Die dialektiek tussen leser en teks: ‘n Gesprek oor hermeneutiese homiletiek

Abstract

Dialectics between reader and text: A discussion on hermeneutical homiletics
The fundamentalist reaction to contemporary theological discourse in South Africa expresses the need for homiletics to give serious attention to the pre-understanding of our existential situation in order to understand the Biblical text for preaching. Empirical research shows that most preachers concentrate on exegesis in sermon preparation, but do not succeed in actualising the message of the text in their own context. In homiletics, the question still remains whether the own context of the reader of a Biblical text should be seen as an integral part of the hermeneutical-homiletical theory. This article argues that there is a creative tension between reader and Biblical text in the hermeneutical process of sermon preparation, provided the two are treated equally. Because either the text or the reader sometimes dominates the process of understanding, a choice is made for an equal dialectical weight of reader and text in hermeneutical-homiletics, referring to H-G. Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur as sources. This approach opens up the possibility of topical preaching as a result of a creative tension between reader and text in sermon preparation.