Communicating the Faith Indirectly: Selected Sermons, Addresses, and Prayers

In his teaching and his writing, Paul L. Holmer (1916-2004), Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota (1946-1960) and Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School (1960-1987), not only made important contributions to recent American theology, but was also much in demand as a public speaker and preacher. Following his death, the Holmer family in 2005 donated his papers to the Yale Divinity School Library. In this, the third volume of The Paul L. Holmer Papers: Communicating the Faith Indirectly, the reader will see Holmer's deep concern with the problems and possibilities of the sermon, liturgy, ministry, and spirituality. Inspired by Søren Kierkegaard's reflections on "indirect communication", and by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Holmer not only reveals his strenuous reflection on the sermon, but also gives concrete examples of his own efforts to communicate, enabling his hearers and readers to "make sense" of their lives. In the first part of this volume, Holmer reflects upon Kierkegaard's "indirect communication", a communication not of knowledge but of human capacity. In other pieces Holmer turns to liturgy, ministry, and spirituality. In the second part of this volume, the reader sees Holmer's own challenging, uncompromising practice of religious and Christian communication, in a selection of his sermons, addresses, and prayers. For anyone concerned with sermons, liturgy, spirituality, and the challenges of ministry, Holmer's essays and addresses will prove indispensable. This is the third volume of The Paul L. Holmer Papers, which includes also volume 1, 'On Kierkegaard and the Truth', and volume 2, 'Thinking the Faith with Passion: Selected Essays'.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by William H. Willimon Editors' Preface: Paul L. Holmer and the Religious Address Acknowledgments Abbreviations PART ONE: Holmer on the Sermon, Liturgy, Ministry, and Spirituality 1 Indirect Communication: Something about the Sermon (With References to Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein) 2 About Liturgy and Its Logic 3 The Minister, a Reconsideration: Meditatio, Oratio, Tentatio 4 Spirituality and Self-Deception PART TWO: Sermons, Addresses, and Prayers 5 Remarks on the Occasion of a Baptism 6 Remarks on the Occasion of a Marriage 7 On Speaking the Truth in Love: Remarks on the Occasion of an Ordination 8 An Advent Sermon: The Gospel according to Luke 1:26-38 9 On Worshipping God: A Meditation on Psalm 73 10 On Receiving Mercy 11 On Being Steadfast: Jesus Christ, the Same . . . 12 Making Sense Christianly: Baccalaureate Sermon 13 The Transforming Power of Otherworldliness 14 On Believing in Heaven 15 Selected Prayers Afterword: Paul L. Holmer: Self-Effacing, Swaggering, Nonpareil - David Cain Appendix: Paul L. Holmer: A Select Bibliography Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects Scripture Index

About the Author :
David J. Gouwens is Professor of Theology at Brite Divinity School. He is the author of 'Kierkegaard's Dialectic of the Imagination' (1989) and 'Kierkegaard as Religious Thinker' (1996). Lee C. Barrett III is Stager Professor of Theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is the author of 'The Heidelberg Catechism' (2007), 'Foundations of Modern Theology: Kierkegaard' (2009), and co-editor of 'Kierkegaard and the Bible' (2010). David J. Gouwens is Professor of Theology at Brite Divinity School. He is the author of 'Kierkegaard's Dialectic of the Imagination' (1989) and 'Kierkegaard as Religious Thinker' (1996). Lee C. Barrett III is Stager Professor of Theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is the author of 'The Heidelberg Catechism' (2007), 'Foundations of Modern Theology: Kierkegaard' (2009), and co-editor of 'Kierkegaard and the Bible' (2010).

Review :
"This is an intensely intellectual and spiritual work of practical Theology that will particularly profit all University students interested in pastoral Theology, and also clergy and those preparing for ordination, but ultimately any thinking Christian would be blessed by this book." -Christopher Villiers, Theological Book Review, volume 26, no 1, 2014 "These collections will appeal especially to those who knew Holmer personally and sat at his feet as students and colleagues. But the main reason that the editors and publishers have taken such trouble to bring these papers together is because they believe that they deserve a wider audience. They are right..." -John Saxbee, Modern Believing (57.2), March 2016