On this episode of The Concordia Publishing House Podcast, we take a look at the history and legacy of Lutheran homiletics with guest Pastor Isaac Johnson. Isaac is the translator of Reinhold Pieper's Evangelical Lutheran Homiletics, available now on cph.org. 

Show Notes

Listen now as host Elizabeth Pittman and guest Isaac Johnson talk discuss his translation of Reinhold Pieper’s Evangelical Lutheran Homiletics, which offers a fuller understanding of the history of preaching within the LCMS as typified by C. F. W. Walther. Pieper, a student of Walther who would serve as a homiletics professor and president of Concordia Preachers’ Seminary from 1891–1914, dissects the task of preaching from start to finish as inspired by the classic German homiletics textbook by J. J. Rambach. 

Isaac talks about who Reinhold Pieper was, historical context behind Pieper’s writing, how Pieper has influenced his own work, and advice for pastors and the challenges they face in today’s fast-paced world. 

Questions

• Who was Reinhold Pieper?
• In the foreword, Dr. Adam Koontz writes Reinhold was “the heir of much and the preserver of more.” What motivated Reinhold to write this book, and what were the influences that he was working to preserve? 
• How does this work reflect the influence of Reinhold’s teacher, CFW Walther?
• How does this book complement Walther's Law and Gospel as a preaching guide?
• What was the historical context in which Pieper wrote this book? How did this context shape his approach to preaching?
• How was this book used at LCMS seminaries before the transition to English?Pieper emphasized “strictly textual” preaching. What does this mean, and why is it important?
• Walk us through Pieper’s approach to sermon preparation.
• What does Pieper have to say about the preachers personal style, and how pastors can balance individuality with faithfulness to the text?
• How has Pieper influenced your own preaching? If you could ask him any questions about preaching in our modern context, what would you ask him?
• What advice might you expect Pieper to give to pastors today who are faced with the challenges of preaching in a highly digital and fast-paced world? 

About the Guest
 
Isaac Johnson is the pastor of New Hope Lutheran Church in Charles City, Iowa. He is married to Kaite Johnson, and they have five children: Elise, Clara, Lyla, James, and Annie. Besides ministry and family, Johnson is involved in the translation of German and Latin, focusing on the field of early Missouri Synod homiletics. He is currently enrolled in the reduced-residency Ph.D. program at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in the Culture and Theology department with an emphasis in homiletics. He enjoys preaching, reading aloud to his family, classical guitar, and choral music.