Eutychus: Sacred Alliterature
The massive advertising campaign for the Ryrie Study Bible has, unfortunately, taken away the attention of the evangelical public from The New Amazing Sermon Bible, known to the trade as the NASB. Published by Alliteration Press, this new edition of the Bible is exactly what the sermonizer needs. Let me describe its many features.
Instead of the usual concordance in the back of the Bible, there is a complete Roget’s Thesaurus (third edition), an indispensable tool for the man who writes sermon outlines that stand out. Following the thesaurus there is a rhyming dictionary. If the first point of your sermon is “Condemnation,” you can look up other -ation words and complete your message: invitation, vindication, ventilation, and so on. This rhyming dictionary opens up a whole new field for the serious homiletician.
There is a concordance of sorts at the end of the book, but it contains only bible words that begin with the letter P.
Now for the piéce de résistance, an idea worthy of a genius, and also a masterpiece of the printer’s art. Get this: the initial letters of the key words in each chapter are printed in different colors! For example, in Psalm 23:1, the letter L in “Lord” is printed in blue, the letter s in “shepherd” is printed in green, the letter w in “want” is printed in brown, and so on. By using the series of plastic overlays that comes with the Bible, you can spot instantly every word in a chapter that begins with the same letter. Our printers have developed 26 distinctive colors, including a new shade of magenta for the letter x. We call it neomagenta.
Is there a system of cross-references? Of course there is, but it is so unique that all other systems pale in comparison. Our system connects words and phrases that begin with the same letter. By using these cross-references, you can locate every phrase that begins with “let us” or “we say” or “let there be.”
We feel that the New Amazing Sermon Bible will be a best seller, and Alliteration Press is looking for salesmen. Please send them your appellation, address, academics, and the appellations of three advocates who have been acquainted with you at least one annum. Be the first in your church to have this unique book. No crowding, please!
EUTYCHUS X
Written by Warren W. Wiersbe
Originally appeared in Christianity Today, 10/5/79.
Used by permission. Not to be reprinted.
Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
