“I Must Honestly Confess That I Am Afraid of You”

Fear is a global phenomenon that impacts individuals, institutions, and nations. Fear is associated with the experience of some form of threat, for example, the fear of a specific enemy. The increase in socio-political uprisings in many contexts around the world is contributing towards an environment of violence, insecurity, and fear. Such situations, challenge preachers to preach in ways that the Christian tradition characterises as “prophetic preaching”. This article argues that, in instances of institutionally induced fear, letter writing could serve as a powerful and effective means of public theological engagement. The authors employ an advocacy research paradigm to critically engage Allan Aubrey Boesak’s open letter to Alwyn Louis Schlebusch entitled, “A Letter to the South African Minister of Justice.” This letter was written in 1979 as South Africa was entering one of the darkest periods of the apartheid state’s brutality against its citizens. This article discusses the socio-ecclesiastical motivation(s) that underpin Boesak’s courageous and public proclamation of Christian theological truth, in a “prophetic mode”, in spite of the fear that characterised South Africa during that period of its history. Furthermore, we argue that this letter can be characterised as a form of public theological engagement. This paper offers a novel perspective on letter writing, amid threat and fear, as a form or prophetic preaching public theological engagement.

Tussen letterlijkheid en vergeestelijking. Op zoek naar een passende interpretatie van de oudtestamentische heilsprofetie

The prophets describe the future of Israel in a concrete manner and with vivid colours. Against the doom that Israel experiences, they proclaim a bright future, in which all that Israel received from the Lord, shall be restored. There is much discussion about how the interpretation of these eschatological pictures: more literally or more spiritually? Or is there a way in between? This article proposes an interpretative framework. Starting with the basis and content of the prophetic hope (God’s covenant) it explores the language and peculiarities of prophetic preaching, it shows how the context of the New Testament requires a recontextualization of the past promises, and it reaffirms the special position of Israel. The function of symbolism needs rearticulation.

The Minor Prophets in Christianity

Due to Habakkuk’s ahistoricity, communities and interpreters throughout the ages have applied the prophetic book to their present situations and concerns. This essay follows in the interpretive footsteps of those who have come before by considering how Habakkuk might be a valuable resource to contemporary posttraumatic prophetic preachers in this present moment. Given the rising prevalence of mass shootings and gun violence in the United States, alongside seemingly endless occurrences of natural disasters, abuse, hate crimes, and other traumatic incidents, it is no longer a question of if a preacher or pastor will need to address trauma or a traumatized congregation, but when. The essay argues that Habakkuk may serve as a valuable resource to address contemporary homiletical concerns, specifically how preachers might conceive of “posttraumatic prophetic preaching” in the midst of congregations experiencing communal trauma. In particular, Habakkuk may help preachers as they seek to locate themselves and reflect on their communal responsibilities after a traumatic incident as well as provide an eschatological theological orientation from which to preach.

Justice and Beauty in South African Homiletics: A Postcolonial Contribution of Improvisation and Creativity

In recent South African homiletics, two major themes have experienced overwhelming attention: prophetic preaching and aesthetics. Prophetic preaching endeavours to seek social, political, and economic justice. Aesthetic homiletics considers beauty for preaching. In this article, I grapple with the convergences and divergences of justice and beauty in South African homiletics. With the hope of opening new avenues for future endeavours, I also reflect on both prophetic preaching and aesthetic homiletics from a post-colonial perspective.

Towards Contextual Prophetic Preaching

This text is a discussion about prophetic preaching as defined in the boundaries of homiletics. It offers both a theological and practical presentation of this preaching style actively seeking a way to contextualize it in Croatian setting. It offers some answers to the question: What is prophetic preaching and how and why it is done? It also serves as a challenge and the beginning of the discussion on prophetic preaching in Croatian context. As the Church in a growing post-Christian setting seeks ways to communicate the Gospel with the wider society aware that it is slowly losing its privileged footing it seems important to find again the prophetic voice which calls people and institutions of power to get right with God and see human beings as neighbors and not means.

The Scientific Analysis and Study of Methods of the Prophetic Preaching in Context of the Holy Quran

The main feature and distinction of Prophet Muhammad SAWS, Prophethood is his preaching the humanity and invitation towards the religion of Islam. Allah sent him as the last of his prophets. His preaching of the religion is an eternal argument which shows that the message of the Prophet is the last, his prophecy is the last and that the religion Islam is the eternal rule for mankind. The principles and methods of preaching adopted by the Holy Prophet SAWS are studied here in this research “The Scientific Analysis and Research of Prophetic preaching methods in context of the Holy Quran”. The research shows that these principles and methods of preaching are the eternal source of guidance for all of the human beings. These are the methods by which we can preach and spread the religion, Islam throughout the world.

De Baal a Yhwh. Ensaio sobre a Religião de Israel

O artigo tem como objetivo elucidar as características da prática religiosa do povo de Israel até o exílio, enfocando sobretudo a relação religiosa com Yhwh. A conclusão é que no início da história do povo de Israel a sua fé não era monoteísta e o Deus de Moisés era um entre outros deuses. O primeiro monoteísmo aparece na pregação profética e nas reformas de Ezequias. Josias, porém, foi quem deu o passo fundamental, implantando, todavia, um sistema religioso que era apenas oficial, mas não necessariamente abraçado por todos. A partir do Exílio em Babilônia, Israel acolhe definitivamente o monoteísmo e nasce o judaísmo. Essas conclusões são alcançadas com base na análise de passagens bíblicas, de resultados obtidos pela arqueologia e de textos que formam o conjunto literário do antigo Oriente Próximo.Abstract: The objective of this article is to clarify the characteristics of the Israeli people’s religious practice up to the Exile, focusing in particular on the religious relation with Yhwh. Our conclusion is that, in the early stages of the Israeli people’s history, their faith was not monotheist and Moses’ God was but one among other gods. The first signs of monotheism appear in Ezekiel’s prophetic preaching and in his reforms. Josiah, however, gave the essential step for the implantation of a religious system that, albeit official, was not necessarily embraced by all. After the Exile in Babylon, Israel finally accepted monotheism and thus Judaism was born. We reached these conclusions through an analysis of biblical passages, of archeological findings and of the texts that make up the literary body of the ancient Near East.

Prophetic Preaching

Despite the evident parallels to other (non-Christian) philosophers of antiquity discussed previously, Chapter 5 explores the impact of the scriptural and Christian tradition on Chrysostom’s therapy of the soul. Although his language of medicine and the nature of his therapy can find parallels in medical and philosophical writings, his understanding of the goal of the therapy and what underlay the sickness was fundamentally different: it was not happiness that he wanted his congregations to acquire, but eternal salvation. He wanted to lead his congregations not to a state of happiness and peace of mind, but rather to a condition of fear and trembling at their sin before a holy God.