"In The Scandal of Having Something to Say, Lance B. Pape contends that proclaiming the gospel lies not in the cultural acceptance of the message but in God's free act of self-communication. Using Karl Barth's theology of the Word, Hans Frei's hermeneutical method, and, chiefly, Paul Ricoeur's theory of narrative as threefold mimesis, Pape develops a homiletic that recaptures the scandalous intent of the gospel. Pape then casts the post-liberal preacher as a "surrogate reader" of the biblical text on behalf of the congregation. The Scandal of Having Something to Say opens new avenues for practice through an analysis and critique of two sermons, enabling the preacher to rediscover the sermon for modern culture."--Jacket.