The Bible is a rich literary book covering a myriad of genres that bring the story of God to life in rich and meaningful ways. Preachers of the Gospel must be sensitive to these literary genres as they seek to be effective in their sermon preparation and presentation. Jeffery D. Arthurs seeks to reveal how preachers can be sensitive to these distinctions in Preaching With Variety: How to Recreate the Dynamics of Biblical Genres. Arthurs advocates for variety in preaching through creatively approaching each of six genres outlined in different chapters throughout the book. In his introduction Arthurs states, “We should be biblical in how we preach, not just what we preach. To that end, this book describes the rhetorical dynamics of biblical genres …show more content…
Arthurs writes, “Why should we preach with variety? Because God himself is the Great Communicator, and part of that greatness is seen in his freshness and creative.”2 He goes on to state:
It is self-evident, then, that God uses great variety in his communication. The question arises, Why? Why does God use poetry and proverbs, stories and visions? Why did the Son of God use parable and objects, monologue and dialogue? The answer is twofold: because God is both an artist and a persuader. He expresses himself with skill, and he moves audiences with
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I am particularly moved by the idea of “in your urging, move them by the deep, deep love of Jesus.” To always challenge people by moving them by the love of Jesus is both beautiful and challenging as preacher. Finally, I was challenged by Arthurs reminder that “a primary but overlooked function of preaching is simply reminding. Preach should help us remember who we are, where we came from, and where we're going.”8 I personally needed this reminder because it is easy to be discourage when you feel that God has laid a message on your heart and yet there is no response. Sometimes we might just be reminding people of who we are, where we came from and where we're
The Bible, for many centuries, has impacted society, culture, and religion in innumerable ways. Included in the Bible’s impact, is fictional literature (Erickson, 2015). Biblical allusion, defined as an ancillary reference to Scripture ("Definition," 2015), can be a useful tool for fiction writers to draw the attention of the reader to certain biblical truths. Mixed in with the writer’s style and language, biblical allusion, assists in building plot lines, themes, and influence over the reader’s beliefs (Erickson, 2015). Nevertheless, the real magic of biblical allusion lies within the author’s creative genius and ability to infuse biblical themes, metaphors, images, and characters in with the story to allow the audience to reach certain
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
DS9010 Research Methods and Design Aung, James Hatun Summary (Yaghjian, Chapter 1) January 24, 2013 Lucretia B. Yaghjian’s book, “Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers” consists of three parts. The first part contains four chapters, the second part has two chapters and the third part has four chapters.
Andy Stanley shows how to become deep and wide by staying simple in a church. First, he accomplishes this by keeping programming simple. By making the programs simple he can get more involvement from those who attend North Point. Secondly, Stanley demonstrates easy simplistic ways to move people through the discipleship process. By making this process simple those who attend North Point can more easily reach the community around them. Even though these are a few of the many applications used by Stanley he effectively helps pastors by giving them simple steps to bring people closer to Christ without a church background.
René de Chateaubriand, François. The Beauties of Christianity. The Hebrew Bible In Literary Criticism. Ed. and Comp. Alex Preminger and Edward L. Greenstein. New York: Ungar, 1986. 445.
The article began with Placher discussing the different genres in the Bible and how “different genres have different rules” (924). At first he uses the story of the good Samaritan as an example
21 Oct. 2013. Lecture. The. Peterson, Eugene H. The Message, Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Language.
Damrosch, David, and David L. Pike, eds. "The Gospel According to Luke." The Longman Anothology of World Literature. Compact ed. New York: Pearson, 2008. 822-33. Print.
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
“The call is something that is an indescribable joy and an indefinable burden at the same time.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 32). There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a congregation of the redeemed moving forward in their faith. However exciting this may be, it is usually not the thrill that propels the pastor in his service. It is the burden placed on the pastor by God that compels him in his work. The pastor understands that he is largely responsible for the work of God being accomplished by his faithfulness to his calling. “All through the Word of God and down through the annals of history, when God has moved it has almost always been attended by the preaching of the Word.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 31)
As we look deep into scriptures we discover that there have already been various layered genres and numerous themes throughout scripture. We find out that the major event for the Hebrews is the Covenant; it is a huge literary testimony. Many redactors concentrate their work on the Covenant.
The Bible student, laymen, or pastor will find the principles presented by Fee and Stuart helpful despite the weaknesses presented. The author’s contribution on how to interpret each of the different genres is especially beneficial. The Bible Student will have more knowledge of how to interpret God’s Word when finished with the work. Fee and Stuart achieve their goal helping the reader not only with interpretation, but with application.
The thoughts kept whirling around in his head, “Am I being too preachy? Am I over doing it?” Still, a constant pressing in on his heart to not hold back, made it abundantly clear, time will not wait for him or anyone to answer God’s call to fulfill the Great Commission.
Then they must ask God, “what is it Lord that you will have me to say?” They should allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the answer. We should not use Scripture to support out thoughts, our philosophy and our reasoning. As soon as we begin to preach something outside of the Word of God, we lose our authority. In other words, God is no longer in the message and only the words of a man is glorified. This is why we should approach the Word using a childlike attitude. The goal is to glorify God in our preaching. We should allow the sermon to preach to us first before we preach it to the congregation. This means that the sermon needs to be incarnational. In other words our sermons should serves as a mirror. A mirror where we first see our own reflection and make adjustments and then reflect it back to the