To determine the extent to which current theories of persuasion are used or advocated by homileticians (i.e., preachers), this study examines 21 frequently used homiletics textbooks for their treatment of persuasion. After describing the characteristics of classical, premodern, humanistic, and rhetorical models, the study suggests that these models are differentiated by the way they harmonize the five elements in any communicative act: source, message, encoding process, receiver, and interaction between source and receiver. The author then describes each textbook's treatment of persuasion and analyzes its method of combining these five factors. (MM)