1. Introduction / William H. Willimon  1

2. The Cathedral and the Campus, June 2, 1935 / Lynn Harold Hough  9

3. Be Strong, March 13, 1955 / Paul Tillich  18

4. Moral Crisis in a Troubled South, April 29, 1956 / H. Shelton Smith  24

5. Even the Desert Shall Bloom, April 7, 1957 / Eugene Carson Blake  30

6. Education for Failure, April 14, 1957 / Waldo Beach  36

7. June 2, 1957 / Gerald Kennedy  42

8. Postmortem on a Salesman, February 1, 1959 / James T. Cleland  51

9. The Courage to Care, February 14, 1960 / D. Elton Trueblood  59

10. The Idea of a University, January 29, 1961 / Robert E. Cushman  63

11. Human Weakness and Divine Strength, February 24, 1963 / Martin Niemoller  71

12. Burdened with Erudition and Paralyzed with Indecision: A Sermon on Learned Paralytics, March 12, 1967 / William Sloane Coffin Jr.  76

13. Communion Meditation, October 1, 1967 / Jurgen Moltmann  81

14. Homecoming, October 22, 1967 / Thomas A. Langford  86

15. And So What Have You Done for Me Lately?, December 10, 1967 / Albert C. Outler  91

16. Thou Shalt Not Kill, June 9, 1968 / Thor Hall  98

17. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, October 26, 1969 / Browne Barr  104

18. God's Helplessness-Our Help, April 12, 1970 / Eduard Schweizer  109

19. Address Not Known, March 7, 1971 / Edmund A. Steimle  114

20. What Is Religion All about, Anyway? A Dialogue Sermon, September 5, 1971 / Clarence G. Newsome and Howard C. Wilkinson  120

21. The Christian in a Revolutionary Age, September 26, 1971 / Myron S. Augsburger  127

22. A Necessary Tension, February 6, 1972 / D. Moody Smith Jr.  138

23. The Generous Eye, June 11, 1972 / John W. Carlton  143

24. Finding Answers, September 23, 1973 / Billy Graham  148

25. The Impossible Possibility, March 31, 1974 / Letty Russel  153

26. The Wisdom of Being Foolish, May 10, 1975 / William Stringfellow  158

27. What's the Story?, May 11, 1975 / Ernest T. Campbell  166

28. The Bible Today, October 24, 1976 / W. D. Davies  172

29. That You Might Have Life, January 23, 1977 / Will Campbell  180

30. Not to Condemn Us, April 17, 1977 / Carlyle Marney  186

31. The Enigmatic God, November 20, 1977 / Carter Heyward  193

32. Righteous Anger, August 27, 1978 / Clarence G. Newsome  202

33. The Gothic Principle, January 21, 1979 / Howard Thurman  208

34. Seeing and Not Seeing, October 21, 1979 / Leander Keck  211

35. Have You Been to Damascus?, March 20, 1983 / C. Eric Lincoln  218

36. The Usefulness of a Useless Vision, November 6, 1983 / Martin E. Marty  223

37. There is a Point in Living, November 13, 1983 / Donald Macleod  229

38. The "Ah" of Wonder, September 30, 1984 / Louis Patrick  235

39. Mainline Churches, February 10, 1985 / John Vannorsdall  241

40. Slogans-And Hurts Underneath, February 16, 1985 / Walter Brueggemann  246

41. Christmas Party, December 15, 1985 / Elizabeth Achtemeier  251

42. It Matters Greatly, February 23, 1986 / William Muehl  257

43. Jesus' Final Exam, November 9, 1886 / Thomas G. Long  264

44. God Under Pressure, March 8, 1987 / Grady H. Hardin  270

45. When the Cross Lays Hold on You, September 18, 1988 / Peter Storey  276

46. November 5, 1989 / Fred Craddock  282

47. I Have Seen the Future, November 15, 1992 / Richard Lischer  288

48. Children of the Kingdom, February 13, 1994 / Tony Campolo  293

49. Storm at Sea, June 19, 1944 / Carol Marie Noren  304

50. An Impossible Ethic, February 19, 1995 / Peter J. Gomes  309

51. A Chief Text of the Church, April 23, 1995 / Eberhard Bethge  316

52. A Sermon at Duke University, October 15, 1995 / David G. Buttrick  322

53. Awaiting New Wine, February 27, 2000 / Patrick M. Clark  326

54. We Do See Jesus, October 8, 2000 / L. Gregory Jones  330

55. Stargazers, January 5, 2003 / Ellen F. Davis  337

56. The Enemy Lines Are Hard to Find, March 16, 2003 / Fleming Rutledge  342

57. The Snake Savior, March 30, 2003 / Barbara Brown Taylor  348

58. The Best-Kept Secret in the Bible, June 3, 2003 / James A. Forbes Jr.  354

59. Confused, yet Curious, about Jesus, August 31, 2003 / William H. Willimon  362

Index to Scripture  369

"[A] comprehensive mix of sermons. Some dive into explorations of Scripture, while others work to weave in the news of the day."—Matt Ehlers, News and Observer

