The topic.
§ 1
The theme is the sentence formulated in certain words from the text, in which the truths to be treated in the sermon are summarized into one unit.
Note 1
By "theme" is understood the determinedly formulated sentence with which the subject on which the sermon is to be preached is announced. Not all homileticians use the word in this sense. The older ones, such as J. Hülsemann, Aeg. Hunnius, J.
B. Carpzov, H. Töpffer, J. J. Rambach, and others, as well as several among the
more recent homileticians, such as A. H. Schott, F. G. Ziegler, call the main idea, which is in mind but not yet expressed in adequate words, the theme, and this, expressed in specific words, the proposition. Rambach says: "The proposition contains the indication of the matter to be treated in the sermon." Ziegler: "By the theme I understand the main thought, the leading idea of the sermon; but by proposition the word version, the form of the idea, the expression of the main thought; for we have quite often already developed a theme from a text, only the appropriate garment for it is still lacking." Admittedly, as he himself indicates in his "Fundamentum dividendi," the objection was made to him: "From what is the word ^εμα derived? and if it comes from τΜημι, does it not mean an established opinion, a sentiment? And on the other hand, what does propositio mean if it comes from proponere? Not the same thing &εμα?" And he, however, has not been able to refute this objection, but has only pleaded that he needs "the difference for the sake of the matter for his further investigation." Tittmann expressed himself in a very similar way: "One must distinguish proposition from subject; what is usually the matter for the budding preachers for one and the same. The theme is the main idea determined according to a certain point of view and prevailing throughout the entire lecture; the proposition is the sentence which determines, indicates and expresses this idea. The theme, therefore, must be the content of the proposition; the proposition expresses the definite form of the theme, i.e., it determines the theme according to the purpose to be attained by the exposition of it." Cf. the use of the word propositio in the citations given from Hochstetter and Schott in the following note.
However, already Seneca and Quintilian used "theme" to denote the proposition that is dealt with, thus using theme in our sense; and the Latin propositio in a figurative sense first denotes the "idea that one makes of something." The above distinction made by Ziegler and Tittmann may therefore be a purely arbitrary one. And since the term 'proposition' in the sense given by them has almost completely fallen into disuse, for the sake of understanding we stick all the more to the present general use of the word subject.
Note 2
A. A. Hochstetter: "The other part of the sermon, and that is, that I say so, the
Archimedean point, from which the whole sermon results and its direction can be determined, is the proposition, which, according to the difference of method, is either an analytical or synthetic one. Analytical is called that proposition which makes the scopus of the text the subject of the speech, and is (as Carpzov defines it) nothing other than the actual content of the text itself, stated in short and clear words; e.g., if someone takes the scopus of the Gospel on the 21st Sunday n. Trinit. Trinit., someone would want to treat the scopus of the same, which is the recovery of the son of the royal, so it could be given instead of the proposition.
Synthetic, however, is the name given to a proposition that presents a certain doctrine drawn from the text. Thus, for example, "the faith proven in the cross" could be presented synthetically from the cited Gospel, to which 1 Pet. 1, 7 would be excellently suited as an introduction." Whether the theme be analytical or synthetic, it is, if properly developed from the text and actually carried out in the sermon, the summary, or the expression into a unity, of the truths which are treated in the sermon. From it the speech proceeds, to it it leads back again. It either dissects what is in the The proposition is the expression of the subject, or it compiles what belongs to it and thus brings it to understanding. H. A. Schott therefore says: "An actual proposition is the sentence which expresses the theme in a definite way. It presupposes that the speaker has already completed his meditation on the theme, i.e., that he has found the materials of his lecture in general, and has arranged them in a general order, i.e., that he has traced them back to a certain main idea.... If the proposition is to correspond to its purpose, it must be so constituted that the unity of the theme shines forth from it." Likewise Palmer: "The unity of the text, the unity of the sermon, has its definite expression in the theme, which relates to the unity itself as the expression, the word, does to the thou ght. Both are one, but not identical.... Also, it must be remembered beforehand that under the theme we also deal with the moment of diversity, the parts, in so far as these are given by the text itself...."
§ 2
That every sermon must have a theme demand s the interest of both the preacher himself and his hearers.
Note 1
That the interest of the preacher himself demands that every sermon, which he wants to prepare and deliver to the congregation, must have a uniform theme, will not be denied by anyone who is only somewhat familiar with the matter. A preacher should, according to the saying of the apostle 1. Timoth. 3, 2 and 2. Timoth. 2, 24, a preacher should be "teachable", i.e. qualified to teach God's word, to instruct those entrusted to his pastoral care so that they come to a well-founded knowledge. Now the teachings o f the divine word are diverse and manifold, both in their content and use: they form an unfathomable wealth, Ephes. 3, 8. 3, 8. But the preacher is to impart and present this wealth to his listeners, and he can only do this if he has first penetrated it hi mself, has familiarized himself with it as much as is possible for a weak person, and distributes it in the right way and at the right time.
Nothing, however, requires him more to make himself properly acquainted with the text of the sermon, in which a par t of this wealth is contained, than the task of extracting from it a corresponding theme, since he has to summarize the content of the text in it; for a full, all-round understanding of the text according to its content, its relationships, etc., is the nec essary precondition for the establishment of a theme appropriate to the text. On the other hand, the treatment of a certain topic facilitates the elaboration of the sermon. In the topic, he alread y has the core of the material for the sermon before him, knows which doctrine, or which part of it, he has to present and develop, and no longer needs to search for the material from all sides, which causes him much more effort than if he makes it his task to break down the topic in its essential components. He does not have to make long, time-consuming and tiring detours to reach his goal, but reaches it by the shortest and straightest route.
The elaboration of a sermon according to a certain, limited the me, however, also saves the preacher from disorder in the same. The subject matter of the sermon must be well and clearly arranged. This is very important. Some sermons contain very important and useful teachings, splendid thoughts, but because they are no t kept in order, they shine in front of the listeners like a multicolored firework, without having a lasting effect. They only form a complete mishmash. "Our material should also," Spurgeon rightly says, "be well ordered in accordance with the tried and tested rules of spiritual construction. Not practical applications as the basis and doctrines as the keystones; not parables in the foundation and doctrines at the top; not the more important truths first and the subordinate doctrines last.... one story of doctrine must lead to another and one door of proof to another, and the whole construction must bring the hearer to a chamber from whose windows he can see the truth shining in divine light. In preaching, the motto also applies: A place for every thing and every thing in its place. Do not let the truths you utter go wildly astray. Do not let your thoughts move like a tangled human ball, but march along like a troop of soldiers. Order, which is the supreme law of heaven, must not be neglected by heaven's messengers," The thematic way of preaching also prevents one-sidedness. A preacher who preaches in this way will, if he is otherwise serious about his high calling, check his earlier sermons more often to see which topics he has already dealt with (especially when he preaches on the pericopes), whether he has missed this or that important teaching, whether he has focused too exclusively on doctrine or life. Neither the one nor the other may happen, but he must let every part of the holy scripture, gospel and law, come into its own. Doctrine, promise, consolation, invitation, commandments, warnings, threats, and punishment must be used according to the The preacher will best be able to do this self-examination if the topics of his sermons show him the content of the sermons. And the preacher will be able to do this self- examination best if the topics of his sermons show him the content of them.
And finally, the elaboration of a sermon according to a unified theme facilitates memorization. If everything in the sermon is well ordered, one part logically follows the other, one thought, one sentence follows the other, then memorizing will cause only little effort, since the framework of the sermon is clearly in mind. But to memorize a confused jumble is not only extremely difficult and time-consuming, but also an ordeal for the memory, which bitterly avenges itself with time. Franz Volkmar Reinhard, at the beginning of this century high court preacher at Dresden († 1812), the most celebrated preacher of his time, who in 1800 in a Reformation sermon professed the Lutheran doctrine of justification with su ch decisiveness that the rationalists got into the greatest excitement about it, described it as the stubbornness of his memory that he only easily grasped coherent thoughts, but could not memorize his sermons at all if everything was not connected in them by strict order. This obstinacy, however, will probably show the memory of every preacher, which is why Rambach also remarks: "If one wants to memorize a sermon, then it is presupposed... that one takes care of a good order in the elaboration of the sermon. Cicero has already said: 'Order leads to the most light in the memory'. Thus, if one wants to preach analytically, one must dispose of the text in an orderly manner; if one preaches synthetically, however, one must deal with one's subject in a quite ord erly manner, divide it up and keep it before one's eyes at all times, so that the memory is not overloaded. A sermon that is a confusing and disorderly mass is most disgusting to memorize and retain, because the memory has no thread to hold on to, to get out of the confusing labyrinth of the concept."
Note 2
The preacher who has correctly recognized the task set for him and keeps this in mind especially during the sermon, knows that he does not have to entertain his listeners for a certain period of time, but has to strive for another, higher goal, namely, to edify them, regardless of whether this is to be done through teaching or exhortation, etc. The preacher is not a preacher, but a preacher. "But he that knoweth speaketh unto men for correction" (actually edification, i.e. for the advancement of faith and w alk, which comes about through the fact that on the foundation laid, Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), edification is steadily continued by means of the Word) "and for exhortation and for comfort. He who speaks with tongues corrects himself, but he who knows co rrects (edifies) the church," 1 Corinthians 14:3, 4.
The preacher who interprets the Scriptures and proves the truth of the Gospel from Moses and the Prophets edifies the congregation and teaches it to understand the mysteries of faith (v. 2). Cf. v. 26 and Rom. 15, 2. This goal can only be achieved by the preacher when his speech is strictly unif orm, i.e. when all parts of it, even the subordinate ones, converge in one point as their focal point. Only in this way can the preacher direct the thoughts of the listeners, their ideas, to the one point and achieve that they gain an overall impression fr om the sermon and take it with them, that is, that they are truly edified. Palmer rightly says: "Without a point of unity the speech...
is not a speech, but a talking," and: "Its (the theme's) content should be the unity of the text, which has in itself, or is at least capable of taking in, the manifold things of it as moments; it is thus provisionally this unity that is to be grasped in a certain expression, which can serve as the leading thought for the whole sermon." Bauer: "The Christian interest of the assembled congregation must not be drawn here and there, thus making true gathering impossible; rather, the congregation must take away a total impression from every public, worshipful assembly, and in particular, a main Christian truth must be brought to clear and living consciousness through every sermon. In the sermon, therefore, one must not be content with bringing forward individual, scattered thoughts, which may have been accidentally stimulated by the text, but must draw all the individual thoughts to a central point. If the unity of the sermon results from this as a necessary quality of the sermon, then from this, in turn, the requirement that every sermon have a certain theme.
Luther expresses the same thing with the words: " A preacher should stick to the proposition and do what he intends to do, so that it is well understood. And: "It is up to a good preacher to be able to take a matter before him and briefly summarize and conclude it with two or three words, and then, if necessary, to strike out and explain it with sayings and examples, and to make a whole meadow out of a flower; just as a goldsmith can beat the same piece of silver thick and thick over one another into a lump, and then again beat it wide, curly and crooked, and into thin sheet metal; so that it is both a long and short sermon, and yet the same and not repugnant.
