Thesis (Ph. M.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1937. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract A MAN “MIGHTY IN THE SCRIPTURES”: THE HERMENEUTIC OF JOHN A. BROADUS AND ITS IMPACT ON HIS PREACHING Howard Jared Bumpers, PhD The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018 Chair: Dr. Hershael W. York This dissertation examines the hermeneutical presuppositions and principles of John A. Broadus and their impact on his theory and practice of preaching. Chapter 1 establishes the importance of studying preaching from a historical perspective and states the thesis of the dissertation. Chapter 2 provides a brief biographical sketch of the Southern Baptist pastor and professor John Albert Broadus. Chapter 3 focuses on the hermeneutical presuppositions that undergirded Broadus’s hermeneutic, particularly his view of Scripture. Chapter 4 identifies the principles that constituted Broadus’s hermeneutic and guided his exegesis. Chapter 5 analyzes Broadus’s exegetical works in order to demonstrate he consistently employed the hermeneutical principles that he advocated. Chapter 6 briefly summarizes Broadus’s homiletical theory and then analyzes the sermons of Broadus to show the impact that his hermeneutic had on his preaching. The final chapter summarizes the key points of the dissertation and considers the value of Broadus’s approach to hermeneutics and homiletics for contemporary preaching.

In his Treatise On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, the Southern Baptist preacher and educator of the latter nineteenth century, John A. Broadus, acknowledged the influence of classical and contemporary theorists upon his work. Among those named, particularly with regard to notions of argument, was Richard Whately, the Anglican Archbishop and rhetorical theorist of the early nineteenth century. The research task involved in this thesis was to determine whether and to what extent Whately's theory of argument was employed in Broadus's homiletic theory and practice. The writer gathered his data using methods of documentary research. Most of the sources were available at local libraries. Others, however, were obtained from the Universities of Kansas, Iowa, and Michigan. Materials by and concerning Broadus were obtained from various Baptist historical agencies.