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Jared Pomeroy PR610: The Theology and Practice of Preaching Dr. Stacy Minger Augustine Reflection 1 !"# $01% Due to limited s&ace' ( )ill focus on s&ecific elements of Augustine*s )or+ that s&ea+ to each of the four categories identified in the assignment. 1. Augustine*s introduction &ro,ided a strong &olemic to the theological malaise that seems to ha,e e,ol,ed around the su-.ect of education )ithin the church in America' )hich ( greatly a&&reciate. /ecause education has in some )ays -een a-used or lorded o,er &eo&le )ho do not ha,e it 0&erha&s other reasons ha,e also o-tained in the American 1hristian cultural conte2t3' the ,ast ma.ority of 1hristian lay&ersons in the 4nited States ha,e a&&rehended a self5contradictory &erce&tion of education. 6ithout it7as it &ertains to the role and &erson of the &astor7they seem to ha,e difficulty affirming a &astor*s legitimacy as a 1hristian leader' yet )ith it' the &astor also -ecomes sus&ect in his or her a-ility to engage in authenticity in 1hristian life' &ractice' de,otion' and meaningful relationshi& )ith 8od and others7their +no)ledge a-out 8od has someho) usur&ed their ca&acity to know 8od in a &ersonal )ay. Augustine*s &olemic' ho)e,er' only )or+s inasmuch as one is )illing to allo) theological training and instruction a &lace of merit )ithin the life of the church. Sadly' many are today un)illing to do so. (nsightful use of theological instruction demonstrated -y a &astor in his or her &roclamation in the ministry of 1hrist to 9is church has the &otential to reframe the thin+ing of the church -y -ringing to light

the false dichotomy our 1hristian culture has a&&rehended that sets knowing about 8od o,er against knowing 8od. :or Augustine' it a&&ears that 1hristian education is &rimarily a disci&leshi& issue' a matter of s&iritual formation; 6ithout education in the :aith' no 1hristian could see+ to teach others. (n other )ords' education in the :aith )as also essential to 1hristian )itness' e,angelism as )e might s&ea+ of it today. Thus' one of Augustine*s &reoccu&ations is to sho) ho) 1hristian leaders may teach their &eo&le ho) to thin+ theologically in a &ractical )ay. Augustine*s intent is front5and5center in the rest of the te2t. ( found Augustine*s a&&roach to the Scri&tures7his hermeneutical theory' so to s&ea+7 -oth &eculiar and insightful 0&eculiar' -ecause ( do not thin+ li+e he does< insightful' -ecause it &ro,ides &ractical )isdom that does )ell in guiding one*s treatment of' and interaction )ith' Scri&ture3. This hermeneutical theory relates to -oth -i-lical and theological com&onents of &reaching and the use of &athos. Augustine relates si2 stages in a&&roaching Scri&ture: fear' &iety' +no)ledge' fortitude' counsel )ith mercy' and clearly seeing 8od. The first refers to fear of 8od in recogni=ing one*s moral o-ligation to one*s relationshi& to 8od. (n other )ords' one must recogni=e that he or she e2ists to 8od and is therefore cul&a-le for see+ing to +no) and do 9is )ill. "ne )ho desires to +no) the )ill of 8od )ill -e re)arded )ith the re,elation of 8od*s )ill to him or her. The second stage refers to one*s o,erall mentality to)ards 8od*s 6ord. 6hile fear of 8od is essentially a dis&osition to)ards 8od' &iety7or modesty in one*s hum-le attitude 7is essentially a dis&osition to)ards 8od*s 6ord. (n other )ords' one must a&&roach Scri&ture as entirely useful for instruction and insight' engaging him or her in actual li,ing relational interaction )ith the li,ing 8od. A&&roaching Scri&ture as a collection of good ideas or unrealistic ideals7or really as anything other than 8od*s real and meaningful 6ord' is to a&&roach 8od 9imself in &ride and arrogance' as one 6hose suggestions may -e considered or

