This dissertation develops a narrative homiletic for race-conscious preaching using a mutual critical correlation method. It argues that the evangelical embrace of a color-blind ideology homiletically, hermeneutically, and situationally limits the proclamation of the gospel in the age of racialization. Paul Ricoeur’s conception of the entrapping use of narrative is employed to understand the deep resistance many white evangelical Christians have toward racial consciousness. Constructively, Ricoeur’s ethical understanding of narrative and his model of threefold mimesis offer an alternative preaching paradigm rooted in mutual critical correlation and an understanding of the gospel in context developed in conversation with liberationist theology. The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity provides additional frames for understanding that matters of difference are not obstacles to overcome in preaching but are essential to deepening understandings of God and the gospel.
This dissertation employs interdisciplinary methods rooted in practical theology that integrate Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s sociology on color-blindness, narrative phenomenology, empirical research on the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, and homiletics. The first chapter describes the evangelical embrace of color-blindness and its expository homiletical method. It understands evangelicalism as a constructed identity and outlines the need for a hermeneutic of situations in evangelical homiletics. Chapter two reviews narrative homiletics proposals, the homiletics literature on race and preaching, and evangelical expository preaching. The third chapter makes a theological turn to understand how evangelical theology aligns with the color-blind ideology. It turns to the liberationist theology of James Cone and a theology of broken symbols through Robert Cummings Neville, before outlining the mutual critical correlation model of David Tracy. This integrates homiletical theology with homiletical methodology, especially by understanding pre-figuring roles that aspects of identity bring to interpretation.
The fourth chapter develops narrative critical correlation homiletics through the referential capacity of the gospel, rather than the sense of a biblical text. It argues that an ethical use of Ricoeur’s threefold mimesis can mediate a dialogue between text, context, situation, and identity in naming God and the gospel. The final chapter contains sermons and sermon analysis as a way of illustrating how sermonic methods and intercultural competence impact preaching. / 2026-01-23T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/47951 |
| Date | 23 January 2024 |
| Creators | Donahue-Martens, Scott |
| Contributors | Jacobsen, David S., Sandage, Steven J. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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