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Seminar speaker encourages analysis for deeper preaching

Rev. Dr. Susanna Southard says studying the Jewish scriptures can be a basis for better preaching. (photo by Susan Cooper)

Written: 1/27/2010 1:26:07 PM

By Susan Cooper
Associate director of Marketing and Communications
WICHITA—Rev. Dr. Susanna Southard, a Kansas East Conference elder and professor at Phillips Theological Seminary, believes the Jewish scriptures, commonly referred to as the Old Testament, “tells us about people acting like people in the real world. Sometimes it’s messy, but that’s what makes it real in our lives.

“All of this helps us learn who we are and how we can live in this world as people of faith.”

Speaking on “Excellence in Exegesis” at the Kansas Area Professional Ministry Seminar Jan. 13, Southard said United Methodists largely ignore the Old Testament. But what pastors say and do with these texts, affects their members and eventually trickles out into the rest of the world.

“Exegesis means ‘drawing out,’” she said.

“Reading the Bible is a never-ending process. A good, strong, solid exegesis is the foundation of good preaching.”

Southard believes referring to the Jewish scriptures as the “Old Testament” suggests it’s irrelevant, with nothing left to say to us today. So, she avoids that term.

“We will always read [the Jewish scriptures] through Christian eyes because that’s who we are, so it will never be pure exegesis. It’s actually unattainable, but we want to move in that direction,” Southard said.

According to John Barton, author and professor at the University of Oxford, there are two approaches to reading the Bible: canonical and critical.

Canonical is what most church members do; it’s not a scholarly reading and can take the form of devotional reading.

There are five expectations in the canonical approach:

•  What I read is true. If it doesn’t sound right to me, I must be reading it wrong.
•  This must be relevant to my life.
•  What I find there must be important and profound.
•  It will be self consistent; from Genesis to Revelation will fit together.
•  What I find there will conform to the teachings of the church.

“We can’t really be effective preachers without doing some of [these five things],” Southard said.

With the critical approach:

• There’s a recognition of the Bible as literature. A literary approach has a concern for the kind of text and for the writing of the text. It considers who wrote it and why it was written.
• There is value in meaning before truth. It postpones examining the truth of it until the meaning is understood but does not ignore the truth.

Southard said some United Methodist congregations embrace critical reading and others distrust it or resist it.

“If you want to be a powerful preacher, you must put in the hours to study the texts. You need to approach the text each time with different questions, with different experiences in the forefront of your mind, and read it in different translations.”

Additionally, everyone sees the scriptures through their own opinions and experiences.

“Why do I read it this way? Why do I assume this is truth? We need to ask ourselves these things,” Southard said.

“We have the responsibility as preachers of the Word to read the Biblical text for what is really there, not through our experiences and opinions. I advise you to pull out a translation you’re not very familiar with to really read those texts you’ve read many times before.”

Southard said excellent Biblical analysis:

•  Requires close reading of the text;
•  Recognizes the importance of studying history and context;
•  Recognizes the importance of acknowledging reader’s context;
•  Requires listening to other voices.

She advises pastors always to consult one source with which they disagree.

“It could be a book; it could be a member of your church. It will help you determine why you read the texts the way you do,” she said.

Southard recommends pastors have a copy of the Tanakh, which contains the Torah, or five books of Moses, the books of the prophets and the books known as The Writings. She also thinks a copy of “The Jewish Study Bible” can be helpful.