Okay, I've broken down and now am an official blogger. Here's this Newbie's first post.
So what is up with the title of said blog?? Is it dispatrioticrespectfulhereticalblasphemous? Mais non! Not at all intended to be so. Just following the practice of Jesus, who, in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, prefaced his "thy will be done" commitment to God with a radically honest "I don't want to do this! Take this cup away from me!" (see Luke 22:42)
I plan to "dance the edge of mystery" (to quote one of my favorite authors, David Buttrick), devoting my all to the ways of God shown through that living parable named Jesus Christ, and also respecting the grace given us humans created by Love in the image of God by speaking my piece boldly into the living Presence of God.
Then we will talk. As rhetorician Kenneth Burke observed, we participate in an eternal conversation, and our piece contributes something new in the world, that then bounces of all the other somethings-new to illuminate the path of others. Nobody has The Truth (save God, and God has chosen to reveal that in bits and pieces), so we gain a little ground through the give and take of conversation.
So, converse, already!
Devote yourself to God's Way -- and make your suggestions as well. Always in faith.
I invite you to join the discussion. Welcome!
I look forward to reading your posts. I think this is an excellent format for you. Oh, and I love your bookshelf background. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob, started nearly the same time our blogs (http://holmespeare.blogspot.com - it's in german). I found your blog by searching the web for Informations about David Buttrick. You wrote, he's one of your favourite writers. My blog is about homiletics and creative writing and at the moment my interest focuses on Buttricks homiletic. Do you have any biographic informations about Buttrick? I saw, you studied at Vanderbilt University, where Butterick was teaching.
ReplyDeleteHi, Karsten,
ReplyDeleteHow splendid to make your acquaintance! I would love to converse about David. He was my Doktorvater at Vanderbilt, and one of the great influences in my life, theologically, professionally, and personally. So ask your questions!
I've taken the liberty of exploring your own blog, and dipping into at least the online selections of your dissertation. We must talk! I can learn much from you.
My German is extremely rusty, but I welcome the chance to clean it up, if you are patient.
As far as biographical information, I'm afraid that David is brilliant but shy. So there's just not a lot out there. I know: I had to try to bring something together for an event at Lexington (Kentucky) Theological Seminary, and there wasn't much to be found. However, come to think of it, Wesley Allen has edited a book collecting the presentations of the major figures of what came to be known in the U.S. as "The New Homiletic," which included Buttrick. The title is, "The Renewed Homiletic" (Fortress, 2010), which includes a precis of Buttrick's method. Another helpful resource for understanding Buttrick is Richard Eslinger's "A New Hearing" (Abingdon, 1987-ish), with a chapter on Buttrick.
What may be of more help in grasping what Buttrick is trying to do is not so much a personal biography, as an intellectual biography. By that I mean tracing the influences that helped form his homiletic. There I think I may be able to be of some aid.
Let me know what is your wish. And let's do keep in touch.
Blessings,
Bob Howard
Hello Bob,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I was very busy the last to weeks, but now I'm going to answer: What I'm thinking about is to create an article in wikipedia. I was really astonished, that not even in the english wikipedia an article is found about David Buttrick. I wanted to start an article in german wikipedia, but I did not found a lot of typical informations (the few things I found, I noticed in my blog). What do you think about an american-german cooperation to write the articles? We could start an I will translate the informations you know into german.