Abstract
It is argued that the proper way to construct and deliver a therapeutic sermon is to take a theocentric approach. Preaching, rightly understood, is proclamation of the good news that God has redeemed the world through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is by definition theological. Feeling pressure to be relevant, engaging and contemporary, a significant number of preachers fall into administering mini-doses of psychological self-help from the pulpit. Hans Urs von Balthasar’s homily, ‘Joy in the Midst of Anxiety’, is offered as a positive alternative. The sermon is theologically and homiletically analysed to show why it is an excellent example of theocentric therapeutic preaching.
Highlights
Therapeutic preaching is a proclamation of the gospel that offers a theological diagnosis of (Capps 1980, 1984),1 and pastoral intervention for, common existential, intrapsychic and interpersonal pathologies
It is argued that the proper way to construct and deliver a therapeutic sermon is to take a theocentric approach
Preaching is rightly understood as a proclamation of the good news that God has redeemed the world through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit
Summary
Therapeutic preaching is a proclamation of the gospel that offers a theological diagnosis of (Capps 1980, 1984),1 and pastoral intervention for, common existential, intrapsychic and interpersonal pathologies. The prescription that Von Balthasar gives has three parts: receive your life and your salvation as gifts from God; embrace the positive meaning in suffering and communicate your joy-in-Christ to the world.
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