Preaching the Luminous Word: Biblical Sermons and Homiletical Essays

Ellen F. Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. Her previous books include Wondrous Depth: Preaching the Old Testament and (with Richard B. Hays) The Art of Reading Scripture.

Austin McIver Dennis is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Asheville, North Carolina. He has extensive prior ministry experience and recently earned a ThD degree in homiletics and reconciliation from Duke Divinity School.

Krista Tippett
—executive producer and host of On Being
"Ellen Davis is the rare academic—a brilliant academic—who takes seriously the art, craft, and calling of preaching. I am grateful that this book is in the world, in a moment in which the world so urgently needs the discerning, luminous word."

Fleming Rutledge
—author of The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ
"Davis's biblical interpretations have been widely admired for decades, but this volume exceeds even those that have gone before in its usefulness for preachers. If preachers pay attention to these essays, they will be shaken to the foundations, but when their foundation is the true Word of the living God, they—and their congregations—will be renewed from the Source. This book deserves the much-overused word 'prophetic' and should be close at hand on every preacher's shelf."

Samuel Wells
—coauthor of Eucharistic Prayers and Shaping the Prayers of the People
"Ellen Davis's preaching has a fierce intimacy, a deft poetry, a profound playfulness, and a rigorous passion. Just like the Bible. And just like God."