What is preaching? Types and forms of preaching

"Sermon" is a word that everyone has heard, but no one knows what it means. In the minds of most people, this term is associated with the propagation or popularization of any religious doctrines and ideas. In general, this is so. However, this concept has many different shades, in which it would be nice to understand a person who lives in a poly-religious country. So what is a sermon? With this we will try to understand this article.

Precise definition

In fact, there is no unequivocal answer to the question of what a sermon is. This concept is very broad, and it is impossible for him to give one capacious, concrete definition. By itself, the religious way of life is already a sermon, and therefore it is impossible to separate the life of a believing person from his messages to the surrounding world. In the narrow sense of the word, preaching is a speech intended to convey to the addressee some idea of a religious nature. This understanding is most common, but in fact it is only one of the facets of the term. Below we will try to deal with all of them, but first we turn to the etymology.

Origin of the concept

To understand what preaching is, the Old Slavonic language will help us, in which this term is used in three basic meanings. The first is the actual preaching, that is, the dissemination of religious ideas. The second is a prophecy, a prophecy. The third is a petition. A word is formed from the root of the Vedas, meaning "to know," "to know," and ascending to the primordial European language. The term "sermon" translates into Russian many concepts from the Greek and Hebrew languages used in the Bible. Therefore, one can speak about the exact meaning of a word only with regard to the context.

Kerigma

The first and most important for our culture is the concept of kerygma as the basic religious preaching. Christian missionaries of the first centuries, spreading their doctrine, called a message in which, in a condensed and generalized form, the foundations of faith were contained without deepening into dogmatics and the mysterious component. As a rule, the kerygma included the proclamation of the death and resurrection of the messenger of God, Jesus Christ. Her goal was to interest the non-believer and draw him to Christianity.

Message

God's preaching as a special message, the news (often good or good) is also a characteristic, almost technical term of the New Testament. The Greek term "angelo" - "to inform" - is based on the basis. It should be noted that in the form of the good news ("gospel") he was often left without translation.

Speech

The two Greek words "lego" and "laleo", which mean "talking", "pronouncing," can also be translated as "preaching." This becomes possible if it is a speech about God, or a word inspired by God.

Call, certificate

Public speech, which means the Greek word "parisiasome", can also have the character of a sermon. Christian apostles and evangelists often testified about their faith in squares and city forums, which was adopted during the Roman Empire.

Other synonyms

In the Bible there are other concepts translated into Russian and Slavic as "preaching." It can be an inventory, a story and even a testimony. However, these are isolated cases, and they do not make sense to disassemble in detail.

Oral sermon

If we analyze religious, including Orthodox, sermons, then usually we are talking about oral teachings. In this case, again, various forms are possible. In part, they overlap with those that we described above. The main forms of this message are messages, prophecies, teachings and agitation.

Message

Orthodox sermons (and not only Orthodox), which have the nature of the message, have as their goal to convey to the listener a certain body of information. This is a kind of training, which can have a different character, based on who is the addressee - an unbeliever or an already believer and a church person. In any case, the purpose of such a sermon is to provoke interest in the product of spiritual culture.

Prophecy

What prophetic prophecy is, it is difficult to say if you drop the definition, which can be translated as "inspired by God." From a religious point of view, such speech is not a product of the human mind. The latter only encapsulates in words the message embedded in it, for the content of which he is not responsible. The purpose of such a sermon is to point people at their true position in the context of any situation and proclaim God's will for them. Sometimes this preaching can contain elements of prediction. The prophet does not speak from his person, he is the mediator between the divine power and the addressee. Literally, the Greek "profit" (prophet) means "calling." His task is to convey to people what God wants and expects from them, to call them to action for the sake of obeying the higher will. But the prophet is only an intermediary, he has no purpose to convince anyone. In addition, such a preacher does not have the right to proclaim what he wants, which he thinks is right if he does not get sanctioned from above.

Teachings

This format is also called didaskalia (from the Greek "didaskal" - "teacher"). A teaching is, for example, the preaching of a patriarch or other clergyman after a service. It is aimed at people already believing and has the goal of maintaining in them a religious interest, a way of life and spiritual practice, recalling already known things and explaining some of their aspects.

Agitation

This is a full missionary sermon. Mostly it is aimed at unbelieving people in order to convert their faith. Sometimes, however, the target audience of such a sermon can consist of well-established religious people, when it is necessary to involve them in a case. So, for example, in the Middle Ages the bishops agitated their flock to mobilize for the crusades. In the same way Protestant preachers attract their parishioners to pay tithing, and some Orthodox pastors - to war with Jews, Masons and LGBT community. In all cases, the purpose of propaganda sermons is to encourage listeners to any particular activity.

Other Sermons

In the broader meaning of the word, a sermon can be understood as a written work or musical creation. In addition, iconography and, in general, the material component of spiritual culture are often regarded as a form of religious proclamation. As already mentioned, the way of life of a person can serve as a sermon. In the end, even death can testify to faith and have missionary significance, as was the case with the martyrs.