Paper Topic:
Can Transformation Be Manufactured? An Examination of Contemporary Homiletics Through the Work of Albert Borgmann
Topic Overview:
Contemporary preaching has been shaped dramatically by the influence and challenges of postmodernity. The New Homiletic responded to these challenges by placing considerable emphasis on impacting the listener’s experience of the sermon and by developing new methodologies for sermon presentation. However, does this approach reflect the true theological nature of preaching? Further, is genuine transformation in listeners’ lives brought about by using the right methodology? By examining and applying the work of Albert Borgmann, this presentation will offer a critique of the approach offered by the New Homiletic and will alternatively offer an understanding of the theological nature of preaching. Primarily, that of preaching as a focal practice that conceives of the role of the preacher as that of navigator.