Gospel Sermons - (Blumhardt Source) by Johann Christoph Blumhardt (Paperback)

About the Book

In this volume, Blumhardt makes a passionate plea to make room, here and now, for God's coming kingdom. These sermons articulate not just a theology of hope but are refreshing, compelling insights into the prophetic vision of the great outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh.

Book Synopsis

Don't wait for the end times--we can experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the presence of God's future already now.

If you want to pick a theological fight with someone, enter into a discussion about eschatology. You'll encounter a kaleidoscope of opinions and, more likely than not, outright disagreement. On one end of the spectrum there are the doomsday naysayers who, in warning us to get ready for the end, have determined in advance the very signs of Christ's return. On the other end are those who idealize God's future to such an extent that it has virtually no relevance for faith.

Enter Johann Christoph Blumhardt. Blumhardt cuts through both end-time speculation and eschatological indifference with a passionate plea to make room, here and now, for God's coming kingdom. Blumhardt's whole approach toward "last things" is so out of the ordinary that it fills one with an authentic exhilaration that defies the staid confines of conventional Christianity. These sermons articulate not just a theology of hope but are refreshing, compelling insights into the prophetic vision of the great outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh. With confidence and holy expectation, Blumhardt reminds us that we can experience now, and even hasten on, the presence of God's future. We need only pray for it, watch for it, and live for it. It is at hand!

Review Quotes

Many of us who admire a radical apocalyptic theology of resistance have long recognized the importance of the Blumhardts, father and son. They influenced Karl Barth, William Stringfellow, Jacques Ellul, the Bruderhofs, and a host of others who may not even recognize their legacy from these original yet profoundly biblical teachers. This new translation of Johann's Gospel Sermons is most welcome.--Fleming Rutledge, author of The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ and Not Ashamed of the Gospel

In this remarkable volume of sermons, Johann Christoph Blumhardt steps out of the shadows of nineteenth-century theology into his own bright light as a preacher. In our time, when many sermons have become reduced to self-help, faux prosperity, memoirs masquerading as proclamation, or the politics du jour, Blumhardt's bold and biblically rigorous sermons ring out like a fog bell sounding over a darkened sea, warning us away from the shoals and guiding us safely to harbor.--Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching Emeritus, Emory University