Guidance | Illustrations | Preaching

QUOTING FROM BOOKS
When it comes right down to it, a book itself is a friend, and it is best remembered when we have a sense of respect for it. When I quote from authors in a sermon, my own approach is to quote few but long — that is, to make use of only a few quotations in a given sermon, but to show respect for whatever is quoted. This means allowing the quotation to speak from its own setting; it means reading enough of the quotation that the author is really heard, and not simply used to focus upon what I am saying. This approach involves more work for the preacher homiletically in establishing the context for the quotation, but it also has the benefit of encouraging the listeners to want to read that author for themselves. I have made for myself two rules for quotation: I do not quote from a book I have not read, and I do not quote…