Empty Admiration

“Russell St. John provides a fascinating, engaging, and enjoyable read of the life and preaching of this Southern Presbyterian preaching professor, Robert Dabney. The book honestly assesses his life and contribution—and even inconsistencies—providing substantial insight into the world of this Southern gentleman teacher of preachers. Readers will appreciate St. John’s respectful, careful, and albeit honest study of this important figure in the history of preaching and American life.”


—Scott M. Gibson, Professor of Preaching, David E. Garland Chair of Preaching, and Director of the PhD Program in Preaching, Baylor University’s Truett Seminary





“With meticulous research, Russell St. John has placed Robert Dabney in the spotlight of homiletical scholarship. Dabney belongs there because he was one of the luminaries of the nineteenth century. In those days giants walked the land. St. John’s writing is elegant, and his analysis is incisive yet gentle as he shows us that even luminaries can sputter when they move from theory to practice.”


—Jeffrey Arthurs, Robinson Chair of Preaching and Communication, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary





“This is a rare book that reveals the distinctions of faithful preaching by exposing the deficiencies of such preaching in the practice of one of its more ardent defenders. St. John does no damage to the principles of Dabney, but rather underscores their importance by indicating how inconsistencies in translating the lofty principles to personal practice damaged the life and proclamation of an esteemed man whose life ended with much sadness, in part caused by these very inconsistencies. This is a telling cautionary tale for all who would be faithful in actual practice as well as in articulated principles.”


—Bryan Chapell, author of Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon