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The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text

Jeff Price
Reading Report
OVERVIEW
It is interesting to write an overview of a book, that is in itself an overview of the biblical text.
The main theme of the book was to educate the potential preacher of the need to walk the line
between the original historic context of Scripture and the call to make this text relevant to a
present day audience. Holding these two ideas in tension and communicating the clear teaching
of Scripture for the contemporary congregation should be applied holistically to the individual
in way that does justice to the original text and its original meaning.
There is a strong emphasis on the historical perspective and interpretation because without
understanding the Bible as it was written, to whom it was written and for the purposes it was
written it is impossible to accurately open, explain and apply the Bible to our modern
congregations. This is not without its challenges though because of the gap between the Old
Testament, New Testament and current audiences in culture, language and mind set. The
effective preacher though will be able to communicate how the Bible transcends this gap,
connects to the Kingdom of God and exemplifies the continuities along with the discontinuities
that are intended by the ultimate author of Scripture – God. It is God’s ultimate purposes that
need to searched out and understood, so they can be communicated accurately today.
Sidney Greidanus begins with focusing his readers on the definition and advantages of biblical
expository preaching as the proclamation of God’s transcendent word by using God’s word
itself as the framework for this proclamation. He urges his readers to see the redemptive focus
of Scripture for the past, present and future generations of the Church, as it is God’s church,
God’s word and God’s creation. The following seven chapters, through to chapter eight, unfold
his process and view of the various steps necessary to create expository sermons for today’s
community of the church to hear. The modern day preacher is equipped by Greidanus to trust
in the historicity of the canon as the inspired word of God, and then to interpret this text from
three distinct perspectives.
First, the literary interpretation equips the preacher to see the various forms of literature that the
Bible uses, so that the truths exposed in the text can be understood appropriately. The original
authors used various genres, figures of speech, grammar and syntax to convey God’s word and
the preacher must study these to understand the text. Next, the application of these various
literary forms will need to be understood in their proper historical context which leads to the
need of the preacher to understand this historical interpretive perspective. Finally, the
theological interpretation will connect the scriptures to God’s purposes and the Christocentric
application of God’s theocentric word.
To complete this section of the book, Greidanus equips the reader to turn their study into a
concrete message which is true to the original theme, takes the form that is consistent with this
theme and communicates truth clearly and relevantly to today. The final chapters apply the
earlier lessons learned to all of Scripture. They walk the reader through the application of the
various interpretive lenses while providing guidance in the discovery of the themes, and
assistance in developing the proper form to communicate relevant truth. Greidanus approaches
each epoch of history and scripture in a methodical way, unfolding his expository process,
applying it to the Bible, and equipping modern day preachers with the tools to interpret and
preach the ancient texts to the church today.
CRITIQUE
As is often the case, our greatest strengths can also be our greatest weaknesses. Greidanus has a
strong emphasis on the historic foundations and interpretation of Scripture. He encourages the
preacher to rely on the historicity of the Bible, and also calls them to carefully study the original
text, language, culture, audience, author and purpose. This is valuable to our understanding of
the text, to then be able to openly and accurately communicate this truth in all its transcendent
ways while being faithful to the discontinuity of culture. Unfortunately there are two basic
drawbacks, which come out as weaknesses of this historic emphasis. First, because of the
historical gaps it is not always possible to understand the original intents and while there are
many sources that are there to guide us in that understanding they often times come down to
guess work, or offer opposing positions. This can sometimes lead to greater confusion than
clarity on a specific issue, and should be taken into consideration. Secondly, the level of
scholarship required by this method can at times obfuscate the power of the Holy Spirit to work
in the preacher. It is easy to become propped up by your own studies and the scholarship of
others, to over intellectualize the text which robs it of the transformative heart reality that the
Word of God intends by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not a reason to discourage the
preacher from study, but to be mindful of the traps of worldly wisdom over the work of the
Holy Spirit in the heart and the mind.
Another area of strength and weakness is the constant drum beat throughout the book towards
Christocentric preaching. Greidanus always brings the reader back to a Christocentric and
theocentric interpretation of scripture which reminds us that there is a continuity to the
Kingdom of God throughout the Bible, along with Christ’s redemptive act applied to all of
world history. This primary focus enables the reader to trust in the historical redemptive story
that unfolds for us throughout the Bible. This is a great strength, but at times Greidanus seems
to downplay the application this has on man. Understandably it is difficult to hold these two
ideas in tension, like free will and God’s sovereignty. However; it does not diminish the Christ
centered nature of Scripture to show how this applies to man, transforms him and makes him
into the image of Christ that is revealed throughout Scripture. Additionally, while Greidanus
warns of drawing too quick a line from any text direct to Jesus Christ, he also seems to imply
that it is not necessary to do so in every text. This is curious if the purpose of preaching is to
proclaim God’s truth, the Kingdom of God and its implications for the church. That should lead
every sermon to proclaim Christ and the power of redemption to the people of God which
should come out in the text somehow to form a complete unit.
