The integration of postmodern values and rhetorical analysis: A case study

Both traditional preaching theory and the listening context of the hearers have undergone radical changes within the last thirty years. Contemporary preachers no longer can assume the authority inherent in their position or preaching methods, and postmodern listeners exhibit the desire for increased diversity and points of view in sermons. This thesis will address these challenges by advancing the notion that attention to rhetorical criticism in the exegesis of biblical texts sheds new light on the nature of preaching in terms of form and function. The resulting multi-vocal and non-hierarchical leadership orientation has application for postmodern audiences. The methodological structure of theological interpretation undergirding this thesis involves four tasks of the hermeneutical cycle adapted from Richard Osmer’s approach. This approach engages in the task of contextual interpretation that connects with both Christian tradition and Scripture, and furthermore leads to the construction of a pragmatic plan for future homiletics. Chapter 1 introduces the problem facing contemporary homileticians: the changed context of preacher and hearer. The chapter advocates that one way forward for preaching involves the use of rhetorical criticism as the exegetical basis for a values-based homiletic, and then finishes with an overview of the thesis chapters. Chapter 2 demonstrates the fourfold task of the hermeneutical cycle by establishing the provenance of the method, critiquing it and grounding the approach of the thesis in the contemporary postmodern setting. Chapter 3 engages in a contextual interpretation of historic shifts in the fields of rhetoric, biblical studies and homiletics, analyzing and evaluating these trends. The chapter concludes by constructing a pragmatic plan for future biblical studies, a rhetorical-critical-narratological methodology that will be applied to the text of Ezekiel. Chapter 4 demonstrates that a contextual interpretation, evaluation and analysis of the New Homiletic results in the formation of a values-based approach to preaching and leadership orientation that is appropriate to postmodernity. Chapter 5 builds upon a contextual interpretation of synchronic and diachronic methodologies and advances a complementary approach to exegesis. The chapter then applies the rhetorical-critical-narratological approach developed in Chapter 3 to the discourse of Ezekiel to establish its contextual and rhetorical situation. The chapter then engages in a close rhetorical-critical-narratological reading of the literary unit of Ezekiel 15. Chapter 6 engages in a contextual interpretation and evaluation of three Ezekiel commentaries and sermons from Ezekiel 15, locating them along the pendulum-like series of shifts identified within Chapter 3. Chapter 7 demonstrates the integration of biblical studies and homiletics with the production of a sample multiple point-of-view sermon based upon the exegesis of Ezekiel conducted in Chapter 5. The chapter critiques the sermon and provides an example of the rhetorical-critical method applied to a discursive genre from 1 Corinthians 4.18-5.13. Chapter 8 concludes the thesis by reviewing the contributions made by the study, proceeds to interpret contextually the challenge of postmodern homiletics, and finishes with recommendations for areas of future studies outside the scope of the thesis

Finding a Voice: A Preaching Model To Address the Postmodern and Post-Soviet Young Adults at the Compass Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tallinn, Estonia

Problem In Northern and Eastern Europe, probably more than in any other part of the world, the gap between the inner culture of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and that of the surrounding culture has grown large, hindering the church’s ability to share the Gospel to young adults (ages 16-29) in a meaningful and clear way. It is especially true about people who have grown up in the Postmodern and Post-Soviet context of Estonia and have very little biblical knowledge. This present study concentrates on homiletics and how this culture gap can be bridged via preaching. Method A five-part preaching series was created with young adults in Estonia being the primary target audience. The sermons were preached in Compass Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tallinn, Estonia from November 20 until December 18, 2021. All listeners were invited to fill in a feedback form after each church service. Over the period of five weeks, 116 evaluation forms were collected and the anonymous feedback analysed. Results The church members and visiting guests were given an opportunity to evaluate my sermons and express their ideas on different preaching-related topics. The main areas of feedback were as follows: topic and organisation of the sermon, the role of the preacher, inclusiveness, and narratives. Every thematic section had both open-ended questions and questions with scales from 1 to 5. The results showed that young adults―both the regular attendees and occasional guests―are interested in topics that touch their everyday reality and choices, they appreciate preacher\u27s openness and emotional honesty, they find it easiest to follow sermons with a simple structure and a single focus, their attention is caught by good stories, they appreciate supportive visual materials, and they long for an inclusive Christian community where they could be seen and appreciated as individuals. Conclusions Preaching in a Postmodern and Post-Soviet context where the general knowledge of Christianity and the Bible are very low is a constant challenge. Yet, with a careful sermon preparation process which takes into account the individualistic and fragmented worldview of the Postmodern people, it is possible to preach sermons that touch both the hearts and minds of young adults. When the context-sensitivity is supported by the preacher\u27s emotions and integrity of life, the preaching act can be and is an effective way of communicating the Gospel truths

