Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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the Word of God changes the focus of that phrase "the
Word of God," particularly in relation to preaching.
The first three theologians considered in this
section saw the preached Word as a fresh communication
from God, a living interpersonal communication.
Lloyd—Jones would not have denied that premise, 12- but
his belief that the Bible is a closed, finished
revelation limits the possibility of a fresh
communication (thus, his emphasis on preaching 'the
Truth'). The preacher's task is to repeat what God has
already said in the Bible; it is in this way that he
speaks God's Word. (Lloyd—Jones balanced this emphasis
on the past revelation with his belief in the Holy
Spirit's present activity in taking the historic words
and making them fresh for the contemporary hearer.1-3)
We pass now from those who gave preaching a unique
place in God's contemporary communication, to three who
saw preaching as merely one means among many.
Karl Rahner saw man as the universal recipient of
God's self—communication. If all persons, irrespective
of their relationship to the Church, have received
revelation from God, it is obvious that preaching cannot
be the primary means of contemporary revelation.
God, however, does use the Christian Church to bring
men to more specific knowledge of Himself. Preaching is
one means God has given the Church to complete its task.
But even within the Church, preaching is not the primary
means. "The kerygma has its fullest reality in the