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The Living Word: A Theological Study of Preaching and the Church
The Living A Theological Study of Preaching and the Church
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 24, 2023
This book should be read by everyone who is called to the task of preaching. It is not a how-to manual but an exploration of the theology of preaching, which is the continuing work of the risen and ascended Christ rescuing sinful human beings from sin, death, and the devil through His Word. Highly recommended!
March 8, 2021
With this volume, Wingren offers a valuable reflection on the nature of preaching from a Lutheran perspective. In no sense is he concerned with standard "homiletical" questions involving sermon structures and forms or delivery techniques. Wingren is concerned with something deeper: the nature of preaching itself. Why does the Christian church have a unique "preaching office" within the communion of saints at all? Why is preaching necessary, essential to the church? Wingren sees the answer to these questions within the framework of a battle that is seen in the incarnate life of Jesus. Jesus himself engaged the same battle with Satan that has raged since Adam's fall in the garden. Jesus conquered in this struggle, but it is the nature of a war that battles continue to be fought even once the decisive victory has been won. For Wingren, Christian preaching is none other than the ongoing engagement of Christ himself in this battle against Satan through the living Word. Through this Word, Christ brings about the death and resurrection of those who believe until the day that we will no longer simply believe that Christ has conquered sin and Satan, but will see Him with our eyes as Lord and King.
Within this reflection, Wingren insists that the Christian congregation is not external to the Bible, but already present within it. This is because the Bible itself was always meant to be preached. In no way does the preaching of the Bible's contents remove the Scriptures from their "original meaning" or "original context," since the Bible has not in fact reached its own inherent goal unless it is preached. This is a valuable insight for a time in which theological thinking is still recovering from an academic fragmentation that has tended to separate theological disciplines into neat, distinct categories, each with their own rules and goals that rarely overlap. Wingren can help us recover some unity in this regard by holding together the tasks of homiletics and exegesis. But it is also at this point that Wingren's reasoning strangely falls a bit short, as he suggests that a "purely historical exegesis of the Old Testament" holds more promise for Christian preachers than a "typological exegesis which decides beforehand that every text of the Old Testament must refer to Christ" (49). Yet in the next breath, Wingren defends his view by saying that the Old Testament "is a history of humanity's liberation, humanity's conflict, in the destiny of a single people, a conflict to get free of sin, a conflict that is won in Christ's death and resurrection" (49). One sincerely wonders why, if it is true that the Old Testament is a history of humanity's conflict that is won in Christ's death and resurrection, there could be Old Testament texts that do not in fact refer to Christ. If there are texts that do not refer to Christ, then the Old Testament is no longer a history of a conflict that is won in Christ's death and resurrection, but simply a collection of human stories that may or may not contain certain external parallels to the narrative of the gospel.
Another strength of Wingren's book is his refusal to separate the Bible from Christ, all the while insisting on the primacy of Christ. Indeed, "the Bible is an incomparable book because it gives us Christ. On the other hand, we make facts stand on their head when we say that Christ is important because he is spoken of in the Bible, which is of supernatural origin" (48). This may be a challenging point for conservative Christians who—rightly—see the importance of defending the "inspiration" of the Bible. But Wingren helps us see that "inspiration" can never become an end in itself. It may have been helpful for him to point out, for example, that the Bible is in fact the narrative of the flesh and blood of Christ that is offered on Christian altars. The Bible is not "inspired" because the Bible says so; rather, the Scriptures are "inspired" because they proceed from the living God himself through His authorized prophets and apostles, who bear witness to Him.
One can also see in this book Wingren's affinity for the early church, and especially Irenaeus—unsurprising for the author of Man and the Incarnation. With Irenaeus—and, as Wingren points out, Luther—he sees humanity as something that was always created to grow into the fulness of a life that, while already possessed in the present, would only be fully realized in the future, and that through conquering in conflict. The image of God, for Wingren, is something that lies ahead, that must be grown into: "To become like Christ is to become man as the Creator intended he should be" (75). This fits well with Wingren's emphasis that faith in God is not something "supernatural," something added to "man as he is," but is in fact the definition of what it means to be a true human being. Those who do not believe are not in fact "natural humans," who receive a supernatural grace on top of an already-existing humanity when they come to believe. Rather, they are in fact something less than human; they are not neutral, but suffer under a demonic oppression that limits their ability to become fully human in the sense that God has always intended. But at times, it is difficult to see just how Wingren envisions this "growth" in humanity that will be realized in the resurrection. In what sense will this growth take place? Ultimately, it seems that Wingren is only able to locate this "growth" in a "return" to the pristine conditions of creation; the resurrection will simply be a restoration of our "original" created existence, but now in such a way that the battle with Satan has already been won, so that death has no opportunity to rule us again (89). The resurrection will mean that the "creative moulding of man" will finally be complete, in the sense that man will stand forth "free of the enemy, without sin, and without death" (161). The "man of the last day" lives not by faith, but by sight (164); preaching will no longer be necessary, since the battle with Satan will be completely in the past. But still, Wingren continually insists that the preached word is a creative word, in the sense that it merely restores the conditions of the original creation. It is difficult to see what true sense of "growth" for humanity might exist within this paradigm, in which humanity never becomes anything but a pure creature. In Christ, although our humanity does not leave the created realm, it is in fact intended to grow into the sonship of Jesus himself, a Trinitarian conception that is missing from Wingren's work. The mystery of the incarnation is the unity of God and man, of Creator and creature—not an abolition of either, but the taking up of humanity into the life of God. We await that revelation of the sons of God, not merely a return to the pristine conditions of finite creatureliness.
