Was Jesus just a preacher of principles?
Often we hear pastors pray for God to speak in the event of his or her preaching. I think this is a fine prayer and pray that indeed God answers it! However, I wonder if those who then intentionally preach principles regardless of the biblical text are taking their own prayer seriously. If we are asking for God to speak through his Word by his Spirit, then we must first remember that God has already done this in Jesus. The Word of God has (literally) spoken to us. If God continues to speak to us through the Word, as many pray, then it follows that we are asking Jesus to preach that morning. If the preacher preaches principles, then it follows they believe Jesus to be a preacher of timeless truths, removed from his historical context. Of course, there is room for preaching some kinds of principles--akin to the sermon on the mount, but if we're asking Jesus to preach, we should let him do so in a way that reflects how he already has.
Labels: Preaching
posted by Aaron Perry at
12:22 PM
5 Comments:
I'm trying to discern whether you see the teaching of principles a good thing or a bad thing. I would agree that the Word of God, as you said in Barthian fashion, preaches timeless truths. I would qualify this agreement by asserting as the person of Christ and through Scripture, the Word of God speaks timeless truths wrapped in the clothes of historical cultural context. Whether it be us reading the principles in the context of the author's cultural setting or in applying it to our current context.
What r u thoughts on my thoughts?
I think teaching principles is just, right, and good when God teaches principles, some of them not bound by time. But I think the medium of Scripture is important to note, rather than boiling it all down to the same message.
That being said, I do the same thing, to a certain extent, when I focus only on those passages and that method with which I am most comfortable and I should learn to be more critical of myself.
I would think that Scripture does all work together to communicate the same message. One of redemption through Christ.
When you refer to "the medium of Scripture," what are you meaning? Do you mean we should note or give attention to it being text, or recognize the context of the message, or________________(fill in the blank)?
I think "form" of certain Scriptural texts would have been clearer. I think that preaching should not only be biblical content, but shaped by the Scripture's form--narrative, epistle, psalm, etc.
I thought that was just good hermeneutics?!
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