Sermons from Duke Chapel

Voices from "A Great Towering Church"

William H. Willimon

• Publisher: Duke University Press Books
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9780822334835
• eBook ISBN: 9780822386964
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Many of America's greatest Protestant preachers—Paul Tillich, William Sloane Coffin, Barbara Brown Taylor, Fleming Rutledge, Peter J. Gomes, Billy Graham, and others—have spoken powerfully from the pulpit of the "great towering church" that is the spiritual and architectural center of Duke University. This collection of fifty-eight of the most notable sermons proclaimed from that pulpit commemorates the seventy-fifth anniversary of the groundbreaking for Duke Chapel. It is a sweeping panorama of sermons selected and edited by Bishop William H. Willimon, Dean of the Chapel for twenty years and one of the most widely read writers on preaching in America.

Opening with the sermon preached in June 1935 at the dedication of the Chapel and closing with one by Willimon delivered at the beginning of the 2003–4 school year, this volume presents Protestant Christianity at its most eloquent and prophetic. Some sermons are pure meditations on biblical texts; others are period pieces in the best sense of the term, reflecting on such contemporary concerns as civil rights, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and the wars in Europe, Vietnam, and Iraq. Willimon provides a brief introduction to each sermon, commenting on the work and thought of the preacher. Diverse in subject and style, the sermons collected in this volume are a treasure for those who love fine preaching, a resource for those studying the history of homiletics, and a light to rekindle the memories of those who have worshiped in the Chapel over the years.

Table of contents

• Contents
• William H. Willimon Introduction
• Lynn Harold Hough The Cathedral and the Campus June 2, 1935
• Paul Tillich Be Strong March 13, 1955
• H. Shelton Smith Moral Crisis in a Troubled South April 29, 1956
• Eugene Carson Blake Even the Desert Shall Bloom April 7, 1957
• Waldo Beach Education for Failure April 14, 1957
• Gerald Kennedy June 2, 1957
• James T. Cleland Postmortem on a Salesman February 1, 1959
• D. Elton Trueblood The Courage to Care February 14, 1960
• Robert E. Cushman The Idea of a University January 29, 1961
• Martin Niemöller Human Weakness and Divine Strength February 24, 1963
• William Sloane Coffin Jr. Burdened with Erudition and Paralyzed with Indecision: A Sermon on Learned Paralytics March 12, 1967
• Jürgen Moltmann Communion Meditation October 1, 1967
• Thomas A. Langford Homecoming October 22, 1967
• Albert C. Outler And So What Have You Done for Me Lately? December 10, 1967
• Thor Hall Thou Shalt Not Kill June 9, 1968
• Browne Barr Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep October 26, 1969
• Eduard Schweizer God’s Helplessness—Our Help April 12, 1970
• Edmund A. Steimle Address Not Known March 7, 1971
• Clarence G. Newsome and Howard C. Wilkinson What Is Religion All about, Anyway? A Dialogue Sermon September 5, 1971
• Myron S. Augsburger The Christian in a Revolutionary Age September 26, 1971
• D . Moody Smith Jr. A Necessary Tension February 6, 1972
• John W. Carlton The Generous Eye June 11, 1972
• Billy Graham Finding Answers September 23, 1973
• Letty Russell The Impossible Possibility March 31, 1974
• William Stringfellow The Wisdom of Being FoolishMay 10, 1975
• Ernest T. Campbell What’s the Story? May 11, 1975
• W. D. Davies The Bible Today October 24, 1976
• Will Campbell That You Might Have Life January 23, 1977
• Carlyle Marney Not to Condemn Us April 17, 1977
• Carter Heyward The Enigmatic God November 20, 1977
• Clarence G. Newsome Righteous Anger August 27, 1978
• Howard Thurman The Gothic Principle January 21, 1979
• Leander Keck Seeing and Not Seeing October 21, 1979
• C. Eric Lincoln Have You Been to Damascus? March 20, 1983
• Martin E. Marty The Usefulness of a Useless Vision November 6, 1983
• Donald Macleod There Is a Point in Living November 13, 1983
• Louis Patrick The ‘‘Ah’’ of Wonder September 30, 1984
• John Vannorsdall Mainline Churches February 10, 1985
• Walter Brueggemann Slogans—And Hurts Underneath February 16, 1985
• Elizabeth Achtemeier Christmas Party December 15, 1985
• William Muehl It Matters Greatly February 23, 1986
• Thomas G. Long Jesus’ Final Exam November 9, 1986
• Grady H. Hardin God under Pressure March 8, 1987
• Peter Storey When the Cross Lays Hold on You September 18, 1988
• Fred Craddock November 5, 1989
• Richard Lischer I Have Seen the Future November 15, 1992
• Tony Campolo Children of the Kingdom February 13, 1994
• Carol Marie Noren Storm at Sea June 19, 1994
• Peter J. Gomes An Impossible Ethic February 19, 1995
• Eberhard Bethge A Chief Text of the Church April 23, 1995
• David G. Buttrick A Sermon at Duke University October 15, 1995
• Patrick M. Clark Awaiting New Wine February 27, 2000
• L. Gregory Jones We Do See Jesus October 8, 2000
• Ellen F. Davis Stargazers January 5, 2003
• Fleming Rutledge The Enemy Lines Are Hard to Find March 16, 200
• Barbara Brown Taylor The Snake Savior March 30, 2003
• James A. Forbes Jr. The Best-Kept Secret in the BibleJune 8, 2003
• William H. Willimon Confused, yet Curious, about JesusAugust 31, 2003
• Index to Scripture