Text to Praxis: Hermeneutics and Homiletics in Dialogue

(Hardback)

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A fundamental issue for preachers of the Bible has always beenachieving an approach that is bothfaithful to the textual intention as well as fitting for the listening audience. What is historical and distant (the text) is, in preaching, made contemporary and near (praxis). Particularly pertinent is how this transaction may be conducted with respect to the self-contained and well-defined quantum of the scriptural text that is regularly employed in liturgical contextsthe pericope. Thisbook answers the question: In a sermon intending to proclaim application from a pericope, what is the hermeneutical basis for moving validly from text to praxis, i.e., with authority and relevance

The concept of theology as a bridge between text and praxis has not been specifically researched or rigorously substantiated. Kuruvilla seeks to do both, utilizing as entres language philosophy, literary criticism, and a thorough understanding of "ordinary" language. Drawing from a variety of hermeneutical resources, he establishes "pericopal theology" as the intermediary between text and praxis. How this theology is discerned from the text and how application may be determined therefrom form the crux of this book. This novel approach lends validity to the movement from text to praxis and promises to be useful for any approach to the biblical text intended to culminate in application.Kuruvilla's approach provides a substantial technical basis for such an operation.

Thus the preacher must be a "theologian-homiletician." It is the working out of this nomenclature, especially the "theologian" half of the appellation, that is the essence of this work, uniting as it does in one portfolio the responsibility of negotiating the demands of both hermeneutics and homiletics.

Reviews

Since the time of the Enlightenment there has been a major split between hermeneutics and homiletics. This book makes a valiant effort to bring these two worlds together. It is an effort that is both timely and sophisticated, done by a gifted scholar.' -- Biblical Studies and Scripture
"The major concern is that the incredibly dense language and over-theorizing will make this a work inaccessible to most readers" Paul Foster, July 2009 * Expository Times *

Author Bio

Abraham Kuruvilla is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary, TX, USA.