The theological background of the demythologized spirit in preaching

Abstract

The Christian church has believed that the work of the Holy Spirit is essential in the ministry of preaching. In the development of contemporary homiletics, namely the New Homiletic, however, the work of the Holy Spirit is often found missing and minimized. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the neglected role of the Holy Spirit in preaching within the New Homiletic is not a mere coincidence, but a necessary consequence of the eventfulness of preaching that the New Homiletic has been engaged in. This is to be proven by examining (i) the demythologization program of Rudolf Bultmann and (ii) the concept of “language-event” or “word-event” of the new hermeneutic, which was appropriated to the eventfulness of preaching by the New Homiletic.