Preach Magazine Issue 1 - Creativity and innovation in preaching | Page 33

REVIEWS

PREACHING THE
FOUR GOSPELS WITH
CONFIDENCE
Steven D Mathewson,
Hendrickson Publishers/
Alban Books (2013)

WAS THE TOMB EMPTY?
A LAWYER WEIGHS THE EVIDENCE
FOR THE RESURRECTION
Graeme Smith,
Lion Hudson (2014)

I think about this book in the same way
that I think about some of my lectures
when I was studying at theological
college: useful, insightful and yet
slightly dull (and it has to be said,
occasionally sleep inducing).
Mathewson’s experience as both a
pastor and an academic teacher shine
through in this intellectually rigorous
and yet grounded toolkit for preaching
from the four Gospels. He challenges
preachers not to sidestep the vital
exegetical tasks by researching: Old
Testament backgrounds; the first
century Jewish context; biblical
scholarship; and the insights of
redaction criticism. Mathewson
then urges preachers to ensure that
sermons are applied to twenty-firstcentury issues whilst remaining aligned
with the original intention of the gospel
writers. This he sees as a big challenge
but one which must be faced with
integrity. I was helped by Mathewson’s
examples of how he has applied his

This is the latest book in a long line
of similar books examining and
questioning the accounts of the
resurrection. Graeme Smith was
a solicitor who now is a full-time
judge and recorder, so he calls on his
extensive legal training and experience
of both sides of the Bench.
He presents the evidence in much the
same way it would have been in a court
case (albeit the eye witnesses are not
available to give evidence in person).
There are the opening submissions
of history, proof and outline of the
evidence. The evidence is produced
from statements made by Paul, James
and Peter, as well as other evidence
from such as Josephus, and the
writings of the early church.
Other evidence is gleaned from the
Gospels and ancient manuscripts,
history, literature and law. Professor
Simon Greenleaf (nineteenth-century
author and scholar) concluded that
by applying the Rules of Evidence, the
testimony of the Gospel writers should
be admitted as true, unless it could be

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methods in his own preaching. In
addition Mathewson gives guidance on
issues such as: how preachers construct
sermon series; the relationship between
the letters of Paul and the ministry of
Jesus; how to preach from passages
about demons and exorcisms.
Notwithstanding all this sound advice,
I can’t help think that something of
the earth shattering power of the
good news of Jesus Christ has been
lost in Mathewson’s book. Learning to
preach the gospel of Jesus from the
four Gospels should be like (to steal
U2’s phrase) learning how to handle an
atomic bomb. The influence of Jesus
stands not just head and shoulders,
but torso, waist, and legs above every
other person in history. Mathewson’s
insistence on rigorous exegesis is
important. I would appreciate more
guidance on how to present the best
possible news to a cynical culture.
TOM HOLBIRD

disproved. Even if the burden of proof
was reversed, the witnesses are still
capable of a ‘ready moral demonstration’
based on their honesty, ability, number,
consistency, conformity of coincidence of
their testimony with experience.
At the end there is the judge’s summing
up to the reader (who is a member
of the jury), being guided to their
ver