Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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truth, but the human spokesman preaches best when he
answers contemporary questions. His message may be
timeless, but, in order to insure its relevance and
enable its reception, he must speak it in a manner the
hearer will grasp. He must preach with authority, yet
balance that authority with empathy and humility.
G. KARL RAHNER
Karl Rahner saw preaching as only one means in the
construction of the Christian person. Without preaching,
indeed outside the Church altogether, one can follow God
and know communion with Him.
Rahner believed that, even within the Christian
faith, preaching is only one means among many through
which God communicates himself to man. And, in
particular, the visual means of the Eucharist takes
precedence over the verbal means of preaching.
Rahner here brings balance to this entire study of
preaching. Those who love preaching must resist the
subtle, but fatal temptation to see preaching as an end
in itself or even as the means to a superior end.
Rahner believed that the infinite God possesses
innumerable means of revealing himself. Since the
beginning of time, God has used these means and given
himself to all mankind. Preaching merely supplements
man's already existing knowledge.
Rahner does the church an important service by
reminding its ministers that God communicated himself to
man before there was a church. Yet, it remains true