We leave here an essay on this subject by our former teacher, the blessed Professor G. Schaller, which he published in the 5th year of the "Homiletisches Magazin", and give it unabridged for the sake of its excellent content. The essay reads: Does every sermon have to have a theme? And what is the purpose of publicly announcing the theme and parts? In answering the first question, one should not overlook the fact that the word "theme" is used in more than one sense, namely, that it often designates the specifically formulated main proposition of a sermon, or the proposition, but at other times only the main idea dominating the entire sermon or speech, or the main content of the same. Apart from the question whether a formal main proposition should be placed at the head of the sermon and announced together with its main parts or not, there is no doubt that a preacher of the gospel worthy of his name will never appear without having made a plan, without having set himself a certain purpose, a certain goal of his speech, in other words, without knowing what he actually wants. In this sense, not having a theme for the sermon wou ld obviously mean just as much as speaking into the blue, speaking without any intention, without purpose and goal, without coherence, without an inwardly ordered train of thought;
it would mean just as much as making mere words, talking for the sake of ta lking, babbling. Even those preachers who, while standing before the congregation, fundamentally omit the indication of subject and parts, must nevertheless have become completely clear about their subject, as well as about the manner of treating it, must have chosen a main and basic idea, to which everything that occurs in the speech refers. And so they basically have a theme, although it does not appear externally in its own main clause. Yes, we may assert, without fear of contradiction, that, although th e classical orators of ancient times were not accustomed to announce the theme and parts of their speech, they nevertheless pursued a quite definite purpose in their speech each time and were fully aware of their intention, their plan, and thus of their entire theme. In short, without a theme in this inner sense, a speech is completely unthinkable; a speech without a theme is not a speech, but only a talking.
From this immediately follows a second point, namely, that unity is a necessary requirement of a (formally) good speech. The sermon must have only one goal, must want to achieve only one thing above all others. All the individual parts of it, even the smallest, refer to this one thing. A house is made of different materials, but all of them, connected w ith each other according to a common plan, form only one whole. Even the smallest stone in the wall serves the unified plan of the whole, and although it consists of many individual pieces and parts, the completed building nevertheless presents itself not as a multiplicity but as a unity. At the sight of it we no longer think of the individual parts as such, we see a whole before us and the beautiful harmony that connects the parts with each other delights the eye. In a formal respect, it is similar with a well -ordered speech that has been worked out according to a unified plan.
Someone might object that this pleasure in such a beautiful unity of speech is only an artistic -aesthetic one; such unity brought about by art is a thing for which simple, simple-minded Christians have no sense, no receptivity, from whic h they also do not have the least benefit; one therefore preaches God's word simply and simply, as the people understand it, and does not worry anxiously about a certain order; the people always grasp and retain only individual pieces from the sermon, not the whole. We take the liberty of remarking that we are of a different opinion. The majority of the listeners, as they are on the average, will of course not always be able to give an account of why this or that sermon, drawn from God's Word according to a unified plan and delivered in a lively manner, in which every word was in its right place, one supporting the other, made such a captivating and powerful impression on their minds. But the same listeners notice it very soon when a preacher without order, without aim, without plan throws all kinds of things together. Of course, there can be no question of an impression, of an overall impression, such as the listener should take away from every sermon of the divine word, of a shocking of the mind, of a movem ent of the heart, of deep emotion, of serious holy resolutions born in a contrite spirit, etc., with such a disjointed, disjointed and disorganized way of preaching. So bring unity, bring plan and order into your speech, or you yourself will throw insurmountable obstacles in the way of the influence of your sermon. Just as it should be noted with regard to the sacred ministry that we preachers are in no way able to strengthen, support or increase the power of the divine word, but that we are able to weaken, stop and hinder it. With all our diligence, faithfulness, effort and art, we cannot contribute in the least to the greater effectiveness of the word we preach: it is the Lord alone who strengthens the word in the hearts through his Spirit. But by our unfa ithfulness, by our lack of diligence, by our timidity in thinking about how to present the word in the most wholesome, forceful and moving way, by our disregard for the natural laws of eloquence, we will undoubtedly greatly weaken the right impression of the preached word on the hearts of the hearers. We should therefore make every effort, spare no effort, no diligence, so as not to hinder the effect of the word on our part.
This is not to deny, however, that the heavenly word retains its inherent divine power at all times and under all circ umstances, and that even individual sayings and torn pieces of it can save a soul to eternal life. But who would claim that when a word of God penetrates powerfully into a soul from a carelessly elaborated, incoherent and disorderly sermon, converts it and brings it to faith, who would claim that this happened through the carelessness and indifference of the preacher, and not rather that it happened in spite of it through God's special effect of grace? As is well known, St. Paul counts among the necessary r equirements of a bishop that he be "teachable", that he be a good "didactician" (1 Tim. 3, 2, 2 Tim. 2, 24). The apostle undoubtedly demands that he does not merely present fragments of Christian doctrine that have been torn off and thrown together as they come into his mouth, but that he is able to present and prove this doctrine in context and thoroughly. But does this not exclude all kinds of confusion and confusion in teaching, does it not set order and systematic arrangement of the speech as necessary? - However, there is no difference of opinion among us as to whether every (formally) good sermon, which does not merely want to be a continuous, simple, edifying explanation of Scripture, should be based on a uniform plan, a theme. On the other hand, a di fference of opinion could be found concerning the question whether this theme should be regularly announced to the congregation in a rounded main sentence (theme in the usual sense) together with an indication of the main parts concerned or not.
And here w e admit that the great orators of classical antiquity considered it finer, more oratorical, more proper and wiser to veil rather than to reveal the bone structure of their speech. They preferred to let their speech affect the listeners as an artfully structured whole, without interruption by giving parts, without incision. They intended to surprise the listeners and to win their approval unawares. They were concerned with instant persuasion, with getting the people to agree to a resolution, to an undertaking to be carried out immediately, or, in court cases, with winning over the judge. But whoever, like those old orators, merely wants to persuade the audience, would certainly be acting very unwisely if he wanted to betray his plan of campaign in advance, if he said: "Fellow citizens," I will show you immediately what I intend to persuade you to do now, keep such and such points in mind, and the following are the reasons with which you are to be assailed and overcome!
Under such circumstances, the persuaders would seek to arm themselves and cover themselves against the speaker's reasons in advance, and the unwise popular speaker or court advocate would hardly achieve his purpose. The preacher of the gospel is in a completely different case. His profession is completely different from the profession of an orator of classical antiquity. In his case, it does not depend, as in the case of the latter, on persuading his listeners in the space of an hour to certain resolutions and deeds, on determining the judge to a favorable verdict, on surprising and overpowering both of them by presenting true and sham reasons. No, he is Christ's servant and witness, a teacher and messenger of the gospel. He does not present new and surprising truths, but the long known, ancient, eternal gospel. His task is not to inspire the listeners to worldly undertakings and deeds, but to instruct them with the heavenly word, to feed them, to break the bread of souls for them, to frighten the secure with God's law, to refresh the frightened by the consolation of Christ's wounds, and to proclaim the beatific word, as it never becomes obsolete in truth, again and again in new freshness, in new power of witness, with new joyfulness. How different his office is from the profession of a worldly and completely pagan state orator! He needs no ostentatious ornaments. He does not want to merely persuade in an ingratiating way. He wants to convince. And his means to this end is not the art of man, not the wisdom of the world and of reason, but the pure Word of God, the heavenly light. He does not want to achieve earthly goals, but to make the souls entrusted to him blessed, to gather selected sheaves into the heavenly sheaves and to help fill the tables of the eternal supper on his part. And here the question is obviously not: How should a preacher begin, so that he equals the old a nd famous classical orators, a Cicero, a Demosthenes? but: How does he most surely achieve the purpose of his office, to make men, sinners, blessed? And what influence will this consideration have on the arrangement and delivery of his sermon? We think tha t the following applies here:
"Summa utilitas omnis regula", and: "Salus populi suprema lex esto!", principles from which undeniably arose the custom of announcing the subject and parts of the sermon in a sharply marked manner. And we must confess that thi s way not only does not seem reprehensible and unworthy of a Christian pulpit orator, but even appropriate, fruitful and practically beneficial. Among our dear listeners there are also children and simple -minded people, untrained in thinking, who would fin d it difficult to find out and memorize the main idea of the sermon around which everything revolves, The comprehension capacity of the congregation therefore entails other considerations than mere oratorical ones. The c learer, the more transparent and retentive the main content of the sermon is to the listeners, the better. This is undoubtedly served by the indication of subject and parts, through which the inner division of the main content becomes visible and by means of which the listener can follow the lecture in such a way that he always knows at which point the preacher is now standing. The whole sermon becomes more transparent, clearer, more comprehensible to him, and he follows with greater interest, with more rapt attention, than if he were in an impenetrable forest during the lecture, and did not realize that the preacher had come to the end of his subject until the longed-for "Amen" sounded.
Note 3
In the foregoing treatise, a distinction is made between an external, formal theme, which is placed in certain words at the head of the sermon, and a "theme in the internal sense," which underlies the sermon but is not stated; the former is called absolute ly necessary, the latter relatively necessary. Without a doubt, this distinction is correct, as the various genres of sermons show with respect to their form. We therefore leave here a brief characterization of them. In general, there are four types of sermons: the homily, the analytical, the synthetic and the analytical-synthetic sermon.
1. the homily.
The homily is a self -contained speech on a passage of Scripture, which is not delivered according to the rules of art speech, nor does it move within the boundaries of a particular theme and its parts, but finds its limitation only in its text. But again, two kinds of homily can be distinguished. The first, which may be called the laxer or freer, has no other leading thought than that which is found in the te xt to be explained, which is explained word by word, or sentence by sentence, according to its circumstances and relations, and the doctrines contained in it are singled out and applied to the hearers according to need. This kind of homily is similar in form to a catechesis and is used in the so-called Bible lessons. It has the special purpose of introducing the listeners to the Scriptures and making them familiar with them. The other, firmer and more orderly, adheres to a leading main idea, it has a "theme in the inner sense", to to which everything given in the text is related. Of course, this leading main idea must be taken from the text, but it need not be the scopus, as in the analytical sermon, for the homily is not bound to this in its freer treatment. This type of homily does not differ from the analytical sermon, as is often erroneously assumed, in that the latter has a theme while the latter does not, but rather only in the way that in the analytical sermon the scopus of the text, formulated in a theme, is placed at the head, while in the homily the leading main idea is expressed in brief summary words at the end; that in the analytical sermon the preceding theme is resolved, dissected, and thus brought to the understanding of the listener, but in the homily he is led on by the preacher step by step until at the end the main idea appears before his eyes in all clarity. Thus, this kind of homily is just as strictly uniform as the successful analytical sermon. And who would deny that it has unmistakable advantages over the other types of sermons? As is well known, no less a person than Luther made use of it. He says of himself: "I cannot make a sermon according to art, and it often happens to me that I am ashamed of my sermon soon after it is over, and think that it was very cold. But others have afterwards praised it to me very much." And concerning the presence of Melanchton in his sermons he said: "I do not like to see him in my lessons or sermons, but I put the cross in front of me and think: Philip, Jonas, Pommer are not in there, and let me think that no one is smarter in the pulpit than I am." But whoever has really studied Luther's sermons will have found that his homilies are by no means artless, however little he has followed the rules of art speech. The leading main idea is present and carried out everywhere in them. One only has to look at his sermon on the Gospel on the Sunday of Palmarum in 1534 (according to Röhrer), dissect it and notice how he expresses the main idea, which guided him throughout, at the end in the words: "This is what our dear Lord Jesus Christ wanted to show us with his entry into Jerusalem, so that we might learn to know him rightly, and be here on earth in the kingdom of the world with our left hand alone; but with our right hand there in that life: just as we are also baptized into the life to come." Thus Luther followed the example of the apostle Peter in his great, powerful sermon on Pentecost, Acts 2:14 -36, in which the theme of it is given with victorious clarity in the words of the last verse: "Know therefore all the house of Israel assuredly, that God hath made this Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christian."
