Latvian Godsongs as images for preaching

Daira Cilnis

Etd

Latvian Godsongs as images for preaching

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Daira Cilnis. Latvian Godsongs As Images for Preaching. Claremont School of Theology. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/f223d172-2835-48f5-ab0a-aa797f4fcd0d.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

D. Cilnis. Latvian Godsongs as images for preaching. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/f223d172-2835-48f5-ab0a-aa797f4fcd0d

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Daira Cilnis. Latvian Godsongs As Images for Preaching. Claremont School of Theology. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/f223d172-2835-48f5-ab0a-aa797f4fcd0d.

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

Creator

Daira Cilnis

Keyword

Sermons--Illustrations

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Abstract

This project searches for new ways to preach God's presence in everyday experience. The secular world has no place for God, and church tradition has tended to emphasize God's transcendence. As a result, God's presence needs to be revised in a way that is meaningful to contemporary believers. It is my thesis that for my Latvian Lutheran congregation, the imagery of God that is found in our Godsongs, together with the dynamic relationship of God-and-the-world that is process thought, can offer creative possibilities for preaching God's presence in daily life. The project examines the Godsongs which are part of the folkloric heritage of the Latvian people. This ancient and pre-Christian tradition envisions God's relationship to the world in a way that is quite similar to process thought. In both paradigms, God is ever-present in all of creation as shared divine wisdom and power. The Godsongs say that God is present and God helps in poetic images that speak to the heart. Process thought addresses the mind; it models God-and-the-world in a way that makes sense to the scientific sensibilities of contemporary people. The Godsongs and process thought provide new metaphors for preaching that address the whole person--head and heart. As metaphors, they are partial but also illuminating. Because they are 'heard' in a way that older metaphors may not be, they bring the hearer of the sermon into the preaching process by providing them with the opportunity to agree or disagree. The hearer completes the sermon in his or her mind.

Publisher