A New Approach to the Teaching of Homiletics

Abstract

At times every minister feels dissatisfied with his preaching. To outward appearances talking is a futile activity. Many sermons are hot-house plants which flourish in the subdued light of the sanctuary, but which wither before the penetrating glare of the street. The honest preacher often feels that his work is unreal and ineffective. Prophets have ever been plagued with uneasy moodsand yet much of the futility of our preaching can be traced to deficiencies in training. Homiletic instruction has commonly centered about sermon-building. The student has been trained to construct logical outlines and to write lucid English. The lore of preaching has been presented through lectures by leading lights of the pulpit. In some instances voice-training has been available for those who desired it. Such training has commonly produced sermonizers rather than preachers. In his first charge the ordinary theologue preaches to himself rather than to the people. His sermons are logical in structure and polished in execution, but utterly harmless when it comes to touching the lives of the people. Preaching, to the young minister, is usually a means of grace to be practiced for its own sake rather than a tool with which to achieve certain spiritual results. He assumes that a good sermon, in the seminary sense, will somehow bless those who sit under it. Often the polished sermon actually stands between the truth which is in the heart of the preacher and the real needs of the people.