Concerning the advantages of this homily, Hüffel says: "The homily is more Bible interpretation and for this very reason causes a greater acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, at least it leads deeper into the more specific situations of the same; the homily furthermore usually arouses more interest for the matter through its variety, while the synthetic sermon in its strict unity not seldom tires; the homily leads the preacher, as well as the listener, more into pure, genuine, biblical Christianity (?) and therefore removes from so many idle questions and things of the school..., the homily finally has a more powerful effect on life, because it touches more specifically the individual sides of it; for since its actual texts are history and parable, which can be so easily transformed into the history of one's own life, everything is placed closer and for that very reason is more effective. From these points of view, therefore, the homily deserves preference over the synthetic sermon."
We leave here a draft of a homily by Grotefend on the parable of the unjust steward. He sets up as the leading main idea: "Sources and Consequences of a Careless and Wasteful Life. Source: a) the opportunity to acquire the means of wastefulness that presented itself to the steward in the management of the entrusted property; b) careless way of thinking that the same showed afterwards in the application and choice of his means of salvation; c) opportunity to spend in lavish company. Consequences: 1. loss of confidence and office; 2. temptation and seduction to the worst frauds; 3. perhaps a dishonorable and sad end." Of course, a Lutheran preacher will frame this outline differently in terms of content.
Grotefend remarks on this draft: "If these sentences are derived from the passage and immediately interwoven with individual instructions, admonitions, warnings and observations, the form becomes freer, and what could well be a sermon in a stricter form becomes a homily. The freer form of the homily also seems to require that the sections not be marked and emphasized, as is done in sermons, but that they be chained to each other unnoticed, as if the remarks had offered themselves. For this very reason, the main clause is not announced, but seems to arise gradually of its own accord." Still the following 'dispositions' as examples of drafts for homilies: "a) the stone which the builders rejected; b) this is to the corner stone; c) it came to pass from the Lord, and d) it is marvelous in our sight. (Fr. Arndt.)
- On Joh. 12, 35. 36: "a) the light is still with us for a little while; b) therefore believe in the light; c) that you may be children of the light." (Wolf.) - On Rom. 1, 16: "The gospel is a) a power of God, b) for salvation, c) to those who believe." (Hagenbach). - On Matth. 6, 13: "a) You are the salt of the earth; b) But if the salt becomes dull, wherewith shall it be salted? c) it is of no use henceforth, for" etc. (Kähler.) - About Joh. 8, 21: 1. I go away; 2. ye shall seek me; 3. and die in your sins." (Gerock.) These 'dispositions', if one wants to call them that, were counted by Palmer among the synthetic ones; but they are nothing less than that, for they have no unified theme in which the parts would be united; there has been no conclusion from the text for the purpose of obtaining the theme; the individual parts are therefore not the necessary members of the synthesis obtained from the text, but the individual 'pieces' of the text in their given order. The sermons on these dispositions are therefore nothing other than pure homilies.
2. the analytical sermon.
"The analytical method of preaching," writes S. Göbel, "is this, that the text is broken down into its parts according to the author's intention and the original meaning of the same is explained and applied. It is commonly called the textual method, and preferably so; not because the synthetic method of my kind is a textual one, but because it is primarily and directly concerned with complete and genuine explanation of the text. It is also called natural by some, because it presents the text for consideration according to its nature and divides and treats the text by means of a natural disposition or according to the original position and connection of the parts and proofs.... The analytic method is bound to the natural order and thought connection of the text; for as a thing is put together, so it is also broken up." P. Bauer calls analytical sermons "those in which the clergyman analyzes the text before the eyes of the congregation and, as it were, together with them develops theme and disposition from the text."
The analytical way of preaching consists in explaining and applying the text of the sermon (in the case of some gospels and epistles, which consist of several unrelated topics, also only a part of the text, which then forms the actual sermon text) according to the scopus of the writer in a naturally orderly way. When designing an analytical sermon, the scopus is always to be used. The first question must be: What is the text about? The remark of Joh. Fr. Mayer is correct: "The analytical method is the easier one, because one is brought to it by means of the logical resolution. Therefore, it is to be recommended to the beginners in the most decisive way, so that they do not dare to try the other, synthetic, method until they have become completely familiar with it.
3. the synthetic sermon.
"The synthetic sermon," says Goebel, "is this, that one chooses one or the other subject and treats and applies it on the basis of the text. It takes its name from synthesis or composition, because it composes the treatment of one thing, not seeks to recognize that which is composed by anot her, which is the task of analysis. It is therefore called by another name the locale or doctrinale, and the dogmatic or thematic, because it is concerned with the treatment of some locus communis, or of some Christian doctrine, or of some theme, whether d ogmatic or moral.... It is called the Philippistic method by its originators, because Philipp Melanchthon used it in his postils, which Chemnitz, Chyträus, Simon Pauli, Mathesius and others have imitated.... The synthetic method is freer and recommends i tself through rich diversity of forms.... It serves the texts to be repeated annually and the circumstances of the persons, the time, the place (when dedication, farewell, marriage, funeral sermons, etc. are to be delivered) and is suitable for various cases and purposes." More briefly and accurately, Rambach says: "In the synthetic method, a certain doctrine is elicited from the text and treated in detail according to its parts and arguments, which are presented by the text, whereby attention is to be paid partly to the subject to be treated, partly to the manner of treatment. The foundation of the synthetic disposition is thus a porisma, a theorem, which either lies with explicit words in the text, or can be deduced from it by correct inferenc e. This is called the synthetic method of συν and τι^ημί, I put together, because one namely puts together from the text that which belongs to the execution of the theme and then puts it together so that a body of sermon becomes out of it."
How do the two methods agree and how do they differ from each other? Both explain the text, either in whole or in part; the analytical directly, the synthetic for the sake of something else, namely for the sake of the chosen theme, indirectly and as far as is necessary for the The synthetic one, however, does not deal with the theme of the text itself, but with another one. Both deal with a theme; the analytical one with the theme of the text, whether it be in the text or outside the text in t he preceding or in the following; the synthetic one, however, not with the theme of the text itself, but with another, freely taken from the text: the theme of the sermon. Both methods seek the proofs contained in the text; the analytical, insofar as these relate to the theme and goal of the text according to the sense of the Holy Spirit; the synthetic, insofar as these serve the execution of the freely chosen theme and can be applied. Grotesend gives many advantages as advantages of the analytical sermon. He writes: "First of all, it is an alternation, which we often look for, and in all synthetic sermons have to look for it in small side circumstances, in which the alternation cannot stand out significantly.
Then the listener believes to find the result with us, he is drawn into the investigation and arouses in him an increasing interest in it. Thirdly, one is relieved of the often unpleasant repetition and review of what has been said before; finally, one has the opportunity at the end to dwell with interest and warmth on the main proposition and to make the conclusion of the sermon quite important."
4. the analytical-synthetic sermon.
The very name of this genre of sermon shows that in it the analytical and synthetic methods are in a certain respect united in application. The following words of G. Bauer: "Sermons that combine the unity of a certain theme with a constant, intimate connection to the text have been called analytical-synthetic sermons.... We are not at liberty to declare this method of preaching to be the most perfect (in form).... While the analytical sermon is actually founded in the concept and essence of the sermon itself, the synthetic one finds its justification in practical necessity.... If one had to preach on the same text year after year, one could not always treat it according to its scope, if one did not want to repe at oneself sooner or later; rather, the need arose to treat only a single thought contained in the text (or suggested by it); and one will not be able to reject such a procedure where a prescribed text comes into conflict with the present needs of the preacher and the congregation; only then the preacher will also say honestly and simply why he does not treat the whole text, which he has nevertheless read as the basis of his contemplation.... If it is a matter of imprinting certain main Christian truths in general, going into the specifics of a longer text could be can be downright disturbing. Such a case occurs especially on Christian feast days.
In analytical-synthetic sermons, the text is used in all its individual parts. From the text, a certain limited theme is developed and placed at the top, and in the same way, certain parts taken from the text and subordinate to the theme are given, so that the whole text is considered only in the light of the theme. But the text is not always treated verse by verse, but rather according to the natural, logical sequence of the thoughts conditioned by the th eme, as it is to be put together from the individual parts of the text. If the order of the verses and expressions of the text coincides with the natural, logical sequence of thoughts as required by the theme, then this order of the text is naturally follo wed, but the circle of thoughts does not move within the wider limits of the text, but within the narrower limits which are drawn by the theme. Thus the whole text is treated as fully as possible, but not according to the scopus of it, but according to the doctrine engaged in the subject; thus in the former it is analytical, in the latter synthetic. "Every correct sermon," writes Hagenbach, "is both analytical and synthetic, in that it must aim both to develop the thoughts contained in the text from the sam e, and to bring what has been gained from the text under a leading main thought and to bring this to light. The main thing is that the sermon grows out of the text. For even though the logic of the speaker may intervene in a dividing and ordering way when it is a matter of giving direction to the tree that is growing out of it and branching out further, the people have a sure feeling in this when they demand that the preacher " stay with the text," interpret it and do it justice in all respects as far as possible. The more thoroughly this is done, the less the preacher will run the risk of straying into the hundredth and thousandth, which can happen with a superficial analytical treatment of the text just as well as with a synthetic treatment of the subject according to arbitrary categories." *) *Rambach seems to define more precisely the difference between the "synthetic" and the "analytic - synthetic" sermon. He counts the latter to the "synthetic", but then distinguishes between a primary and secondary synthetic theme. He calls a primary synthetic theme one that is developed from the whole text and harmonizes with the scopus of it; a secondary one that is taken from only one part of the text and does not harmonize with the scopus. It is obvious that such a primary synthetic theme requires the use of the whole text, because it is derived from the whole text and is in harmony with the scopus, thus making an analytical explanation of the text necessary. "The closer the synthetic sermons come to the analytical method," Rambach remarks, "or have an analytical explanation of the text as their basis, the better they are. In this, the same Frank has particularly excelled, as can be seen from his If we now look at these different types of sermons, we see that each of them (with the exception of the laxer or freer homily, which is not really considered here) must have a theme; only in the homily, this theme is not fixed in certain words and placed at the top, but rather occurs, more as a result, at the end.
§ 3
According to its content, the subj ect must be strictly textual and directly practical.
Note 1
The first indispensable demand that must be made of a theme is that it must be strictly in accordance with the text. No preacher can be expected to penetrate the true meaning of the text, to understand it in all its aspects and to explain it correctly, i.e. according to the actual intention of the writer. The text is that to which the preacher refers and with which he legitimizes himself before the congregation. A false legitimation, however, is as good, even worse than none at all. Therefore, no foreign meaning may be imposed on the text, but the words of the text must be taken in the sense that they must have according to their context; otherwise, the preacher is guilty of a pious fraud, which is always fraud and, especially with the multifaceted content of the Scriptures, cannot be replaced by anything else. Otherwise, the preacher is guilty of a pious fraud, which cannot be excused by anything, especially in view of the many-sided content of the Holy Scriptures. And if the listeners realize that the meaning which the preacher wants to convey from the text does not lie in the fact that he imposes a different meaning on it at another time, they will be misled by him and lose confidence in him, with out which his sermon cannot achieve its purpose.
Accordingly, the theme is textual only if it is constructed from the correctly understood text, if it has incorporated not only the teaching given in the text, but also the particular characteristics of the text. Furthermore, the theme can be called strictly textual only if it is applicable only to the present text and not to a second or third text. For even if several texts contain the same doctrine, the environment or some word, expression, circumstance of the text to be treated is present, by which it differs from its parallel passages. This will immediately become apparent in the disposition and treatment and must therefore also find its expression in the theme, because this is the quintessence and the center of the text. In any case, those themes are not The first example is the one that can be seen in the Evangelical and Epistolary Postill, and if one has an inclination and skill for this, then one can well take its kind as a model. - We note this for a better understanding of the examples given in § 3, note 1, p. 90, as primary synthetic themes.
