Roaming through Romans -- Rabbit Trails
OK, I could have used the word "excursus" -- that's the scholarly term for the sorts of digressions I suspect I'll want to take during this summer's study of Romans. But to be honest, everytime I hear/read the word, I'm reminded of the tiny font (approximately 8 pt.) that fills page upon page of Karl Barth's magisterial Church Dogmatics, and my eyes begin to squint uncontrollably!
I've already discovered this week that one challenge of preaching Romans in a parochial context will be to control my excitement about verb tenses and rhetorical structure so that the sermons aren't simply exegesis papers in disguise. Another challenge will be to confine myself to one or two themes that may be in play in a particular passage and look for ways those themes speak to the particular context of Trinity, Wauwatosa -- after all, I'm preaching within a specific community at a particular time in the community's life.
So over the course of the next few weeks, this will probably be the forum where I scratch my digression itch (staying on topic has never been easy for me!). I've already got my eye on several fascinating exegetical trails...
In the meantime, I can report that the first installment of background material I'm preparing each week for distribution with the Sunday bulletin is available at the Trinity Church website.
Go to http://www.trinitywauwatosa.org/weekly_bulletin.iml
OK, I could have used the word "excursus" -- that's the scholarly term for the sorts of digressions I suspect I'll want to take during this summer's study of Romans. But to be honest, everytime I hear/read the word, I'm reminded of the tiny font (approximately 8 pt.) that fills page upon page of Karl Barth's magisterial Church Dogmatics, and my eyes begin to squint uncontrollably!
I've already discovered this week that one challenge of preaching Romans in a parochial context will be to control my excitement about verb tenses and rhetorical structure so that the sermons aren't simply exegesis papers in disguise. Another challenge will be to confine myself to one or two themes that may be in play in a particular passage and look for ways those themes speak to the particular context of Trinity, Wauwatosa -- after all, I'm preaching within a specific community at a particular time in the community's life.
So over the course of the next few weeks, this will probably be the forum where I scratch my digression itch (staying on topic has never been easy for me!). I've already got my eye on several fascinating exegetical trails...
In the meantime, I can report that the first installment of background material I'm preparing each week for distribution with the Sunday bulletin is available at the Trinity Church website.
Go to http://www.trinitywauwatosa.org/weekly_bulletin.iml
posted by FrGaryB | 5:45 AM
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