Preaching as a Theological Practice in Postmodernity
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 367
Special Issue Editors
Interests: preaching and homiletics; practical theology; media and technology; Hebrew Bible
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The focus of this Special Issue is the continuing practice of preaching as a theological practice within postmodernity. This focus follows in two interconnected directions. On the one hand, preaching is a theological activity. In every moment of sermon development, up to the moment the sermon is left in the hearts and minds of the congregation, the preacher—and the congregation—engage in the practice of what has been labeled as “doing theology.” Historically the congregation, together with the preacher, has engaged in the actions of hearing the Word, discerning its meaning and articulating confessions drawn from its hearing. Preaching is a formative cultivation of theological imagination, which in turn elicits a response in the community. The emergence of postmodern thought has led preaching to shed some of its modern trappings in exchange for practices that are attuned to social complexity, power dynamics, the plurivocity of scripture, and the changing shape of religious expression. Questions about the authority of the Bible, boundaries of Christian theology and practice, limits to diversity and pluralism, and the role of Christian witness in the public sphere continue to abound and require critical yet pastorally focused responses from those engaged in the theological practice of preaching.
The purpose of this Special Issue is to engage in continuing conversations on preaching’s role in shaping theology and Christian practice within postmodernity. Authors may approach this topic from several angles, such as engaging in imaginative approaches of moving from the text to the sermon in ways that honor the diverse plurality of the church, articulating a postmodern biblical hermeneutic for preaching, crafting a constructive approach to engaging in homiletical theology, or evaluating the role of Christian witness in the public sphere.
We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors, Dr. Rob O’Lynn (rolynn@kcu.edu) and Dr. Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby (acm12a@acu.edu), or to the Religions editorial office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.
Dr. Rob O’Lynn
Dr. Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- preaching
- homiletics
- postmodernism
- theology
- homiletical theology
- theological practice
