설교 청중으로서의 하나님에 관한 소고 - 바울의 “하나님 앞에서 말하노라”(고후2:17, 12:19)를 중심으로 -

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to bring forth new insights on the essence of preaching by examining the role of God as listener in the context of Paul's ‘speak before God’ in 2 Corinthians 2:17 and 12:19. In order to examine Paul's invocation of God as a listener of the preacher's sermon, this paper looks closely at the grounding background of the text and the context of the Corinthian church in order to analyze whether criticism and rejection of Paul’s preaching ministry was warranted. Understanding God as a listener of the sermon provides new theological perspective on the essence of the preaching ministry and the position and role of preacher. It changes the one-dimensional static understanding of the congregation as listeners to a multidimensional understanding of the audience and evokes the faithful effort of evangelical preaching and spirituality for preacher. For this purpose, this paper reviews the interpretation of Paul’s declaration, the homiletical insight of preaching theologians, including the views of Karl Barth, P. T. Forsyth, Rudolf Bohren, and the emphasis of the presence of God by modern preachers such as John Stott and Bill Hybel. The conclusion from this study are as follows. First, the declaration, ‘speak before God’ contains vocational awareness, ethical awareness, and presence awareness. Second, the recognition that preaching is done before God is not Paul’s own, but comes from the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament, especially from Jeremiah’s confession. Third, Paul’s ‘speak before God’ brings forth the new dimensional understanding of a preaching audience, in which God is the primary listener of the sermon. Fourth, the homiletical application of the concept of God as listener is revealed from Rudolf Bohren who suggests the proposition of ‘God as the first listener and Audience as the second text’ and points out that preaching is foremost for the new creator, and then for the audience. Fifth, the concept of God as the primary listener of preaching suggests preaching toward God. This controversial concept is well persuaded by Kierkegaard’s theater parable of worship, where he depicts preacher and God as prompter and audience instead of actor and prompter (speaker). Sixth, Paul’s saying “speak before God” suggests that his character of preaching has both preaching as worship and preaching as prayer. Lastly, the faithful efforts to evaluate his or her own preaching reveals that he or she keep in mind the concept that preacher speaks before God.