"Bucking the assumption that expressions of the homiletic arts are suited only for the airwaves and acoustic space is this worthy offering from Duke University Press. . . . Inasmuch as questions of race, gender, faith, war, peace, violence and economic justice continue from generation to generation, these sermons remain pointed and relevant for our own time."—Deane A. Kemper, Charleston Post & Courier

"The collection reflects diversity in theme and viewpoint. . . These sermons evoked in me reflection, inspiration, occasional diagreement, and applause. . . ."—Rusty Wright, Duke Magazine

"The collection of good sermons in a single volume is rare. But Sermons from Duke Chapel is just such a collection. . . . Each is worth reading as part of the whole. Indeed Sermons needs to be read from cover to cover. . . . [T]he collection serves as a virtual record of the changing homiletical landscape over the course of the century."—O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Lexington Theological Quarterly

"This is the volume most inclined to gobble up your whole day if you're not careful, for you can watch the history of American Christianity unfold before your eyes in these sermons."—Jason Byassee, Books & Culture

“This book could be used as a text book in homiletics courses for the study of structure and content, by pastors in parishes seeking in-depth and grace-oriented extrapolations of the texts, and by laypersons seeking intellectual depth through devotional material that focuses upon Christ in the texts.”—David Lohr, Reviews in Religion and Theology

"[A] comprehensive mix of sermons. Some dive into explorations of Scripture, while others work to weave in the news of the day."—Matt Ehlers, News and Observer

"Bucking the assumption that expressions of the homiletic arts are suited only for the airwaves and acoustic space is this worthy offering from Duke University Press. . . . Inasmuch as questions of race, gender, faith, war, peace, violence and economic justice continue from generation to generation, these sermons remain pointed and relevant for our own time."—Deane A. Kemper, Charleston Post & Courier

"The collection reflects diversity in theme and viewpoint. . . These sermons evoked in me reflection, inspiration, occasional diagreement, and applause. . . ."—Rusty Wright, Duke Magazine

"The collection of good sermons in a single volume is rare. But Sermons from Duke Chapel is just such a collection. . . . Each is worth reading as part of the whole. Indeed Sermons needs to be read from cover to cover. . . . [T]he collection serves as a virtual record of the changing homiletical landscape over the course of the century."—O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Lexington Theological Quarterly

"This is the volume most inclined to gobble up your whole day if you're not careful, for you can watch the history of American Christianity unfold before your eyes in these sermons."—Jason Byassee, Books & Culture

“This book could be used as a text book in homiletics courses for the study of structure and content, by pastors in parishes seeking in-depth and grace-oriented extrapolations of the texts, and by laypersons seeking intellectual depth through devotional material that focuses upon Christ in the texts.”—David Lohr, Reviews in Religion and Theology

“This book will be invaluable not only for people who love good preaching or who teach preaching, but for anyone wanting better to understand the last seventy years of Christianity. Each of the sermons is introduced by wonderfully witty and insightful remarks by Reverend Willimon. These alone are worth the price of the book.”—Stanley Hauerwas, author of The Hauerwas Reader

“These sermons are as rich and diverse and striking as the deep colors of the stained glass in the towering church in which they were preached. They display the craft of preaching through which Light shines. You will cherish this collection of sermons faithfully shaped, imaginatively crafted, artfully expressed.”—Hope Morgan Ward, Resident Bishop, Mississippi Area of the United Methodist Church

“The most impressive thing about the collection is the way that the Word of God may be heard and experienced through it. Although I have studied preaching through the ages, I am amazed—and grateful—for the way the sermons in this book can grasp my heart and mind and make me want to be more faithful in my discipleship.”—O. C. Edwards Jr., author of A History of Preaching

“These sermons recapitulate the nature of mainline preaching in the twentieth century and ponder aloud the place of Christian faith in a major ‘secular’ university founded in part out of a strong Protestant faith.”—David L. Bartlett, author of What’s Good about This News? Preaching from the Gospels and Galatians

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