Exegesis and Theologies of Revelation: Biblical Preaching from Text to Sermon in an Age of Methodological Pluralism
Abstract
The methodological focus of homiletic theories that move from text to sermon has sometimes occluded theological commitments that lurk behind those methods. Rather than viewing contemporary homiletic theory as lacking theological concern, this essay follows Susan Bond's insight in Contemporary African American Preaching to expose theological commitments behind methodological choices. The article uses in particular M. H. Abram's typology of literary theories in The Mirror and the Lamp to identify implicit hermeneutical orientations behind both critical approaches to texts (Biblical methods) and what homileticians aim to do in sermons (homiletic theory). The article then construes for preachers Abram's fourfold typology of literary theories as the world behind the text, the mind of the text, the world of the text, and the audience in front of the text and connects them to four of Avery Dulles' "models of revelation": revelation as history, inner-experience, dialectical presence, and new awareness. In the process, Jacobsen opens the possibility of thinking about the relationship of homiletic theory to theology in more fruitful and dynamic ways.For articles: All articles published in Homiletic are the exclusive property of the Journal. All copyright rights to the article shall be owned by and be in the name of the Academy of Homiletics. The Academy of Homiletics in turn grants all authors the right to reprint their articles in any format that they choose, without the payment of royalties, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication with Homiletic. The Academy of Homiletics also permits articles to be copied for non-profit educational use provided proper credit is given to Homiletic. Authors may self-archive their articles in an institutional repository or other online location, provided proper credit is given to Homiletic.
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