Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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Teachers," in his Theology_of Culture seems to belie the
positions taken by 'Tillich lecturers'.
The question implied in this chapter is not:
What is the Christian messaae? Rather it is:
How shall the message (which is presupposed) be
focused for the people of our time? In other
words. we are concerned here with the question:
How can the Gospel be communicated? We are
asking: How do we make the message heard and
seen, and then either rejected or accepted?
The question cannot be: How do we communicate
the Gospel so that others will accept it? For
this there is no method. To communicate the
Gospel means putting it before the people so
that they are able to decide for or against it.
The Christian Gospel is a matter of decision.
It is to be accepted or rejected. All that we
who communicate this Gospel can do is to make
possible a genuine decision. Such a decision
Is one based on understanding and on partial
participation.76.
A subsequent quotation from that essay summarizes
its thought. "Communication is a matter of
participation. Where there is no participation, there is
no communication." 77 Participation in what? In life:
the minister's own life (experiencing the content of his
message) and the lives of his recipients. 7 '9 This
personal knowledge enables meaningful and appropriate
communication. For example, Tillich felt strongly that
contemporary secular vocabulary must govern preaching
languaae. 75" The preacher seeks words that both
describe the Gospel as he knows it and make that
experience comprehensible for his people.
On the balance between content and persons, does the
weight lie to either side? On the basis of the above,
Tillich would have answered, "Yes, toward persons." What
could have brought the 'Tillich lecturers' to a position