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Preaching from Memory to Hope
In this compelling and hard-hitting book, respected preacher and teacher Thomas Long identifies and responds to what he sees as the most substantive theological forces and challenges facing preaching today. The issues, he says, are the decline in the quality of narrative preaching and the need for its reinvigoration; the tendency of preachers to ignore God's action and presence in our midst; the return of the church's old nemesis, gnosticism--albeit in a milder form--evidenced in today's new "spirituality"; and the absence of eschatology in the pulpit. Long once again has his finger on the pulse of American preaching, demonstrated by his creative responses to these challenges. Whether he is calling for theologically smarter and more ethically discerning preaching, providing a method of interpretation that will allow pastors to recover the emphasis on God in our midst, or encouraging a kind of "interfaith dialogue" with gnosticism, he demonstrates why he has long been considered one of the most thoughtful and intelligent preachers in America today.
- GenresTheology
168 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 29, 2015
I liked this book in many ways. Long has good theology. He writes about interesting ideas related to preaching in today's pulpits. He is very learned, literary even. His writing is clear and artful enough.
But I am not really his intended audience. Long is writing to Main-line ministers. Occasionally he speaks to Evangelical churches, but mostly he deals with concerns related to Main-liners. For instance, he writes about neo-gnostics sitting in the pews who are reading the likes of Marcus Borg, John Spong, and Elaine Pagels. I'm more likely to deal with anti-intellectuals reading Joel Osteen.
Final analysis: Great book for those working in "high church" situations but I didn't find as much to help me in my particular context of preaching.
But I am not really his intended audience. Long is writing to Main-line ministers. Occasionally he speaks to Evangelical churches, but mostly he deals with concerns related to Main-liners. For instance, he writes about neo-gnostics sitting in the pews who are reading the likes of Marcus Borg, John Spong, and Elaine Pagels. I'm more likely to deal with anti-intellectuals reading Joel Osteen.
Final analysis: Great book for those working in "high church" situations but I didn't find as much to help me in my particular context of preaching.
January 17, 2026
Tom Long is very highly regarded in the field of homiletics; he's been cited as one of the best preachers in the country - so I figured it was about time for me to read something from him. This one came available to me on a book rack; I snatched it up right away.
His core content originated from a short series of lectures he gave at the seminary at Yale back in 2006. What's in the book comes from edited revisions, and it's supplemented with a few other things. He covers several topic areas; most sections are free-standing from the other ones.
His first one is a useful reflection on the trends of narrative preaching, and their recent history in America. It caught hold in a time when churches were booming but the preaching was bland. His sense is that narrative preaching became popular for a time, but it basically ran its course. Long isn't really done with it; he gives a rebuttal to some of the excessive critiques - and he calls for a revised approach to it. His own use of stories speaks to the compelling nature of it.
The next chapter is the weakest part of the book. Long draws on Daniel Patte and Paul Ricoeur, homing in on the Aristotelian concept of mimesis as a way of exegeting scripture. The examples he gives are more compelling that the concept. It seems really abstract, a bit vague, and hard to relate to the pew. I tend to think he would've done better by simply encouraging good exegesis as part of the discipline of sermon preparation - in a general sense.
The two chapters that follow detail the emergence of gnostic forms of thought in popular liberal Protestant circles. These are anchored in some insightful observations about the gap between the pulpit and the pew. These things are popular for some Christians even if they're not addressed by the clergy. This book was published in 2009, so he's looking over the slate of celebrity scholars that were trendy back then (including Funk, Spong, and Pagels)- and he segues from this into an excellent critique of Marcus Borg in the next chapter. This part alone was worth the read.
His final chapter is also excellent. He has a really helpful take on eschatology. He carries some of the excesses of liberal Protestantism, but he still effectively calls us to neither succumb to the literalist extremes (as with Tim LaHaye), nor to slip into the common mainline forms of vaguery. Good eschatology is necessary for a vital sense of *hope*. Our story is hugely defined by how we see it ending. The way we understand the present is shaped by what we believe about the future - i.e. the end where we are going.
This book is now 17 years old. (The seminal material is nearly 20 years old.) Lots of things have happened since then. It makes me wonder what Long would say looking back on all of this. But even though it's a bit dated, this was an edifying read. It makes me think that this is a book that I'll need to go back to for reference for when I'm running into various gnostic manifestations. It also makes me want to read more from this author. I can see why he's so highly renowned.
His core content originated from a short series of lectures he gave at the seminary at Yale back in 2006. What's in the book comes from edited revisions, and it's supplemented with a few other things. He covers several topic areas; most sections are free-standing from the other ones.
His first one is a useful reflection on the trends of narrative preaching, and their recent history in America. It caught hold in a time when churches were booming but the preaching was bland. His sense is that narrative preaching became popular for a time, but it basically ran its course. Long isn't really done with it; he gives a rebuttal to some of the excessive critiques - and he calls for a revised approach to it. His own use of stories speaks to the compelling nature of it.
The next chapter is the weakest part of the book. Long draws on Daniel Patte and Paul Ricoeur, homing in on the Aristotelian concept of mimesis as a way of exegeting scripture. The examples he gives are more compelling that the concept. It seems really abstract, a bit vague, and hard to relate to the pew. I tend to think he would've done better by simply encouraging good exegesis as part of the discipline of sermon preparation - in a general sense.
