Text-Driven Preaching Copyright 2010 by Daniel L. Akin, David Allen, and Ned L. Mathew All right reerved. ISBN: 978-0-8054-4960-0 Publihed by B&H Publihing Group Nahville, Tenneee Dewey Decimal Claification: 251 Subject Heading: PREACHING\SERMONS\PASTORAL THEOLOGY Scripture quotation marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, Englih Standard Verion, copyright 2001 by Croway Bible, a diviion of Good New Publiher. Ued by permiion. All right reerved. Scripture quotation marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Chritian Standard Bible Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publiher. Ued by permiion. Scripture citation marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible. The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977. Ued by permiion. Scripture citation marked NASU are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Ued by permiion. Scripture citation marked NEB are from the New Englih Bible. Copyright The Delegate of the Oxford Univerity Pre and the Syndic of the Cambridge Univerity Pre, 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permiion. Scripture quotation marked NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Ued by permiion of Zondervan Publihing Houe. All Right Reerved. Scripture citation marked NKJV are from The New King Jame Verion, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thoma Nelon, Inc., Publiher. Scripture quotation marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Tranlation, copyright 1996. Ued by permiion of Tyndale Houe Publiher, Inc., Wheaton, Illinoi 60189. All right reerved. Scripture quotation marked NRSV are from the New Revied Standard Verion of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Diviion of Chritian Education of the National Council of Churche of Chrit in the United State of America. Ued by permiion. All right reerved. Printed in the United State of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 BP
Content Abbreviation vii Introduction 1 David L. Allen Part I: The Preacher and Text-Driven Preaching 1. Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 11 Paige Patteron 2. A Hitory of Text-Driven Preaching 37 Jim Shaddix 3. The Secret of Preaching with Power 55 Bill Bennett 4. The Dicipline of a Text-Driven Preacher 75 Ned L. Mathew Part II: Preparation and Text-Driven Preaching 5. Preparing a Text-Driven Sermon 101 David L. Allen 6. Exegei for the Text-Driven Sermon 135 David Alan Black 7. Biblical Genre and the Text-Driven Sermon 163 Robert Vogel 8. Biblical Theology and Preaching 193 Jame M. Hamilton Jr.
Part III: Preaching the Text-Driven Sermon 9. Communication Theory and Text-Driven Preaching 221 Herhael W. York 10. Delivering a Text-Driven Sermon 243 Adam B. Dooley and Jerry Vine 11. Applying a Text-Driven Sermon 269 Daniel L. Akin Concluion 295 Ned L. Mathew Name Index 303 Scripture Index 309
Abbreviation BDAG BibSac CBQ CTR ERT ExpTim FM FN GTJ JBDS JETS JP JSOTSup NAC NCV NIDNTT NovT NTOA RB SBJT SJT ST SWJT TDNT TJ TNIV TynBul UBS VTSup WTJ Bauer, W., F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, Greek-Englih Lexicon of the New Tetament and Other Early Chritian Literature. 3rd ed. Bibliotheca Sacra Catholic Biblical Quarterly Criwell Theological Review Evangelical Review of Theology Expoitory Time Faith and Miion Filologia Neotetamentaria Grace Theological Journal Journal of Beeon Divinity School Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Journal for Preacher Journal for the Study of the Old Tetament: Supplement Serie New American Commentary New Century Verion of the Bible New International Dictionary of New Tetament Theology Novum Tetamentum Novum Tetamentum et Orbi Antuquu Revue Biblique Southern Baptit Journal of Theology Scottih Journal of Theology Studia Theologica Southwetern Journal of Theology Theological Dictionary of the New Tetament Trinity Journal Today New International Verion of the Bible Tyndale Bulletin The Greek New Tetament, United Bible Societie Vetu Tetamentum Supplement Wetminter Theological Journal vii
Introduction David L. Allen On any given Sunday in today preaching pantheon, one can oberve a divere group of devotee, ome paying homage to the chapel of creativity, other itting at the feet of the culturally relevant. Some are tranfixed at the nave marked narrative, wherea other have their heart trangely warmed at the chaé of pop-pychology. There i never a hortage of worhipper at the new homiletic altar, and the topical hrine alway receive it hare of Sunday patron. Fearful that ome a yet undicovered homiletical method might be mied, the gatekeeper of the pantheon have intalled an altar incribed to the unknown preaching method. It i that method which the author of thi book declare unto you. Actually, the method itelf i not unknown at all, and like the true church on earth, it ha alway had it practitioner in every era of church hitory. In fact, it i the oldet method in the preaching pantheon, having been ued by the earliet preacher a far back a the apotolic era of the church. It i called expoitory preaching. But why ha thi time-honored method of preaching fallen into diue in o many place and miue in o many other? What ha happened to engender o many ubtitute method? 1
2 David L. Allen It hould come a no urprie that the century that witneed the greatet aault on biblical authority (the twentieth century) hould alo be the century that witneed an unparalleled attack on expoitory preaching. At time, the aault wa frontal; at other time, urreptitiou. The allie and ortie of her detractor, along with the niggling neglect of her friend, continue unabated. With everything from Harry Emeron Fodick 1928 harangue to Fred Craddock New Homiletic ; from the Hybel /Warren baby boomer purpoe-driven ermonic church to the great communicator guru Young/Stanley; from the your-bet-life-now Oteen to the ometime whacky miadventure of the emerging church; and from Buttrick broadide to Pagitt dialogical diatribe, expoitory preaching ha come under attack thee day. But omehow expoitory preaching manage to live on, refuing to give up the ghot. In fact, in ome homiletical pocket of Chritendom, it i experiencing omething of a revival. Paul Van Gorder, one-time aitant to Richard Dehann, remember vividly a late-night telephone call hi father received. When Van Gorder wa a teenager, hi father, the local Baptit pator, received a phone call at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 3, from the local Methodit pator. It eem the pator wa o excited about hi July 4 ermon, but he could not remember the location of the text in the Bible from which he wanted to preach. He wanted to know if he recited the text whether pator Van Gorder might be able to tell him where to find it in the Bible. What i the text? Van Gorder aked. The pator replied, Give me liberty or give me death! We can at leat be grateful the pator thought he had a text, even if it came from the annal of American liberty and not the Bible. Whatever hi ermon turned out to be on the following Sunday morning, it certainly wa not text driven. What exactly i text-driven preaching? I thi merely another name for expoitory preaching? In one ene, ye. However, much that goe under the umbrella of expoition today i not really worthy of the name. While there are many book on the
