First sentence from preface: This book was motivated by our love for the Lord and his church. In writing it, we were driven by our twin convictions that the church is established and grown by the word of the Lord, and that the Lord is rightly honored when the church sits under his word. While none of this would seem to be in any way controversial among evangelical Christians, the sobering reality is that a great deal of the Bible—perhaps, in fact, the majority—is never preached to the people of God, even in evangelical churches.

The Whole Counsel of God: Why and How to Preach the Entire Bible is written for a very specific audience. It is written for a) preachers-still-in-training, b) recently graduated and newly hired preachers c) preachers with some experience. The authors are challenging preachers to make a long-term plan for preaching through the whole Bible--all 66 books, all chapters and verses. They insist that preachers need a long-term plan, a serious plan, that will see them through decades of ministry--presumably in the same church, the same congregation.

The authors believe that preachers are not preaching thoroughly through the Bible, every book, every chapter, every verse. The authors think that churches need to be taught and "fed" from the WHOLE Bible. There isn't one verse of Bible that shouldn't be fed to the flock and expounded on. The churches--and their ministers--need the balance that only comes from believing, knowing, trusting, applying the whole counsel of God.

So part of this one is about the need to preach from the whole Bible, and why the Bible is so essential to the health of the church. The rest sets out to be more practical and applicable. How exactly does one go about preaching and teaching the whole Bible. How does one lay out--plan ahead, schedule--sermon series thirty or forty years in advance?!?! How does one balance teaching from the Old Testament and the New Testament?

How does a minister prepare his heart and mind to preach through the whole Bible? to understand it? to preach it and teach it in a way that it makes sense to his listeners?

I am a reader, a reviewer if you're being generous. I love, love, love the Bible. I love the idea of listening to sermon series that take me through whole books of the Bible. (I don't look for this in a physical church; I don't necessarily look for this from just one teaching ministry.) I do believe that expository preaching is the best kind of preaching. I do believe that the church needs the whole counsel of God. I do believe that the teaching needs to be biblical. Preachers not reading in their own ideas and beliefs into the text, but faithfully interpreting the Scripture for what it is.


I am NOT a preacher. This book was not written with me in mind. It isn't really applicable to me.

For better or worse, many denominations do not have one minister that is there for the duration: A man of God who settles down in one church for decades--two, three, four, possibly even five decades. This book almost demands such a situation of job security--a pastor knowing that he'll be in that one church for his whole career. Is this realistic? Maybe. Maybe not.

I say for better or worse. There are certainly ministers that I've had for eight years that felt like they were there for twenty. And there have been times where I genuinely wished my denomination was different and didn't move the pastor after three or four years. It's hard for a congregation when the Shepherd is changed every three to four years. Visions and directions change--progress potentially lost. Conflicts seem inevitable with change being the only constant.

But really, let's be honest, many denominations wouldn't really go for this expounding the whole Bible--all chapters and verses--because it wouldn't be politically correct and socially acceptable. Liberalism isn't even subtly sneaking into our churches and denominations. It's quite proud and out and wanting the majority of the vote. I believe this starts with seminaries and universities. I believe by the time a preacher reaches the church, his or her mind is set and determined not to take the Bible so literally as the very Word of God itself.

So this book faces several different challenges for readers.

Disclaimer: I am passionately from a topical preaching tradition, for those who are within a similar tradition, the usefulness of this book is reduced not removed and would have a three star rating. The four star rating is for those within an expository tradition or those evaluating the expository style for their ministry. Expository preaching in this review, refers to preaching that preaches verse by verse through books of the bible.

This is a great book, thoroughly practical and with some introductory material as well as references when they reach the edge of the scope for their book. Introductory material predominantly defines three types of theology and their application within preaching. Practical concerns pervade the book which can be seen in the following ways: the authors actively provide solutions to deficits in expository preaching and hold topical preaching as legitimate but that expository is more in line with their theology; they combat problems applicable across traditions such as preaching for the internet rather than for a specific congregation and preaching for fame rather than for your congregation, among others. Whenever they introduce a new process for planning, they walk the readers through it to make sure that it's understood. Additionally, rather than solely focussing on planning for preaching, they point to specialist resources to ensure the book remains focussed and include a few ideas to begin revitalising planning. There's a chapter directed towards preachers personally so that their focus is on their life as well as their ministry. Their practical experience tempers any possibility of presenting a universal solution, ensuring that what is presented is a general approach to guide leaders to plan for their particular situation.

