Incarnate preaching: preaching in first person

José R Irizarry

Etd

Incarnate preaching: preaching in first person

Público Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

José R Irizarry. Incarnate Preaching: Preaching In First Person. McCormick Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/0426f043-1903-4452-8352-86b3a8f3abe1?locale=es.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

J. R. Irizarry. Incarnate preaching: preaching in first person. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/0426f043-1903-4452-8352-86b3a8f3abe1?locale=es

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

José R Irizarry. Incarnate Preaching: Preaching In First Person. McCormick Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/0426f043-1903-4452-8352-86b3a8f3abe1?locale=es.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creador

José R Irizarry

Declaración de derechos

In Copyright

Abstracto

Incarnate preaching, that is, preaching in first person can more fully engage the congregation with the biblical text. The Scriptures remain a mystery to many people. They complain: The Bible is too hard to read; It is too long; It contains words I don't understand; I don't know the characters; It doesn't relate to my life; It is boring! These reactions make me think of reading Shakespeare and trying to understand it. The language of Shakespeare can be a barrier. The plot can be confusing. The length is daunting. The characters have peculiar names and get mixed up in our minds. Then we go to the theater and see it performed. It comes to life. It is exciting. It moves us. The words are embodied in the characters and we can see them move, speak, and interact with one another. We can follow the plot, see the action, and understand the story. It makes more sense. I want to know if preaching in first person can do the same for the Scriptures as the theater does for the play. Can it lift the biblical text off the printed page and make it come alive? Can it engage the congregation and make Scripture more accessible? I have explored preaching in first person. In this style of preaching, the preacher assumes the persona of one of the characters in the biblical text and delivers a sermon from the perspective of that biblical character. With a bit of costuming and a prop or two, the preacher embodies the biblical character in a play. I propose that this is incarnate preaching; that is, preaching that embodies the word and presents it in human form. They say that 'variety is the spice of life' and perhaps in the homiletic world preaching in first person is the 'spice' of sermon delivery. It can add variety to the normal fare of preaching. I experimented with this preaching style, as there is very little written on the subject in the field of homiletics, and I preached each of the assigned eight sermons in first person. I learned that the biblical text came alive for the congregation and actively engaged them through preaching in first person.

Editor