The following is a list of the most important topics that fit several different texts, which have the same main content, but differ from each other in their specific characteristics. This is especially true of those topics that are not sufficiently defined, i.e., are too broad. Some examples will show this. Text: Ps. 90, 10 (Our life lasts seventy years, and when it comes, it is eighty years, and when it has been delicious, it has been toil and labor; for it flies by quickly, as if we were flying away); Theme: "Toil and labor the delicious thing about earthly lif e." This theme would be based on false exegesis, because the psalmist's intention is to show that life is not the most delicious good of man because of the nothingness and the short duration, the toil and labor that it entails. The same would be true for the topic of Rom. 8, 38. 39 (I am sure that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus): "The never wavering love of the believer: to God," for it is not the love of the believer to God, but the love of God to the believer that is spoken of in the text.
Hüffel rightly says: "We reject every sermon, and can at least not grant it the predicate of a sermon according to Scripture, which denies and circumvents the substance of the correctly understood word of Scripture, or even which contains in its essential constituent parts something quite different from what is contained in the word of Scripture itself, and which takes up quite insignificant secondary matters in the text and leaves the main matter untouched." As for t he other point that a theme is not textual even if it fits two different texts, Phil. 4, 4 (Rejoice in the Lord always etc.) and Is. 61. 10 (I rejoice in the Lord, and my soul etc.) can serve as examples. If the subject would be: "The joy of the believers in the Lord," it would not be strictly in accordance with the text, neither with regard to the first nor the second word, because in any case it would be too broad. For on the basis of Phil. 4, 4 it would have to read with consideration of the "always": "The constant joy of the believers in the Lord;" but on the basis of Isa. 61, 10: "The reason of the joy which the believers have in the Lord." How different both topics are, and how different the sermons to be preached about them would have to be, is obvious at first sight. As further examples Luc. 1, 37 (With God no thing is impossible) and Luc. 18, 27 (What is impossible with men is possible with God) can be cited. Both texts are related, because both deal with the omnipotence of God.
God, and yet a textual theme about both must be quite different. To be strictly textual, however, the theme need not lie directly in the text; it can possess this property if it is derived indirectly, by a proper conclusion, from the text. Immediately, for example, the subject is in the ep. on Sonnt. Mis. Dom. 1 Pet. 2, 21-2S (For to this you also were called, etc.): "The calling of Christians to suffer after the example of the Lord." Likewise in the Ep. on the 1st Consecration, Tit. 2, 11- 14 (For saving grace has appeared, etc.): "The purpose for which in Christ the saving grace of God has appeared to all men." Even then, the theme often lies directly in the text, if it is not expressed in explicit words, but is nevertheless clearly given in its parts;
e.g. Ps. 67 (b. 3, that we recognize his way; v. 4-6, thank him with the nations; v. 7-8, confidently hope for further blessings from him). Theme: "What should God's blessings encourage us to do in the past?" The parts are clearly in the text, so they are only to be summarized in the main sentence or theme to be found. The foundation of every derived theme is a porisma, a theorem, which is obtained by a correct conclusion. As a rule, the conclusion must be 1. obvious and 2. not too artificial and easy to understand. These themes, which lie indirectly in the text, are to be treated especially in historical texts and are therefore to be gained from them. Thus Dr. Walther from the Ev. am Sonnt. Laetare: " That even now many, as once the Jews, want to reproach Christ and make him king. " The conclusion to the extraction of this theme is contained in the preceding words: "But the peculiarity of the history of our text consists in the fact that the people... also now decided to hash him and make him king. Although it now seems as if this could have happened only at that time, it is not so. In a certain sense, not only can the same thing still happen now, but it really still happens today only too-often and by only too-many so-called Christians."
This conclusion is obvious and consequently the theme lies indirectly in the text. Cf. the theme on the Ev. on the 12th Sunday n. Trinit.: " Of the daily sanctification of a justified Christian." If we summarize what has been said, we see: The analytic theme lies directly in the text, because it grasps the scopus of the text in itself; the synthetic theme lies indirectly in the text, because it contains a porism, a theorem, which is obtained from the text by correct inference. In order to obtain an analytical topic, two questions must be answered: 1. what is the text about? 2. how is it about it? Is it telling, or teaching, or disproving, or admonishing? The answer to these two questions is given by the subject.
Examples: Gospel on the 2nd Sunday of Epiphany, John 2:1 -11 (wedding at Cana). What is this gospel about? About the first miraculous work of Christ. How is it about this? Narrative. Co nsequently, the theme is: " The narrative of Christ's first miraculous work." - Ev. on the 21st Sunday after Trinity, Jn. 4:47-54, (Of the Royal). What is this Gospel about? About the healing of the son of the king. How is it about this? Narratively or historically. Therefore, the subject is: "The story of the miraculous recovery of the royal son. - Text: Gen. 3, 15 (The first prophecy of Christ). What is this text about? About the spiritual conflict between Christ and Satan. How does it deal with it? Prophesying. So subject: "The first prophecy of the controversy between Christo and Satan." - Text: Matth. 5, 17 (You shall not prophesy etc.) What is this text about? About the error that Christ appeared to abolish the law. How does it deal with it? Refuting. Accordingly, subject: "The Refutation of Error, etc." - Text: 2 Timoth.
3, 15. 16. 17. What is this text about? About the holy Scriptures. How does it deal with it? In praise or praising. So subject: " The praise of the holy Scriptures." - Text: Isa. 49:14-16 (But Zion saith, The Lord hath forsaken me, etc.) What is this text about? About the lamentation of Zion. How does it deal with it? Comforting. So subject: "The glorious consolation which God gives to the lamenting Zion." Since the indication of how the text deals with the doctrine it contains is not always necessary, but rather often makes the subject cumbersome, it can be omitted, so that e.g. the subject: "The story of the first miraculous work of Christ" is simply: "The first miraculous work of Christ;" the subject: "The story of the miraculous recovery of the Son of the King," is simply: "The recovery of the Son of the King," etc. (On the fact that the subject should also be euphonious, see § 4, note 5.).
The synthetic theme is obtained from the text by a proper conclusion. Attention must be paid to 1. the theme itself and 2. the way in which it is to be treated. As for the theme itself, it can be either primary or secondary. It is primary, if it results from the whole text and harmonizes with the scopus of the same; secondary, if it is taken from only one part of the text, and does not conflict with the scopus of the text (for this must never be the case), but does not correspond to it in all parts either. Examples: Primary synthetic themes: Ev. on the 21st Sunday after Trinity, Joh. 4, 47-54: "The blessing of the cross;" "The weak faith;" "The growth of faith. " These three themes lie in the text, because through the cross, the illness of his son, the royal is driven to Christ, finds hearing of his request and believes with his whole house. - His faith is still weak, he thinks that the Lord must come to his house, etc., if his child is to be healed, wants to see signs and wonders, but his faith grows, forsakes signs and wonders, sticks to the Word alone, etc. All three themes arise from the whole Gospel and are in harmony with the text. Ev. on the 11th Sunday after Trinity, Luc. 18, 9-14: "How must those be who want to pray attentively?" This theme is also in accordance with the scopus of the Gospel and flows from the whole Gospel, for both the Pharisee and the tax collector pray in the temple, but the one is heard, the other not. Why? The answer is easy to give from the Gospel. - Ev. on Sund. Trinit., Joh. 3, 1-15: "The doctrine of regeneration." One can see at first glance that this theme flows from the whole Gospel and is according to the Scopus. - Cf.
the following themes by J. Ph. Fresenius in his Epistle-Postille: Ep. am Sonnt. Mis. Dom., 1 Pet. 2, 21 -25: "The blessedness of those men who have Jesus for their guide on the way to blessedness." (1. An excellent rule and process how they should walk, v. 21-23; 2. a faithful high priest who gives them strength and grace enough for their walk, v. 24; 3. a loving shepherd and overseer, v. 25.) - Ep. on the 2nd Sunday of the. Adv., Rom. 15, 4 -13: "The complete hope of believers." (1. What it works in us, v. 4. 5; 2. with whom it is found, v. 8-13; 3. what it actually consists of). Secondary-Synthetic Themes: Ev. on the 11th Sunday n. Trinit., Luc. 18, 9 - 14: "The shame of a penitent sinner." This theme is taken only from the words of the 13th verse: (The publican stood afar off, neither would he lift up his eyes to heaven) and does not correspond to the Scopus, for the Lord did not want to speak of this object in this simile; but still it does not contradict the Scopus. - Ev. on Sonnt. Trinit., Joh. 3. 1-15: "The sinful curiosity in matters of faith," taken from Nicodemus' question in v. 9: "How may such things come to pass?" Themata like this are, of course, very rare to use. - Ev. on the 24th Sunday a. Trinit., Matth. 9, 18-26: "The mocking spirit of the unbelievers," b ased on the words v. 26: "And they mocked him." Rambach makes to this The comment: "This is a secondary topic, but it is very necessary in our time and place.
As for the manner in which a synthetic theme is to be treated, according to the well-known fivefold use of the Scriptures, this may be either didascalic, or elenchtic, or paedeutic, or epanor thotic, or paracletic. However, with all the freedom that a preacher can make use of here, two things must be taken into account, namely: 1. which kind of treatment corresponds most to the text, 2. what the condition of the congregation requires as the most necessary. The following synthetic themes about the words of Christ, Matth. 6, 33, (Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you) may serve as examples.
A didascalic theme: "The one thing that is necessary." A miserable topic: "The refutation of the error, as if one suffers loss of earthly things through godliness. A Paedeutic Theme: "Christ's Exhortation to Seek First the Kingdom of God." An epanorthotic theme: "How sinful are those who let earthly things be their chief concern." A paraclete theme: "The comforting promise for those who seek first the kingdom of God." Further, themes on the Gospel on the 21st Sunday of Trinity, John 4:47-54 (On the Royal). A didascalic theme: "The growth of weak faith." A wretched subject: "How the Lord refutes those who only want to believe when they see signs and wonders."
A pedagogical theme: "In what should the royal serve as an example for us?" An epanorthotic theme: "How the Lord rebukes the weakness in the faith of the royal?" A paraclete theme, "What blessing the cross brought to the royal?" Themes that are too far -fetched, too artificial, or not even in the text are the following: Ev. on Sund. Epiph., Matth. 2, 1-12 (Wise Men from the East): "We have other signs of the times, from which we can predict with unmistakable certainty the destinies of countries and peoples in general: sin remains the ruin of men; but godliness exalts a people." This 'theme' has derived its author in the following way: The circumstance that the gospel speaks of a star has led hi m to the astrology of the old time. He rejects this as superstition and points to other signs. These are: Sin or piety, from which the destinies of nations can be determined beforehand. Grotefend rightly remarks: "This theme is not derived from logic, but from wit, because it is only a contradiction....
One does not see what confirmation the truth presented in the theme should get from the text. The text almost descends to a motto, which seems to be maintained only because it is ordinary." Ev. on the 19th Sunday of Trinity, Matth. 9, 1 -8 (About the gout-ridden man). Theme: " The harvest as an incentive to seek forgiveness of sins. " How did the preacher come up with this topic? He had to preach the Thanksgiving sermon that Sunday. Now, since the Gospel speaks of the Lord's power to forgive sin, the harvest and the forgiveness of sins had to be united. Very artificial! Just as strictly logical and artificial were the two parts: 1. the harvest is often an inducement to sin - thus also an incentive to correc tion. 2. through correction we make ourselves more worthy of the blessing of the harvest! -Ev. on the 20th Sunday after Trinity, Matth.
