Courageous Compassion

A wonderfully intelligent, forceful book, bringing together masterful sermons by noted preacher Jerry Taylor and responses by world-renowned scholars.


Jerry Taylor's preaching is characterized as a "Compassionate Prophetic Voice" delivered in the traditional African American form: "Start slow, stay low, rise higher, and end in fire." His preaching is intelligent and wedded to the biblical text, effectively engaging listeners before exploding with persuasion.

Courageous Compassion provides examples of ten of Taylor's best-crafted sermons, including "The Curse of Babel," "They That Wait upon the Lord," "Alive to God," and "Courageous Compassion." Respected theorists, biblical scholars, and denominational leaders have responded to each sermon, providing analysis, homiletic insight, reflections from the tradition of Black preaching, and comments on what Taylor is "doing right."


This volume accents the work of one homiletic practitioner whose work demands careful reflection and wide distribution. Its lively writing style, and its use of concrete images and examples to connect serious reflections with Taylor's sermons, also serves as an example of how listeners and readers can interact with such rich preaching.