The Political Intention of the “Oracles against the Nations” in the Book of Isaiah CHEUNG Ming Kwong This article explores the formation process and purpose of the section “Oracles against the Nations” (Isaiah 13-23). The section occupied a strategic position as one of the few places in the book that references Babylon. This article argues that this series of oracles comprises two earlier…
Preaching “the Baptism of Repentance”: The Spiritual Formation and Renewal of Emerging Adults through the Service of the Word Kit-ying LAW The post-pandemic crisis of worship attendance and baptismal formation in Hong Kong Chinese churches reflects a profound liturgical-theological challenge concerning how the baptized are gathered and renewed by the Word, rather than a mere institutional decline…
The Construction of Chinese Rhetoric and the Legitimacy of Chinese Homiletics: A Preliminary Study Using the Concept of “Persuasion” as an Example Ken K. S. LUI Western homiletics has been shaped since Augustine by a paradigm integrating classical Greco-Roman rhetoric with Christian preaching. This article asks whether Chinese churches should follow this paradigm to construct a distinctively…
“Story Is Argument”: The Use of Life Stories in William H. Willimon’s Preaching WONG Shun Shing This article examines William H. Willimon’s homiletical theology, which posits that narrative—especially life stories—serves not as mere illustration but as the primary argumentative structure in Christian preaching. Amid contemporary challenges of entertainment-oriented, consumerist, and attractional…
The Threefold Forms of the Word of God: Karl Barth’s Shortcomings and Critical Revisions in Recent Barthian Theology TSENG Shao Kai This paper examines the shortcomings of Karl Barth’s doctrine of Scripture in his formulation of the “threefold forms of the Word of God” and explores recent Barthian revisions to Barth’s model. Barth borrowed this concept from the classical Reformed notion of the…
Reality, Interpretation, and Proclamation: The Task of Christian Semiotics according to Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana Andrew Cheuk Kei WONG Attention to homiletics is usually limited to the biblical exegetical task and sermon design. For Christian preaching to be true to its task, it requires, however, a lot more than this. This article investigates Augustine of Hippo’s understanding of…
Preaching the Strange and Inconceivable Word of God CHIU Shung-ming Many Christians complain that church sermons sound clichéd, lack novelty, and fail to address real-life situations and specific cultural contexts. The author of this article agrees that preaching should be practical and relevant (“down-to-earth”); however, preachers must be cautious, for making sermons too “down-to-earth” not only…