David L. Barnhart, Jr., M.Div.
Graduate Student
Helpful Links for Homileticians
Helpful Links
Okay, most of the stuff out there that you find when you do a search for homiletics is stuff that, for the purposes of this class, is not terribly useful. You will frequently find links to prefab stories, or prefab sermons, or mediocre exegesis.
There are a few, though, that are real gems, in my opinion. I will post a few here with brief descriptions. I will add some as the semester continues. Of course, none of this is authoritative or required reading, and it is up to you to surf with discretion.
Vanderbilt Resources for Homiletics - This is a great starting point. Bob Howard has done an excellent job indexing this resource. Beware a couple of lame websites, but this sure beats typing "homiletics" in a search engine any day.
Bible Gateway - This is a great online tool.
David S. Jacobsen's Home Page at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. This is a great site with special material on preaching from Luke-Acts and on homiletic book reviews. Check out his syllabi while you are there, too.
From Theology Today, I'd especially recommend the special sections on Practical Theology and the Inclusive Language Lectionary for homiletics students.
And Adam Knew Eve: A Dictionary of Sex in the Bible - This is a well-done and entertaining site which is useful for exegesis, especially if you are dealing with some gender and sexuality issues in a passage. It mainly collects material from various and sundry commentaries and books for passages in the Bible that have sexuality and gender "issues."
Online Rhetoric - If you are interested in classical rhetoric, this is a good primer. Remember that this is about classical rhetoric - modern rhetoric is somewhat different. Also remember that not all rhetorical strategies are effective.
About.com's Protestantism Page - Another good starting point. Again, surf with discretion when looking for preaching resources. About.com's other pages are not bad, either.
More to come....