Homiletics

In this chapter, I explore nineteenth-century perspectives on homiletics which draw on the metaphor of the Church as a stage, and the sermon as a kind of performance. The focus of the chapter will be a comparison of Søren Kierkegaard’s discussion of homiletics and a view of preaching which Kierkegaard repeatedly critiques in his writings, namely, that of the Danish Bishop, Jakob Peter Mynster. For Mynster, the sermon is a performance in which the preacher presents the truths of Christianity to the congregation with the purpose of edification and upbuilding. Kierkegaard offers a detailed critique of the ‘preacher as performer’ view in many places in his writing. Such a perspective, Kierkegaard thinks, leads to a kind of sham in which the preacher lacks integrity, yet presents himself as one to be followed. In contrast to this, for Kierkegaard, whilst preaching does aim at engaging each individual through edification, the role of the preacher is that of a stage prompter and not that of a performer. The prompter does not offer himself as one with authority to demonstrate the truth, but rather, as one who provokes and reminds the individual of her lines before God. Following this, I conclude by drawing some comparisons between Kierkegaard’s homiletics and the homiletics of those writing as part of the Oxford Movement in nineteenth-century Britain. As we will see, there are certain points of congruence between the theology of preaching found in Tractarian writers such as John Henry Newman and what Kierkegaard writes about preaching. Both Newman and Kierkegaard claim that the sermon should not be understood in rationalist terms – that is, preaching is not predominantly a method of teaching doctrine or theology. Instead, both maintain the sermon should seek to transform the everyday lives of the congregation and increase their devotion to God. Despite these points of similarity, the predominant difference between Kierkegaard’s homiletics and that of the Tractarians is found in their approaches to authority. The Oxford Movement sought to reemphasise the authority of the Church, and the sermon thus becomes one of the key methods of propagating Christian truth. For Kierkegaard, in contrast, the preacher has no authority and the individual must seek to experience God’s presence as a single individual. As I will show, this differing approach to religious authority is reflected in the accounts of preaching which are developed.