APPLICATION
Overall, this book definitely challenged me to study the historical relevance of Scripture in
more depth taking into consideration the “then” purposes and connecting them to the “now”
application. Greidanus laid down an extremely helpful framework to approach the study of
Scripture, not simply from a perspective of understanding God’s word, but from the perspective
of effectively communicating and proclaiming this word in a way that is true, fair and just to the
text. The warnings of applying our own misunderstandings, misapplications and
misinterpretations on a text to communicate our own truth rather than God’s or even God’s
truth from the wrong text are great reminders of the need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide our
study throughout.
It was especially helpful to expand my horizons from presenting scripture in one didactic,
logical form, unfolding the text in very systematic ways that can at times rob the text of its
inherent narrative form. Finally, the last three chapters that stepped through the Hebrew
narratives, Prophetic literature, Gospels and the Epistles really gave me a sense for the way to
apply the biblical expository method to all of scripture. This will affect my own ministry as I
learn and practice to proclaim God’s truth faithfully from beginning to end. Greidanus has
essentially sent me on a quest to re-examine Scripture from the perspective of literary units that
would make for complete sermons in proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
BEST QUOTES
Pg 11 “Whether it [the text] is long or short, our responsibility as expositors is to open it up in
such a way that it speaks its message clearly, plainly, accurately, relevantly, without addition,
subtraction or falsification.”
This quote provides the reader with a summation of what biblical expositional preaching should
include. Our preaching needs to convey truth, not just our interpretation of truth but God’s truth
that is understandable and relevant to congregations today. We are to help God’s people
understand the scripture and see it in its full context and application for their lives.
Pg 38 “God, we could say, is the all-pervading cause in the natural order of things, both in
creation and in human history. But God himself transcends that order is not bound always to
act according to the order we usually perceive.”
Greidanus here is showing how God acts in history both unfolding his story and entering into it
through Creation, Fall and Redemption. Because God exists outside of human history, he is not
confined to either our finite minds or our understanding of time. He transcends both and
unfolds the fullness of his revelatory glory in His ways and not always in the ways we expect.
Pg 57 “Even in the writing down of the material, the evangelists were attempting to do what
Christian preachers have been trying to do ever since – to point to the significance of Jesus
Christ for those who hear the gospel. The preacher’s work is half done for him by the
evangelist themselves.”
This is incredibly comforting to know that the power of God’s inscripturated word transcends
my understanding of it, so much so that simply sharing his word without any commentary can
communicate volumes about God, Jesus Christ and the gospel that needs to be heard. The Bible
itself provides the example of proclaiming the gospel and is there to not only teach the people
of God about God, but also to assist the preacher in communicating these foundational and
transformational truths.
Pg 103 “Theological interpretation seeks to hear God’s voice in the Scriptures; it seeks to
probe beyond mere historical reconstruction and verbal meanings to a discernment of the
message of God in the Scriptures; it concentrates on the prophetic, kerygmatic dimension and
the theocentric focus.”
Knowing that God’s word is living and that it can be relied upon is incredibly comforting to
one’s faith. That though we do not see and are called to walk by faith, we can still hear God’s
voice speaking to us even now. God speaks his truth, proclaims his message of the kingdom
and focuses the hearer not upon themselves, but upon the voice of God calling them to him.
Pg 129 “In other words, preaching-texts are selected with a specific purpose in mind. In
general, the purpose of sermons is to build up the congregation, to encourage and console, to
equip its members for service, to teach, reprove, correct, and train in righteousness.”
Greidanus gives a useful summary here of our purpose for preaching and proclaiming God’s
inerrant word. It is an excellent reminder of the direct application and life-breathing nature of
scripture and does not just focus on the intellectual aspects, but enumerates the heart of the
pastor for his flock that he cares for so deeply.
Pg 182 “The point is that biblical texts are God’s word addressed to his people and, therefore,
already applied and relevant. Hence preachers today need not transform an objective entity
into a relevant word but need only transmit a relevant message from the past to the present.”
This was one of those quotes that connected the past truth, in its entire historical context, to the
ongoing and continuous nature of the present reality we experience in hearing God’s word
today. It is also another example of the need to rely on the text itself, to open God’s truth and
not to insert an artificial application that cannot be derived faithfully from that particular text.
Pg 272 “This means that the Gospels are not pure, ‘objective’ history, if ‘objective’ means the
work of detached, disinterested authors. Each evangelist selected his material and to some
degree shaped his material to suit his particular theological and ecclesiastical interests.”
Throughout the book, Greidanus called into question the nineteenth century view of objective
truth and history and the misapplication of those standards to scripture. Here he exemplifies
how the authors of the Gospels were being true to God’s story, and the work of the Spirit in
their writing of the Gospels while at the same time using the freedom of organic inspiration to
convey God’s truth to a particular audience and for a particular purpose that they had in mind.
Pg 329 “By contrast, the Epistles transcend their own historical-cultural horizon and thus
continue to speak to the church today. But they are culturally conditioned, that is they are
shaped and molded by the culture(s) of their author and original recipients.”
It is important to remember that the historical context in which the Epistles were written weighs
on our understanding of the letters and therefore should be taken into consideration when we
interpret God’s truth as revealed through those letters. However, because they are written to the
church of Jesus Christ, they still have an application to the present day church of Jesus Christ
despite the many generations that separate the original audience with today.

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