Self-Theologizing in Preaching

Abstract

This chapter investigates how Korean preachers approach the Bible according to five culturally pertinent interpretative hermeneutical codes and variant styles of each code. These include eschatological pilgrim, evangelical mission, Confucian egalitarian, Buddhist-Shamanistic, and Pentecostal liberation codes. These are not a prefixed set of interpretative goals. Rather, they provide an interpretative dialogical window through which preachers view scripture, history, and culture for uniquely contextual Korean congregants. Beyond the interpretive use of the five codes, the essay demonstrates by relevant sermon snippets that preachers also utilize the codes as the constructive foundation for sermon design and writing. The survey shows that Korean preachers typically intertwine all five codes and their styles and use them at the same time as an integrative interpretational framework, to gain maximum effectiveness out of preaching.