Postmodern Analysis of New Preachers of Islam in Egypt: A Cultural Study of Mustafa Hosni's Digital Media Platforms

In recent years, Arab academia inspected the phenomenon of new preachers of Islam, especially in Egypt, predicted on such notions as new liberalism, self-help, and salvation. This study contributes to the scholarship by examining the postmodern characteristics of Mustafa Hosni’s discourse, as appears in his new media materials. Drawing upon insights from media cultural studies, the paper examines the mini-narratives of a tolerant, non-violent Muslim discourse as opposed to the customarily hostile Muslim meta-narratives. Further, the study analyses all sorts of pastiche that render Hosni’s discourse hybrid, glocal, and coexistent. It uses qualitative discourse analysis to shed light on the nexus between forms of religious discourse and the logic of media consumption in Muslim late neo-liberal capitalism

Parody and pastiche in the use of popular culture in the evangelistic practices of Korean churches

Since the end of 20th century, Korean churches have awakened to the importance of culture, cultural products, and culture-making in discipling Christians and evangelizing non-Christians. In particular, popular culture has become very important for practicing evangelism in the context of Korean Christianity because pop culture is enjoyed by a large segment of the population and thus provides a natural bridge between Christians and non-Christians. This dissertation examines Korean churches’ pervasive mimetic use of popular cultural elements that Christians and non-Christians relish, such as movies, plays, and popular music styles. While Korean churches introduced these slightly modified materials from popular culture as “parodies,” I argue that they are instead pastiches, and I explore the extent to which these pastiches are able to play a role as significant, though problematic, evangelistic media in the context of Korean Christianity. Since this practice encompasses Christian evangelism, popular culture, and the relationship of those two by a particular artistic technique, I approach the study of evangelistic pastiches both theologically and aesthetically studying their practical, theological role within the church setting. The dissertation argues that pastiches are combinations of imitated images that do not contain any substantive messages. When it comes to utilizing pastiches in evangelistic practices, the interesting and entertaining, but ultimately hollow, messages distort faithful witness to the gospel by emptying it. I suggest that evangelistic pastiches are simulacra that only communicate a hyper-gospel. Parody, by contrast, is a creative production that makes of Christianity and popular culture a new, culturally hybrid form with the capacity for building a robust relationship between Christianity and popular culture. Parody can play a positive role in enriching Christian evangelism by providing a substantive means to witness to the kingdom of God by providing a Christian perspective on and critique of culture and its concerns. Parody creates a point of contact between Christians and non-Christians from which Christian evangelism can be initiated

Portrait of a marxist as a young nun

This is an analysis of various religious, philosophical and political movements within the context of an experiential narration. It deals with catholicism and the cold war in the 1950s, the new left of the 1960s, marxism from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Versions of this were published in the book Marxism and Spirituality: An International Anthology (Westport & London 1993) and in the journal Socialism in the World (Belgrade 1989). This text was originally written for a conference in Yugoslavia on Socialism and the Spirit of the Age in 1988. It was a first run at a work-in-progress called Navigating the Zeitgeist

