This book is a collection of sermons from the preaching ministry of one of the most significant theologians in Great Britain today. This alone would make it of interest, but in addition one’s appetite is further whetted by the criticism voiced in the preface of the ‘tendency to introduce a radical separation between theology and preaching, divorcing … the intellectual and the rhetorical’, which ‘performed a great disservice to both activities, separating the one from the life of the church and the other from the world of the academy’ (viii). To those who share this concern—a concern we should share—this book will be a valuable pedagogical and practical aid in the school of biblical and doctrinal preaching.

There are 30 sermons, on a variety of topics in the collection, the centre of which in terms of arrangement and of substance are eight sermons dedicated especially to explaining the life and significance of Jesus Christ. The focus is always biblical and doctrinal and it is generously interspersed with observations and illustrations that spring from wisdom amassed from a career of thinking about the central matters of faith. Not all the conclusions he draws will win total agreement (for instance, his discussion of men and women in 1 Corinthians 11 was unconvincing for this reader at least), but his procedure of theologically thinking these issues through in the pulpit is surely right.

The style is easy for the reader of whatever theological competence since the sermons here are short and accessible. The sermon given in memory of the writer’s deceased grandchild is particularly powerful and moving, and throughout the sermons show Gunton’s heart and passion for theological truth to reach all aspects of his listeners’ eyes. The book would also function well as an introduction to Gunton’s thinking in general, since what he writes as a professor he can share as the preacher. The trinitarian and christological concerns, not to mention the emphasis on the need for a robust doctrine of creation and eschatology, come across clearly and are shown with some of their pastoral import. As Gunton says in the introduction, the theologian who preaches becomes a different type of theologian, and we see some of this dynamic in action with the unbreakable relationship in these sermons between academic contemplation and congregational application. Those who are looking for pointers as to how a modern creedal theology informs the office of the pastor-teacher can learn much from the content and approach of the examples here.

In addition Christoph Schwoebel offers a very fine introduction outlining theological bases for preaching. It is, in his words, a biblical, pastoral, doctrinal and congregational task, and practitioners would benefit from his remarks on how to succeed in this venture. One can only hope that this collection will provide a stimulus to theologians and preachers alike not to be content with either homiletical platitudes or theology disengaged from the life of church teaching and devotion. The task of the church requires, in Schwoebel’s view, a preaching ministry that is relevant to the crises of love, faith and life that afflict God’s people in this age, and it is relevant doctrinal and biblical preaching that will be the means of this divine grace.