Before the Face of God: An Interdisciplinary Study of the Meaning of the Sermon and the Hearer's God Image, Personality and Affective StateAll over the world, millions of people attend services every week, and most of them will hear sermons. What happens between the sermon and the listener? Does the sermon become meaningful to listeners? The present study in the fields of practical theology, homiletics, and psychology of religion combines quantitative and qualitative methods to offer an empirically-based approach to the study of preaching. Highlighting the psychological factors influencing how a sermon is heard, this study draws theoretical insight from the works of D.W. Winnicott, A.-M. Rizzuto and D. Bonhoeffer in its examination of the relationship between the meaning of the sermon and the hearer's God image, personality, and affective state. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 28 | |
3 | 70 |
5 | 81 |
4 | 89 |
AnaMaria Rizzutos theory on God images | 107 |
God images | 129 |
Personality and affective state | 149 |
affective state | 210 |
Qualitative results | 229 |
Discussion and conclusions | 269 |
Conclusions and implications | 293 |
Questionnaire | 305 |
Statistical glossary | 317 |
Zusammenfassung | 323 |
Author index | 331 |
Common terms and phrases
anxiety approach aspects associated behaviour believe Bonhoeffer Bonhoeffer’s borderline chapter child Christ church cognitive concept concerning context Costa creativity Dietrich Bonhoeffer dimensions discussed emotional empirical research Eurelings-Bontekoe experienced Extraversion factors faith function Furthermore God image God representation God’s hearers hearing hermeneutical homiletics human Hutsebaut Immink implication important incarnation individual individual’s interaction interpretation Jesus Jonker Kernberg language Leah Leah’s listeners mainstream Protestant McAdams McCrae meaning construction meaningful mother narrative Negative Affect Neuroticism object relations theory one’s Openness to Experience Ormel parents people’s personality disorders personality structure perspective practical theology preacher predicted predictor present process of meaning psychic psychological characteristics psychology of religion questionnaire reality refers reflects Reformed League congregation relationship religious culture representation respondents Rizzuto Schaap-Jonker schemas scores sermon situation Snellen social Somatisation story subjectivity and objectivity themes theological tradition transitional experience transitional object unconscious understanding variables variance Winnicott words Zock