Text to Praxis: Hermeneutics and Homiletics in Dialogue

A fundamental issue for preachers of the Bible has always been achieving an approach that is both faithful to the textual intention as well as fitting for the listening audience. What is historical and distant (the text) is, in preaching, made contemporary and near (praxis). Particularly pertinent is how this transaction may be conducted with respect to the self-contained and well-defined quantum of the scriptural text that is regularly employed in liturgical contexts-the pericope. This book answers the question: In a sermon intending to proclaim application from a pericope, what is the hermeneutical basis for moving validly from text to praxis, i.e., with authority and relevance?

The concept of theology as a bridge between text and praxis has not been specifically researched or rigorously substantiated. Kuruvilla seeks to do both, utilizing as entrées language philosophy, literary criticism, and a thorough understanding of "ordinary" language. Drawing from a variety of hermeneutical resources, he establishes "pericopal theology" as the intermediary between text and praxis. How this theology is discerned from the text and how application may be determined therefrom form the crux of this book. This novel approach lends validity to the movement from text to praxis and promises to be useful for any approach to the biblical text intended to culminate in application. Kuruvilla's approach provides a substantial technical basis for such an operation.

Thus the preacher must be a "theologian-homiletician." It is the working out of this nomenclature, especially the "theologian" half of the appellation, that is the essence of this work, uniting as it does in one portfolio the responsibility of negotiating the demands of both hermeneutics and homiletics.

• Table of contents
• Chapter One: Language-Games, Textuality, and Genres
  • General And Special Hermeneutics
  • Language-Games
    • Functions Of Language-Games
    • Rules Of Language-Games
  • Textuality
    • Consequences Of Textuality
    • The World In Front Of The Text
  • Genres
    • Rules Of Genre
    • Roles Of Genre
    • Secondary Genre: The Canonical "Classic"
• Chapter Two: Primary Genre
  • Types Of Primary Genre
    • The Problem Of Classi?cation
    • Author And Reader In The Classi?Cation Of Primary Genres
    • Polygeneric And Transgeneric Scriptures
  • Rules Of Primary Genre
    • Rules Of Genre: Narrative
    • Rules Of Genre: Prophecy
    • Rules Of Genre: Law
    • Rules Of Genre: Hymnody
• Chapter Three: Secondary Genre-The Canon
  • Rules Of Secondary Genre
    • Rules Of Structure
    • Rules Of Function
    • Rules Of Content
  • Role Of The Rules Of Secondary Genre
• Chapter Four: Pericopal Theology And Application
  • Pericopes
    • The Liturgical Use Of Scripture
    • Theological Function Of Pericopes
  • Theology Of Pericopes
    • Concrete Universals, Projected World, And Theology
    • Pericopal Theology As Intermediary
    • Text To Theology: 2 Samuel 11:1-27
  • Application
    • Pericopal Theology To Exempli?cation
    • Generating Exempli?cations
• Conclusion: Summary And Prospects