21, 1-14. Topic: "How the cultivation of the land can become an inducement to sin. On the epistle of the same Sunday, Ep hes. 5, 15-21, a similar master supplied the theme: " The connection of devotion with social joy!" - About the ep. on the 2nd Sunday a. Trinit., 1 John 3, 13-18: "Bon of the duty to sacrifice one's life in the service of the fatherland!" These are themes wh ose derivation is so artificial that it could only be brought about by the enlightened rationalists.
Note 2
The requirement that the subject must be practical means that a subject must contain an important doctrine of faith or morals that is useful for edification in faith and godliness. As long as Joh. 17, 3 says: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, that you alone are the true God, and that you have sent Jesus Christ"; as long as the word Joh. 14, 6 applies: "I am the way, the truth and the lif e; no one comes to the Father, but through me"; as long as every preacher, according to Acts. 16, 31, every preacher must always call out to every listener: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your household will be saved"; as long as God has called us not to uncleanness but to sanctification (1 Thess. 4, 7) and therefore the admonition of Hebr. 12, 14 is always necessary: "Pursue peace toward everyone, and the Sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord"; for so long a preacher must never lose sight of Luther's word s: "Therefore a good preacher should not preach anything else to the people, but only Christ, so that he may be known, what he is and what he gives: so that no one may step out of his word, and Christ alone be taken for the shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. This is what is to be preached to the people, that they may know their shepherd.
After this also the example is to be set; that as Christ did and suffered all things for our sakes, so also we should gladly do and suffer all things for the word's sake. These two things are to be preached in Christendom" (E. A. 3, 386). The preacher should be a wise master builder according to the example of Paul (1 Corinthians 3:10), who should first of all lay a good foundation, but then build on it, not wood, hay, stubble, but gold, silver, precious stones. He should preach that by which his listeners grow in faith and increase in love toward one another (2 Thess. 1:3); by which they grow "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18). The subject of every sermon must therefore also correspond to these requirements, becau se the teachings to be dealt with in the sermon must be summarized in it, the content of the subject therefore determines the content of the entire sermon. Consequently, no subject may be chosen as a theme that does not serve edification. Subjects dealing with politics, agriculture, natural science, history, medicine, etc., are therefore absolutely reprehensible. By dealing with such topics, the pulpit would be desecrated and desecrated, which is why even Grotefend advises the............... preacher: "He should only teach religion and make it vivid in the general relations to life, but mind you, only in the more general relations, not in the petty applications, which go too much into the individual.... without teaching all this in detail and even bungling into politics a nd housekeeping, technology and agriculture, medicine, jurisprudence and legislation.... Many subjects of human life can be touched upon in general, but cannot be brought to the pulpit in detail, because precisely by treating them too individually the religious point of view is lost, or too far removed from view. From this it already follows that not even the moral doctrine or morality may be treated as a mere doctrine of law or morality from philosophical principles, or as an eudamonistic doctrine of prud ence, because thereby the religious aspect is always lost." As is well known, in sermons on such subjects the rationalists of the 18th century did incredible things. Steinbrenner preached on the art of prolonging human life; Grot delivered three sermons on the legitimacy of inoculation with smallpox; Schley published " Landwirthschaftspredigten," and Zerenner "Natur- und Ackerpredigten für Landleute. (Cf. Cap. II, p. 4, note 3, p. 35 f.).
But not only such topics are to be rejected as impractical, but also all those which, although taken from the holy Scriptures, would m ake unimportant, problematic, sophistical, or quite incidental things the subject of preaching. "One should," says Luther, "pull out the teats on the preaching chair and feed the common people with milk; for a new church is growing up every day, and it needs to be taught the children's doctrine in a fine and simple way. Therefore, only the catechism should be diligently practiced and the milk distributed; but the high, subtle and pointed thoughts and the strong wine should be kept for the clever ones. " (E. A., 62, 348.)
Rambach writes: "The topics, so one erwählet, must be of such a nature that they serve to promote faith and godliness, consequently they must contain an important truth from the doctrine of faith or morals. There are many questions in both pa rts of theology whose knowledge is not absolutely necessary for salvation, e.g., will we see God in eternal life with the eyes of the body or only with the eyes of the mind? Likewise, whether the present world should be completely destroyed or only transformed? But such matters do not belong in the pulpit, but in the lectern; instead of them, more important truths belonging to the order of salvation can be dealt with, such as repentance, faith, love, justification, good works, the cross, prayer, etc. This, then, is to be noted in the subject to be treated." In an unsurpassable manner Luther elaborates this in the preface to his interpretation of the prophet Zechariah; it reads:
"God, the Father Almighty, has given us at this time many excellent, learned people, who act mightily on the Holy Scriptures, both in the New and Old Testaments. May He also help us and give us grace, that we may know and give thanks, amen. In addition, more and more reckless spirits are found every day, who know no end to their art, a lthough, as St. Paul says, they do not yet know how they should know. They ride high, on top and nowhere, just as if they had long since torn the common doctrine of faith, love and the cross by the bootstraps; they fall on figures, secret interpretations, and the like. and allegories, and they are themselves so full of fine thoughts that they lick and jump:
just as Origines and Jerome did in former times, who made the world full of allegories, and yet gave little to the common useful doctrine; so that the blasphemer Porphyrio was given honest causes to mock the Christians, as if their doctrine were such vain interpretations. So now, too, someone wants to be a new Deutelmeister. This one takes Daniel, that one Apocalypsin fur, and so on, either what is most difficult, or what has the most allegories; there they want to prove their art, but pay no attention at all to how useful they are to the poor common man, but how artistically and splendidly they can teach, and are, praise God, now all highly learned doctors who need nothing from us. And even if they interpret for a long time and a lot, they still have nothing certain on which one would like to build.
Now this would be a good thing for them to suffer, if they did the same with themselves or with the scholars, and also gave the unlearned people their share, that is, the simple teaching of the faith of Christ. For I daily find that there are very few preachers nowadays who can understand and teach the Lord's Prayer, the faith, and the ten commandments rightly and well to the poor people; and because they fly high in Daniel, Hosea, Apocalypsis, and such heavy books, nevertheless, the poor pauper goes, listens, and pays attention to such splendid gawkers, with great wonder. When the year is over, they can't read the Lord's Prayer, nor the Faith, nor the Ten Commandments; which are the most important pieces, as the old, right, Christian catechism, or common instruction for Christians. I don't know how much more useful such scrubbers are to the poor people than those who preached Aristotle and spiritual law before.
There are also some enthusiasts who boast of the great art and spirit of the ancient histories of the biblia. They say that the tabernacle Mosi and priestly garments must be invented, etc. Let there still be imago et veritas, and know not how many high, great, excellent things there are: so that they do nothing, but open the mouths of the froward rabble, just as if it were a small thing that it is revealed to us how we have been redeemed and saved from sins and death through Ch rist; that we know how to keep God's commandments, and to bear the cross and persecution, etc. No, such things are nothing, they are fine; yes, like the goose the Psalter. I myself have had ten such high prophets, who always want to teach me high things and the most spiritual spirit; and when I do not want to accept it, but want to stay with the bad, crucified, simple Christ, they get angry, go away, and create havoc.
Therefore I ask and admonish everyone, both teacher and student, with all Christian faithfulness: First of all, not to despise those who can interpret the Scriptures, and who are able to do and to give the difficult books, for Paul says that the prophets are not to be despised, nor the spirits dampened, only that they do it in the places and to the persons where it is useful and necessary; as Paul teaches the Colossians, that their spee ch should be useful where it is necessary; but the interpreters, who place all their art on allegories, which of course do not seek much benefit, but great fame (as I worry,) do not greatly respect. For without such art one can well be a Christian and be blessed, because they interpret nothing or even rarely something certain.
The best and most useful teachers, however, and the best of all, are those who can teach the catechism well; that is, those who teach the Lord's Prayer, ten commandments and the faith correctly, these are strange birds. For there is neither great glory nor appearance in such; but yet great profit, and is also the most necessary sermon, because in it is briefly comprehended the whole Scripture, and there is no gospel in which one could not teach such, if one would only do it, and take care to teach the common poor man. Such short things must always be blown up to the rabble, as Our Father, the Ten Commandments and faith, and then urged and driven upon in all the Gospels and sermons: they nevertheless (unfortunately) learn little enough of them; and as S. Paul speaks, they turn from the truth to the Moravians.
For this reason I have also read this prophet Zechariah and have now let it go out, forsooth, not for the common people, but for th ose who like to read the Scriptures at home and want to strengthen themselves in faith; but mostly for the sake of the careless spirits who fall into allegories and also feign mastery. For since this prophet has many visions, and much interpretation is needed, I have wanted to help forestall the same spirits, and to show, as much as is in me, that it is not so great an art to give allegories and interpretations, as they boast and wonder; but that one should seek the right mainstay, faith, always and in all prophets, which, unfortunately, do very little, and jump about as if it were an unnecessary thing.
But Christ our Lord give us all his Spirit and gifts, not for our glory, but for the benefit and improvement of Christendom. For this purpose also the Spirit alone is given; as Saint Paul says 1 Corinthians 12, that it may be equally and rightly distributed, namely, to us shame and dishonor for our sins and iniquities; but to the Lord praise and honor, love and thanksgiving for his unspeakable grace and gifts for ever and ever. Amen." ___ 97____
§ 4
In terms of form, the theme must be limited, clear, short, unified and melodious.
Note 1
Even if the content of the subject is by far the most important thing, the version, the form of the same must not be neglected. This is all the more important because the form determines the content in a certain sense. Just as human thoughts are expressed in words, and if this expression is to be appropriate, the right, appropriate words must be chosen, so this must also be done in the formulation of a sermon topic. An improperly chosen or even wrong word, often gives the theme a completely different direction from that intended, directs it toward another goal, or gives it a wrong content, because the word has a different meaning and thus must awaken wrong ideas in the listeners. Therefore, the form of the subject must be considered with all diligence.
According to the form, the theme must be first. The fact that the theme must have this characteristic follows from the time allotted to a sermon. In no case should a sermon last longer than an hour (and this also only on special occasions); for ordinary sermons, no more than half an hour, at most three quarters of an hour, should be taken up, because otherwise the listeners would become tired. According to this extent of time, therefore, the subject must also be limited or determined. "Since a sermon," writes Grotefend, "is limited to a certain length because of time, this part of the religious doctrine (which is to be treated in a sermon) must be "so finely limited that it can be presented in one hour, according to the purpose of the speaker.... One may therefo re demand of a well -placed topic that it determine these limits, consequently some topics may be defective because they have too wide a scope.
E.G.: Jesus the light of the world ". But the topic must also be limited because otherwise, if it is really treated in the sermon according to its essential content (which should always happen), too much is expected of the memory of the listeners. As little as a preacher may rightly be required to exhaust his text, so much is the demand justified that he treat his subject exhaustively according to its essential components. If this happens with a topic that is too extensive, it is too rich, and the listeners are not able to absorb the fullness of the material: they are overwhelmed. Examples. Themes that suffer from the lack of limitation are: " repentance", "justification", "sanctification", "sin", "marriage", "the struggle of the Lord", "the city of God", etc. It is obvious at first glance how exte nsive these topics are, so that it is impossible to treat them in the time allotted to a sermon. Incidentally, they are not only topics but rather headings, in which the further defect is found that in them no judgment is pronounced, which should happen in every topic, since the nature of the speech requires that it not only arouse ideas in the listeners, but also wants to act on their will, inflame their feelings, move them to resolutions. For this reason, all topics that consist only of one word, such as "Gethsemane," "Judas," "Peter," etc., are to be rejected. To them must be added either a more definite genitive, or an apposition, a definite adjective, etc., thus: "the secret in Gethsemane," "Judas, the traitor," "the penitent Peter," "the merciful Samar itan," etc.; one sees that by such an addition a judgment is pronounced in a shortened form.
