Review: The Imperative of Preaching: A Theology of Sacred Rhetoric by John Carrick

John Carrick’s The Imperative of Preaching is a gem of an introduction to redemption history’s (biblical theology’s) implications for Christian preaching. The first five chapters are particularly helpful in these ways:

• Carrick introduced well the interrelations and biblical-theological implications of the indicative and the imperative moods.
• Also, his thoughts on the exclamative mood are helpful for thinking through the nuts-and-bolts of putting together a sermon with an eye toward the emotive element.
• Furthermore, I found the interrogative section probably the most helpful of the whole book. The connection between the interrogative and application is powerful, in my opinion, and Carrick made me think about how to develop more powerful and deep-reaching applications in my sermons and scriptural teaching.

Unless you have experience with extreme forms of redemptive-historical preaching or an interest in historical theology, chapter 6 sticks out as an odd protrusion disrupting the prior flow of the book: chs. 1-5 being a book about how to preach God’s word more clearly and ch. 6 being an extended critical review of Greidanus’ Sola Scriptura using (primarily) the arguments of John Frame’s article, “Ethics, Preaching, and Biblical Theology.” Without having previously read Greidanus’ Sola Scriptura, chapter 6 would not have made any sense. Why could not the tediousness of such in-house debates be kept separate, such as in an academic journal article, rather than being set along side the rudiments of faithful Christian preaching in an otherwise introductory-level book?

In spite of this small frustration, Carrick’s little book serves its purpose very well as an introduction to preaching Christ and avoiding moralism. And readers seeking a doorway into the wonderful world of Reformed biblical theology (especially with an eye to its implications for preaching) will benefit greatly from beginning with Carrick’s wading pool before stepping into the oceans of Vos, Kline, Ridderbos, et. al.

Related Elsewhere

• A comprehensive review of Carrick’s book by pastor Jim Ellif