David Schmitt - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by David Schmitt
Description: the devotional life takes on many forms. Different cultural contexts and different l... more Description: the devotional life takes on many forms. Different cultural contexts and different life experiences pose both problems and possibilities for lives of devotion. This plenary will offer an overarching framework for the symposium. We will consider how our particular cultural moment presents three challenges to the devotional life: distraction, disenchantment, and disillusionment. For each challenge, we will consider how God works through his word to reform our lives of devotion that we may live as faithful disciples in a discontented age.
Concordia Theological Quarterly, 2010
Concordia Journal, 2022
He is professor of practical theology and chair of the practical department. His interests and ar... more He is professor of practical theology and chair of the practical department. His interests and areas of expertise include preaching, the intersections of faith and culture, particularly literary culture, spiritual autobiography, and the devotional life. He is the editor of the new Conversations in Preaching Series. I'd like to start in an odd place. The battlefield. .. where, in the midst of the blood and the mutilated bodies, there are moments of rare beauty ... at least, that is, according to Homer. When Homer composed The Iliad, he had moments when the forward progression of the battle would slow down and suddenly you would be taken into the wonder of the warrior. Literary scholars have long known about these moments. They have even given them a name. Aristeia. The moment when a warrior appears in rare form. These moments pay attention to details. You see the silver clasp that the warrior uses to fasten the armor on his legs. As he lifts the breastplate, you see swirls of color. The cobalt blue and the brilliant gold. Only after he straps the breastplate on do you see the snakes. Three snakes on either side. Intertwining in iridescent rainbows toward his face.1 The aristeia is the moment that the warrior arises. He dresses for battle, he fights, he falls, he rises, and he fights again, to kill or be killed. .. but always to be remembered. To be remembered for this one brief shining moment. His aristeia, his excellence, praiseworthiness. For this rare moment of beauty on a battlefield. What Homer does to the battlefield is what the apostle Paul does to our world. Consider Paul's letter to the Philippians. "Whatever is lovely. .. think about these things" (Phil 4:8). In writing to the Philippians, Paul has asked them to keep their eyes open. Zko7T£C0. He has asked them to pay careful attention to the people who follow his example (Phil 3:17). Now, however, at the end of his letter, Paul asks them to open their eyes even wider. He expands their vision to encompass the world. "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely. .. think about these things" (Phil 4:8). Paul breaks open our world for moments of splendor, excellence, beauty. Notice that Paul does not walk his readers through an art museum. He does not seat them in the silence of a concert hall. He doesn't even have them kneel in the splendor of a gothic cathedral. No. He leaves them in the world that God has created, where they are immersed in the daily affairs of life, but he encourages them to see that life is filled with moments of excellence, of beauty, of that which is praiseworthy, and encourages them to think about such things. Paul knows that, in this world, we are surrounded by moments of aristeia. The aristeia of God. God breaks through our daily experience, and we discover something beautiful and see that it is good. Paul calls us to attend to such moments and I would like to consider how we do that. In this article, I'd like to answer two questions: (1) what is an experience of beauty? and (2) how do we think about such things? Notice the order. I'd like to begin with the experience ("whatever is lovely") and then move to reflection ("think about such things"). I point this out because we tend to do it the other way around. That is, we tend to think first, and then, after we have thought about it, turn our attention to beauty. This would be approaching beauty as ornamentation.2 First, we use reason and God's word to arrive at the truth we need to teach, defend, and confess. Then, we consider the beautiful. First, we build the house
Description: when preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take ... more Description: when preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take the vivid images of the poetry and the variety of experiences it offers and reduce them to a teaching to be proclaimed. What would happen if preachers approached biblical poetry as something to be experienced in the sermon rather than merely explained? This sectional will examine a case study of preaching on a psalm. Participants will explore what it means to read and to preach biblical poetry as a spiritually formative drama of the imagination.
When preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take the vivid ima... more When preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take the vivid images of the poetry and the variety of experiences it offers and reduce them to a teaching to be proclaimed. What would happen if preachers approached biblical poetry as something to be experienced in the sermon rather than only explained? This sectional will present a case study of preaching on a psalm. Participants will explore what it means to read and to preach biblical poetry as a spiritually formative drama of the imagination
Dr. Schmitt demonstrates how using the same information you could use a different sermon design t... more Dr. Schmitt demonstrates how using the same information you could use a different sermon design to empathize different ideas.https://scholar.csl.edu/cchom2/1029/thumbnail.jp
Telling God’s Story In Telling God’s Story: Narrative Preaching for Christian Formation, John Wri... more Telling God’s Story In Telling God’s Story: Narrative Preaching for Christian Formation, John Wright examines the tensions that arise as Christians retell the biblical story in the American culture
Huntington Library Quarterly, 2013
Dr. Schmitt offers an analysis of the dynamics of narrative, theology, and spiritual autobiograph... more Dr. Schmitt offers an analysis of the dynamics of narrative, theology, and spiritual autobiography.
