Exodus Preaching

Exodus Preaching is the first of its kind. It is an exploration of the African American prophetic rhetorical traditions in a manner that makes features of these traditions relevant to a broad audience beyond the African American traditions. It provides readers a composite picture of the nature, meaning, and relevance of prophetic preaching as spoken Word of justice and hope in a society of growing pluralism and the world-shaping phenomenon of racial, economic and cultural diversity. African American preachers have distinctively invested great symbolic significance in the Exodus story, the messianic witness of Jesus, and the prophetic literature for developing and shaping prophetic sermons. Kenyatta Gilbert demonstrates how four distinctive features of discourse can shape sermon preparation, for effective preaching in a period of intense social change, racial unrest, and violence. Gilbert includes dozens of practical suggestions and five practical exercises to equip the reader for preaching in new ways and in new environments. He offers an holistic approach, fully equipping the reader with the theological and practical resources needed to preach prophetically.

"Kenyatta Gilbert offers a probe of biblical texts that brings freshness, urgency, and specificity to his exposition. His freshness is in his free-ranging perspective that keeps one eye on an interface with hip-hop. His urgency is that he lets the text have contact with the deep issues of injustice we now face. His specificity is evident in his engagement with the important witnesses concerning racism that now requires our full bodily investment for the sake of Exodus emancipation from the heavy contemporary hand of Pharaoh. Kenyatta's approach will be empowering and enlivening for many interpreters, preachers, and readers as it is for this reader."
--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA

"I am completely and utterly impressed with the scholarship of Kenyatta Gilbert. Exodus Preaching, meets and exceeds the high bar established by his previous books. He is the preeminent homiletical mind and voice of a generation, and must be read and heard by anyone who values and regards high quality preaching."
--Frank A. Thomas, Director of PhD Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, IN