Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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belief that preaching can accomplish a significant,
rather than a relatively small, improvement in its
hearers' quality of life. Affirmative answers to these
questions may indicate a higher overall view of preaching
in a theology, and the possibility that the teaching of
preaching receives greater priority in colleges leaning
toward that theology.
Which theologians viewed preaching as a divine
command? Of the seven, five used "herald" imagery to
describe the preacher. Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann,
Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Karl Rahner, and James Stewart each
saw (either literally or analogically) the preacher as
one who carries a divine message at divine behest.'3""
The other two chose not to use this analogy. (Because
the herald analogy is a central New Testament picture of
preaching, each of the seven theologians certainly would
have known this concept, and would seem likely to have
employed it, had he seen it appropriate.)
The 'herald' theologians ('objective' theologians,
with the addition of Rahner) affirmed their belief that
God had, from the earliest days of the church, ordained
preaching as a means of communicating himself. Likewise,
they stated that the God who ordained the means of
preaching laid down conditions for its use.
Preachers-in-training must master these conditions as
their academic training for preaching presents these
timeless principles. To accomplish this, the teaching of
preaching receives major attention in 'objective'