Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination

(Paperback)

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It is not a lack of training in the art of rhetoric that accounts for the ineffectiveness of preaching within Christian churches. More significant is the lack of adequate theological foundations. While recognizing the great contribution that neo-orthodoxy and the "dialectical imagination" have made, Hilkert's major contribution is a scholarly examination of the resources of the "sacramental imagination."This examinations shifts the focus from the divine-human gap and the sinfulness of humanity to the grace discovered in everyday life, and the word entrusted to the entire community of faith. With particular attention to what constitutes "women's experience," the final chapters engage the issue of how social location shapes the experience of both hearers and preachers of the word.

Reviews

"More than a simple theology of preaching, this volume reaches into the dynamic depths of Christian life in an original, provocative, and readable way. It is a rich contribution to a much-neglected field."--Elizabeth A. Johnson
"The single best book on the theology of preaching to appear in quite some time....everyone who preaches will be enriched by an encounter with this book....an intellectually stimulating tour of some recent conversations on the role of the Bible in the life of the church....Although Hilkert's exposition of women's voices in preaching is not the first attempt at helping us understand the unique gifts that women bring to the pulpit, it might very well be the best one to date....If you can only read one book on preaching and theology, read this one. It will challenge you intellectually and theologically, it will inspire you, it will renew your commitment to preaching, and in all likelihood it will make you a better preacher."-- Sewanee Theological Review
"Preachers and teachers of preaching from any denomination will find Naming Grace insightful and inspiring, clear and comprehensive, practical and passionate."--Joan Delaplane, O.P.
"Deeply informed by Catholic and Protestant theology, Catherine Hilkert explores the imaginative depth and the depth of imagination intrinsic to authentic preaching . . . A remarkable harvest of the most telling ecumenical and liberationalist insights bearing upon the theology and the practical art of preaching."--Don E. Saliers

Author Bio

Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P., is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. She is co-editor of The Praxis of Christian Experience: An Introduction to the Theology of Edward Schillebeeckx.