Thus Saith the Word: The theological relationship between biblical exposition and prophetic utterance in preaching

Abstract

Preaching has often had something of an awkward place in Christian theology. Is it a reflection on the Word of God, proclamation of the Word of God, or is it the ‘Word of God’ itself? In many accounts, the event of preaching is seen as nothing more, nor less, than exegesis. Although this is what preaching should aim to be, it is more than the public interpretation and explanation of a biblical text. Preaching is a unique speech event in which the Spirit speaks prophetically, through Scripture. But is preacherly speech more authoritative than any kind of speech which attempts to interpret Scripture? Many theological conceptions of preaching maintain that there is a unique authority which may accompany the preacher’s words from the pulpit. Traditional Reformation accounts, particularly Calvin’s, stress the exposition of the biblical text as the primary ‘event’ of preaching, irrespective of any ‘fresh’ prophetic work of the Spirit which may occur. This article attempts to speak of preaching as a unique pneumatological event which nonetheless retains Scriptural exposition as the essential sermonic content. Preaching is the moment in which the biblical text is fully consummated as spoken proclamation, even as it speaks beyond the aesthetic confines of the text itself. Such an event maintains both the authority of Scripture and the ongoing – perhaps even ‘surprising’ – work of the Spirit in the interplay between biblical text, prophetic sermon and ecclesial context.