Contending that preachers have become silent on a major doctrinal theme of the Christian faith--the meaning of the crucifixion and the cross as a theological symbol--Sally A. Brown describes the nature and causes of this phenomenon and provides a strategy for reclaiming "cross talk" in the pulpit. Brown proposes a metaphorical and pastoral model for preaching about the cross. Preachers can reclaim preaching on the cross, she urges, by joining New Testament metaphors to pastoral situations rather than adapting atonement theories for the pulpit. She offers specific examples in sermons designed for particular homiletical occasions.

Sally A. Brown is Elizabeth M. Engle Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. She is the coeditor of Lament: Reclaiming Practices in Pulpit, Pew, and Public Square.