Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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response. Some of the seven theologians (Bultmann and
Lloyd—Jones are prime examples) stated that without man's
decision of faith, one experienced relatively little of
God's grace. Karl Barth presented an opposite
perspective, strongly believing that God offered grace
equally to everyone, and that belief in grace added
little to the reality of salvation. Yet all seven
believed in the ideal of awareness and acceptance of
God's gift of 'salvation', however they may have
specifically defined those terms.1
10. The preacher seeks to bring his hearers to this
awareness of. and the potential for res p onse to, God's
action. Each of the seven would have accepted this
general statement describing the purpose of
preaching.
° Some placed greater emphasis on
'awareness'. Others gave equal, if not greater emphasis,
to the need for response.
11. God acts throuah preachina. The sixth spectrum
in the previous chapter shows the divergence of opinion
concerning the relative need for preaching. Some (for
example, Lloyd—Jones and Bultmann) valued preaching more
than any other contemporary means of revealing God.
Others (for example, Rahner and Fosdick) saw preaching as
merely one means among many. Yet, each saw value in
preaching as a tool of communicating God's grace to the
church and the world.=-1
12. Effective preaching is a difficult task."
Undoubtedly each of the seven would have agreed that, in