbelievers of the opportunity to believe the gospel and withholds the true source of change from believers.

Adam Hughes

Expository Preaching with Biblical Contexts on the Horizon: Hebrews as a Sermonic Model

The rationale for and benefits of expository preaching have been well established in the field of homiletics. If a fair critique exists for this philosophy of preaching, however, it is that it is often seen as less applicable to the lives of the audience and therefore less effective in producing life change. One reason may be the hesitancy of practitioners to employ contextualization in their preaching. Perhaps the hesitancy lies in the concern that to do so could corrupt the meaning and intent of the pericope in the sermon. In this article, the author addresses this perceived and potential deficiency by arguing for the use of multiple levels of contextualization in expository preaching. In order to do so, four aspects of contextualization will be identified. Then, by using these aspects as a guide, the book of Hebrews, which has been recognized by contemporary scholarship as being sermonic, will be analyzed to offer both a biblical precedent for and model of a fourfold aspect of contextualization in expository preaching. Finally, five implications for contemporary preaching will be offered.

James R. Newheiser

Balanced Preaching: A Four-Legged Stool as a Model

While consecutive expository preaching has become the norm in many conservative churches, different preachers have different emphases. Some focus upon detailed expositions of the text so that their sermons sound like running commentaries. Other preachers emphasize certain favorite theological themes. Some rush straight into application, with little explanation of the text. In recent years, preaching in which the focus of every sermon is how the text fits into the history of redemption has become popular in certain circles. I have developed a model for my students in which each of these four emphases is treated like the legs of a stool. While some texts may call for more emphasis on one “leg,” every good sermon should have all four elements. Further more, over time, one’s preaching ministry should be balanced among these four aspects.

Interview with Jim Shaddix 

Book Reviews

God is in the House

John Woods, God is in the House: A Fresh Model for Shaping a Sermon (Carlisle: Langham Preaching Resources, 2022).

I was asked to provide an endorsement for the above book, and did a long and a short version for the publishers – both are pasted below. In the interests of full disclosure, John is a personal friend, but the commendation is from the heart.

Longer version

Do yourself a favour and read this. Doing so will place you in the presence of a seasoned preacher and a skilled teacher of preachers. Through the familiar but evocative image of a house, John covers all the facets of the preaching task, from preparation to delivery, with helpful suggestions, gentle challenges, and fresh insights from Scripture along the way. Read it yourself. Read it with other preachers. Reflect together on its significance for your practice of preaching, for the good of your congregations and the greater glory of God.

Shorter version

Do yourself a favour and read this. Doing so will place you in the presence of a seasoned preacher and a skilled teacher of preachers. Read it yourself. Read it with other preachers. Reflect together on its significance for your practice of preaching, for the good of your congregations and the greater glory of God.

Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society 22, 1 (March 2022)

The latest issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society has been posted online with the below articles (with the first few paragraphs of the pieces, or abstracts where available). The individual essays are available from here, and the issue as a whole is available as a pdf here.

Scott M. Gibson

Preaching Plus

There might be variations of homiletical math. In my teaching of Haddon Robinson’s philosophy of preaching I instruct my students that to get the idea of a passage one uses the following homiletical math formula: S + C = I. That is, subject question plus the complement answer equals the exegetical idea. But it strikes me that we can apply homiletical math to other areas of preaching. We could call this formula “preaching plus.” That is, preaching can be considered as an addition to a given area of study. For example, preaching plus history directs us to discover how and if preaching has had an impact in historical development in any culture or context. Preaching plus psychology may help us to discover how preaching intersects with the field of psychology. Further examples may come to your mind. But the point here is to help us to see that the intersection of preaching with other fields and situations or contexts is far-reaching.

Scott M. Gibson and Gregory K. Hollifield

Wanted: Catfish for Our Think Tank

What is needed are holy healthy places for thinking, interaction, and engagement without intellectual prejudice or divisiveness. We need think tanks more than we need labs. Our Evangelical Homiletics Society is not so much a lab as it is a think tank. A think tank consists of a body of experts who share ideas and advice to advance a chosen field of research and application. Unlike medical labs, think tanks are messy places. Not all ideas gain traction there. Advice can come off as criticism. Sacred cows get slaughtered. Presuppositions are called into question. Novelty is neither embraced for novelty’s sake nor rejected on the same grounds. Catfish swim freely in healthy think tanks. By their presence, resistance, and “convince me” attitudes, they keep their colleagues’ minds from growing soft and mushy.

Matthew D. Kim

Preaching to People in Pain

For this conference, Jesse Nelson asked me to speak about a new publication, Preaching to People in Pain. This book released in May of 2021 with Baker Academic. It’s a book that has long been on my heart as someone who has pastored people who are broken and hurting. How many of you have broken and hurting people in your churches today? I can assure you that all of us do. I remember pitching the book idea to Baker initially proposing the title of Pain-Full Preaching: Sharing Our Suffering in Sermons. For whatever reason, the marketing team relayed back that Pain-Full Preaching may not sell so why don’t we title it Preaching to People in Pain: How Suffering Can Shape Your Sermons and Connect with Your Congregation. Steve Norman is a pastor who has been writing thoughtfully about preaching. In his new book, The Preacher as Sermon, published by Preaching Today, he shares a mantra for his ministry which is this: “Never underestimate the pain in the room.” This evening I don’t want to underestimate your pain or the possible pains that you’ve been going through over the past two years or more. They’ve been a very difficult two years for many of us. Ministry has not looked the same for any of us.