Introduction 3 ubject of preaching, thoe that promote an expoitory approach to preaching are few and far between. Of thee, many treat the ubject in more general and traditional way. Thi book ret firmly on the biblical and theological foundation for expoition: God ha poken. God i not ilent. He ha revealed Himelf in Jeu, who i the living Word, and in Scripture, which i the written Word. Therefore, the theological foundation for textdriven preaching i the fact that God ha poken! It i the nature of Scripture itelf that demand a textdriven approach to preaching. God i the ultimate author of all Scripture, according to 2 Tim 3:16 (NKJV): All Scripture i given by inpiration of God, and i profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for intruction in righteoune. What Scripture ay i indeed the Word of God. Both the inerrancy and the ufficiency of Scripture erve a the theological ground for text-driven preaching. Thi i the tetimony of Scripture itelf. For example, it i intereting how God and Scripture are ued a interchangeable ubject via metonymy when New Tetament author quote the Old Tetament. Thu, God i viewed a the author even when He i not the peaker in Matt 19:4 5, and Scripture ay i ued when God Himelf i the direct peaker of what i quoted, a in Rom 9:17. In three place, Scripture i called God peech (Gal 3:8,22; Rom 9:17). In the word of J. I. Packer, Scripture i God preaching. 1 The bet preaching throughout church hitory ha alway been expoitory preaching. Even before the advent of the church, Jewih preaching ought to make plain the meaning of a paage from the Torah. A clear quality of Jewih preaching in the ynagogue wa it text centeredne. Thi approach wa continued by the apotle a well a by the early church father. In the patritic era, Origen, Chryotom, Augutine, and other how paintaking exegei and explanation of Scripture in 1. J. I. Packer, God Ha Spoken (Grand Rapid: Baker, 1979), 97.
4 David L. Allen their preaching. Origen wa the firt to preach through book of the Bible. During thi period, there were different method of preaching, but there wa never a time when expoition wa not prized and practiced. While preaching waned during the Middle Age (Bernard of Clairvaux wa one of the few exception), with the Reformation (the ixteenth century) came a recovery of expoitory preaching. The publication of Eramu Greek New Tetament, along with other factor, contributed to the Reformer redicovery of Scripture in it original language and genuine Bible-centered preaching. Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli preached expoitionally. The pot-reformation Puritan continued thi heritage. Sytematic expoition wa practiced often in the churche. From that time of the Reformation until now, the bet preaching in the churche ha been preaching that i baically expoitional in it character and method. Now if thi i the cae, how i it that o much of the preaching that cacade over pulpit today i anything but an expoition of a text of Scripture? By what hubri do we think we could poibly have anything more important to ay than what God Himelf ha aid through Scripture? It i the height of arrogance to ubtitute the word of men for the word of God. So much modern-day preaching i horizontal in dimenion rather than vertical; that i, it i man-centered preaching that appeal to o-called felt need rather than what exalt God before the people a the One who alone can meet genuine need. The church today i anemic piritually for many reaon, but one of the major reaon ha to be the lo of biblical content in o much of contemporary preaching. Pop-pychology ometime ubtitute for the Word of God. Feel-good meage on Five Way to Be Happy and Three Way to Love Your Mother have become the teady cotton candy diet fed to the average church. Today ermonic focu therefore i on application. But application, without textual warrant for uch, doe not tick ; it need the glue of textual meaning. Biblical content accordingly mut precede application; how ele can we poibly know
Introduction 5 what to apply? Thu, in the headlong ruh to be relevant, People magazine and popular televiion how have replaced Scripture a ermonic reource. There are other ign of thi anemia: in ome churche, the muic portion of the worhip ervice ha lengthened, wherea the ermon time ha diminihed. No wonder o many piritual teeth are decaying in our churche. Eloquent nonene abound in many pulpit today; ometime it i not even eloquent. The conjuring adroitne of many preacher who keep producing fat rabbit after fat rabbit out of an obviouly empty hat i the marvel of much contemporary preaching. There i mounting evidence that people are beginning to grow weary of thee trite pop-pychology ermon. Biblical preaching, epecially when it i done in a creative way, will alway meet the need of people, felt or otherwie. In fact, it i our contention that only biblical preaching can meet the ultimate piritual need of people. Preaching i a piritual act. So much of it ultimate effectivene depend on the role of the Holy Spirit and the piritual life of the preacher. Thi topic i often neglected in book on preaching. No one ha ever improved on Aritotle rhetorical triad logo, patho, and etho a decriptive of the baic element of powerful and effective communication. Thi book begin with thee matter rather than plunging immediately into the nut and bolt of the how-to of text-driven preaching. Dr. Paige Patteron materfully outline for u the Aritotelian triad and explain jut how important thi i for effective preaching. To give ome hitorical perpective, Jim Shaddix take u on a brief tour of ome of the giant of text-driven preaching in the pat. Bill Bennett and Ned Mathew follow up in thi vein a well with chapter on the empowering of the Holy Spirit and the piritual dicipline of a text-driven preacher. Thee day it eem everything i purpoe driven. Gloing thi valuable concept and applying it to preaching, we believe that true expoitory preaching hould be text driven. By thi, we mean that ermon hould not only be baed upon a text of Scripture but hould alo actually expound the meaning of
