The Vital Importance of the Imagination in the Contemporary Preaching Event

Abstract This thesis suggests that the imagination is vital in the contemporary preaching event. It enables the preacher to speak into some important themes identifiable in postmodern thought. Noting the broad range of understandings of the term ‘imagination’ in an overview of approaches in Western history, and in a wide selection of homiletic texts, a framework for mapping the imagination is offered as an heuristic device for the homiletics classroom. A theology of imagination is presented to demonstrate the importance of imagination in the life of faith and to allay fears that it may be seen to connect preaching with fiction. Allied to this is an analysis of the sacramental nature of preaching and the role of imagination in enabling such sacramental ‘seeing-as’. Connected to enabling new seeing, preaching in the lyrical voice is discussed along with the importance of preachers shaping sermons for the ear. As imagination also has a vital role in how the preacher sees the preaching task itself, exploration of various theological entailments flowing from seeing the role of preacher through the lenses of particular governing metaphors is presented. The connections between imagination, preaching, and personality are explored, along with a critique of the understanding of imagination operating in the Myers-Briggs literature and exploration of the use of imagination in the SIFT method of preaching. A number of key issues for the practice and teaching of preaching are proposed.