The Suffering of Job and an Enfleshed Homiletic - (T&t Clark Library of Homiletics) by Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

McLaughlin-Sheasby engages with how suffering shapes theological imagination, and the impact that the traumatic wounds of others has on preaching. McLaughlin-Sheasby uses the story of Job - a man whose life has been destroyed "for no reason," as God admits in Job 2:3 - to develop an 'enfleshed' homiletic, which problematizes 'God-talk' in the presence of radical suffering. McLaughlin-Sheasby argues that what Job needs are friends who are willing to see his wounds and bear faithful witness-but that none of them are willing to transform their theological positions in order to speak truly about Job's situation.

In Job 42:7, God affirms Job in his truth-telling, while scolding the friends for their refusal to speak truly. In this, McLaughlin-Sheasby finds a strong guiding principle for preachers: the capacity to speak truly of God is dependent upon the capacity to speak truly of the suffering of others. In other words, the degree to which preachers can faithfully speak of God in this world depends upon willingness to be confronted and transformed by the wounds of others. On this basis, McLaughlin-Sheasby proposes a theological and practical vision of preaching that is ethically responsive to those beyond the pulpit, asking the question: what does it look like for preachers to become faithful witnesses to the suffering of others?

Review Quotes

"This book is a tour de force. Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby skilfully teaches a master class on the theology of job, unleashes the power of embodied testimony, and summons the reader to a renewed way of preaching that is attentive to the suffering of others and faithful to the "God who inhabits every rupture and wound." McLaughlin-Sheasby remarkably breaks new ground on almost every page of this impressive work." --Thomas G. Long, Professor Emeritus of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, USA

"This book takes the body and its open wounds seriously, calling for preachers to serve as witnesses to human experiences manifested in the body. Recognizing the limits of theological speech, an enfleshed homiletic causes us to pause and reflect on the bodies that listen and the bodies that preach. Wounded bodies are sources of wisdom and grace. McGlaughlin-Sheasby opens up an area of homiletic inquiry that is neglected and fruitful, calling on the Book of Job to ask difficult and essential questions about suffering, woundedness and homiletic experience." --The Rev. Dr. Sarah Travis, Ewart Chair in the Practice of Ministry and Faith Formation, Associate Professor, Knox College, Canada

"Founding her argument on a brilliant exegesis of the book of Job, Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby argues convincingly that suffering, especially of those most marginalized, ought to transform preachers' God-talk. Drawing from biblical scholarship, theologies of testimony, and trauma theory, this wide-ranging volume issues a powerful call for preachers to allow their theological imaginations to be changed by the wounds of others. Preachers seeking to fulfill their core vocation to proclaim an intelligible gospel to those most in need of it will be challenged and inspired by the enfleshed homiletic developed in this project." --Ruthanna Hooke, Professor of Homiletics, Virginia Theological Seminary, USA

"Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby leads preachers into the whirlwind of Job with bravery and care. Her homiletic insights illumine a notoriously difficult biblical text in witness to a God intimately acquainted with grief. Her conviction that bodies matter to the work of theology rolls through this text like thunder, calling those who proclaim the gospel away from divine domestications and into God's speaking storm." --Jerusha Matsen Neal, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Duke University, USA

About the Author