Must Reads Classics – As One Without Authority by Fred B. Craddock

by Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence on Monday, September 11, 2023

This episode of Must Reads Classics reintroduces "As One Without Authority," a classic book in homiletics written by Fred Craddock in the early 1970s. In this interview, Dr. Thomas Long, a colleague and friend of Fred Craddock, discusses the book's significance and impact on preaching. Craddock's approach challenged traditional deductive preaching, where the main points were presented upfront, and instead promoted inductive preaching, allowing the listeners to discover the sermon's message gradually. His method emphasized experiential and event-producing aspects of preaching. The book addressed a sense of boredom in preaching during its time and made preaching more human by freeing preachers from the need to pretend to have all the answers. Instead, it encouraged a journey with the listeners. Dr. Long emphasizes that the enduring value of the book lies in its ability to free preachers to be more authentic in the pulpit, allowing them to connect with their congregations on a deeper level.