One of the issues they confront is the unity  between different ministries within a church, which they suggest to ensure by setting the scripture consistently across ministries. Additionally, they address concerns about content which they believe wouldn't be appropriate for children and youth ministries, although I don't believe that they do so sufficiently. Their thrust that the central event of the cross should be taught to children is important but the application of this to all passages is not well defended considering the biologically anchored poetry from Song of Songs and the explicit imagery of spiritual adultery, particularly in the prophets.

A concern I have with this book that I haven't observed in my other reading is the suggestion to not preach texts that aren't included in the earliest manuscripts. These include extended endings to Mark, the story of the woman caught in adultery from John and sweating blood from Luke. The omissions of the first two, especially when preaching through a gospel, would be quite clear and disconcerting.

On top of its application for expository preaching, there is some helpful information for bible reading and topical preachers can duplicate some of the application. For example, the authors' concern that certain sections of the Bible, in particular the Old Testament, minor prophets or Petrine epistles aren't preached as equally as other sections can be planned for within a topical preaching framework just as it can be within an exegetical framework. Depending on the quality of the figures, which were unfortunately omitted from the review copy provided, they may also be applicable to topical preachers. Topical preachers will additionally be challenged to ensure that their preaching doesn't amplify themes but covers them as evenly as scripture does, and doesn't find themes in the text where it isn't present.

 

I was provided a digital copy of the book through NetGalley, but all thoughts included are my own.

The preaching of the Word of God is one of the noblest tasks and one that requires more responsibility. We live in an age in which many Christian communities do not receive a healthy and good exposition of the Scriptures, due to various factors.

"The Whole Counsel of God" is a book that tries to be of help to experienced preachers like those who are just beginning. The authors' objective could be summarized as follows: Provide biblical foundations for preaching, provide ideas for the elaboration of sermons or sermon series, and finally, establish some pastoral guidelines regarding preaching.

This book is not a "how to lecture twenty-four hours" or to facilitate the homiletical process. No, the focus is to inspire the preacher to expose all of God's counsel. The authors say: "The Bible is God's means of communicating to all people the fixed things he wants all to hear" and "A full view of Jesus comes only from a full examination of the testimony to him in all of the Scriptures Moreover, a full view of how to think about and live the Christian life also comes only from a full examination of all the texts of Scripture"

Finally, the authors offer us good examples of how to make sermon series. Which I thought was wonderful. Truly a very good book about preaching.

One common question among preachers is this: "What should I preach?" As one who preaches regularly, this is a weekly encounter. Some would preach topically while others insist on going through a Bible book at a time, something we call expository preaching. There is the the Big-Idea Preaching, the Christ-centered preaching, the Gospel-Centered Preaching, the Expository preaching, etc. Many preach on the Bible with selected passages but few advocate for preaching the entire Bible. This is understandable from a length-wise standpoint, for the Bible comprises 66 books altogether. Reading through it alone is already daunting but to preach through it? This is exactly what the authors, Tim Patrick and Andrew Reid are convicted about. It is only through preaching the entire Word of God that listeners will be adequately fed. For many, the problem is not about desire but about even entertaining the possibility of preaching through the entire Bible. After all, just reading through the Bible is already a huge feat, let alone preaching it. The authors are well aware of this challenge and takes pains to explain that it is far more profitable to try than to be bogged down by details. In fact, they go further to show us how to preach through the entire Bible. This is perhaps the key reason to get this book.


In Part One, readers get to understand the fundamental arguments behind the reason for preaching through the entire Bible. If the Bible was written to be heard, surely the people needs to hear not just in part but in whole. In both the Old and New Testaments, we learn of how the whole Word impacted the people. There are explicit references to how the people were transformed because of the preaching of the Word. God gave the entire law through Moses. He revived the land of Judah through King Josiah who discovered the whole law as described in 2 Kings 23:1-3. Tracing biblical as well as Church history, readers get a broad overview of what happens when the Word of God was taken seriously. Lives were changed. Not only are we reminded about the rewards of reading the whole Word, we are told about the dangers of not doing it. Patrick and Reid show a deep understanding of the predicaments of many preachers. They know why some preachers flip back and forth between topical studies and book-by-book preaching. They point out the temptation toward "doctrinal-paradigm preaching" which uses the Word according to the preacher's fixed theological framework, instead of letting the Bible speak for itself. There is also the need to balance relevant preaching to biblical preaching. For one can be too relevant that we take the Bible out of context. In the same way, we can be too Bible-fixated that we bore our audience due to a lack of connecting with everyday reality.

