The Preacher's Guide to Suicide: A Homiletical Theology of Death - Hardcover

by H. C. Johnson (Author)

This book makes the startling claim that the pulpit is the appropriate place to address suicide. In A Preacher's Guide to Suicide Johnson chisels through the rusty prison bars of cultural pretense and the oppressive myths of suicide. Using history, the social and behavioral sciences, and biblical inquiry over the centuries of varied Christian voices, Johnson demonstrates that suicide is part of the very fabric of Christian identity. And to preach suicide awareness is to preach life into the very act of dying. While grappling with the contemporary understanding of neuroscience, psychopathology, societal values, and individualism, Johnson seeks to present suicide in a hopeful light as we all approach death in those daily moments of confession, forgiveness, and prayer. Johnson hopes to provoke further conversation within the Christian community about the richness of suicide within the Scriptures and seeks to be a source of inspiration for preachers.

Author Biography

H. C. Johnson received an MDiv from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and holds a DMin in homiletics and liturgics from Aquinas Institute of Theology, and is a 2020 Delaplane Preaching Scholar. Johnson serves in campus ministries and teaches in the School of Religion at Lee University while serving as a pastor in the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians in the Presbytery of the South.