Ken Langley

Preaching Hope and Lament from the Psalms

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast with in me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan . . . Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me” (Psalm 42:5-7). Hope and lament. Usually, the order is reversed, as in Psalm 130: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD,” verse 1. Verse 7: “O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.” Lament and hope. In psalm after psalm we find this pattern: the petitioner begins: “How many are my foes! How long will you hide your face from me? Why do you stand afar off? God, I don’t understand, I don’t like, and I’m not about to acquiesce to this current state of illness, distress, injustice, persecution, danger, loss. But—(so much Gospel in that little word!)—I trust you. I know you are faithful to your promises. I wait in hope for the LORD, he is my help and shield. I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Be strong and take heart all you who hope in the LORD. Lament and hope.

Ezekiel Ajibade

The Culture of Note-Taking and Effective Sermonic Technique

Sermon note-taking has long been practiced in various “church cultures,” and some may wonder about the future of the practice. Challenges to note-taking include secondary orality, the emergence of the digitoral generation, and the technologization of the world. This paper, engages with homiletics, systematic theology, communication studies, and discipleship studies to demonstrate the relevance of note-taking for enhancing listener engagement during the sermon. First, ,this paper will suggest a biblical and theological premise for note-taking. Second, it will investigate the relationship of note-taking to good listening and journaling. Third, it will describe methods of effective note-taking for both oral and digitoral sermon hearers. Fourth, it will discuss the criticism that note-taking is a distraction to the listeners. This paper will show that note-taking is still practiced by church-goers, and that while it should be encouraged, it should not be forced on worshippers in any way.

Jesse Nelson

Sermon: The Christian’s Hope

Book Reviews

Didache 21, 2 (2022)

The latest issue of Didache (sponsored by the International Board of Education of the Church of the Nazarene) is now online. The summaries are adapated from Dean Blevins’ Introduction. It, and the individual essays, are available from here.

Dean G. Blevins

Introduction

Francisca Ireland

Wesley’s Aesthetic Practical Theology

Francisca Ireland offers a new vision for theological aesthetics, arguing that John Wesley’s practical theology provides an ‘engaged aesthetics’ of body and imagination, allowing practitioners to reflect theologically on one’s own and others’ experiences.

C.P. Troutman

John Wesley, Ethnodoxologist: Engaging Missionally with the Ethnodoxology Conversation

Troutman argues that Wesley provides a theology that motivates an embrace of various cultural forms of music and celebration, commensurate with Wesley’s own vision.

Vinicius Couto

Synod of Dordrecht: An Iconographic Analysis

Vinicius Couto utilises an aesthetic methodology and historic artwork to explicate the theological issues underlying the Synod of Dort and the division around Arminian and Calvinist discourse.

Jorge Alberto Baños Peña

What is Biblical Preaching? Its Importance and Purpose for the Church’s Work

Jorge Alberto Baños Peña offers a rationale for biblical preaching, providing a grounded presentation demonstrating the interplay between artistic expression, Scripture, and theological reflection.

Joseph Bankard

Forgiveness as Process and Virtue: How to Overcome Feelings of Anger and Resentment

Joseph Bankard revisits the multifaceted practice, and virtue, of forgiveness. Bankard notes that this is interpersonal and intrapersonal, with the process entailing three elements: omissions, actions, and emotions.

Sarah Legreid

Death and Life: Reading 2 Corinthians 4:7–12

Sarah Legreid introduces a trauma hermeneutic into a detailed study of Paul’s theology through his Corinthian correspondence, arguing that 2 Corinthians reveals a nuanced and balanced trauma dynamic within Paul’s life of suffering and resilience.

Hannah Jones-Nelson

Perichoresis and Missional Theology: Humanity’s Invitation into the Mission of God

Hannah Jones-Nelson’s treatise addresses the theological concept of perichoresis as the intimate relationship, or dance, of the Trinity – a relationship that allows humanity to both extend and fulfill the missio dei.

Preaching the Book of Daniel

A few resources on preaching the book of Daniel:

David Helm, ‘Teaching Daniel’ (Help Me Teach the Bible Podcast, with Nancy Guthrie).

Josh Manley, ‘3 Reasons to Preach Through Daniel’ (9 Marks).

• Daniel teaches Christians to be faithful where they are planted

• Daniel exposes the folly of idolatry

• Daniel upholds the sovereign God who reigns over everything

Josh Reich, 3 Tips for Preaching the Book of Daniel’.

• The book is about God, not Daniel, the end times, or your church

• Don’t get stuck in the weeds

• Tell people about God’s character and power

Matt Smethurst, ‘Jesus in the Lions’ Den? Preaching Christ from Daniel’ (The Gospel Coalition) – a correspondence with Sidney Greidanus, author of Preaching Christ from Daniel: Foundations for Expository Sermons (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012).

J. Paul Tanner, ‘Preaching the Book of Daniel’ (Preachers and Preaching Podcast).

Nick Roark on How (Not) to Preach the Old Testament Prophets

There’s a short but helpful piece by Nick Roark, here, on ‘How (Not) to Preach the Old Testament Prophets’:

1. Don’t preach about the prophet. Preach the message of the prophetic book.

2. Don’t focus exclusively upon Israel. Highlight God’s glorious global purposes for all nations.

3. Don’t just preach divine judgment. Point to Christ and the bright hope of the New Covenant.