James Cox
Baptist professor James W. Cox, recognized as a leading authority on preaching and one of the most influential teachers in the field of homiletics, died Feb. 21 in Louisville, Ky. He was 93.
Cox, author and editor of dozens of books including his annual The Minister’s Manual used by ministers across denominations to plan their worship services and sermons, taught for more than four decades at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Seminary President Albert Mohler described him as “a great scholar of preaching and a true Christian gentleman.”
A graduate of Carson-Newman College, Cox obtained his M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Seminary. He served as a pastor in East Tennessee before joining the faculty of Southern Seminary in 1959. In 1981 Cox was named the first Victor and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching, an endowed faculty chair established in 1977 and occupied since 1999 by Hershael York. In recent years Cox continued teaching at the seminary as senior professor.
Throughout his teaching career Cox served churches as interim pastor and supply preacher in various parts of the country. His 2002 book, Preaching: A Comprehensive Approach to the Design and Delivery of Sermons, was a widely used preaching text.
Cox is a past president of the Academy of Homiletics, a group of nearly 400 teachers and doctoral graduate students of homiletics, and received the academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003
His funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville, where he was a longtime Sunday school teacher. Burial will follow at Cave Hill Cemetery.
Visitation is 4-7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26, at Pearson Funeral Home in Louisville, located at 149 Breckenridge Lane. Expressions of sympathy may be made to Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville (www.broadwaybaptist.org) or to Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee (www.cn.edu).