In my library I have a fair number of books published by pastors which are, for all intents and purposes, actually collections of old sermons. Harry Emeron Fosdick was a master of this style of book creation back in the 1940s/50s, and even noted theologian Paul Tillich got into the act with three volumes of his own.
In more recent times preachers like Peter Gomes (chaplain at Harvard) have made a nice living revamping old sermons into collections and I even have a collection of "celebrity sermons"--supposedly religious messages delivered by TV personalities, Hollywood stars and icons, including a sermon by former Today Show weatherman, Willard Scott.
Where do such books come from and why would we want to read them?
Many times over the years people have asked me: "Why don't you make a book of old sermons?"
My response has always been: "Why would a publisher want to publish it, and who in their right mind would read it?"
And there is another problem. I don't have any old sermons. All I have are scant outlines and notes, and it is tough to recreate an oral act into a written one. The amount of time it would take for someone to transcribe from tape recording to page would be immense, and, in the end, hardly worth the time.
Still, I do have some titles in mind that could eventually end up on a bookshelf. My sermon collections could be:
Oral Outcasts by Outcalt
The Most Boring Sermons You've Ever Read (and They're No Better if You Could Hear Them)
Pulpit Antics
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