6 David L. Allen that text. Too often preacher take a text and then traightway depart therefrom in the ermon. The biblical text become for many not the ource of the ermon but merely a reource. Many a preacher ue a text of Scripture, but the ermon that follow i not derived from a text of Scripture. David Allen introduce part 2 with a urvey of text-driven preaching methodology and how that aid ermon preparation. Text-driven ermon deal with the actual tructure of the text itelf, and thu the role of exegei, dicoure analyi, genre analyi, and contemporary communication theory are explained and illutrated in thi work in a practical way. The Bible i not monolithic in it genre or it tructure. It contain narrative, poetry, gopel, epitle, and prophecy, among other. Textdriven preaching i not a monolithic, cookie-cutter approach to preaching. Thi book invetigate way in which the tructure of the text hould influence the tructure of the ermon. Iue uch a how a text-driven ermon differ in form and tyle from a narrative on a New Tetament epitle are explored. Thee matter are taken up and illutrated well by David Black, Robert Vogel, and Herchel York. Linguit now point out that meaning i tructured beyond the entence level. When the preacher retrict the focu to the entence level and below, there i much that i mied in the dicoure that contribute to it overall meaning and interpretation. The author of thi book believe the paragraph unit i bet ued a the baic unit of meaning in expounding the text of Scripture. Expoitional preaching hould at minimum deal with a paragraph (a in the epitle), wherea, in the narrative portion of Scripture, everal paragraph that combine to form the tory hould be treated in a ingle ermon ince the meaning of the tory itelf cannot be dicerned when it i broken up and preented piecemeal. Bottom line: the tructure of the text itelf hould guide the tructure of the ermon, ince meaning i expreed by an author through the text itelf. Thi work alo addree iue of outlining, application, and ermon delivery. Many homiletic book focu more on
Introduction 7 preparation and devote little pace to the importance of application and delivery. No preacher can fail to take account of how he ay what he ay. The how may not be a important a the what, but it i important. Danny Akin i fond of aying, What we ay i more important than how we ay it, but how we ay it ha never been more important. Jerry Vine take u into hi tudy and, from the reervoir of hi more than 50 year of expoitional preaching, teache u about the delivery of a textdriven ermon. Danny Akin cap it all off with a chapter on the how-to of application in a text-driven ermon. The author of thi book believe the following component are eential to text-driven preaching. Firt, God ha poken Hi final word in Hi Son, Jeu Chrit (Heb 1:1 2). Second, becaue Scripture i authoritative, inerrant, and ufficient, our motto i alway Textu Rex the text i king. Third, a Ned Mathew point out elewhere, The preacher ubmit to the authority of the text. Therefore, he hun the reader-repone approach of the potmodern hermeneutic which manage the text in uch a way that the biblical author view i replaced by the reader own perpective. The preacher, a interpreter, to the degree poible in humankind, eek to empty hi preuppoition, biae, and previou concluion a he approache the text. Hi goal i to come to the text, a if for the firt time, in order to be intructed by the text rather than to intruct the text. 2 The author agree that text-driven preaching i not enlaved to artificial outlining technique uch a a three-point tructure and alliteration. Expoitory preaching i a broad umbrella term that permit a wide variety of tyle and tructure to communicate the meaning of the text. The text-driven preacher trive to practice expoition, not impoition. Faulty hermeneutical 2. In peronal correpondence with coeditor David Allen and Danny Akin concerning the need for thi book.
8 David L. Allen method uch a piritualizing and allegorizing the text are avoided. The preacher goal i to allow the text to tand forth in all it uniquene and power. Text-driven preaching i driven by the text, not by theology. Theology erve the text, not the other way around. It i firt the text, then theology. Biblical theology therefore precede ytematic theology. Text-driven preacher alo believe that creativity ultimately reide in the text itelf. The firt place to look for creativity to ue in preaching i often the lat place that many preacher look: the text. All the creativity in the world i of no value if the text itelf i neglected, obcured, or ignored in the proce of preaching. The author of thi book are not claiming that only textdriven preaching ha thee component. Rather, we claim that there cannot be text-driven preaching without thee component. A text-driven ermon i a ermon that develop a text by explaining, illutrating, and applying it meaning. Text-driven preaching tay true to the ubtance of the text, the tructure of the text, and the pirit of the text. Some preacher, intead of expounding the text, kirmih cleverly on it outkirt, pirouetting on trifle to the amazement of the congregation. Text-driven preacher refue to let the congregation walk away without undertanding what God i aying to them through the text. It i in thi way that people encounter God. It i not outide of the text of Scripture but through the text of Scripture that people encounter God. Jeu aid to the diciple on the road to Emmau, O foolih men and low of heart to believe in all that the prophet have poken!... Then beginning with Moe and with all the prophet, He explained to them the thing concerning Himelf in all the Scripture (Luke 24:25 27 NASB). The author of thi book are committed to helping you fulfill Paul mandate to Timothy in 2 Tim 4:2 (NKJV): Preach the Word!
