Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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within the "transient phrasings" listed above, according
to Fosdick, are "persistence of personality through
death,"'s "the victory of righteousness upon this
earth," "the reality of sin and evil,"
7 and the
"nearness and friendship of the divine Spirit."
As Fosdick sought to discover the permanent within
the temporary Biblical statements of dogma, so he did
with Bible narrative. He pointed out that we do not need
so much to believe, for example, in the historicity of
the Exodus, Paul's Damascus Road conversion, and the
signs of Pentecost "as to gird up our souls and
reduplicate them (the experiences of Bible figures) in
our own time."'
Fosdick summarized the content of preaching, "We
want a reasonable faith, and that means a life of
spiritual wealth and fruitfulness set in mental
frameworks that are congenial, convincing, and
communicable." These last three adjectives similarly
describe Fosdick's thoughts on the preacher and his
communication.
1. The faith must be "congenial." The preacher
cannot expect people to accept a biblical literalism that
contradicts commonly accepted knowledge. Yet, he must
still provide a hope that appeals.
He must have gone through the searching
criticism to which the last few generations
have subjected the Scriptures and be able to
understand and enter into the negations that
have resulted. Not blinking any of the facts,
he must have come out with a positive,
reasonable, fruitful attitude toward the