Veteran SA theologian writes book to help preachers polish sermons

Veteran theologian and author Professor Klaus Nürnberger recently published his latest book titled Speaking in the Name of God: A Manual for Preachers.

The book presents itself as an on-the-job training course for lay preachers and a self-enhancing tool for ordained preachers. Having listened to and presented countless sermons himself, Prof Nürnberger said he identified a strong need for a self-help book for preachers.

“Often I have been enriched by a good sermon, but at other times I have been put off by a badly-prepared sermon. Because faith, thus the Church, is created by the preached and enacted Word of God, the quality of a sermon is critically important,” Nürnberger said about the inspiration behind the book.

The book’s three parts follow an interactive approach where readers are prompted to reflect on their own experience and opinion first, then confronted with the stance of the author, and finally prompted to develop their own stance and practice in response to that of the author.

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The book’s approach was inspired by Nürnberger’s experiences while studying theology. Attending seminars on the process “From Text to Sermon” made such an impression on him that, over the years, he has used and developed the procedure and taught it to his seminary and university students.

“I found most academic textbooks on preaching to be too theoretical. Some practical guidelines contain a lot of useful tips, but the overall approach tends to be rather improvised. I am a systematic theologian, but I have always understood that systematic theology is a useless intellectual game if it is not meant to facilitate the proclamation of the Word of God,” he said.

Speaking in the Name of God: A Manual for Preachers is available in hardcover, softcover and eBook format at R150 (with additional courier costs) per softcover copy in South Africa and £10 (with additional courier costs) everywhere else. A digital version can be downloaded free of charge on Nürnberger’s website www.klaus-nurnberger.com.

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For book orders, any of the following details can be used:

Orders@Xlibrispublishing.co.uk at the official prices.

Or from shop@clusterpublications.com at a subsidised price.

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Or picked up at his home in Pretoria for those who want to save courier costs. He can be contacted at nurnberger@telkomsa.net