Part I The Preacher and Text-Driven Preaching
1 Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-driven Preacher Paige Patteron Although I recall none of the content of thoe early ermon, I have been hearing preaching almot from the time of my conception. Charmed, motivated, convinced, convicted, humbled, amued, bored, angered, and exaperated are jut a few of the way I have been affected on thi long rhetorical journey. Somewhere on thi verbal pilgrimage, I began to evaluate ermon, to compare preacher, and to tudy methodologie and approache. Having the unabated confidence of youth mixed with jut enough knowledge to confue a whiff of inight with the tate of perception, I decided that ermon and preacher could be eaily aeed. Someone pointed me to Aritotle canon of rhetoric, and I concluded that I had dicovered the prim of dicernment. With maturity came the revelation that Chritian preaching wa a mytery defying all attempt to bottle any formula for good preaching. Firt, I oberved it in other. A meage that 11
12 Paige Patteron to me eemed pedetrian at bet, to my atonihment, would appear to be ued of God profoundly. On the other hand, an eloquent dicoure abounding in inight, wonderfully illutrated, and rich with pregnant metaphor would produce no piritual energy and little repone among the litener. The latter ometime engendered a certain admiration, but the former often generated changed live. Then, I oberved thi phenomenon in my own attempt to preach. Often when I thought I had come cloe to the achievement of preaching a good ermon, little happened of piritual ignificance. Then, mytery wrapped in enigma, I would falter and, to my way of thinking, utterly fail, only to witne the mighty hand of God at work. I learned that it i not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, ay the Lord (Zech 4:6 NKJV). I can only conclude that the greatet failure in preaching and in book on preaching i the failure to invoke the anointing of God on the preacher and hi meage. Minu thi touch, the preacher may achieve eloquence, but hi meage will never be like a two-edged word, piercing even to the diviion of oul and pirit, and become a dicerner of the thought and intent of the heart (Heb 4:12). Only God can affect that, and He often doe o through paltry human example. Leaving a famou church one Sunday morning, I encountered a godly aint who had been itting nearby a we were immered in the eloquence of the new preacher. Now that wa a great peech, my friend opined. He meant no uncharitable criticim. He imply gave a tartling tetimony on the effect of the preacher ermon. In the proce, thi perennial occupier of pew taught me afreh the mot important leon of Homiletic 101, namely, that great oratory doe not necearily tranlate into effective preaching. Arduou human effort and critical, rhetorical aement count for little when the need of the human heart are addreed by a man of God bringing the prophetic, inpired word of God. To recognize that another indeed the mot critical dimenion lie beyond human artifice i not to conclude that one i
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 13 jutified in abandoning preparation academic and piritual or aement. Conequently, a eriou preacher will contemplate hi art jut a ardently a any other artit but with full knowledge that if he i faithful and true, he can anticipate the intervention of God, which i largely unknown to the practice of rhetorical art in any profeion or era. Thi chapter recognize that the ancient who firt brooded over the art of rhetoric provide contemporary preacher pricele inight into the art of effective public declamation. Armed with thee inight, a faithful man of God labor under the promied guidance of the Holy Spirit to form the text into intruction and inpiration for the people of God. Now, like Elijah on Carmel, he mut pray for the fire to fall. Elijah altar wa doubtle well contructed and all preparation carefully conidered. But when the moment of truth came, Elijah undertood from whence fire would fall and called on God, who alone could anwer from heaven. Thi chapter will now conider what can be learned from the ancient about good altar contruction. However, one mut not forget that the fire fall come only from God. Neverthele, good altar have value, and thi value the preacher mut eek. Rhetoric and Democracy The city-tate network of the Hellenitic world depended on a participatory ociety in which citizen exercied greater influence than could ever be the cae in monarchie. Eential to uch budding democracy wa communication. And ince perpective differ, the ability to convey one view effectively became a ubtantive value. Claical rhetoric began and alway remained primarily a ytem of training young men how to peak effectively in a court of law; and it wa developed for the need of participatory democracy, epecially in Athen. Under the Athenian
14 Paige Patteron democracy, reaching it mot radical form in the fifth and fourth centurie BCE, there wa no public proecutor and there were no profeional lawyer; criminal indictment, like civil uit, were brought by an intereted peron. In both criminal and civil cae, proecutor and defendant were ordinarily expected to peak on their own behalf, though if they were unable to do o an advocate could peak for them. Since women were not allowed to peak in court, they had to be repreented by a male family member. Any evidence of witnee wa taken down in writing before the trial and read out by a clerk, and proecutor and defendant were expected to deliver a carefully planned peech, without interruption by the court. There wa no preiding judge to ak quetion, interpret the law, or etablih relevance, only a clerk to organize proceeding; both fact and law were judged by a panel of juror (dikatai) numbering at leat 201 and, in ome major cae, everal thouand peron, choen by lot from among male citizen. To make an effective cae before uch large jurie required coniderable rhetorical kill and confidence. 1 According to John Henry Freee, the iland of Sicily i the birthplace of rhetoric. 2 After the expulion of tyrant from Syracue (467 BC), returning exile made claim for recovery of property and made ue of killed orator to argue their cae. On the other hand, Aritotle focue on Empedocle, whoe pupil wa aid to be Gorgia, a famou rhetor. Plato ue the word rhētorikē in Gorgia (385 BC). 3 Regardle of origin, by the time Aritotle wrote hi Art of Rhetoric (c. 330 BC) in Athen, the practice of rhetoric wa a known and, to ome, a repected part of the life of the citie. Reputation were made or at leat utained through the ue of rhetoric and dicuion about it nature and ue. Cicero (106 43 BC), Quintilian (30 100 BC), Demothene (384 322 BC), Iocrate (436 338 BC), 1. T. O. Sloane, ed., Encyclopedia of Rhetoric (Oxford: Oxford Univerity Pre, 2001), 94. 2. J. H. Freee, Aritotle XXII; Art of Rhetoric (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univerity Pre, 1926), xii. 3. Sloane, Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, 94.
