homiletics: a basic glossary

Pablo A. Jiménez * www.drpablojimenez.net

This list defines briefly twenty concepts related to preaching and homiletics.

The aim of this glossary is to help students have a better understanding of the required readings and the lectures presented in the course.

The church year is the sequence of celebrations that the church observes annually. It derives from the cycles of readings, seasons, festivals and Sabbaths observed by first-century Judaism. The first Christian alteration to the Jewish calendar was establishing Sunday as the day of worship.

Although in ancient times Sunday was a regular workday, it soon became the “lord’s day” when the Christian community gathered to read scripture, to proclaim the gospel and to share bread.

Thus, the church year organizes its celebrations around the different Sundays of a given year. In its current form, the church year has two basic cycles: the incarnational and the paschal. Both begin with seasons of preparation (advent and lent) that precede the feast day related to the period (Christmas and Easter). The feast days are followed then by periods of celebration (epiphany and Pentecost).

The period between Pentecost and advent is considered “ordinary time”.

A deductive argument takes a given premise as its point of departure, deriving from it ideas that are expounded for the audience.

Deductive preaching follows deductive logic. It begins announcing a general idea or “proposition,” deriving from it“points” and exhortations for the congregation. Therefore, it moves from the“general” to the“particular.

Deductive preaching is the dominant homiletic form in the Anglo-European Christian tradition.

The delivery is the presentation of a sermon to a congregation in a liturgical context. It includes verbal aspects such as the public reading of scripture as well as the utterance of the sermon.

It also includes non-verbal aspects such as the body language of the preacher.

The doctrinal-topical sermon advances the church’s position regarding a topic, presenting the consequences of such position for the contemporary audience.

The topic under consideration may be either a Christian doctrine or a contemporary issue.

Exegesis is the research, explanation and interpretation of a document. In our context, it denotes primarily the analysis of the bible.

Biblical exegesis is a vast field that involves historical, sociological, linguistic, literary and theological analysis, among others. The aim of biblical exegesis is to determine the original meaning of a biblical text.

Expository sermons analyze a distinct section of a biblical document, expounding its message for today.

Although they usually take a “pericope” as their point of departure, they very well may analyze a unit as short as a verse or as long as a book of the bible.

Extemporary preaching refers to the delivery of sermons without notes. The phrase is used with two different meanings.

First, sometimes it denotes preaching that is done with little or no preparation; sermons that are fashioned on the spur of the moment.

Second, it refers to the delivery without notes of a sermon that have been carefully prepared in advance.

Hermeneutics is the theory of the interpretation of texts. Biblical hermeneutics is thus the theory of the interpretation of scripture.

It comprises the whole interpretive process, from the determination of the original meaning of a text (exegesis) to the elucidation of its sense for modern hearers (exposition).

Homiletics is the scientific study of the art of preaching. It is concerned with every aspect of the preaching task; from the preparation to the delivery of the sermon. These questions are studied in light of the history and the theology of preaching.

Therefore, homiletics is an inter-disciplinary field that involves the integration of exegetical, theological, historical, sociological, liturgical and pastoral aspects in to the act of preaching.

A homily is a short discourse addressed to a congregation during worship. It is usually seen as a somewhat continuous commentary on one of the Lectionary readings for the day. It flows from the reading of scripture to the celebration of the sacraments. In some circles, a homily is seen as a specific sermon form. In other circles, the word “homily” is considered to be a synonym of “sermon.”

An illustration is a literary device that clarifies an idea. Although it usually refers to a story or anecdote that supports or develops a proposition, the genre also includes similes, metaphors, analogies, allegories, examples, poems, and testimonies, among others.

An inductive argument moves from the “particular” to the “general.” It begins searching for clues and ideas that ultimately lead to a conclusion (the “scientific method” is the premier example of inductive logic).

Inductive preaching, thus, follows inductive logic.

It calls the preacher to begin analyzing particular ideas, reaching a general conclusion toward the end of the sermon.

Some traditional homiletic styles--such as narrative preaching--are inductive by nature. Nonetheless, Fred B. Craddock popularized the contemporary style known as “inductive preaching.”

A Greek noun derived from the verb “kerysso,” which means “to proclaim” or “to announce." Kerygma refers thus to the content of the proclamation.

In biblical theology it has become a technical term that refers to the single core of the Christian message. Its wider theological use is as a reference to the message of the gospel.

A Lectionary is a sequence of selected biblical readings meant to be read aloud during public worship.

The readings may be listed or set out in full. They may be continuous, semi-continuous, or isolated.

See the Revised Common Lectionary:http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/index.php

The field of narrative preaching involves at least three related disciplines: narrative sermons, narrative hermeneutics, and narrative theology.

A narrative sermon organizes its ideas as a plot. Although most narrative sermons tell either a biblical or non-biblical story, it is possible to preach “narrative” sermons based on non-narrative biblical materials.

Preaching is a synonym of proclamation. Christian preaching is thus the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It normally takes the form of a sermon delivered in a liturgical context.

Nonetheless, preaching can also take place in less structured settings.

Proclamation is the announcement of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It includes both verbal forms (such as the sermon) as well as non-verbal forms (such as the Lord’s Supper).

A sermon is a discourse addressed to a congregation during worship. Therefore, a sermon is a “speech-event," not a document. Although it usually involves the oral interpretation of a biblical text, it may focus on telling a story, exploring a topic or analyzing an event.

Sermons may be classified by their aim (call to faith, comfort, challenge, teach); by their form (inductive, deductive); or by their source (biblical, narrative, doctrinal).

The manuscript is the document that contains all the ideas that the preacher will present in the sermon.

Sermon or homiletic notes are the materials that the preacher takes to the pulpit.

The notes can be as skimpy as a list of key words or as long as a full manuscript.

Most preachers prefer to preach from an extended outline, even if they write their sermons in full.

Visit www.drpablojimenez.net