A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg is Editor of Channels.
Preaching for Today. Clyde E. Fant. Harper and Row, (revised edition). 1987; 312 pp.
This is a text book that has a different “feel” about it than your average academic textbook on preaching or homiletics. It reminds me of Craddock’s recent book (1985) on preaching. It has a conversational tone and ranges over a wide variety of topics from the volume of preaching and some history and theologies of preaching to practical matters concerning the preacher and the sermon; and yet is bound together by the over-arching theme of what Fant terms “incarnational preaching.” Although there are one or two sections where I got “stuck” in the density of the theory (e.g. the beginning pages of the chapter on story, p. 191 ff.), the book is, like a sermon, full of interest and natural illustration. It is one that drew me on and on as I read it further each day for several days. I also felt that it was a thoroughly up-to-date book: though rooted in Scripture it showed evidence of awareness of the latest in homiletic theory and practice. Further, it demonstrated the wisdom of many years of reflection upon listening to and proclaiming the gospel message.
Fant suggests in his Preface that “the incarnation is the truest theological model for the mysterious divine-human preaching event, which is neither all of the human nor all of God, but which partakes of both with precisely the same degree of mystery and humility as that reality in Jesus of Nazareth (p. XV).” He then goes on to demonstrate the reality of this conviction in his own handling of the topic of preaching. He rightly notes that the gospel story is that of “the One for others, who was born in a stable, not a palace, whose story was not, as it has been said, Tog cabin to White House,’ but quite the opposite” (p. 8). Hence our preaching should be about and in the form of “the triumph from below, not above, the triumph of suffering love” (p. 10). Of course, this theological conviction would colour our theology of preaching, our language in preaching, and so on. Fant eschews and tells his readers to eschew “holy language,” he opts for a natural, conversational tone. Indeed, Fant returns to this topic again and again, sometimes humorously, with good effect (e.g. chapter 5, “Toward Incarnational Preaching”; chapter 6, “ ‘We Are Human Beings Like Yourselves’ chapter 15 “ ‘Some Said It Thundered’: Upper Garble and Lower Garble”).
This theme of “incarnation preaching” influences the organization of the entire book into its three dominant sections: The Promise of Preaching, The Person Who Preaches, and The Shape of the Sermon. There is a fourth section, Saying the Sermon, but it can be read as a continuation of the third. The book ends abruptly without a summary. “Incamational preaching” influences Fant’s idea about “what preaching can do”; I have a feeling that Fant does not want us to overestimate — nor underestimate — preaching. For him it can/should bring Good News with freshness and relevance, connect us with the historic community of faith, introduce us to the Word made flesh, tell us ways things are, offer a doxology to God, and create the church and send it out into the world. Here, too, Fant discusses the persistence of preaching in spite of its nay sayers. And he places preaching into three general theological categories: proclamation: emphasizing the truth of the written Word; manifestation: emphasizing the image of the written Word; and, action: emphasizing the personal, social and political implications of the written Word. Liberation theologies, including feminist and black theologies are found in the third category.
This theme of “incamational preaching” influences Fant’s ideas about “the person who preaches.” He/she is, above all, to be human, simply giving testimony to what he/she knows or has experienced. Fant defines “being human” as being honest, natural, humble, able to rest(!), allowing others to be persons, caring, involved in the lives of others, as well as being credible and trustworthy. Being an “expert” is not that important or true-to-life for Fant. Here Fant also discusses, using modern communication theory, the difference between impact, communion and shock in the relationship between the communicator and the audience (pp. 126-141). I found this especially helpful.
And, finally, this theme of “incarnation preaching” influences Fant’s ideas about all the nitty-gritty considerations of how a sermon is shaped and spoken. For Fant the sermon must not be separated from either the historic revelation or the contemporary situation. “Our preaching must be specific enough to incarnate the Word in the contemporary, but it must also understand that it cannot play guru to the world. The principle of the gospel must not be left in abstraction, but neither can the pastor apply texts like Band-Aids to every specific dilemma of every member of the congregation” (p. 152). Fant is another one who would argue for the preparation of an “oral manuscript,” rather than a written manuscript, as the sermon is to be preached orally (cf. Craddock). (See pp. 165-173 for steps moving from initial study to rough oral draft, to final oral manuscript or “sermon brief.”) He has practical suggestions on how to get “from the study to the pulpit”: what to preach on, moving from idea to text, introductions, conclusions etc. And then he tackles the contemporary interest in sermonizing as story-telling in two new (to the revised edition) chapters. I found some helpful review here of the early “history” as well as the basic concept of this kind of preaching, although I also found some of his analysis here difficult (especially pp. 197-215, 216 ff.) And yet there were eloquent, engrossing passages (e.g. on “we-preaching” pp. 222-224). I also appreciated Fant’s way of describing how he got interested/involved with narrative preaching (p. 224 ff.) This, as some other parts of his book, will bear re-reading. The “logic of narrative,” limiting the focus of the sermon, seeking insight into a world, all make sense to me in sermon preparation.
In his fourth, and final, section Fant has a simply wonderful chapter on “Jesus as Communicator” (chapter 14, pp. 241-252) dealing with Jesus’ identification with and participation in his audience, his appropriate authority, appropriate affect, earthy and image-oriented language as well as his explicit and implicit manner. This is good modeling for apprentices! (I’ve already mentioned Fant’s 15th chapter on “upper and lower garble”. This is delightful and insightful stuff!) My only criticism other than the density of some of his argument, as mentioned above, is the rather abrupt ending of the book.