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 15 Anaximene (588 BC), and Aritotle are jut a few of the participant in thi art. Demothene had few natural abilitie and overcame eriou handicap in order to excel, 4 wherea Hermogene of Taru (AD 160 230) had by age 15 already achieved uch matery of the art of oratory that he aroued the admiration of the emperor Marcu Aureliu with hi declamation and improvied lecture. 5 Not everyone in the ancient world or ince that time ha been a fan of rhetoric. Wayne Booth, in hi excellent volume The Rhetoric of Rhetoric, mention the oppoition voiced in Plato Phaedru by Socrate, who colded the Sophit by commenting, He who would be a killful rhetorician ha no need of truth. Booth then cite a typical definition of rhetoric, which he ay concentrate on the pejorative. Rhetoric: n. the theory and practice of eloquence, whether poken or written, the whole art of uing language to peruade other; fale, howy, artificial, or declamatory expreion; rhetorical: oratorical; inflated, over-decorated, or inincere in tyle; rhetorical quetion: a quetion in form, for rhetorical effect, not calling for an anwer. 6 Doubtle, the objective of ancient rhetoric wa to peruade. The fact that the iue wa neither truth nor accuracy doe not, however, render the art valuele for the preacher. To the contrary, if the preacher i armed with the truth of God, then the art of rhetoric become a tool for righteoune in hi hand. Nazi phyician miue and abue of the calpel did not render calpel morally upect. In addition to the logic of that concluion i the example of Paul, who regularly ought to peruade hi litener (Act 13:43; 18:4; 19:8; 26:28; 28:23; 2 Cor 5:11). The 4. Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, 1768), 229. 5. H. Cancik et al., ed., Brill New Pauly Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Leiden, The Netherland; Boton: Brill Academic, 2005), 6:224. 6. W. C. Booth, The Rhetoric of Rhetoric (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004), x.
16 Paige Patteron preacher tak i to peruade inner to repent and to believe the aving gopel of Jeu, the Chrit. He i to exhort (a form of peruaion) the aint to continue to follow Chrit, to maintain orthodox view, to love the brethren, to be morally and ethically pure, among other thing. Robert L. Dabney firt publihed hi Sacred Rhetoric in 1870. Dabney note the importance of peech: The gift of peech i the mot obviou attribute which ditinguihe man from the brute. To him, language i o important a handmaid of hi mind in all it procee that we remain uncertain how many latent facultie, which we are now prone to deny to the lower animal, may not be lying inactive in them, becaue of their privation of thi medium. It i peech which make u really ocial being; without it our intinctive attraction to our fellow would give u, not true ociety, but the mere gregarioune of the herd. It i by peech that the gulf i bridged over, which inulate each pirit from other. Thi i the great communicative faculty which etablihe a communion between men in each other experience, reaoning, widom, and affection. Thee familiar obervation are recalled to your view, in order to ugget how naturally and even necearily oral addre mut be employed in the ervice of religion. If man religiou and ocial trait are regarded, we cannot but expect to find a wie God, from the beginning, conecrate Hi gift of peech to the end of propagating acred knowledge and entiment. 7 In fact, the ancient and their contribution to rhetoric provide much grit for the preacher mill. One can learn the value of avoiding long, unbroken narrative from Demothene. The infrequent but materful ue of metaphor can be graped here alo. Quintilian emphai on the building of the peaker character a well a hi intellect i eential for the preacher. Cicero canon of rhetoric are invaluable to the preacher. 7. R. L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, or a Coure of Lecture on Preaching (Chatham: W&J Mackay Limited, 1870), 20 21.
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 17 Anaximene championed extemporaneou peaking, an art that may be oberved in many gifted preacher. Space limitation preclude uch extenive foray into the literature and practice of famou rhetorician. Rather, the focu here will be on the three famou rhetorical mean of peruaion provided by Aritotle in hi Art of Rhetoric. Thee, in order of conideration for the preacher, are etho, logo, and patho. Although there are a number of good method to ae the value of a ermon, my thei i that, from the point of view of implicity and yet ufficient comprehenion to cover the matter, thee three canon of rhetoric, though born in a pagan context, are both adequate and remarkably erviceable. We turn to thi conideration. Etho Aritotle imple definition of rhetoric i the launchpad for thi dicuion. Rhetoric then may be defined a the faculty of dicovering the poible mean of peruaion in reference to any ubject whatever. 8 Book I and II of the volume Art of Rhetoric focu on the ubject of dianoia or thought. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Rhetoric call thi rhetorical invention, the counterpart to dialectic. Rhetoric concern itelf with particular cae, wherea dialectic addree general iue. 9 In Book I and II, Aritotle decribe the nature of rhetorical invention. Mean of peruaion are either nonartitic law, witnee, contract, or oath, ued but not invented by the peaker or artitic, the invention of the peaker. Artitic mean of peruaion take three form, which have come to be known a etho, the preentation of the character of the peaker a a peron to be truted; patho, the emotion of the audience a 8. Freee, Art of Rhetoric, 15. 9. Generally, in dialectic the focu i on iue that are not in need of proof, wherea rhetoric addree iue that need to be proven or believed.