Description: the devotional life takes on many forms. Different cultural contexts and different l... more Description: the devotional life takes on many forms. Different cultural contexts and different life experiences pose both problems and possibilities for lives of devotion. This plenary will offer an overarching framework for the symposium. We will consider how our particular cultural moment presents three challenges to the devotional life: distraction, disenchantment, and disillusionment. For each challenge, we will consider how God works through his word to reform our lives of devotion that we may live as faithful disciples in a discontented age.
Concordia Theological Quarterly, 2010
Concordia Journal, 2022
He is professor of practical theology and chair of the practical department. His interests and ar... more He is professor of practical theology and chair of the practical department. His interests and areas of expertise include preaching, the intersections of faith and culture, particularly literary culture, spiritual autobiography, and the devotional life. He is the editor of the new Conversations in Preaching Series. I'd like to start in an odd place. The battlefield. .. where, in the midst of the blood and the mutilated bodies, there are moments of rare beauty ... at least, that is, according to Homer. When Homer composed The Iliad, he had moments when the forward progression of the battle would slow down and suddenly you would be taken into the wonder of the warrior. Literary scholars have long known about these moments. They have even given them a name. Aristeia. The moment when a warrior appears in rare form. These moments pay attention to details. You see the silver clasp that the warrior uses to fasten the armor on his legs. As he lifts the breastplate, you see swirls of color. The cobalt blue and the brilliant gold. Only after he straps the breastplate on do you see the snakes. Three snakes on either side. Intertwining in iridescent rainbows toward his face.1 The aristeia is the moment that the warrior arises. He dresses for battle, he fights, he falls, he rises, and he fights again, to kill or be killed. .. but always to be remembered. To be remembered for this one brief shining moment. His aristeia, his excellence, praiseworthiness. For this rare moment of beauty on a battlefield. What Homer does to the battlefield is what the apostle Paul does to our world. Consider Paul's letter to the Philippians. "Whatever is lovely. .. think about these things" (Phil 4:8). In writing to the Philippians, Paul has asked them to keep their eyes open. Zko7T£C0. He has asked them to pay careful attention to the people who follow his example (Phil 3:17). Now, however, at the end of his letter, Paul asks them to open their eyes even wider. He expands their vision to encompass the world. "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely. .. think about these things" (Phil 4:8). Paul breaks open our world for moments of splendor, excellence, beauty. Notice that Paul does not walk his readers through an art museum. He does not seat them in the silence of a concert hall. He doesn't even have them kneel in the splendor of a gothic cathedral. No. He leaves them in the world that God has created, where they are immersed in the daily affairs of life, but he encourages them to see that life is filled with moments of excellence, of beauty, of that which is praiseworthy, and encourages them to think about such things. Paul knows that, in this world, we are surrounded by moments of aristeia. The aristeia of God. God breaks through our daily experience, and we discover something beautiful and see that it is good. Paul calls us to attend to such moments and I would like to consider how we do that. In this article, I'd like to answer two questions: (1) what is an experience of beauty? and (2) how do we think about such things? Notice the order. I'd like to begin with the experience ("whatever is lovely") and then move to reflection ("think about such things"). I point this out because we tend to do it the other way around. That is, we tend to think first, and then, after we have thought about it, turn our attention to beauty. This would be approaching beauty as ornamentation.2 First, we use reason and God's word to arrive at the truth we need to teach, defend, and confess. Then, we consider the beautiful. First, we build the house
Description: when preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take ... more Description: when preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take the vivid images of the poetry and the variety of experiences it offers and reduce them to a teaching to be proclaimed. What would happen if preachers approached biblical poetry as something to be experienced in the sermon rather than merely explained? This sectional will examine a case study of preaching on a psalm. Participants will explore what it means to read and to preach biblical poetry as a spiritually formative drama of the imagination.
When preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take the vivid ima... more When preaching on biblical poetry, preachers often rely upon explanation. They take the vivid images of the poetry and the variety of experiences it offers and reduce them to a teaching to be proclaimed. What would happen if preachers approached biblical poetry as something to be experienced in the sermon rather than only explained? This sectional will present a case study of preaching on a psalm. Participants will explore what it means to read and to preach biblical poetry as a spiritually formative drama of the imagination
Dr. Schmitt demonstrates how using the same information you could use a different sermon design t... more Dr. Schmitt demonstrates how using the same information you could use a different sermon design to empathize different ideas.https://scholar.csl.edu/cchom2/1029/thumbnail.jp
Telling God’s Story In Telling God’s Story: Narrative Preaching for Christian Formation, John Wri... more Telling God’s Story In Telling God’s Story: Narrative Preaching for Christian Formation, John Wright examines the tensions that arise as Christians retell the biblical story in the American culture
Huntington Library Quarterly, 2013
Dr. Schmitt offers an analysis of the dynamics of narrative, theology, and spiritual autobiograph... more Dr. Schmitt offers an analysis of the dynamics of narrative, theology, and spiritual autobiography.