Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

271
3. Preparation and Delivery of Chosen Material
In comparing the positions of 'Lloyd—Jones
lecturers' and Lloyd—Jones himself, we turn now to the
third important question raised by the theological
division of lecturers. In preparing sermons, does the
preacher give first priority to content or to people? As
has been noted (p. 233-34), this question easily breaks
into two halves. To what degree must the preacher, in
order to speak effectively, continually enrich his own
spiritual condition? And, to what degree must the
preacher work to make his message receivable, to tailor
the presentation i=c of his message for his
congregation?
The four theologians unanimously emphasized the
preacher's need to maintain and enlarge his personal
contact with God. As noted above (p. 234-35), the
theologically based lecturer groupings did not speak with
such unity. Two such groups, of which one is the
'Lloyd—Jones lecturers, gave far less priority (than the
other two) to 'the preacher as a person'. In fairness to
the 'Lloyd—Jones lecturers', it must be pointed out that
they, as a group, see more importance in the 'the
preacher as a person' than do the 'Tillich lecturers'.
In response to question eight (ranking the
priorities of teaching preaching), 'Lloyd—Jones
lecturers' join 'Stewart'+'Rahner lecturers' in giving
'the student's (preacher's) spiritual maturity' fifth
priority (ahead only of 'knowledge of the contemporary