Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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In Fosdick's mind, sermons sprang out of
contemporary situations. Likewise, as sermons
progressed, they dialogue with contemporary minds.
An effective sermon is in a real sense a
dialogue. To be sure, the congregation cannot
talk back but, as the author [Jackson] says,
'In any relationship where there is no chance
to talk back, there must be created a special
atmosphere where persons can feel back.'
Moreover, it is the secret of the preacher's
art to know by clairvoyant intuition what they
are thinking and feeling back."2°
We have moved from one end of the spectrum to the
other. Lloyd-Jones preached sermons based on an
unchanging Scripture, with the light of the contemporary
world situation used for illumination and application.
Fosdick preached sermons focussi.ng on coecemporary
Issues, using Scripture for illustration and
illumination. Both souaht to help people combine the
eternal and the twentieth century. Both (and the five in
between), using different methods and applying different
emphases. succeeded. Perhaps the agreement among them is
more substantial than the argument.
VI. SERMON--REVELATION
How does the sermon compare in importance with other
forms of revelation?
The sermon can, like other
communication forms,
become God's Word.
In comparison with other
communication forms, the
sermon is an especially
fit channel for
God's Word.
/HF PT KR LJ JS KB RB/
This continuum separates the seven theologians into