Customer Reviews

Homiletical Handbook

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Donald Hamilton's Homiletical Handbook is one of a vast library of books which treat the subject of preaching. In his own introduction, Hamilton admits that although there is a virtual army of books on preaching, there are very few which are actually helpful in the task. Many handbooks are based on faulty views of scripture, weak hermeneutics, or a level of criticism which makes practical application impossible. Others offer valuable insight into theory and theology, but do not address the practical aspects of the preaching act. With this in mind, Hamilton honestly states that his handbook is not meant to address every aspect and detail of the "preaching task." It is also not meant to teach the art of sermon delivery. Instead, Homiletical Handbook is meant to deal with homiletics, or the science of preaching. An introductory treatment, this book is meant for beginning preaching students. Its intent is to spur both future and beginning preachers into an informed passion for the science of proper hermeneutics. He is brilliantly successful!!

This book is a great help in developing a sermon. While it presents some of the more common styles, it also teaches how to make use of other styles. Some of these more unusual styles are: inductive, narrative, and syllosogitic. It provides outline examples of the different styles and key words that can be used.

The book also covers how one can preach from different genres of scripture. The author shows how the different styles of sermons fit with different types of scripture.

I believe that this book will help those that are looking for a challenge in developing new styles of sermons. It is also useful for those that have difficulty preaching on certain types of scripture.

Dr. Hamilton was my Preaching teacher in seminary. In fact I was a visiting student and I wanted to have a different academic experience. Thus I ended up sitting in his class. At first I was a little skeptical of the teacher that teaches out of his own book. Nonetheless, by the end of the semester my preaching improved considerably due to the "Homelitical Handbook." Five years after taking his class I find myself going back to his book for guidance. I find the "Homelitical Handbook" not only a reliable preaching guide, but also a clear and honest approach for the task of preaching to the avid homeletician. Its challenging simplicity helped me improve and polish my homelitical skills.