Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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revelation always, however, takes precedence over the
preacher's creativity. '5 He avoids all homiletic
devices which would detract from the congregation's
reception of God's Word.
Barth encouraged contemporanity particularly in
application of the truth. e. But even here, Barth
retained the pre-eminence of the Word. If the text will
not specifically justify a note of application, then the
preacher must, in humility, discard his thought in
deference to the Word.
James Stewart saw preaching as the proclamation of
the unchanging historical facts of redemption. This gave
preaching content a certain permanence. But, to a
greater decree than Lloyd-Jones or Barth, he gave the
preacher freedom in the manner of his proclamation. He
saw as legitimate and praiseworthy a wide variety of
homiletic means, (including, for example, the use of
material from a range of written sources, as well as the
preacher's imagination) as long as these means pointed
people to Jesus.
In relation to the historic life of Jesus Christ and
man's salvation in His death and resurrection, Stewart
saw no possibility for debate--there the preacher
proclaimed truth. In his Beecher Lectures, "7 he
emphasized these salvific events. In his Warrack
Lectures, e however, he emphasized the need to make the
truth of Jesus appealing to contemporary man. Stewart
saw both as equally essential.