Purifying the nation : the Arya Samaj in Gujarat 1895-1930

This article examines the impact of the Arya Samaj in Gujarat from 1895 to 1930. Although the founder of this body, Dayanand Saraswati, was from Gujarat, it proved less popular there initially than in the Punjab. The first important Arya Samajists in Gujarat were Punjabis, brought there by Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda to carry out educational work amongst untouchables. The Arya Samaj only became a mass organisation in Gujarat after a wave of conversions to Christianity in central Gujarat by untouchables, with Arya Samajists starting orphanages to ‘save’ orphans from the clutches of the Christian missionaries. The movement then made considerable headway in Gujarat. The main followers were from the urban middle classes, higher farming castes, and gentry of the Koli caste. Each had their own reasons for embracing the organisation, ranging from a desire for higher social status, to religious reform, to building caste unity, and as a means, in the case of the Koli gentry, to ‘reconvert’ Kolis who had adopted Islam in medieval times. The movement lost its momentum after Gandhi arrived on the political scene, and many erstwhile Arya Samajists embraced the Gandhian movement. When the Gandhian movement itself flagged after 1922, there was an upsurge in communal antagonism in Gujarat in which Arya Samajists played a provocative role. A riot in Godhra in 1928 is examined. Over the past decade, Gujarat has come to be seen as a hotbed of communalism, ruled by a state government that has connived at, and even encouraged, murderous attacks on Muslims and Christians. At the time of the notorious pogrom against Muslims of 2002, several observers commented on the irony that this should have occurred in the homeland of Gandhi, the great proponent of non-violence and Hindu-Muslim unity.1 They saw this as violating not only the memory of the Mahatma, but also the very history of this region – one known, it was said, for its spirit of tolerance and regard for the sacredness of all life. As Tridip Suhrud stated in anguish: What has happened to the dialogic space that Gandhi nurtured? What has happened to the Jain ethos, which informed the structure of mercantile capitalism and from which Gandhi drew sustenance?2 Although these are questions that we should certainly ask, they project only one view of Gujarat and its history, for this is not an area that has escaped violence, bigotry and communal strife in the past. Communal tension between Hindus and Muslims, and even violence between the two, has a genealogy that stretches back well over a century; predating Gandhi’s arrival on the political scene in 1915.3 In this article, I shall examine an aspect of this history by focusing on the growth and development of the Arya Samaj in Gujarat between the years 1895 and 1930. It is not suggested that there was an inevitable progress from the doctrines and activities propagated by this body to the Hindu bigotry that dominates the political scene in modern Gujarat, for there were many countervailing forces at both a popular and elite level that might have produced a different trajectory.4 Also, many of the features of the modern manifestation of Hindutva were not present in the early decades of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, a way of thinking about the modern nation state and the place of Hindus and Hinduism within it became a part of the public culture of this region, and this could be deployed in new ways, and to new effect, in changing political circumstances.5 1 For example Panikkar, K. N. ‘The Agony of Gujarat,’ The Hindu, 19 March 2002; Suhrud, T. ‘Gujarat: No Room for Dialogue,’ Economic and Political Weekly, [Hereafter EPW], 37 (11), 16 March 2002, pp. 1011-12. 2 Ibid, p.1011. 3 To take one case, there was a long history of tension between Hindus and Muslims in Somnath in Kathiawad in the later nineteenth century that led to a fracas in 1892, followed by a riot in which several died in 1893. See file on ‘Patan Riot: Hindus and Mussulmans Patan Commission, Part I,’ Oriental and India Office Collection, R/2/721/56; Krishnaswamy, S. ‘A Riot in Bombay, August 11, 1893: A Study in Hindu-Muslim Relations in Western India during the Late Nineteenth Century,’ unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Chicago, 1966, pp. 76-90. 4 As pointed out for India as a whole by Fischer-Tiné, H., ‘Kindly Elders of the Hindu Biradri’: The Arya Samaj’s Struggle for Influence and its Effects on Hindu-Muslim Relations, 1800-1925,’ in Copley, A. (ed.), Gurus and their Followers: New Religious Reform Movements in India, New Delhi, 2000, pp.107-08. 5 In the ways alluded to for Bengal by Sarkar, S. ‘Intimations of Hindutva: Ideologies, Caste, and Class in Post-Swadeshi Bengal,’ in Sarkar, S. Beyond Nationalist Frames: Postmodernism, Hindu Fundamentalism, History, New Delhi, 2002, pp.81-95; and for the United Provinces by Gould, W. Hindu Nationalism and the Language of Politics in Late Colonial India, Cambridge 2004, p. 37

Trapped Between Modernism and Postmodernism: A Critical Study of Philip Larkin's Poetry

Not availabl

Volume 18 — Migration and Relevance of Christian Mission: Visibility of Invisible Africans

https://dsc.duq.edu/beth/1022/thumbnail.jp

No Church in the Wild

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/firstfruitspapers/1153/thumbnail.jp

God\u27s Recurring Dream: Assessing the New Monastic Movement through a Historical Comparison

In April of 1208, Francis of Assisi came to Rome with a handful of his followers, seeking papal permission to found a new religious order. Innocent III had other issues on his mind at the time. But tradition holds that a dream changed the pope’s mind, and he gave his qualified approval to the order of the Friars Minor that day. His gamble was vindicated by history. Twenty years later, Francis of Assisi was canonized, beloved by all Christendom as the founder of the Franciscan mendicant order. His order and others like it constituted a revolutionary departure from traditional monasticism. Today, St. Francis’ life and example has found a new champion within the American Protestant tradition. Promoters of the popular “new monasticism” movement have often invoked St. Francis and his friars specifically as a guiding historical example for what they seek to accomplish. This young movement, consisting of small groups engaging in communal living and radical activism across the country, has begun to consciously rehabilitate the practice of monasticism within the evangelical Protestant fold. Their efforts and vision, as articulated by movement leaders like Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson, have received a great deal of attention and admiration from the mainstream Christian public, along with significant criticism. In this project, I aim to assess the possibilities, limitations, character, and meaning of the new monastic movement through a historical comparison with the 13th century mendicant movement. The similarities between the two movements are many, and the leaders of the new monastic movement are consciously aware of these similarities and interested in modeling themselves further on the example of the St. Francis and his counterparts. My study will seek to assess the historical reality of the comparison and its implications for the young new monastic movement