Fred B. Craddock
As One Without Authority
Fred B. Craddock is professor of preaching and New Testament at Candler School
of Theology in Atlanta.
Discussion of a style of preaching that incarnates the word in the method, by
one of the deans of 20th century American preaching.
Preface
The author, a New Testament Scholar, is challenged to teach "Preaching." This
book is the result of his preparation.
Part 1: The Present Situation
Chapter 1: The Pulpit in the Shadow
The seminarian must be taught a method of preaching that incarnates the message.
Chapter 2: The Pulpit in the Spotlight
Preaching has been affected by our movement into the oral-aural world. The
electronic age with its offering of a wide variety of ways to present the human
voice has commanded new attention to oral language. It would be fruitful if the
minister would explore the profundity of the ordinary experience of this
oral-aural world -- conversing, talking, listening-speaking.
Part 2: A Proposal on Method
Chapter 3: Inductive Movement in Preaching
1. Particular concrete experiences are ingredient to the sermon; 2. The movement
of material that respects the hearer as not only capable of but deserving the
right to participate in that movement and arrive at a conclusion that is his
own, not just the speaker's 3. The listener completes the sermon.
Chapter 4: Inductive Preaching and the Imagination
An empathetic imagination means first having the wisdom and grace to receive the
images of life about us and then secondly the freedom and confidence to reflect
these with appropriate expressions.
Chapter 5: Inductive Movement and the Unity of the Sermon
The absence of serious interpretation of the Biblical text endangers the
Christian character of the sermon while the presence of such Biblical
interpretation endangers the movement of the sermon, and the unity essential to
that movement, both qualities being requisites for maximum effectiveness.
Chapter 6: Inductive Movement and the Text
Most of the New Testament can be viewed as interpretations and
re-interpretations of the tradition in the light of new situations faced on the
mission fields of a vigorous and growing Church. Thus, the modern minister must
find a new way through from exegesis to the sermon.
Chapter 7: Inductive Movement and Structure
A preaching event is a sharing in the Word, a trip not just a destination, an
arriving at a point for drawing conclusions and not handing over of a
conclusion. In inductive preaching, the structure must be subordinate to
movement. In fact, this subordination means that in most cases the structure is
not visible to the congregation.
Appendix
A sample of the process of developing a sermon: The conception; Playing with the
idea; Arriving at clarity; Method of sharing.
Preface
The invitation in 1965 to join the faculty of the Graduate Seminary of Phillips
University read: Professor of New Testament and Preaching. And Preaching! All my
graduate work had been in New Testament, and while I had considerable interest
in preaching and had on my own worked at homiletical theory, much work lay
between me and that advanced course in preaching to be taught each Fall. The
urgency of that preparation was heightened by the general recognition that
Homiletics was hanging by its nails on the edge of most seminary catalogs.
It was at that time, while reading in the fields of hermeneutics, linguistics,
and communication that the basic ideas in these essays were formed. Students
were subjected to them; colleagues on the faculty and in the parish ministry
listened to them.
In 1968, a Fellowship from the American Association of Theological Schools made
possible a sabbatical at the University of Tübingen, Germany where the resources
of the Institute for Hermeneutic contributed greatly to the orientation and
content of this book. In the Spring of 1969, while still in Tübingen, my wife
typed the first draft of the manuscript. Upon our return, additional typing and
other chores related to a manuscript have been handled by my student assistant,
Diane McCracken.
For the help of these persons and institutions I am grateful. I wish to thank
also my faculty colleagues who spent an evening in colloquy with this material,
and Phillips University Press for its thoughtfulness and many considerations.
Fred B. Craddock
Enid, Oklahoma
January, 1971
Part 1: The Present Situation
Chapter 1: The Pulpit in the Shadow
We are all aware that in countless courts of opinion, the verdict on preaching
has been rendered and the sentence passed. All this slim volume asks is a stay
of execution until one other witness be heard. The tardiness of this witness is
not to be construed as dramatic timing. It is rather due to a cowardice born of
that familiar fear of rising to defend that which has been derided by close and
learned friends. And, in addition, one is painfully hesitant to speak in behalf
of a defendant who is not entirely innocent of the charges brought against him.
The alarm felt by those of us still concerned about preaching is not a response
solely to the noise outside in the street where public disfavor and ridicule
have been heaped upon the pulpit. On the contrary, most preachers are quite
skilled at translating such criticism into "crosses to be borne" and
appropriating for themselves the blessing lodged in some proper text, such as
"Beware when all men speak well of you". These are not new sounds; to a large
extent, the pulpit has from the first century received poor reviews (2 Cor.
10:9-10) To explain this general reaction perhaps one need not look for reasons
profound; it may be simply that these critics have heard us preach!
More disturbing has been the nature and character of those who have been
witnesses for the prosecution. Increasingly, the brows that frown upon the
pulpit are not only intelligent, but often theologically informed, and quite
often deeply concerned about the Christian mission. Their judgments about
preaching cannot be regarded as reflections of a general disinterest in
religion, not dismissed as the usual criticisms hurled at the familiar
caricature in the pulpit, droning away in stained-glass tones with pretended
convictions about matters uninteresting, unimportant, and untrue. Some of these
men have themselves been preachers in the churches. In short, the major cause
for alarm is not the broadside from the public, nor the sniping from classroom
sharpshooters, but the increasing number who are going AWOL from the pulpit.
Some of these men move into forms of the ministry that carry no expectation of a
sermon, or out of the ministry altogether. In addition there are countless
others who continue to preach not because they regard it as an effective
instrument of the church, but because of the combined force of professional
momentum and congregational demand.
It is the sober opinion of many concerned Christians, some who give the sermon
and some who hear it, that preaching is an anachronism. It would be granted, of
course, by all these critics that the pulpit has, in other generations,
forcefully and effectively witnessed to the Gospel, initiating personal and
social change. It would be regarded by them as proper, therefore, for the church
to celebrate the memory of preaching in ways appropriate to her gratitude and to
affix plaques on old pulpits as an aid to those who tour the churches. But the
church can not live on the thin diet of fond memories. New forms of ministry are
being forged and shaped overnight to meet the morning's need. And these
ministries are without pulpit.
One need only look into the seminaries to get a clear picture of the tenuous
position of preaching. Some seminaries offer little, or, at best, only marginal
work in homiletics. It should be said immediately, however, in defense of such
lacunae, that there is, in some quarters, a serious reexamination of the wisdom
of having instruction in preaching as a separate curriculum item. This
re-appraisal is due in part to an appreciation for the complexity of preaching
and its inextricable relation to the other disciplines. It is in this mood that
Joseph Sittler has written:
And, therefore, the expectation must not be cherished that, save for modest and
obvious instruction about voice, pace, organization, and such matters, preaching
as a lively art of the church can be taught at all . . . Disciplines correlative
to preaching can be taught, but preaching as an act of witness cannot be taught.
1
All too frequently, however, seminary education in preaching consists of
training under a speech teacher or exposure to the toothless reminiscences of a
kindly old pastor re-activated from retirement. In the former case, preaching is
quite aside from the rest of the seminary curriculum because preaching so taught
has its form defined not by the content of the Gospel nor the nature of
Christian faith but by Greek rhetoric. As will be discussed later, the
separation of form and content is fatal for preaching, for it fails to recognize
the theology implicit in the ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Go to the beginning of the document
Go to previous page
Go to next page
Go to the end of document
