Coming to Terms with Barth's "Third Thing": Hans Frei, Paul Ricoeur, and the Possibility of Postliberal Homiletics
Abstract
In the wake of modernity and all across the theological spectrum, preaching has proven adept at evading or enlisting the Bible, but resistant to taking it seriously on its own terms. Karl Barth’s theology is an important resource for moving beyond this impasse, but does not offer a compelling account of how biblical language and sermonic language properly conformed to it participate in God’s free act of self-communication. The narrative hermeneutics of Hans Frei and Paul Ricoeur point the way toward such a critically informed postliberal homiletic. In particular, Ricoeur’s notion of threefold mimesis is appropriated to propose criteria for evaluating sermons in terms of their ability to pay against three debts: a debt to the actual (mimesis 1), a debt to the real (mimesis 2), and a debt to the possible (mimesis 3).For articles: All articles published in Homiletic are the exclusive property of the Journal. All copyright rights to the article shall be owned by and be in the name of the Academy of Homiletics. The Academy of Homiletics in turn grants all authors the right to reprint their articles in any format that they choose, without the payment of royalties, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication with Homiletic. The Academy of Homiletics also permits articles to be copied for non-profit educational use provided proper credit is given to Homiletic. Authors may self-archive their articles in an institutional repository or other online location, provided proper credit is given to Homiletic.
For reviews: All reviews commissioned by Homiletic are the exclusive property of the Journal. Reviews are considered a work made-for-hire, and, as such, all copyright rights to the review shall be owned by and be in the name of the Academy of Homiletics. The Academy of Homiletics in turn grants all review authors the right to reprint their reviews in any format that they choose, without the payment of royalties, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication with Homiletic. The Academy of Homiletics also permits its reviews to be copied for non-profit educational use provided proper credit is given to the review author and the Journal. Authors may self-archive reviews in an institutional repository or other online location, provided proper credit is given to Homiletic.