All in all, Wingren's work is valuable for any Christian engaged or interested in the task of preaching, and especially for those interested in a Lutheran perspective. Along the way, one will also find enlightening discussions of the Bible, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the church.
Within this reflection, Wingren insists that the Christian congregation is not external to the Bible, but already present within it. This is because the Bible itself was always meant to be preached. In no way does the preaching of the Bible's contents remove the Scriptures from their "original meaning" or "original context," since the Bible has not in fact reached its own inherent goal unless it is preached. This is a valuable insight for a time in which theological thinking is still recovering from an academic fragmentation that has tended to separate theological disciplines into neat, distinct categories, each with their own rules and goals that rarely overlap. Wingren can help us recover some unity in this regard by holding together the tasks of homiletics and exegesis. But it is also at this point that Wingren's reasoning strangely falls a bit short, as he suggests that a "purely historical exegesis of the Old Testament" holds more promise for Christian preachers than a "typological exegesis which decides beforehand that every text of the Old Testament must refer to Christ" (49). Yet in the next breath, Wingren defends his view by saying that the Old Testament "is a history of humanity's liberation, humanity's conflict, in the destiny of a single people, a conflict to get free of sin, a conflict that is won in Christ's death and resurrection" (49). One sincerely wonders why, if it is true that the Old Testament is a history of humanity's conflict that is won in Christ's death and resurrection, there could be Old Testament texts that do not in fact refer to Christ. If there are texts that do not refer to Christ, then the Old Testament is no longer a history of a conflict that is won in Christ's death and resurrection, but simply a collection of human stories that may or may not contain certain external parallels to the narrative of the gospel.
Another strength of Wingren's book is his refusal to separate the Bible from Christ, all the while insisting on the primacy of Christ. Indeed, "the Bible is an incomparable book because it gives us Christ. On the other hand, we make facts stand on their head when we say that Christ is important because he is spoken of in the Bible, which is of supernatural origin" (48). This may be a challenging point for conservative Christians who—rightly—see the importance of defending the "inspiration" of the Bible. But Wingren helps us see that "inspiration" can never become an end in itself. It may have been helpful for him to point out, for example, that the Bible is in fact the narrative of the flesh and blood of Christ that is offered on Christian altars. The Bible is not "inspired" because the Bible says so; rather, the Scriptures are "inspired" because they proceed from the living God himself through His authorized prophets and apostles, who bear witness to Him.
One can also see in this book Wingren's affinity for the early church, and especially Irenaeus—unsurprising for the author of Man and the Incarnation. With Irenaeus—and, as Wingren points out, Luther—he sees humanity as something that was always created to grow into the fulness of a life that, while already possessed in the present, would only be fully realized in the future, and that through conquering in conflict. The image of God, for Wingren, is something that lies ahead, that must be grown into: "To become like Christ is to become man as the Creator intended he should be" (75). This fits well with Wingren's emphasis that faith in God is not something "supernatural," something added to "man as he is," but is in fact the definition of what it means to be a true human being. Those who do not believe are not in fact "natural humans," who receive a supernatural grace on top of an already-existing humanity when they come to believe. Rather, they are in fact something less than human; they are not neutral, but suffer under a demonic oppression that limits their ability to become fully human in the sense that God has always intended. But at times, it is difficult to see just how Wingren envisions this "growth" in humanity that will be realized in the resurrection. In what sense will this growth take place? Ultimately, it seems that Wingren is only able to locate this "growth" in a "return" to the pristine conditions of creation; the resurrection will simply be a restoration of our "original" created existence, but now in such a way that the battle with Satan has already been won, so that death has no opportunity to rule us again (89). The resurrection will mean that the "creative moulding of man" will finally be complete, in the sense that man will stand forth "free of the enemy, without sin, and without death" (161). The "man of the last day" lives not by faith, but by sight (164); preaching will no longer be necessary, since the battle with Satan will be completely in the past. But still, Wingren continually insists that the preached word is a creative word, in the sense that it merely restores the conditions of the original creation. It is difficult to see what true sense of "growth" for humanity might exist within this paradigm, in which humanity never becomes anything but a pure creature. In Christ, although our humanity does not leave the created realm, it is in fact intended to grow into the sonship of Jesus himself, a Trinitarian conception that is missing from Wingren's work. The mystery of the incarnation is the unity of God and man, of Creator and creature—not an abolition of either, but the taking up of humanity into the life of God. We await that revelation of the sons of God, not merely a return to the pristine conditions of finite creatureliness.
All in all, Wingren's work is valuable for any Christian engaged or interested in the task of preaching, and especially for those interested in a Lutheran perspective. Along the way, one will also find enlightening discussions of the Bible, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the church.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews