RT Article
T1 The Metaphors We Preach By: Preaching as Graffiti
JF Journal of European Baptist Studies
VO 22
IS 2
SP 91
OP 112
A1 McLeod Blythe, Stuart
LA English
PB International Baptist Theological Study Centre
YR 2022
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1827940891
AB This article describes and discusses preaching as graffiti. That is, it is an article about the metaphors used for preaching and the potential of novel metaphors. One of the ways in which people conceptualise and describe preaching is through metaphors. These are the metaphors ‘we preach by’. Some metaphors are conventional. They express the familiar but do not communicate all that there is say about the nature of preaching. Other metaphors are novel metaphors. These metaphors bring fresh perspectives to the practice of preaching. This can be seen through the novel metaphor of preaching as graffiti. It is a metaphor that associates preaching with graffiti through their shared performative nature. It also resonates theologically with the metaphorical use of the language of ‘writing’ in the Scriptures to describe the behaviour-changing influence of God’s Word on people’s lives. Furthermore, it is a metaphor that carries inferences that highlight features of preaching that are sometimes hidden or downplayed in other more conventional metaphors. These features include the artistic, transgressive, the interruptive, and the ephemeral nature of preaching as it contends with other, sometimes unrecognised, words spoken into people’s lives.
K1 Art
K1 Graffiti
K1 Metaphors
K1 Preaching
DO 10.25782/jebs.v22i2.1065