Monday, May 17, 2010

Festival of Homiletics: Monday Evening Lecture: Anna Carter Florence on Mark 5's Preaching Superheros

Instead of typing all my notes and including them here, I thought it would be more fun, (And more helpful as I continue to process this material and conference), if I created a Top 5 list for each of the sermons and lectures I've heard and post them here instead.  If you have questions or comments on any of these, please post in the comments section.  I'll do my best to explain them and thicken these stories and comments the best I can.


Top 5 List from Anna Carter Florence's Lecture on Monday evening:
1. Accepting commonly accepted Biblical Theories is easy.  There are tons of books supporting them.  Digging deeply on my own and uncovering the text for what it says is much harder.

2. Pastors often don't ask ALL the questions of the text--partly because we don't see them due to our training, and partly because they might get us into hot water with someone in power.  Ask them anyways and keep our eyes open when exploring the Canon.

3. God demands the truth, and nothing but the WHOLE truth, so keep digging into the text despite the threats for yourself (self-preservation) or others in power (The Bible is culturally, politically, and socially subversive, so watch out!). 

4. Reading around the margins of a text makes for much more interesting reading.

5. I wish Mattel or Hasboro would create and market Anna's 3 Superhero Action Figures of Homiletics (Preaching): Mark 5's Demoniac (Complete with graveyard and chains), Hemorrhaging Woman (Complete with Jesus' cloak or a "Red Tent"), and 12 year old walking resurrection girl (Complete with bed and burial clothes).  I'm sure they would be big sellers! (They would go great on the shelf in my office along side my bobblehead "Buddy Christ.")

No comments: