| The preaching of Christianity was its early theology until the rise of the university in the twelfth century. With the formation of the university, which was based upon the ancient liberal arts tradition, the marriage of the church's preaching and theology was torn asunder. Christian theology became a scientia, a discipline for study, while preaching continued its two traditions of (1) educated sermons and (2) folk preaching. Assumed as part of Christian life, preaching did not become a subject for study in the same way that theology did in the university environment, which resulted in the current denigration of homiletics in theological education to the detriment of the preaching of the church.;This dissertation traces the history of the relationship between preaching and theology in light of the issues that come attached with education and increasing the knowledge of God, issues that have been subtly at work in various ways over time to lead to an estrangement of the preaching of the church and academic theology. This work examines the interplay of the following factors through time that separated preaching and theology---theological method, homiletic theory, settings of theological education, the liberal arts tradition, social histories, figural and conceptual language, orality and textuality, hermeneutics, philosophy, rhetoric, ecclesial history, pedagogy, and worship---demonstrating that theological education is an overlooked factor that has powerfully, but almost invisibly, influenced the development of homiletic theory and theological method to the detriment of the relationship between preaching and academic theology, which, in turn, has negatively affected the gospel preached from the pulpit.;After examining how the current problems that we have in theological education evolved over time, this work also draws upon the work of Edward Farley to suggest ways to restore theologial unity in theological education in order to improve the relationship between theology and homiletics in academia, which will ultimately improve the preaching of the church for the glory of God in Christ. |
