Preaching with feeling in mind : how cognitive neuroscience encourages a preacher's appeal to emotions

Jay Joye

Etd

Preaching with feeling in mind : how cognitive neuroscience encourages a preacher's appeal to emotions

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Jay Joye. Preaching with Feeling In Mind : How Cognitive Neuroscience Encourages a Preacher's Appeal to Emotions. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/70cd40e8-5f75-4450-b0bf-0548d1e9ed61.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

J. Joye. Preaching with feeling in mind : how cognitive neuroscience encourages a preacher's appeal to emotions. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/70cd40e8-5f75-4450-b0bf-0548d1e9ed61

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Jay Joye. Preaching with Feeling In Mind : How Cognitive Neuroscience Encourages a Preacher's Appeal to Emotions. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/70cd40e8-5f75-4450-b0bf-0548d1e9ed61.

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

Creator

Jay Joye

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how a preacher appeals to emotions to impact congregants as it correlates with cognitive neuroscience findings.Countless Biblical texts highlight the importance of emotions in the life of a believer. Likewise, homiletics has long encouraged emotional preaching, calling communicators to wed together logos and pathos. Recent advancements in cognitive neuroscience stress emotions’ importance. Despite the Biblical, homiletical, neuroscientific, and cultural emphases, a lack of expression of emotion may be characteristic of homiletical methodology in the dominant American Protestant church culture.This study utilized a qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with six pastors of different races from reformed denominations. All six pastors were committed to emotional appeals in their preaching. The literature review and constant-comparative analysis of the six interviewees focused on four research questions: how does a preacher appeal to emotions, how is the impact of a sermon measured, what obstacles stand in the way of emotional preaching, and how do these appeals correlate to cognitive neuroscience? The literature review focused on three key areas to understand a preacher’s appeal to emotions: homiletics’ emphasis on the use of emotions, cognitive neuroscience’s support for appeals to emotions, and the doctrine of illumination. This study concluded four things regarding appeals to emotion in preaching. Consensus exists between homileticians, neuroscientists, and practitioners regarding the importance of appealing to emotions. The effectiveness of emotional preaching outweighs the risks associated with it. No appeals to emotion are likely apart from preachers identifying with the emotions of others. The mystery of the Holy Spirit in illumination does not mitigate the necessity of emotional appeals. Four practices are recommended for preachers: Know your emotional God. Know your emotional self. Know the emotion of your scripture text. Know your emotional contexts.

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