Furthermore, such topics are to be objected to as too unlimited which begin with an "Ueber" or "Von", e.g.: "On the resurrection of the flesh"; "On the justification of the sinner before God"; "On the duties of the subjects against their authorities"; "On Christian freedom" and so on. Such themes do not announce to the listener what the content of the sermon will be, but leave him uncertain about it in their vagueness until the sermon is closed with the Amen. As often as such themes have been used by famous preachers: in expression they are too indefinite, for which reason Grotefend rightly remarks: "In this respect especially many sentences are defective which begin with 'about,' because after the same one can almost say what one wants;
others which promise some remarks, or some recollections; and still others which have no article at all, e. g., 'glimpses into eternity'; in which the speaker can glimpse what he wants." As is well known, J. Ph. Fresenius was a master in disposition. But as far as we know, he did not set up a topic that begins with "Ueber", "Von", "Einige"; at least, among the 69 topics on which he preached in his Epistel-Postille, not a single one of this kind is to be found, not even one without an article.
Note 2
The subject must be clear, secondly, so that the listeners can understand and grasp the content of the same without further thought. "The theme," says Rambach, "must be clear and transparent, so that the listeners can reach the understanding of the words without laborious reflection. The propositio (theme) must not be a riddle, about which the listeners must rack their brains; but it must be clear and distinct, and at the same time spoken clearly and slowly, so that all in the whole church may hear and understand it; therefore everything must be avoided which might cause obscurity in the proposi tion." Palmer: "This (the definite expression) makes it necessary that the subject.....no unnecessary words, no oratorical accumulation, no stretching interjections (even better none at all), but genetives, adjectives and participles should be used sparin gly. We repeat: rather no subject at all, but a continuous lecture, if it cannot be put into a round sentence." In the. Subject are therefore to be avoided a) duplicity; b) prolixity; c) excessive brevity; d) artificiality.
Examples to a: " The best occupat ion in the hearts of Christians." The word occupation can be taken in a proper and a flowery sense; hence the subject ambiguous, double-meaning. Examples to b: "How we can call ourselves true followers of Jesus in the manifestations of charity only if we do not allow ourselves to be deterred from the same even by sacrifices." (Briefly, "True charity, following the example of Jesus, also brings sacrifice.") - "The self-denial of His Son, crowned and glorified by the heavenly Baier with exuberant glory." (In short: "The exaltation made upon Christ's humiliation.") Examples to c: "Two always necessary glimpses ". This is a theme of the Gospel on the 1st Sunday after Trinity, and the parts: 1. a view of hell, 2. a view of heaven! Apart from other errors, the theme suffers from too much brevity, therefore from vagueness and ambiguity. According to the thoughts of the preacher, which we can guess from the parts, the theme should be: "Two always necessary glimpses into eternity. The theme would have the same error: "The great love." It would be indeterminate whether the love of God, or of Christ, or of any human being was meant. So, depending on that, it would have to say: The great love of God for sinners," etc.
Examples of ä: Ev. on the 19th Sunday n. Trinit., Matth. 9, 1-8: "The stroke river put to flight." - "The sickbed carried by its burden." Such themes already amount more to a joke. - "The loping deer's feet of a lame man." The occasion for this theme was given by the words in the saying Is. 35, 6 for the intro duction: "Then the lame will loll like a deer." Related to the ones just listed are rhymed themes. Only a few examples: On Col. 3, 12-17: The new man as St. Paul paints him, Yet outshines all the splendor of the world." Let us see: 1. His robe rich in color;
2. his gold belt band;
3. his heart's state of peace;
4. the weapons of his hand.
On 2 Peter 1:16-21: "The word of the apostles and prophets, makes all doubt blush."
1. if you consider it according to its content;
2. if you ask about its origin;
3. if you cherish it according to its prescription."
Themes in which the parts appear in rhyme also belong here. Ahlfeld has the following rhymed parts on the topic: " Where can a feast of death be celebrated?": "Where firm faith is enthroned, - Where the new life dwells, which can never be killed, one celebrates a feast of death. About the Gospel on the 2nd Sunday after Epiph. Joh. 2, 1 -11 he provides the following parts in rhyme on the theme: " A look into the Christian household ": "To the wedding the Lord is invited; - He supports the house in cross and damage; - He sanctifies the joy by grace; - Therefore hold fast to his path s." For other examples, see: Homil. Mag., vol. 1, p. 88; vol. 7, p. 188. - Still the following topics as true samples of affectirte artistry: Ev. on the 18th Sunday n. Trinit., Matth. 22, 34-46: " The Lord Jesus as the master with the learned tongue, how he 1.
masterly respondiret; 2. masterly proponiret; 3. masterly opponiret." Ev. on sund. Cantate, Joh. 16,5 -15: "Des Herrn Jesu Abschiedscantate. 1. the beginning of which is in B-flat major, or a hard tone; 2. the ending, however, is in B-flat minor, or a soft tone."
E. Quandt is right when he writes poetry:
"You are a preacher. Are you a poet, So see to it that he does not Going into the pulpit with you." Other artificial themes have been delivered especially by G. Cober in his "Cabinet-Prediger", which also leave nothing to be desired in terms of coarseness, but certainly must not be imitated. E.G.: "The sow with the golden hair ribbon." - "The crowned ass." - "The one on Nail hung conscience." - "The hired court messenger." - "The fox-tail in the pulpit." - "The' useful muteness." - The nested Ehrgeitz teuffle." - "The flailing ox with the ba ndaged mouth." But still, figurative (schematic) themes must not be rejected by all means. Rather, they are permissible if the text itself is a figurative one and therefore probably even demands a figurative theme. The Lord himself has so often spoken in pictures, parables!
E.g. the Gospel on Sunday. Sexagesimae, Luc., 8, 4-15, (Of the sower) demands under circumstances a figurative theme, like: "The hundredfold fruit of the divine word." Further: Ev. on the 4th -Sund. n. Epiph., Matth. 8, 23 -27, (Christ on the impetuous sea): " The storms which the little ship of Christ's Church has to endure." - Ep. on the 21st Sunday
a. Trinit., Eph. 6, 10 -17: " The spiritual armor of the fighters of Jesus Christ ." Cf. the
Gospels on Sun. Septuagesimä, Matth: 20, 1-16 (Of the workers in the vineyard); on 2. Sund. n. Trinit., Luc. 14, 16 -24 (Of the great supper); Ep. on Sonnt. Septuagesimä, 1. Corinth. 9, 24 ff. (On the Race of Christians.) But Rambach's warnings that one should not set up figurative themes "which are not in keeping with the bliblical manner of speaking and simplicity," and that one should be even more careful of those "which are contrary to the dignity of a teacher and can easily cause laughter;" e.g., on the Ev. on Sund. Invocavit, Matth. 4, 1-11: "Christ as the heavenly fencing master;" Ev. on the 1st Sunday a. Trinit, Luc. 16, 19-31: "The rich man as a distiller of brandy."
Palmer: "Whether a figurative expression of the subject is allowed, one has already wanted to doubt. Why should it not be? After all, in all language, image and actual speech flow into one another in such a way that we cannot draw a sharp line of demarcation anywhere, and it goes without saying that biblical images, such as light, path, vine, physician, etc., also have their value in the theme. In the meantime, however, moderation is very much to be advised." (Homil. p. 469.) Rambach also remarks: "One can also sometimes synthetically treat a thema mysticum (mystical theme) from a historical text. This is especially the case in such gospel texts in which miraculous cures of Christ are described. For example, on the 14th Sunday after Trinity, the leprosy of sins could be spoken of..... On the 24th Sunday after Trinity one could talk about spiritual death, 1. what it consists of, 2. how one is delivered from it. In the same way, spiritual blindness, deafness, paralysis, dumbness, etc. can be spoken of at times.
Note 3
The theme must be short, i.e., it may contain only as many words as are necessary to express the thought clearly and definitely. "The proposition recommends itself especially," says Quenstedt, "by pleasant brevity and clearness. With few words, I say, and indeed with the clearest and plainest, it should be delivered, because it is the most important part of the sermon and contains the summa of the whole sermon, which the hearer must become quite familiar with and have clearly before his eyes." Carpzov: "The proposition must be stat ed in a tangible, definite, unadorned, brief, and clear manner, lest the hearer remain uncertain and wavering and doubtful, not knowing what to expect."
In the subject, all superfluous words, including those used for "embellishment," as Alsted puts it, are to be avoided, but as many as clarity requires are to be used. Examples: Topics that are too wordy and therefore too long: "To which feelings the truth encourages us that, because of the confession of Christianity, we do not have to struggle with such persecutions as the first Christians, but also perhaps do not equal them in adherence to the same." "What courage and zeal for good it must instill in us that we have before us in the founder of our religion not only the most sublime model of the most perfect greatness, but also the most gentle and loving teacher of the most reassuring and powerful truth."
One sees that the striving for definiteness has caused these themes. But precisely because of this, they have become too long and incomprehensible, because intermediate sentences had to be inserted. The latter theme, for example, could have been given in the following words: "To what end shall the example of Christ in his perfection serve us?" Themes too short and therefore unclear: "Surrender is help." - "In life, death." - "In death, life." - In these themes, brevity is achieved at the expense of clarity, since the meaning is not perfectly expressed.
Note 4
The theme must be unified, i.e., the content of the theme must be held together by one main idea, so that two or even several different ideas are not placed next to each other. "One main idea in it" (the proposition) Ziegler rightly demands, "must dominate all the other limiting ideas contained in the main proposition, so that one does not place two and more objects and instead of a seemingly single proposition, in fact, two and more main propositions. Examples: "High-mindedness and small -mindedness, two main defects of the human heart." "Of Christ's Love and Self-Control." "The Holy Spirit and his miraculous work, the Christian Church." "The low and the high at the birth of our Savior."
"Bon God's love and wisdom." The above sentences, the number of which could very easily be increased, contain two main ideas placed side by side, that is, in reality, two themes.*) 'They could easily be made unified approximately in the following way: "The weakness of the human heart in its haughtiness and pettiness." "The Christian church, the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit." "The wonderful union of the high and the low at the birth of the Savior." "The wisdom of God in the manifestations of his love."
Note 5
Finally, the subject should also be euphonious. Therefore, all vulgar words and expressions as well as clumsiness in sentence structure must be avoided. As for the former, the topics given by Cober in note 2 serve as examples. Regarding the latter, those that contain too many proper words or appear in participial form usually suffer. Examples: "The great, incomprehensible, exuberant love of God for the lost world lying in the filth of sin," instead of, "The incomprehensible love of God for the world of sin." "Invitation to the very merriest and most blissful and most honest wedding that ever was or may yet be." "The daughter of Zion rejoicing over her king arriving," better, "The joy of the daughter of Zion over the arrival of her king."
"The Church looking forward longingly to her Savior appearing on the last day." Palmer: "Even linguistic beauty, euphony, is not without value." Rambach: "A proposition can be pronounced in many ways, either by a noun, or a participium, or by a verb, in which case each can make use of its freedom. *However, such double words may be justified if the preacher is concerned to emphasize the importance of both truths and to summarize them by comparing them with each other.
1. by a noun, e.g.: Sunday 1st Adv. can be introduced from the Gospel: "The future
of the King to the daughter of Zion."
