All over the world, every Sunday, countless sermons are delivered. What is happening-or should be happening-when a human preacher stands to proclaim God's Word? There are many forms of pulpit address that might go under the name of preaching. In the best of them, the Bible is always present in some defining way; but a preacher with an open Bible is simply a necessary, not sufficient, requirement. Although plenty of sermons take their starting point from the biblical text, the shape and aim of the sermon end up far removed from the purpose of the passage used. It is possible to do as much damage with the Bible as good.
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1 [ Back ] John Stott, The Contemporary Christian: An Urgent Plea for Double Listening (Leicester: IVP, 1992), 362, 512-15.
2 [ Back ] This vision of the theological (and hence homiletical) task is suggested by Francis Watson, Text, Church and World: Biblical Interpretation in Theological Perspective (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994).
3 [ Back ] Watson, 9.
4 [ Back ] Anthony C. Thiselton, New Horizons in Hermeneutics: The Theory and Practice of Transforming Biblical Reading (London: Harper Collins, 1992), 221-36; Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1991).
5 [ Back ] John Stott, The Preacher's Portrait (Leicester: IVP, 1961).
6 [ Back ] Derek J. Tidball, Builders and Fools: Leadership the Bible Way (Leicester: IVP, 1999).
7 [ Back ] Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 131-32.
8 [ Back ] Stott, The Preacher's Portrait, 29.
9 [ Back ] Stott, The Preacher's Portrait, 48-52.
10 [ Back ] Stott, The Preacher's Portrait, 49.
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Issue: "Christ in a Post-Christian Culture" Jan./Feb. 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1 Page number(s): 25-29
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