The Best of Will Willimon

He’s been called a contrarian, a provocateur, and a few other things we can’t say in print. He’s also been called one of the twelve most effective proclaimers of the gospel in the English-speaking world. He’s been a pastor, a chaplain, and a bishop. But ask William H. Willimon how he sees himself, and he’ll tell you it’s as a preacher and a truth-teller. He has pursued that passion for preaching the truth of God in over sixty books.


Gathered in this volume are Willimon’s best writings on what it means to be a faithful Christian, and a faithful preacher of the Christian gospel, in today’s world. All the themes that so enliven his writings–the gospel’s refusal to be co-opted by the culture, the strangeness of Christian faith, the centrality of the preached word of God–are present here. Whether you’re a long time Willimon reader or are encountering him for the first time, you will find inspiration and much food for thought from this, one of God’s most “peculiar prophets.”

Take the best preacher you’ve ever heard; add in the teacher who first opened your eyes to the excitement and meaning of your favorite subject in school; combine these with that member of the family to whom you could always turn for the best advice; stir them all together, and you’ll get a flavor of the writing of Ellsworth Kalas. And now the very best thoughts and reflections of this wise teacher and guide are available together in one volume.

Across his career Ellsworth Kalas has worn many hats: pastor, professor, seminary president. Through all of them, however, he has remained first and foremost an interpreter of God’s Word. His most potent skill is to open up new insights and meanings in even the most familiar biblical stories. Gathered here are some Kalas’s most humorous, touching, and enlightening writings, drawn from his own experience of finding God in Scripture.