Part Two goes into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to preach the whole Word. Before anyone attempts to preach, one needs to understand. Patrick and Reid give us some tools to do just that. They explain three conventional frameworks. There is biblical theology that aims to see biblical revelation not just chronologically but theologically. Put it another way, it is biblical revelation with a direction, to understand the Bible as God intended for us. Then there is systematic theology that synthesizes the theology according to the themes and subjects concerned. This also involves combing the whole Scripture to illuminate biblical truths. Finally, there is gospel theology that sees everything from the perspective of the gospel. This theological framework then subdivides the gospel further into three sub-categories: Christology; Atonement; and Eschatology. In simple terms, it is Christ has come, Christ has died, and Christ has risen. The authors show us how we can use these three theological frameworks in our preaching. Then comes the planning which requires time, balance, and grouping Bible genres. What is helpful is the subdivisions of the Bible:

Torah (17%)
Former Prophets (22%)
Latter Prophets (22%)
Writings (15%)
Gospels (10%)
Acts & Epistles (13%)

By understanding the subdivisions, we can proportionately plan our preaching calendar to emphasize what the Bible is telling us. There is a section that highlights the authors' disdain of topical preaching. This is something preachers would need to ponder over. Other features of this planning includes:

How to choose books from each theological paradigm?
How to plan a series?
How to tackle bigger books?
How to plan the preaching calendar with Church calendar in mind?
How to recognize natural divisions in the Bible and the use of Bible scholars and commentaries?
Estimating time and text per sermon?
Learning to deal with repetition
and many more.

Part Three shows us some practical considerations. We learn about keeping the Word central in all things. We consider the practice of these theological frameworks and how to best apply them in our respective contexts. We also learn about the unforeseen circumstances that might derail preachers' preaching plans. There are many good suggestions and ready to use ideas we could use. The authors also consider the context of the preacher as well as the congregation.

My Thoughts
This is one of those preaching books that uniquely equips us to preach the entire counsel of God. I have read books on big ideas, on Christ-centered, on biblical preaching, and so on. Many of them focuses on genres and how we can be faithful to the text according to the genre they are in. Some books also teach us on techniques, interpretive, and communication skills. Thus, I am glad that Patrick and Reid have given us thought and resources to aim to preach the entire Bible. At the least, we are encouraged to form a plan for preaching. In this manner, this is one of the best and most balanced preaching books I have read.

I appreciate the way the authors are able to summarize theological frameworks and make them practical for the masses. In seminary, students often study biblical theology and systematic theology separately. There is no one course that teach or show students exactly how to integrate all of them into one preaching paradigm. Even preaching courses tend to focus on exegesis, interpretation, and techniques for communicating. Having to preach the whole counsel is not something often taught. That is why I am happy to know about this book. Not only did the authors provide the theoretical and theological backing, they show us the practical considerations and the planning process. They were able to anticipate the criticisms, such as "doctrinal paradigm preaching" and topical preaching. They help us along with many diagrams and illustrations. In that way, they don't just tell us but to show us the way. In one book, we get a treasure of information and teachable material for preachers and aspiring preachers of the Word.

I am happy to recommend this book for all preachers, pastors, and Bible teachers.

Tim Patrick (PhD, Macquarie University) is principal of the Bible College of South Australia, an affiliated college of the Australian College of Theology, where he lecturers in theology and practical ministry.

Andrew Reid (ThD, Ridley College) is the inaugural principal of the Evangelical Theological College of Asia in Singapore. He previously served as the lead pastor of several churches in Australia and as lecturer in Old Testament, hermeneutics, and Hebrew at Ridley College Melbourne.

Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

The whole counsel of God by Tim Patrick and Andrew read is a great book for any pastor. The books description states:
Expository preaching has been on the rise over the last five decades, with more and more pastors preaching through entire books of the Bible systematically. But few, if any, preachers have a long-term plan to teach through every book of the Bible over a lifetime of ministry. Since the whole Bible is God's Word to his people, all of Scripture is important in order to grow as Christians.

Written to make a case for the necessity of a long-term plan for preaching through the entire Bible instead of just through individual books, this is not just a book on how to preach, but also how to plan and prepare long-range preaching programs through the whole counsel of God.
I feel every pastor should read this book.