Concordia Theological Monthly
Article Title
Publication Date
10-1-1933
Document Type
Article
Keywords
preaching, spiritual, christian, synod
Submission Type
Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep
Abstract
Christian preaching never continues very long on the some plane. On the contrary, it is subject to a continual alternation of revival and decline, and that not merely with reference to its literary and homiletical qualities, but above all in the substance, the power, and the effectiveness of its message. There is nothing extraordinary about this; for "human progress of every kind is usually not steady and continuous, but rather goes by waves, like the rising tide. Declension and revival, forward and backward, up and down, these are the common Christian phenomena, individual, local, general. Even the most superficial study reveals the connection, at once causal and resultant, between movements of the kind described and preaching. Decline of life and activity in the Church is commonly accompanied by a lifeless, formal, unfruitful preaching, and this partly as a cause and partly as an effect. On the other hand, the great revivals of Christian history can most usually be traced to the work of the pulpit, and in their progress they have rendered possible a high order of preaching.''
Disciplines
Practical Theology
Submission Cost
Free
Submission Audience
Laity; Ministers; Scholars
Recommended Citation
Friedrich, E. J.
(1933)
"Reflections on the Status of Our Preaching,"
Concordia Theological Monthly: Vol. 4, Article 103.
Available at:
https://scholar.csl.edu/ctm/vol4/iss1/103
