Learning and Revealing the Thoughts of the Holy Scriptures through the Preachers as Perceived by Rev. Zygmunt Pilch (1888–1962)

Abstract

Summary The text of the article is an analysis of selected issues from the teaching of Rev. Zygmunt Pilch (1888–1962) PhD, who directed his thoughts not only to students of preaching but also to preachers. His teaching is still relevant today. The homiletics lecturer appealed to the preachers of the Word of God that they were obliged to communicate the Word of Salvation to the world. The text of the Holy Scriptures, according to the homiletics teacher, is a natural source of preaching, as it is the Spirit of God Himself who speaks through it, through the teaching Church. From the inspired text, the preacher should draw content, spirit, anointing, life and grace. A preacher reading the Scriptures is bound to grasp the meaning of God’s speech. By reading the text, he looks for thoughts and meanings, wanting to capture the inner content of the text. The primary concern in reading the Bible is to know its literal meaning, which is directly apparent from the words of the text. There is also a typical sense in the holy books. The preacher’s task is to convince the faithful to live by faith, according to the Lord’s thought contained in types. Reading the Word of God requires appropriate methods that understand its symbolic meaning, revealed in allegories. Christ often made use of parables as the means of visual teaching, drawing images from everyday life. Devoted completely to preaching, Z. Pilch reminded that the Holy Scriptures, being the treasury of the revealed truth, were the main literature for every preacher. The teaching of the prelate Zygmunt Pilch seems to be still relevant and is still an undiscovered treasury.