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Welcome to the Supplementum issue of the International Journal of Homiletics. The articles in this volume are edited, peer-reviewed versions of keynote lectures and papers1 presented at the Societas Homiletica Conference on August 3rd – 8th 2018, at The Divinity School of Duke University, North Carolina, USA. The theme of the conference was “Fearing God in a Fear-Filled World? Homiletical Explorations” – a topic that resonated with homileticians from all over the world and engendered rich reflections and discussions during the conference. In what follows are four keynote lectures, a keynote response and six papers discussing the theme of fear from theological perspectives of South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States.

This article wants to show that it is fruitful for homiletics to continue to listen to what is offered from a biblical-theological perspective, especially when it comes to addressing a life of fear. After a short introduction, an overview is given of some important homiletical-exegetical notes, followed by the insights obtained from a focus group following a sermon on Mark 6:45–52. Finally, a number of homiletical insights received from listening to this text will follow.

Modern accounts of the meaning of “fear of the LORD” in the Hebrew Bible have tended to distance this important concept from the emotion of fear, offering alternative understandings as worship, obedience, or wisdom. This essay examines phrases such as “fear of the LORD,” “fear of God,” and “God-fearer,” across four sets of texts in the Hebrew Bible: 1) narratives in Genesis and Exodus; 2) Deuteronomy and other Deuteronomistic literature; 3) wisdom literature; and 4) Psalms. I argue that fear of the LORD/God in the Hebrew Bible typically does connote an emotional fear response that has in view divine power over life and death. The links between such fear and worship, and obedience, and wisdom that are attested in numerous biblical texts are not evidence of synonymy but a recognition of the fundamental link between emotion, cognition, and action. Recent developments in the study of emotion illuminate their interrelationship and the ways in which fear of the LORD/God is also socially shaped and shaping.

Welcome to the Supplementum issue of the International Journal of Homiletics. The articles in this volume are edited, peer-reviewed versions of keynote lectures and papers presented at the Societas Homiletica Conference on August 3rd – 8th 2018, at The Divinity School of Duke University, North Carolina, USA. The theme of the conference was “Fearing God in a Fear-Filled World? Homiletical Explorations” – a topic that resonated with homileticians from all over the world and engendered rich reflections and discussions during the conference. In what follows are four keynote lectures, a keynote response and six papers discussing the theme of fear from theological perspectives of South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States.

The large number of xenophobic attacks that broke out in different places in South Africa during 2008 is still continuing unabated ten years later. We are still under pressure to come to terms with the reality that this occurred in a country that is globally considered to be an example of reconciliation. In this article the primary causes of these xenophobic outbreaks stemming from fear are scrutinised and placed within the wider framework of a culture of fear. Finally, the impact of violence and fear on practice of preaching within a Christian context is discussed, asking the question: How do we go about preaching within this fearful context?

“Preaching is boring,” is the expectation for most who sit in the pews Sunday after Sunday. The dominant paradigm for that preaching is “preaching the gospel” as the truth that listeners need to hear - a message delivered with certitude and directiveness. This presentation of the Good News of Jesus Christ has the marks of hegemony and violence visited on both listeners and the preacher. This paper explores an approach to preaching which eschews certitude and hegemony by providing a reflective and invitational approach; using five categories: What is God doing?; What is the aim and intention of preaching; Preaching and the preacher; Preparation and Delivery; and Evaluation.

The practice of Military Chaplains has been studied from various angles (sociological, historical, ethical) except from an empirical homiletical perspective. What do military chaplains do when they preach, if ‘preaching’ is the correct label for their (religious) speeches. This paper provides a first introduction to study the actual sermons of military chaplains in order to contribute to homiletical theory. It presents the outline of a research design and presents some of its initial results. The paper is based upon 10 sermons by army and naval chaplains within the context of peacekeeping missions. Three concepts emerge from these data, focussing upon the homiletical activity of military chaplains. They redefine the liturgical conditions for preaching, they witness to sources of wisdom, and they dignify the individual soldier in the presence of Christ. The paper closes with a proposal to understand religious discourse in the military context by presenting a tentative typology that is based upon the ceremonial setting of discourse and its religious referentiality.

Die Abhandlung von den drei Betrügern war ein Konzentrat der ketzerischen Meinungen des modernen Europa in einer Zeit nicht nur der Kirchen-, sondern auch der Religionskritik. Schröders Edition bringt nach einer langen Einleitung den Text der in der Nationalbibliothek Wien aufbewahrten la teinischen Handschrift, großzügig durch Fußnoten kommentiert, in denen auch die Varianten der drei Druckausgaben des 18. Jh.s verzeichnet sind, die wiederum neueren Ausgaben zugrunde liegen, deren fehlerhafte Lesarten zugleich korrigiert werden. Sodann bietet Schröders Edition eine deutsche Übersetzung der Schrift, die von Johann Christian Edelmann stammt und unter dem Titel 'Von den Betrügereyen der Religionen' in einer einzigen Breslauer Abschrift existiert.

The presidential address introduces the 2018 conference theme through rhetorical, political, spiritual, and biblical understandings of fear as well as communicative and homiletical strategies for addressing fear in preaching. In addition to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, the prevalence of fear amid current U.S. political discourse is examined in light of the rhetorical analyses of Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and ethics at The University of Chicago. To develop an appropriately reverent fear of God while addressing the myriad anxieties around us, we may query our fears to better understand what is at stake in ignoring or addressing socio-political concerns. Beyond the rhetoric of fear, the spiritual writings of Julian of Norwich as well as numerous biblical texts (including the Book of Job and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount) suggest communicative strategies that invite a homiletical poesis of divine love and compassion, including musical and theopoetic expressions of faith.