The third book I read in 2012 was:
[The Questions of God: Evangelical Preaching in Latin America]
This is a book about preaching from a Latin American perspective. The first section is a brief theological discourse on preaching; the second part consists of fifteen sermons based on questions in Scripture. Overall, it is a satisfying book, but I was expecting more after having read the back cover. In general it shows considerable influence of Barth, who by me is a welcome voice in moralistic Latin American protestantism. There was a strong parallelism between Castro's first section and Barth's "The Preaching of the Gospel" (which was the last book on preaching that I read). His description of the elemental content of Christian preaching is summarized as follows:
This is a book about preaching from a Latin American perspective. The first section is a brief theological discourse on preaching; the second part consists of fifteen sermons based on questions in Scripture. Overall, it is a satisfying book, but I was expecting more after having read the back cover. In general it shows considerable influence of Barth, who by me is a welcome voice in moralistic Latin American protestantism. There was a strong parallelism between Castro's first section and Barth's "The Preaching of the Gospel" (which was the last book on preaching that I read). His description of the elemental content of Christian preaching is summarized as follows:
"referencia a lo que está sucediendo en la vida del pueblo, referencia a lo que ha sucedido en la vida del pueblo, referencia a lo que ha sucedido en la historia de la fe cristiana y del pueblo de Israel, conjugación de las dos vertientes en una explicación del propósito de Dios para el momento, y culminación en una exhortación al arrepentimiento, al cambio de vida, a aceptar el mensaje del evangelio, la oferta que Dios hace" (p. 11).["reference to what is happening in the life of the people, reference to what has happened in the life of the people, reference to what has happened in the history of the Christian faith and the people of Israel, conjugation of both stories in an explanation of God's purposes for the moment, and a culmination in a call to repentance, change of life, to accept the message of the gospel, what God is offering"]
The second part is divided into sermons based questions which God poses to humanity (1-10) and questions which humanity poses to God (11-15). The most compelling sermons were, in my perspective, No. 6 "Why do you look for the living among the dead? "--about our tendency to hole God into preestablished categories-- and No. 13 "Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?" about the Christian hope of a new future. I was a bit disappointed by No. 11 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", which ended up emphasizing the doctrine of the humanity of Christ rather than approaching the human experience of loneliness before a seemingly distant God (which it proposed to do).
I appreciate Castro's emphases and expressions, and I would consider using the book as a supporting text for a class on preaching. I give it three and half stars.
I appreciate Castro's emphases and expressions, and I would consider using the book as a supporting text for a class on preaching. I give it three and half stars.
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