2. by a participle, a) an active one: "The king coming to the daughter Zion; or b) by
a passive participle: "The daughter Zion rejoiced by the future of her king....
3. by a verbum: we want to consider how Jesus came to the daughter of Zion . -
Concerning the participial form, Rambach makes the certainly correct remark: "This latter form is most preferred by those who love the verbal pomp, because it sounds splendid and oratorical to their vain ears. But the same can also be used in innocence." Certainly, the setting of the themes in this form is not to be rejected completely, if they are simple and melodious in it, not ponderous. Thus Dr. Walther also used this form, although very rarely. Among his "sermon drafts" are three such topics, namel y on the Gospel on the 3rd day of Easter, Luc. 24, 36-47: "The peace resulting from Christ's victory over sin and death" (p. 96); on Matth 27, 11-14: "Christ's confession before Pilate that He is the King" (p. 176); on Ps. 128,2: "God's call also addressed to you: 'Blessed art thou, for thou hast done well'" (p. 363). A participle used in this way often stands in place of a whole relative clause and therefore makes the subject short and easier to retain. - In many cases, however, what Palmer (p. 410) writes is correct: "In regard to the participles, the manner of older preachers is to be disapproved of, who, in order to determine the subject in a quite substantial way, also very often used cumbersome participial clauses, e. g.: The grace of God leading to repentance and continuing in it (A. H. Franke, on Ps. 25, 8); Man forgetting God, but not forgotten by God (on the Ev. on 20 Trinit.) Such subjects would have been much better put in the form of two sentences."
§ 5
The means through which the subject is fou nd is meditation (in the strict sense) on the divine truths presented in the text.
Note 1
Finding the topic often causes great difficulties. Not only beginners in preaching, but also older practiced preachers must agree with Hüffel's words: "It is truly not apparent to the preacher how much care and effort he often spends on a The main idea, which seems so simple and easy to the listener, has been turned around. Many a preacher often sits there for a long time, looking at his text again and again, pondering from which side he should treat it this time, which thought presented to him he should choose as the main thought. What is more, it is not uncommon for him to spend several days pondering two or three thoughts before he comes to a conclusion as to which of them should be the subject of the n ext sermon, and once he has made up his mind, it is not uncommon for the preparation of the subject to cause new difficulties. For often the chosen subject does not immediately appear in a fixed form, but only in general outlines; it stands more or less like a mist before the mind's eye, and it is above all a matter of giving it a fixed, definite form; it is a matter of becoming completely clear about the chosen subject and then shaping it into a useful theme by means of correct wording.
The means that is used to obtain a subject is meditation, in the strict sense of the word. Meditation is a sustained reflection on a given subject. If this reflection is directed toward the text itself, nm to explore it first, to recognize its content in its entirety according to its main and secondary thoughts and the thoughts connected with it, then this is meditation in the broader sense, or the exploration of the text, which has been dealt with in more detail in chapter 3. But when this preliminary work is done, it is a matter of looking more closely at the truths obtained from the text: which of them stands out as the one that is superior to all others, or dominates, as the main truth, or, if there are several truths of equal importance (which is the case with most longer texts), which of these should form the subject of the sermon: the fruitfulness and usefulness of the subject matter must be examined; from which point of view it is to be treated, and finally it is necessary to express the subject matter in a correspondin g theme and to break this down again into its essential constituent parts: that is, in short, to sketch the disposition of the sermon. This is meditation in the narrower sense, the task of which is to examine the truths recognized through the study of the text for their fruitfulness and usefulness, etc., and to arrange them into a unified whole.
Concerning this distinction of meditation into a general and a particular one, Grotefend writes: "About the invention of the main sentence" (theme) "some things can only be said in the case when one's own meditation is undertaken in order to find such a sentence from a given or chosen text; for sometimes, when reading the Bible, a passage appeals so kindly that the wish arises: about this passage you would like to preach once, without one being immediately aware of a theme. Dignity. This meditation, which is done with the intention of a theme to be invented, can be divided into preparations and into the actual meditation itself. However, now and then an object presents itself, as it were, of its own accord, which can be used as a theme without further laborious reflection, and which does not need to be formulated, e.g. a so -called locus classicus, which is given either in the Holy Scriptures or in a well-known hymnal song, such as Matth. 17, 4: "Lord, here it is good to be. Joh. 6, 68: "Lord, where shall we go? Thou hast words of eternal life;" "By grace, here is no merit;" this, however, happens only in rare cases. In general, the theme is the fruit of a sustained meditation, which therefore cannot and must not be relinquished to any preacher, if he wants to otherwise design a textual theme and preach textually, i.e.
according to the Scriptures. It is therefore quite wrong to let the development of the theme precede the meditation; already wr ong because then in the vast majority of cases the truths given in the text must be pressed into the theme as into a finished form, if they are used at all. Tittmann writes about this: "Often the main proposition only hovers darkly in front of us, or is at least not thought of in a definite enough way; often it has several points of view between which one still wavers. This indeterminacy must be eliminated for the time being, and one must try to grasp the main idea in a definite and firm way. This can only be done by reflecting on the whole, since one is only then able to grasp and place the main proposition correctly when one has thought everything over carefully. Therefore, only after meditation is it possible to express the main proposition correctly in s pecific words, and it is not at all advisable to do this earlier, because otherwise the case can easily arise that the elaboration does not fit the subject. This error, which is peculiar to almost all sermons of the untrained, that they state something different in the proposition than they carry out in the sermon, certainly arises from that disorder that they first establish the theme, perhaps even elaborate it, before they have firmly determined the meaning and the point of view of the main proposition through meditation." Of course, this meditation is more profound, more exhaustive, or more superficial and limited, depending on the gifts, knowledge and experience of the meditator, depending on his natural talent and inventiveness, knowledge and spiritual experience. Luther's word is also valid here:
"Prayer, meditation and challenge make the theologian! So much in general about the meditation and its necessity to design a textual and formal theme.
Note 2
However, some hints can now be given as to which direction the meditation has to take in the individual cases, and by which the obtaining of the theme is considerably facilitated. The preacher has to find either 1. a suitable theme for special occasions, special cases, or 2. a suitable theme at all for the ordinary times. The first case is present at the high festivals of the church year: Christmas, New Year's Day, Church Friday, etc.; Reformation, Harvest Festival, etc.; laying of foundation stones, consecration of churches, etc., and at all casual speeches; the second with respect to the ordinary Sundays. For the high feast days, the specific pericopes are available.
Assuming an understanding of them, it is a matter of finding a suitable theme for the feast through meditation. But one has often preached on the feast gospel or the feast pistle and must not repeat the theme already treated! In this case, what direction should the meditation take? The answer is, first of all, to look for a synthetic theme in most cases. "It is clear," says Dr. Walther, "that when certain feast texts in particular are treated according to the analytical method, e.g. both the Gospel and the Epistle on the feast of the Holy Trinity and on the day of St. Michael, the Epistle on the feast of th e Holy Trinity and the Epistle on the feast of the Holy Trinity are treated according to the analytical method. The purpose of the feast must be placed at the end and can only be taken into account in the introduction; and yet it is so important that the preacher should most faithfully use the feasts, especially the high feasts with their great deeds of God!
After all, if properly used, they are, as much as the preacher cares, his most beautiful and richest harvest time in the church year. Other texts, on the other hand, become like plucked flowers through synthetic treatment, e.g., the Gospel on the second day of Christmas and on the second day of Easter." Then, however, the general purpose of the feast must be made clear. The feast is not celebrated merely to commemorate God's great act of redemption of the world of sinners on which it is based, but if the celebration is to be a true celebration, the circumstances under which it took place, the causes and effects, the consequences, etc., must also be taken into consideration. If this is done in the meditation in a reasonably exhaustive manner, it will not be so difficult to find a new suitable subject again and again. It is not necessary that each new topic is completely different in content, but it will be set up each time from a different point of view and insofar appear as a new one. "According to the history one should also diligently indicate the benefit," says Luther, "so that we may get the right juice and flavor from it."
Some themes about the Gospel on Christmas Day will illustrate this:
1. "On the unspeakable importance of the outwardly so miserable birth of the infant
child in Bethlehem."
2. "The incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of a world of sinners, the
most glorious revelation of God the Father."
3. "The glorification of God through the incarnation of His Son."
4. the old and ever new tidings that through the birth of the infant child in Bethlehem
the door to the beautiful paradise has been unlocked again". 5, "The low and the high in the birth of Christ."
6. "Heavenly Father's Gift of Love on Christmas Day."
7. "The unique importance of the birth of Christ."
8. "The Angel's Joyful Christmas Message."
9. "The First Holy Christmas Celebration."
10. "The birth of Jesus Christ as the most glorious object of the good pleasure of
men."
11. "The Christmas Message: To You the Savior is Born!"
12. "The alternate song of the holy angels at the hour of the birth of our Lord Jesus
Christ." If no special theme is to be sought for a particular case, but if we are dealing with sermons for ordinary Sundays, the pericopes are, of course, to be looked at first. Their content generally determines the choice of theme, if the sermon is to be textual; never should the theme be imposed on the text, whether it be a free text, a Gospel, or an epistle, or be only remotely related to it. Some pericopes, such as the epistle on sund. Some pericopes, such as the epistle on Sunday, Quinquagesimä (1 Corinthians 13), deal so exclusively with one subject that only it can be chosen. The only question is from which point of view, or from which side, the subject matter is to be treated and accordingly the theme is to be expressed. Let us use the aforementioned epistle as an example. From it, among others, the following themes can be developed:
1. "As Paul praises love as the most glorious of all Christian virtues;" a) as the most
indispensable, vv. 1-3; b) as the most fruitful, vv. 4-7; c) as the everlasting, vv. 8-13.
2. "The royal law of love." This is it a) in terms of its nature, b) in terms of its binding
force.
3. "Christ's suffering, the most powerful motivation for love." With consideration of
the approaching Lent. - Christ showed in his suffering everything that the apostle says about love in this epistle: longsuffering, kindness, etc.
4. "The apostle's exhortation to exercise love with all earnestness." a) Whom he
exhorts; b) What he exhorts for; c) The reasons he gives. (5) "In which love surpasses all other Christian virtues." In that it a) first gives all others their value, vv. 1-3; that it b) unites the others in itself, vv. 4-7; that it c) outlasts all others. 6 "Love as the fulfillment of the law."
7. "The marks of true love."
8. "Love as the adornment of all other gifts." (With consideration of ch. 12, 31.)
9. what is the relationship between faith, hope and love? (V. 13.)
Other pericopes offer several important truths on themes at first glance. For example, the epistle on the 2nd Sunday of the Adv. (Rom. 15, 4 -13), which belongs to those that are more difficult to treat. It offers the following topics:
1. the apostle's exhortation to right concord among believers. a) What does it
consist of? V. 5: being of one mind, etc.; v. 6: unanimous praise; v. 7: receiving one another. b) How do we arrive at it? B. 4 and 9: use of the Word of God; vv. 5 and 6: union with Christ; v. 7: Christ's example. c) What should move us to it? V. 6 and 7: God's glory; v. 8 and 9: Christ's behavior to ward us; v. 13: our own growth in joy, etc.
2. "The one mind of the faithful." (V. 5.)
3. "Christ, the God of the Jews and of the Gentiles." (V. 8-12.)
4. "The true communion of saints."
5. "Godliness the source of brotherly love."
6. The holy Scriptures are the source of all true comfort. (V. 4.)
7. God is the source of all patience and comfort. (V. 5.)
8. "God a God of hope." (V. 13.)
9. "Christ a minister of the circumcision." (V. 8.)
10. "How the mercy of God is glorified in the Gentiles." (V. 9.)