The two chapters that follow detail the emergence of gnostic forms of thought in popular liberal Protestant circles. These are anchored in some insightful observations about the gap between the pulpit and the pew. These things are popular for some Christians even if they're not addressed by the clergy. This book was published in 2009, so he's looking over the slate of celebrity scholars that were trendy back then (including Funk, Spong, and Pagels)- and he segues from this into an excellent critique of Marcus Borg in the next chapter. This part alone was worth the read.
His final chapter is also excellent. He has a really helpful take on eschatology. He carries some of the excesses of liberal Protestantism, but he still effectively calls us to neither succumb to the literalist extremes (as with Tim LaHaye), nor to slip into the common mainline forms of vaguery. Good eschatology is necessary for a vital sense of *hope*. Our story is hugely defined by how we see it ending. The way we understand the present is shaped by what we believe about the future - i.e. the end where we are going.
This book is now 17 years old. (The seminal material is nearly 20 years old.) Lots of things have happened since then. It makes me wonder what Long would say looking back on all of this. But even though it's a bit dated, this was an edifying read. It makes me think that this is a book that I'll need to go back to for reference for when I'm running into various gnostic manifestations. It also makes me want to read more from this author. I can see why he's so highly renowned.
February 10, 2017
In a way, this feels like two works awkwardly joined. Chapters one, two, and five were given as the 2006 Lyman Beecher lectures, a prestigious annual guest lectureship at Yale University. In these, Long confronts recent challenges to the narrative preaching that has been dominant among most teachers and many practitioners of preaching, concluding that to the degree these criticisms are valid, they apply more to a poorly-understood and superficially-practiced form of narrative preaching. Further, he argues that, since the underlying Christian message comes to us wrapped in a narrative, to appropriate this for our preaching remains valid. Long then turns, in chapter two, to the loss of the present tense in preaching, that is, the sense that God is working in our lives now. In chapter five, he addresses the loss of the future tense, calling for a return — in a responsible way — to an eschatological pulpit. By this, he doesn’t mean predicting the future but seeing the present in the light of hope.
Sandwiched between chapters two and five is a discussion of what Long, following other writers such as Cyril O’Regan, diagnoses as the return of gnosticism in contemporary Christianity. Chapter three outlines the traits this manifests, whereas chapter four illustrates these through the writings of Marcus Borg. Long seems tentative, even ill-at-ease in this, for understandable reasons. He is an expert on preaching and not (although well-informed) on gnosticism. This reader felt this two-chapter excursus was not as well thought out as the other three chapters. An uncharitable reader might conclude that these are placed here to fill out the three lectures to a more acceptable book length, as well as out of a recognition that, as they are, they are the stump of a project that would not bear carrying to book length. Indeed, I felt this way at times, but I think I do grasp the connection: one of the challenges faced by those who continue to preach narratively is that merely telling stories that evoke overall Christian knowledge present in the listeners is no longer adequate. While the Biblical illiteracy of many has often been described, Long feels that, also, many of the most knowledgeable listeners are far from unknowing, but that they ascribe to an alternate narrative, one shaped by the gnostic impulse. What this calls for on the part of the preacher is nothing less than an interreligious dialogue conducted from the pulpit. I found myself agreeing with this assessment. In all, I found much to take away from this book, and hope that it will continue to find readers not only among the practitioners of preaching but consumers of it as well.
Sandwiched between chapters two and five is a discussion of what Long, following other writers such as Cyril O’Regan, diagnoses as the return of gnosticism in contemporary Christianity. Chapter three outlines the traits this manifests, whereas chapter four illustrates these through the writings of Marcus Borg. Long seems tentative, even ill-at-ease in this, for understandable reasons. He is an expert on preaching and not (although well-informed) on gnosticism. This reader felt this two-chapter excursus was not as well thought out as the other three chapters. An uncharitable reader might conclude that these are placed here to fill out the three lectures to a more acceptable book length, as well as out of a recognition that, as they are, they are the stump of a project that would not bear carrying to book length. Indeed, I felt this way at times, but I think I do grasp the connection: one of the challenges faced by those who continue to preach narratively is that merely telling stories that evoke overall Christian knowledge present in the listeners is no longer adequate. While the Biblical illiteracy of many has often been described, Long feels that, also, many of the most knowledgeable listeners are far from unknowing, but that they ascribe to an alternate narrative, one shaped by the gnostic impulse. What this calls for on the part of the preacher is nothing less than an interreligious dialogue conducted from the pulpit. I found myself agreeing with this assessment. In all, I found much to take away from this book, and hope that it will continue to find readers not only among the practitioners of preaching but consumers of it as well.
June 15, 2009
Much of the book is a polemic against what Long believes are contemporary manifestations of gnosticism in the Church. He argues for a recovery of "eschatological preaching." Imagine a debate between Long and Marcus Borg, and watch the sparks fly!
Long's carefully connected thought process, powerful stories, and use of rich metaphor, are worth the price of the book. Another fine contribution to my ministry by my former preaching professor!
Long's carefully connected thought process, powerful stories, and use of rich metaphor, are worth the price of the book. Another fine contribution to my ministry by my former preaching professor!
June 30, 2010
Good insight into the current prevalence of neo-Gnosticism and the pitfalls inherent. Also good insight into preaching
May 30, 2012
Long sets forth a compelling thesis regarding the need for more theological instruction in American preaching.
May 18, 2013
parts were good. overall, meh.
January 25, 2016
One of the best preaching books I've ever read. He engages all the classic homiletic texts with a tremendously prophetic voice in our current context. Wonderful.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews