Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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The means by which God reveals those acts to the
herald and to the people is Scripture. The preacher true
to his commission proclaims the God-given message
recorded in the Bible. "Expository preaching . . . is one
of the greatest needs of the hour. . . . Let the Bible
speak its own message.":3'.
Stewart perceived no tension between Biblical
scholarship and Christian faith, noting the
"indivisibility" of truth. Contemporary man needs
both a 'scientific' (i.e., scholarly) and a 'spiritual'
(faith-centered) explanation of the Biblical word.
A quick survey of The Life and Teaching of Jesus
Christ reveals several places where Stewart, in accord
with current scholarship, rejected (or at least ignored)
conservative Biblical literalism. -3-7 Yet, at the same
time, Stewart wrote that the Gospels give "History"
("facts"); "Revelation," ("God's voice"); and
"Challenge," (What do you "think" and what will you "do
with Christ?"). 75e Stewart willingly accepted Biblical
criticism as long as it did not remove the historic and
eternal Christ. "The word of God is so transcendent over
all the academic difficulties it may occasion--it's God
in Christ reconciling me unto Himself--this is the thing
that comes back to me again and again out of the
Word."'s'
In his lectures, Stewart included much on the
preacher's personhood. A summary of his thought on this
subject? The preacher is one who knows and lives his