18 Paige Patteron tirred by the peaker; and logo, logical argument baed on evidence and probability. 10 Elewhere in thi book, attention i devoted to the nonartitic mean of peruaion, though not necearily with that nomenclature. Thi chapter will focu on the artitic mean of peruaion, ince thee are too often neglected in text-driven preaching. Aritotle preent thee three: Now the proof furnihed by the peech are of three kind. The firt depend upon the moral character of the peaker, the econd upon putting the hearer into a certain frame of mind, the third upon the peech itelf, in o far a it prove or eem to prove. 11 The firt of thee artitic demontration can be termed etho, the moral character of the peaker. Aritotle oberve that when a peaker deliver a peech in uch a manner that he i thought worthy of confidence, uch an impact i greater than the um of other apect of the declaration. 12 For Aritotle, thi etho mut arie from the peech itelf rather than from preconceived idea about the peaker. While thi may ometime be the cae, a mall world technology of the modern era increaingly add ignificance or credibility to a contemporary peaker. But we may certainly agree with the concluion of the age when he declare, Moral character, o to ay, contitute the mot effective mean of proof. 13 Such virtue a jutice, courage, elf-control, magnanimity, magnificence, goodne, goodwill, liberality, gentlene, and both practical and peculative widom are among the virtue extolled. Virtue, it would eem, i a faculty of providing and preerving good thing, a faculty productive of many and great benefit, in fact, of all thing in all cae. 14 10. Sloane, Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, 99. 11. Freee, Art of Rhetoric, 17. 12. Ibid. 13. Ibid. 14. Ibid., 91.
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 19 When the preacher begin hi meage, the auditor tend to make intantaneou judgment about him and, therefore, to ome degree, about hi meage alo. Litener, for example, may decide almot intantly whether they think the preacher will be boring or intereting. The preacher lack experience to know that of which he peak. Hi training i apparently quite limited. He i bombatic but not very profound. He i a aleman, and I would never buy a previouly owned automobile from him. All of thee judgment relate to the credibility of the preacher. A the meage continue and reache a concluion, congregant continue verifying or reviing thoe initial judgment. Factor etablihing credibility are too many for thi chapter, but the ubject can be approached under two baic categorie: preparation and character. Preparation entail both tangible and intangible factor. Three will be mentioned here. The Preacher Walk with God Although no one i party to the private devotion of the preacher, the Scripture are often eloquent in their note of genuine men of God. In 2 Kg 4:9 (NKJV), the Shunammite woman tell her huband, I know that thi i a holy man of God, who pae by u, and ugget that a room be added for hi viit. Of Stephen, it i oberved that when they looked at hi face, it wa a the face of an angel (Act 6:15). Moe found himelf forced to veil hi face becaue of the radiance of God preence reflected thereon (Exod 34:29 33). To walk with God i to tudy Hi character, meditate on Hi word, earch for Hi purpoe, and convere with Him in prayer. The more one walk with God, marinate hi meage in the preence of Jeu, and eek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in both life and meage, the more obviou it become to people of dicernment that the preacher i a meenger traight from the throne room of the Lord. No ingle factor i more compelling than a challenge from a man who apparently
20 Paige Patteron walk cloely with God. When the radiance of heaven i dicernible in the meenger life and face, even thoe outide of Chrit are frequently touched. God can certainly ue a dirty veel becaue the gopel remain true regardle of the failure of preacher. But God delight auredly i in the effective bleing upon the labor of a pure and holy veel, and He i under no contraint to bring anything other than judgment regarding oiled veel. Venturing into the unthinkable in a caual age, even dre i part of etho. Formal dre ha never been a peronal joy for me. I am happier in my jean, boot, wetern hirt, and hat. Moreover, informal way eem to me le likely to become pretentiou than the more tately and formal. Even though I have come to admire a pretty tie, I till upect that the inventor of uch an article wa probably hanged by a tie by thoe forced to wear one. All of thi notwithtanding, the caual dre of o many miniter may ay more than they intend. If invited to the Oval Office by the preident, my hunch i that mot preacher would don their bet, hort of a tux. Yet when appearing before God or Hi people, ome pay little repect to either. Now I want to make clear that not all occaion or context call for formal dre. The world of the cro-cultural miionary (whether internationally or in North America) immediately leap to mind. The iue for the miniter i one of honor and repect for God, whom he repreent before the people. The preacher alway hould how repect for Chrit and Hi church at the very leat, the ame repect he would deem appropriate for dignitarie of the world. Otherwie, hi etho will alo uffer. The Preacher Study Litener do not have to perevere long to acertain whether the miniter ha done hi homework. If the preacher ha grappled with the paage until he undertand it, he will be able to
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 21 take out the ignificance of the text and apply it fruitfully to the aembly. If the preacher truggle to make the text come to life, eem confued by portion of the text, or i clearly unaware of it poibilitie, the public will rapidly dicern hi inadequacy to expound the biblical meage. Often-ued and dated illutration and dependence on the work of other wellknown miniter will quickly erode the etho of the man of God. There i no ubtitute for piritual preparation, and failure in rigorou tudy i urely a in econd only to the failure to prepare piritually. Arduou tudy i imply not optional. Paul, in 2 Tim 2:15, demand the following of the young pator: Be diligent to preent yourelf approved to God, a worker who doe not need to be ahamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The verb diligent i the tranlation of the Greek term poudazō, a vivid concept of giving oneelf zealouly to be an unahamed worker, unahamed becaue he ha learned rightly to divide the word of truth. The vat majority of preacher in the contemporary era are unaware of the obligatory nature of rigorou tudy of God Word. The Preacher Obervable Life Drugtore cowboy have cowboy hat, boot, and jean. One might even have a rope or a addle. He may talk about the ranch and even pout cowography, but put him on a hore and in le than a nanoecond you will dicover that he i, though look are to the contrary, not a cowboy. The preacher may be eloquent, dre profeionally, have appropriate credential, and know hi way around the miniterial world. But if hi life fail to magnify what he preache, hi etho will vanih like the dew of the gra under the gaze of the midmorning un. Paul intruction to Timothy (1 Tim 3:1 7; Titu 1:5 9) regarding the character and qualification of elder emphaize the exemplary demand for the preacher-teacher. In 1 Tim 4:12 the apotle encourage hi youthful diciple, Let no one