ignored as one*s mood stri+es' )illy5nilly. The third stage Augustine &ro,ides refers to learning the essence of the Scri&tures' )hich is lo,e of 8od for 8od*s sa+e' lo,e of all else also for 8od*s sa+e; 6hat a )onderful )ay to a&&roach 8od*s 6ord; To +no) -eforehand e,erything that 8od*s 6ord )ill e,er teach us' yet to +no) little of the true meaning of lo,ing 8od )ithout its instruction is to em-ar+ on a .ourney of e2&loration that can -e truly enriching< for +no)ing the destination and the ine,ita-le outcome of the .ourney 0that )e get there safely in the end3' allo)s us to e2&erience fully the -eauty of the .ourney there; The fourth stage refers to the see+ing of .ustice that com&els one to &urge oneself of the lust for earthly things according to the ho&e of eternal life )ith 8od in 1hrist. The fifth stage refers to the su-se>uent sanctification of one*s life in &ursuit of rightly ordered affections to diligently lo,e others and lo,e 8od as one ought' that is a-undantly and unconditionally. The last stage refers to the resulting clarity )ith )hich one may then see 8od' ha,ing rightly ordered one*s life to reflect the character and lo,e of the Trinity. $. Although most of )hat Augustine says on the su-.ect of the use of &athos is contained in /oo+ ?' )here he deals )ith the crafting of )ords and &hrases' the eliciting of emotional res&onse' etc.' the theological hermeneutic Augustine articulates is &erha&s more im&ortant in the use of &athos and definitely at least as im&ortant. The im&lications of this a&&roach to Scri&ture are staggering; 6hat can -e immediately e2tra&olated from Augustine*s thought is the correlating meaning in the Scri&tures one im-i-es as one &rogresses through his si2 stages: )hen one has come to stage four' for e2am&le' one dra)s from Scri&ture the strong messages of 8od*s .ustice and &erha&s the harsh sayings of 1hrist' )hile )hen one has come to the first stage only' @one reflects on the .udgment of 8odA as the &rimary lens through )hich one ,ie)s Scri&ture. The im&erati,e for &roclamation thus -ecomes that one must attain to the si2th stage in order to clearly see 8od' and therefore' clearly inter&ret 8od*s 6ord. "-,iously' then' the &reaching

ministry is directly tied to the &ious life' the sanctified life' that &erennially see+s to lo,e 8od in e,erything' e,ery)here' at all times. 6ithout this life of ardor in de,otion' one cannot ho&e to see 8od clearly in order to e2&ound 9is li,ing 6ord clearly for the church. (n other )ords' not only is the &reacher inca&a-le of discerning the message of the 9oly S&irit aright for 8od*s &eo&le' -ut neither can he or she challenge 8od*s &eo&le )ith any le,el of authenticity or authority on the -asis of his or her o)n &ractice; 0Augustine ma+es the &oint in /oo+ ?' &. $%B.3 %. Augustine*s &rimary addressing of the issue of sermon structure and organi=ation comes most e2&licitly in /oo+ ?. 9o)e,er' ( found it useful to go -ac+ to his discussion regarding the use of logic for the &ur&ose of understanding a &assage in Scri&ture' found in /oo+ $. Augustine*s em&hasis in /oo+ ? is on -eing understood in s&ea+ing to others. 6ithout -eing understood' one*s s&ea+ing is in ,ain' in fact. So in the art of &roclamation it a&&ears that logical consistency throughout one*s sermon is a necessary foundational element in communication' though not sufficient to the tas+ of communication. Therefore' one*s sermon must -e structured and organi=ed around logical connections and oriented in a logical direction. A logical direction' in turn' infers a logical &rogression of ideas' necessitating a -eginning' middle' and end. (f left )ith only one or t)o of these three' a sermon )ill utterly fail in its communicati,e intent. ?. Augustine tal+s at length on the three styles of oratory: &lain' moderate' and grand s&eech in /oo+ ?. 9e says almost nothing a-out actual non5,er-al communication' &er se' -ut he does em&hasi=e the im&ortance of one*s manner of address in terms of e2ecution. 9e instructs the reader to ,ary one*s communication in any sort of sermon in order to utili=e all three styles of oratory in order to em&hasi=e one o,er the others' )hich may mean using ,ery little grand s&eech in a grand s&eech in order to -ring focused attention to the &oint of the grand s&eech' for e2am&le. 9e claims e2&eriencing great s&ea+ing is the -est teacher for students of &reaching.