PR 620 The company of Preachers

Required Texts: I am very enthused about the reading and discussion that we will be doing together this semester! Augustine, The Confessions. Augustine’s theological narration of his life, conversion and ministry provides wonderful insight into what I will call the “preaching life.” That is, the preaching life describes the kind of person God desires to make of us so that we will be capable of hearing and speaking the Word of Christ in a manner that is truthful, inviting and life-changing through the work of the Spirit. Michael Pasquarello, Sacred Rhetoric. This book provides an overview of the “preaching life” from Augustine through John Calvin. It attempts to re-unite what has been divided by modern theological education: exegesis, doctrine, tradition, worship, spirituality and pastoral care in the person and work of the preacher. Ellen Charry, By the Renewing of Your Minds. Charry’s book demonstrates how, during the first sixteen centuries of the Church, doctrine was life-shaping wisdom, not merely “beliefs” or “ideas.” She demonstrates that the history of doctrine serves a significant pastoral purpose in turning our attention to know, love and enjoy the Triune God. This book will help us recover preaching as a Christian practice that primarily has to do with the God and derivatively about ourselves. Robert Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought. This is one of the most outstanding books that I have read in many years. Wilken’s comprehensive picture of Patristic wisdom will provide a place for us to stand in our thinking about preaching within a larger and more compelling theological, ecclesial, and pastoral vision than that created by modern forms of Christianity. Thomas Long, The Witness of Preaching. Although a contemporary work, Long’s book will enable us to make good connections with the other texts that we are reading. His emphasis on the importance of pastoral witness, exegesis for proclamation, and the pastor’s location within a theological tradition will provide us with a perspective by which we will better appreciate the wisdom of the “company of preachers” and our place within it.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/3737/thumbnail.jp