11. "The truthfulness of the promises of God." (V. 9-12.)
12. the complete hope of the faithful." (V. 13.)
Now, if a pericope offers a whole number of objects for treatment, the question arises: which one must be chosen? The answer is: The one that either the condition of the church requires, or the one that appeals most. The congregation may need mainly doctrine, because it is still weak in knowledge; or exhortation, because it lacks not so much knowledge as zeal in sanctification, etc.; and this must be taken into account in the choice of the subject, for the sermons are to be contemporary. Otherwise, however, the subject may be chosen which grips and moves the preacher himself, because he will treat it better and more fruitfully than one which leaves him cold; he will be all the more likely to strike the heart and conscience of his listeners with it.
But the theme must always be developed from the text, never one br ought in from the outside, in which case the text actually becomes completely superfluous. This is what a certain Dr. Alt did in his "Andeutungen aus dem Gebiet der geistlichen Beredsamkeit": "Do you know where my themes are elicited from the spirit? It ma y sound ridiculous to you when I say it, perhaps honorable; but it is true. When I play with my children, - while I praise my good wife, because she advises me so sweetly and lovingly, - while I am angry with the naughtiness of the servants, - while I watch the indolence of my woodchoppers and listen to their mean speeches, - listen to the quarrels of passionate neighbors, - the industriousness of eager card players, the curiosity of newspaper readers, the sauntering idleness of beer juggers, the slug movem ents of bowlers, the insipid conversations of empty heads, the sweets of young fante, the distastefulness of old fops in society, I find and dispose of my topics endlessly!" Admittedly, completely after the manner of those rationalists who, far above God's word, had to give instructions for moral "mending" from the pulpit down. On the other hand, Stier says quite correctly in his Keryktik: "If the great and important question arises:... "Where does he (the preacher) get the confidence and authority, extending to all the individual things he has to say in this sermon according to this text, to say this very thing right now, and indeed also as the word of God in the congregation? - Then we can and may only answer, together with all those who understand and experience: He must also experience this from the text, and only from the text must he take this authority, which permeates the whole sermon down to the last detail. Every mere so-called use of the Bible word for the introduction of completely separate thoughts, of which one knows and admits that they actually have nothing to do with the text, we must declare impermissible according to the principles of true biblical keryctics". - J. H. A.
Ebrard in his "Prakt. Theologie", in which he writes, among other things: "How does a sermon come about? The first and most difficult and most important work is meditation. Whoever takes it easy with meditation, whoever does not let meditation cost him sour work, will never produce a proper sermon. But every sermon must have a certain scopus, if it is not to become mere chatter. The first business of meditation, a s it were the generating moment of the whole sermon, is therefore that the preacher asks himself: What do I want? What do I want to accomplish with this sermon? Where to, to which point of the knowledge of salvation, of faith, of love, of repentance etc., to which inner grasp do I want to bring my congregation? This is the meditation of the Scopus. This can happen in two ways: either the preacher comes from the text to a Scopus, or he comes from the Scopus to a text. The former case occurs when he preaches on a whole section of Scripture in turn, and now the verses come next; or also when a passage of Scripture has particularly seized him inwardly, has become important and bright to him. The given text is then a means given to him, and he must ask himself: w hat success can I achieve with this means, with this weapon? what end can I achieve with this means? - The other case occurs when in a series of sermons he treats a number of Christian doctrinal points in systematic order, and this time such and such a doctrinal point comes up; or also when his pastoral observation tells him that such and such a defect or error or evildoing in the congregation is to be overcome. The purpose he wants to achieve is given, and he now looks for a text which presents itself as the means to achieve this purpose. How he has to proceed in both cases, we now have to examine in more detail. If the scopus is the first thing given, i.e., if the preacher is clear that he wants to put the particular point of the knowledge of salvation or of the life of the congregation to the heart, to promote it in that particular direction, then he must first of all, before he thinks of looking for a text, calmly consider that scopus from all sides and examine it from all sides. This is not a task that can be quickly completed in a quarter of an hour; rather, these thoughts must accompany and occupy the preacher in all his ways. If there is a sin, a spiritual disease in the congregation, which he wants to fight, he asks himself: where are its roots? And he examines it carefully and according to life and not only according to the compendium of dogmatics and ethics.
He grasps the disease in its connection with the nature of the natural man, but also in its He should also ask himself: which moment of knowledge of salvation is suitable to strike the consciences and hearts, and beware of using carnal and unfair motives. He further asks himself: which moment of the knowledge of salvation is suitable to strike and hit the consciences and hearts? and beware of the application of carnal and dishonest motives. Furthermore, he asks himself: which points are given in the moral or Christian consciousness of the congregation, to which I can connect, which sentences of self - knowledge and knowledge of salvation, which the hearers grant me from the outset? For how foolish it is to build proofs or exhortations on premises that the listeners do not believe! To an unbeliever, for example, who begins to smile at the word "original sin," I cannot prove the necessity of salvation from original sin; I must first prove original sin to him in the sins of the deed. I must seek out the remnants of knowledge of truth that are still there and link them to it. Peter is not convinced of the divinity of Christ before the Jews, Apost. 2, did not start from the divinity of Christ, which they did not believe, but first from the prophecy of Joel, in which they believed, then from the fact that Jesus was proven to be a man sent by God through miracles and signs, which they also could not deny. We must do the same; start with sentences of which we are sure that the listeners will say yes to them. Once we have taken them by the arm, as it were, we must now lead them on step by step. With careful, calm, repeated reflection, it will soon become clear which course must be taken, which path must be taken, which moments must be touched upon one after the other in order to reach the intended goal. - When all this is completely clear to the preacher, it is then time to think about a scripture passage which possibly contains all these necessary moments, or at least gives an unavoidable reason to touch upon them. This requires Bible study, Bible knowledge, Bible reading. If the text is given, the preacher does not hurry to develop a basic idea or a theme from the text, but reads the scriptural passage in the original text and, with the help of scholarly commentaries, makes the exegesis of it completely clear. It is necessary for the preacher to study a passage thoroughly before he thinks of interpreting it edifyingly; for before he wants to interpret it, he must understand it. He should interpret it from its innermost meaning and essence and context. To look at it superficially in the German translation, and to attach to it the next best thing that occurs to him, is not to interpret it. If the preacher reads the Scripture in t he original text, asks himself in what context the words stand, on what occasion they were spoken or written, what the train of thought is, what the apostle wants to prove or disprove, what his method of proof is, what the deep meaning of this saying of Jesus, what the meaning and purpose and motive of this action, what its If the reader is able to understand the inner situation, the attitudes or intentions or opinions of those involved, the wisdom of Christ's procedure or that of his instruments, etc., etc., his text becomes so vivid, so transparent, so rich in relationships, that a multitude o f highly practical thoughts and moments of application leap before the soul as if of their own accord. He exhausts the text as far as it is possible for a human being. And when he has done this, when the fullness of the text's content lies uncovered before him, then it is not difficult to answer the question: what success, what effect will this complex of doctrine, presented in its inner unity, produce in the hearers under God's blessing? what effect, that is, what purpose will be achieved by this means? And the scopus is found.
§ 6
As far as the logical-grammatical form is concerned, the themes are divided into different types, which must be taken into account in the disposition. Grotefend writes: "If the main proposition (theme) has this specified property" (namely: "that it must contain the thought that really encompasses the divisions and really contains the parts as parts")... "then one must consider whether the theme contains a mere as sertion, or a question, an instruction and statement, or an investigation that demands development, or also a mere comparison, and so on. These manifold types cannot be exhaustively stated, because talent always invents new forms; only one must see what th e subject contains. An assertion demands proofs, a question answers, an instruction demands a discussion of the ways and means, an investigation wants to contrast the pros and cons, and so on. It is not sufficient to take only the form as a standard, but one must look at the thought itself;
for a question according to form can in fact establish an assertion. This, of course, demands answers according to form, but proofs according to substance." - As simple as what Grotefend only hints at here is, as importa nt it is to be observed, which, as many examples show, often does not happen. Therefore, a short indication of the most important types of topics according to their logical - grammatical form may follow. Narrative subjects, which require a historical account of events according to their circumstances. Examples: "The sin of Judea and its outcome". - "The walk over the Kidron." - "The struggle of Jesus in Gethsemane."
B. Descriptive subjects that require description or vivid description.
Examples: "The Judas Betrayal." - "The bonds of Christ." - "The divine greatness of the Lord in Gethsemane in the midst of His sleeping disciples."
C. Assertive Themes. These require proof.
Examples: "Denial of the Lord a common sin of disciples." - Christ the right free city of all sinners." - "Jesus Christ, the best guide through the new year." - (These assertive themes may be either affirmative, such as those just given, or negative, such as, "The atonement no work of man."
D. Requesting, desiring, commanding themes. These suggest a reason or
indication of purpose. Examples: "Also our petition to the Lord: stay with us, for it is about to be evening." - "The Lord Jesus be with your spirit." - "You shall keep the holiday holy!" - "Young man, I say to you, arise!"
E. Exclamatory and admonitory themes, for which reasons are also
required. They often coincide with the previous ones under v. Examples: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but in heaven!" - "Hold what you have, that no one may take your crown!"
F. Interrogative subjects. This rich type demands an answer, which must
depend on the question word. The question word can be: Who? What? With what? Through what? When? When? How long? Where? Where? From where? From what? On what? From what? In what? What for? How much? How often? How? If? Why? Why? etc. In the disposition, then, after the question, as answer is to be expected the in dication of the subjects, the means, the time, the conditions, the place, the sources, the characteristics, the relations, the direction, the purpose, the intention, the quantity, the quality, the elimination of doubts, the reasons, etc. But note the remar k contained in the citation of Grotefend: "A question of form can indeed make an assertion. This then, of course, demands answers according to form, but proofs according to substance."
For examples of this category, see Walther "Predigtentwürfe," V-XI. A look at so many dispositions shows how little attention is paid to the interrogative form of the theme, and especially which interrogative word is used in the theme. (For evidence, see Cap. V, § 3.)
G. Conditional Themes. The disposition must also give reasons for these.
Examples: "He that would live and see good days, let him hold his tongue." - "That only those who begin and lead holy matrimony rightly do so in the name of Jesus." - "That only he who begins his marriage in the name of Jesus is blessed therein."
H. Doubting subjects to which the disposition must give either an affirmative
or negative answer, because doubt always calls something into question. Example: "Do you think that someone can hide himself so secretly that God does not see him?"
I. Schematic themes, i.e. those that represent pictorially. For details see § 4,
Note 2, p. 101. Examples: "Believers as fruitful branches in Christo." - "The Christians, lights in this world." - The sword of divine justice." - With these schematic themes, it should be noted that the disposition and execution must also be in the image of the theme. Just look at the parables of the Lord!
K. Themata naming only the subject. Cf. 8 4, note 1, p. 98. Schott says of
this kind of themata: "It is easy to see how, in these various forms, the limits of the subject to be treated are already determined by the proposition itself, sometimes more broadly, sometimes more narrowly, and how the speaker, by announcing his subject, obliges himself either to include everything that is appropriate with respect to the named subject, o r to limit himself to that which is appropriate to the more specific view of the subject designated in the proposition and emphasized here." Examples: "the repentance," "the faith," "the blessing," etc. The same further defined: "The true repentance," "The justifying faith," "The divine blessing," etc..., or also: "The longing to die," "The longing for death," "The longing for grace," etc. - Even a whole sentence can be a subject designation: "The preservation of a single Christian congregation against the dangers threatening it," - "The great sign of the Son of Man," etc. - Cf. on these subjects: Palmer, Homiletik, 4th ed., pp. 407 ff.