22 Paige Patteron depie your youth, but be an example to the believer in word, in conduct, in love, in pirit, in faith, in purity. All thee intruction for the young miniter focu on a life open to the gaze of the aint and, for that matter, the oberving world. In o doing, the preacher etablihe credibility or etho, which lend credibility to hi meage. A preacher repone to anger, mirepreentation, judgment of motive, abue, unkindne, and o on are verification or falification of hi exhortation. The chatene of hi language and life, the comparion of hi life and action, and the affection of hi heart either add vitality to hi ermon or ele ap them of holy energy. The anctity of hi union with hi wife and the joy of wie and faithful parenthood render hi plea from the pulpit doubly peruaive. Godly etho i thu etablihed. The character of the preacher may lie beyond the obervatory abilitie of the parihioner but will not, thereby, ecape uch concluion. At leat two factor will be at play here. Repect for Auditor The aint make judgment about peaker jut a peaker evaluate the congregation. One of the firt obervation will focu on whether the peaker how repect for the audience. Becaue contemporary preacher are o acclimated to izing up the audience, they tend to forget that the ame proce i happening in revere. Here are ome of the quetion being aked, motly unconciouly, about the preacher repect for the litener. Doe he think I am a child with hi firm affirmation of the obviou or hi contant repetition? Why i he browbeating me? I he attempting to impre me with all thoe equipedalian word? Oh, my! You would think he would at leat find a new illutration. I have only been a Chritian for two year, and I have heard that one ix time. He i jut here for a big offering. He i entertaining, but he i wating my time becaue there are uperior entertainer on televiion. Any analyi of the peaker etho include an aement of whether hi character i
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 23 uch that he can repect the aembly, even if he diagree with mot or all of them. Poeion of Virtue The baic attribute of honety, integrity, and jutice make up the primary armor for a great preacher. I once aked my father for hi impreion of George W. Truett, far-famed pator of the Firt Baptit Church of Dalla, Texa, from 1897 to 1944: Truett, in retropect, wa not a great preacher, he replied. Continuing, he added, But he wa a man of uch unparalleled integrity that you were awed almot a if in the preence of God. That i etho. Of another famou preacher, I once heard it aid in a Texa way: He i a trong a goat breath, but, you know, he i alway o paintakingly fair. Thi i jutice. Or again, omeone aid adroitly about my own father, Have you noticed that all of hi illutration are apparently true? While thi wa a fine obervation of Dad etho, I ometime hudder when I think about what the tatement implied about preacher in general. In commentarie it i not unuual to find a ection in the introduction on the integrity of the text. But if the preacher etho doe not merit a imilar trut, the meage of the text may be broken apart on the lippery rack of character flaw in the peaker. Logo Logo reference the peech or ermon itelf. The concept of logo boat philoophical root tretching to the virgin day of Greek thought. B. G. Kerford oberve, Earlier attempt to trace a logical progreion of meaning in the hitory of the word are now generally acknowledged to lack any ecure foundation, and even to try to trace out the hitory of a ingle logo doctrine in Greek philoophy i to run the rik of earching for a imple pattern when the truth wa much more complex. But the extreme importance of the
24 Paige Patteron logo doctrine of different thinker i clear, and there certainly were relationhip between the way in which ucceive thinker ued the term. 15 Kerford goe on to comment that the logo doctrine of Hereclitu wa both famou and obcure, combining the three idea of human thought about the univere, the rational tructure of the univere, and the ource of that rational tructure. Logo, he ay, wa for the Sophit both argument and what argument were about, wherea for Stoic, logo wa the principle of all rationality and a uch often identified with God. Of coure, from logo come the Englih term logic, and the extent of the influence of the word may be oberved by it frequency in taxonomy of cience geology, pychology, ociology, biology, zoology, and o on or in the categorie of theology uch a hamartiology or eccleiology. For the Chritian, the importance of the concept i located in the logia tou theou, the oracle of God (Rom 3:2). Here word are more than mere term. The Bible contitute the very utterance of God. Even more facinating i the Johannine employment of the idea to expre the myterie of the preexitence of Chrit, Hi deity, and Hi incarnation. In the prologue to John Gopel, In the beginning wa the logo, the logo wa with God, and the logo wa God (John 1:1). Again, the logo became fleh and dwelt among u (John 1:14). Thi i ufficient to demontrate that both in the writing of the Greek philoopher and in the Greek New Tetament, logo wa a term of ignificance. Recent advocate of narrative preaching are unure about thi logo. David Buttrick ay, So the Bible offer meaning not in every little paage; ome Bible paage may be largely irrelevant or even ub-chritian the Bible offer meaning by handing out a tory with a beginning and an end and, in between, a narrative undertanding of how God may interface 15. B. G. Kerford, Logo, in Encyclopedia of Philoophy, vol. 5 & 6 (New York: Macmillan, 1967), 83.
