Syllabus
Homiletical Options
KNP 5361
Fall Term
Class Sessions: Tuesdays, 12:30-2:30 PM
Prof. David Schnasa Jacobsen
Phone: 519-884-0710, x3493
E-mail: djacobse@wlu.ca
Office Hours: when my office door is open (generally Tuesdays only) or by
appointment
Learning Goals:
This course is designed to
help advanced students gain a grasp of contemporary options in homiletic
theory. While a brief introduction to
the background of the field in its present state will be part of the course,
students will begin by becoming familiar with the work of those figures in the
field who have embraced what some have called "the new
homiletic." While these figures
represent a great variety of theoretical positions, the one thing that comes
closest to uniting them is the so-called "turn to the hearer." As a result, students will leave this course
with a good grasp of the field of contemporary homiletic theory, an
appreciation for the revolution in preaching method of the last thirty years,
and a sense of the “return to theology” that has been emerging out of it over
the last ten years.
Students with disabilities or
special needs are advised to contact the
Students may be required to
submit their written work in electronic form and have it checked for
plagiarism.
Required Texts:
Eslinger, Richard.
A New Hearing: Living Options
in Homiletic Method.
Rose, Lucy. Sharing
the Word: Preaching in the
McClure, John. Other-Wise Preaching.
Wilson, Paul. Preaching and Homiletical Theory.
This course is a seminar in
format. As such it depends on the shared
leadership of the students to meet its goals.
In the schedule below, the portions led by the professor are in regular
type, the portion for which students are
responsible are in bold type.
Schedule:
9/11 Syllabus, schedule, and assignments.
Lecture: Background to the New Homiletic: Rhetoric and
Truth in an Age of Deductivity
For
next week, read Buttrick’s article “Interpretation
and Preaching,” and chapter 1 of Bond, Contemporary African-American
Preaching. Both of these items are
on reserve at Caven library
9/18 Discussion of Buttrick’s
article and Bond’s chapter 1 in class.
Determine
schedule of presentation assignments
9/25 Lecture:
The New Hermeneutic and the Transition of Homiletic Theory
Presentation: H. Grady
Presentation: David Randolph __________________
10/2 Presentation: Fred Craddock 1 __________________
Presentation: Fred Craddock 2 __________________
Discussion: Craddock sermon
10/9 Lecture:
From Inductivity to Story and Discourse: A Primer on Narrative Theories
Presentation: Eugene Lowry __________________
10/16 Presentation: Charles Rice __________________
Discussion: Rice sermon
Presentation: Henry Mitchell __________________
Discussion: Mitchell sermon
For next class: read Eslinger’s A
New Hearing
10/23 Topic: Preaching and the Turn to the Hearers
Discussion: Buttrick sermon
Discuss Eslinger’s
A New Hearing: Is there a new homiletic?
For next class: read Part IV (pp. 171-231) of Richard
Bernstein’s Beyond Objectivism and Relativism on reserve at Caven libarary
10/30 Discuss Bernstein’s Part IV
Presentation: John McClure (RP) __________________
Discussion: McClure sermon
For
next class read Lischer’s article “The Limits of
Story” on reserve.
11/6 A
Return to Theology: Neo-Orthodox/Post-Liberal Reactions to the New Homiletic
Discuss
Lischer’s article, “The Limits of Story”
Presentation: Paul Wilson __________________
Presentation:
Discussion:
11/13 EXTENDED
SESSION
A
Return to Theology: Revisionist and Liberationist Responses to the New
Homiletic
Presentation:
Christine Smith __________________
Presentation: Ron Allen __________________
Discuss Allen sermon
Discuss Rose’s Sharing the
Word
For
next class read John McClure’s Other-Wise Preaching
[11/20] No
class: Professor at SBL
11/27 Topic: Preaching and
Post-modernism/Post-structuralism
Discuss
John McClure’s Other-Wise Preaching
Lecture: Anna
Carter Florence
Discuss Carter Florence sermon
Read
Paul Wilson’s Preaching and Homiletical Theory
12/4 Discuss Paul Wilson’s Preaching and Homiletical Theory
Evaluation and eschatological party
Depending on the needs and
interests in class, I may be willing to rework the schedule of some of the
figures we will be considering.
Assignments:
1. In-Class Presentations (three or four per
student=50% of final grade)
Each student will provide a
thirty-minute presentation on a chosen figure for that day covering:
(1) Their Homiletic Method (20 min.)
(2) Implicit and Explicit Theological
Norms: e.g., what do they assume or
state about "hearers," "the preacher,"
"preaching," "scripture," and their relationship to God,
Christ, and/or the Holy Spirit? (5 min.)
(3) A Brief Evaluation. (5 min.)
Over the course, each student
will be responsible for four figures. Therefore, each presentation will amount
to an even fraction of 50% of your final grade.
Since this will require significant reading outside class, I will gladly
help you to find books and articles that will speed you on your way, answer
questions as they arise (either by phone or e-mail), and generally cheer you on
to homiletic glory.
2. Final Paper (50% of final grade)
Each student will write a final
paper of about 20 pp. in length on a topic of homiletic theory that touches on
some aspect of the homiletic method of one or more of our figures above. Students may want to think about a topic that
relates to future thesis work. Please
agree on your topic with the instructor prior to writing and submitting
it. The paper is due on the last day of
the fall term
Required Texts to
Purchase:
Eslinger, Richard. A
New Hearing: Living Options in Homiletic
Method.
Rose, Lucy. Sharing the Word:
Preaching in the
McClure, John. Other-Wise Preaching.
Wilson, Paul. Preaching and Homiletical Theory.
Required
Bernstein,
Richard J. Beyond Objectivism and
Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics, and
Praxis.
Bond,
L. Susan. Contemporary African
American Preaching: Diversity in Theory
and Style. Chalice:
Buttrick, David, “Interpretation and Preaching,” in Interpretation
XXXV:1 (January 1981), 46-58.
Lischer, Richard, “The Limits of Story,” in Interpretation
XXXVIII:1 (January 1984), 26-38.
Presentation Texts:
Campbell,
Charles. Preaching
Jesus.
Craddock,
Fred. As One Without
Authority. 3rd Ed.;
Craddock,
Fred. Preaching.
Davis, H. Grady. Design for Preaching.
Jensen, Richard A. Telling the Story.
Kim, Eunjoo
Mary. Preaching the
Presence of God: A Homiletic from an
Asian American Perspective.
Lischer, Richard. “The
Limits of Story” in Interpretation XXXVIII:1
(January, 1984) 26-38.
Long, Thomas. The Witness of Preaching.
Lowry, Eugene L. The Homiletical
Plot. Exp. Ed.;
McClure, John. The Roundtable Pulpit.
Mitchell, Henry. Celebration and Experience in Preaching.
Randolph, David. The Renewal of Preaching.
Smith, Christine. Preaching as Weeping,
Confession, and Resistance.
Steimle, Edmund, Morris Niedenthal and Charles Rice. Preaching the Story.
Thulin, Richard L. The “I” of the Sermon.
Wilder, Amos. Early Christian
Rhetoric.
Williams,
Michael “Preaching as Storytelling,” in Journeys toward Narrative Preaching. Ed. Wayne
Robinson;
Wilson, Paul. The Four Pages of the
Sermon.