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 25 with our inful humanity. 16 The cae i actually even wore. Buttrick dicloe, There i no pure gopel; no, not even in the Bible! To be blunt, the Chritian cripture are both exit and anti-semitic. 17 There i no logia tou theou jut religiou tetimony, much of which i in error. Buttrick and other have given away the farm. They have jettioned the gopel. If we have no certain word from God to expound, then litening to CNN or Fox, depending on one preference, will prove more entertaining than preacher and jut a compelling. When one ak about the logo of a particular ermon, he i inquiring about it logic a well a it content. A to the logic of a meage, one ak firt, doe the meage make ene? Thi i not jut a broad, general query but rather an attempt to acertain whether the meage ha thoughtful purpoe, orderly progreion, and convincing concluion. Doe it hang together and i the purpoe clear and powerful? Are there apparent or actual contradiction in the ermon; and if there are intentional paradoxe, are thee defended at leat regarding the rationale for leaving matter unreolved? Do the propoition, potulate, point (whatever you wih to call them) follow logically and develop the overall theme, or are they unrelated to each other and tangential to the text? Not o many moon have paed ince a great preacher, in the proce of preparing for a conference on preaching, placed thi intriguing query before me: Who are the great Bible preacher today? He wa not earching for preacher who had text but for text that had preacher! A Jeff Ray o poignantly tated the matter, I know that genuine expoitory preaching i almot a rare a the once multitudinou buffalo on our Texa prairie. If you 16. D. Buttrick, A Captive Voice: The Liberation of Preaching (Louiville: Wetminter/John Knox, 1994), 17. 17. Ibid., 75.
26 Paige Patteron ak me why, I can tell you. I found it not in a book nor by obervation of other preacher. I found it out by peronal, practical experience. When I am to make a ermon, I have found it an eay job, quickly performed, to deduce a topic and dre it up in platitudinou uperficialitie and palm it off a a meage from the Word of God. But I have found it difficult, laboriou, and time-conuming to dig out an adequate interpretation of a paage of Scripture and coordinate the reult of that patient digging in an effective, logical outline. Becaue I have allowed o many little higglety-pigglety inconequential enterprie to break in on my time, I have felt it neceary to follow the line of leat reitance and thu have I, and doubtle thu have you, formed the habit of preparing mainly topical ermon. I am an old dog now and they tell me that it i hard to teach an antiquated canine a new trick, but I ay to you olemnly that if I could call back fifty year, I hould make it a life ambition to be a real expoitor of the Word rather than a rhetorical declaimer on topic and motto. 18 Slavih adherence to what i generally termed expoition i not the concern. Learning three conventional categorie of ermon topical, textual, and expoitory i a helpful dicipline. Particularly, expoition hould be matered in it claical form. However, the concern here i not that the preacher alway elect an extended text, taking all major point and ubheading from that text. My own concluion i that good preaching conit in helping people to read the Bible. A preacher may be a peruaive orator; but if only that, how i he uperior to Greek rhetorician? On the other hand, a a Bible preacher, the text-driven prophet explain, illutrate, and applie the text. The pericope under crutiny ought to have much in common with Ezekiel dry bone. The keletal part ort themelve out and come together. Sinew, ligament, and kin cover what i till merely a corpe until the refrehing gut of the preence 18. J. Ray, Expoitory Preaching (Grand Rapid: Zondervan, 1940), 81 82.
Ancient Rhetoric: A Model for Text-Driven Preacher 27 of the Spirit vivify the ermon, and the word of the text leap from the page of Holy Writ to electrify the heart of litener. Too many contemporary practitioner of the homiletical art are bored with the tak. They fret about what they will preach next Sunday, and omewhere in the hidden recee of the oul they know their meage are vacuou ound and fury about little more than human opinion and pop pychology. A the inimitable Spurgeon cautioned, Etimated by their olid content rather than their uperficial area, many ermon are very poor pecimen of godly dicoure... verbiage i too often the fig leaf which doe duty a a covering for theological ignorance. 19 Other eem actually to enjoy themelve a they engage merrily in homiletical dog-paddling on the religiou urface, wherea the beauty of the depth i neither dicovered by the preacher nor exhibited to the aint and inner who have come to hear from God but too often depart having only been entertained. A a cuba diver, I can aure you that however intriguing you may find the breaker and horizon of the ocean urface, the radiance of the coral reef, the majety of the effortle wing of the manta ray, and the heer magnitude of the whale hark, together with the other myterie of the depth, far exceed the urface. The ermon hould be the crowning moment of the preacher week. Spurgeon aid, Draw a circle around my pulpit, and you have hit upon the pot where I am nearet heaven. There the Lord ha been more conciouly near me than anywhere ele. He ha enraptured my heart while I have been trying to cheer and comfort Hi mourner. Many of you can ay the ame of your pew where you like to it. It ha been a Bethel to you, and the Lord Jeu ha revealed Himelf to you in the midt of Hi people. 20 19. C. H. Spurgeon, Lecture to My Student (Grand Rapid: Zondervan, 1972), 71 72. 20. C. H. Spurgeon, The Mourner Comforter (Columbia, MD: Opine, 2007), 110.