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Carl Henry, the Authority of the Bible and Expositional Preaching

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Carl Henry, the Authority of the Bible and Expositional Preaching Eruditio Ardescens The Journal of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Volume 2 Issue 1 Article 1 4-2015 The Uneasy Pulpit: Carl Henry, the Authority of the Bible and Expositional Preaching Kevin King Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/jlbts Part of the Christianity Commons, and the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation King, Kevin (2015) "The Uneasy Pulpit: Carl Henry, the Authority of the Bible and Expositional Preaching," Eruditio Ardescens: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/jlbts/vol2/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in Eruditio Ardescens by an authorized editor of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. King 1 The Uneasy Pulpit: Carl Henry, the Authority of the Bible and Expositional Preaching Kevin King 1 Evangelical identity has been and continues to be something of a challenge to define clearly. One might think that with the founding of the National Evangelical Association (1942) and the Evangelical Theological Society (1949) that issues regarding modern evangelical identity would have long been settled. Unfortunately, that has not been the case and apparently still is not. In 1976, Carl Henry wrote a book entitled Evangelicals in Search of Identity . In this book, Henry addressed the missed and lost opportunities of the evangelical movement that threatened evangelicalism with becoming “a wilderness cult in a secular society” by the year 2000. 2 What had looked so promising in the early 1950s for the rising influence of evangelicalism in the United States when Henry characterized the movement, as a lion that had been too long in his cage, and now was ready to burst upon the American scene with a terrible roar and unsuspecting power, was little more, in the late 1970’s, than a lion that was on the loose that no one had to fear. 3 If this was the case at the end of the twentieth century, it seems that in first decades of the twenty-first, the situation has not improved. If this assessment of the movement as a whole is accurate, the observation when applied to preaching in particular is of acute concern. “Is there any need of preaching? Is there any place for preaching in the modern Church and in the modern world, or has preaching become quite outmoded?” 4 So starts D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his classic book on preaching, Preaching and Preachers . It seems to be a very contemporary question and yet, Lloyd-Jones posed this question in 1971. He goes on to bemoan the fact that the question could even be entertained in his day. Lloyd-Jones asserts the role of preaching in the history of the life of the Church is beyond dispute. Preaching and its preachers have always played a central role in the life of the Church. 5 And yet, 1 Kevin King is Associate Professor of Homiletics and Historical Theology at Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary 2 Carl Henry, Evangelicals in Search of Identity (Waco: Word Books, 1976), 16. 3 Ibid., 16, 96. 4 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971), 9. 5 Ibid., 11. Eruditio Ardescens Spring 2015 Volume 2 Issue 1 King 2 not only in the latter half of the twentieth century were there concerns about the condition of preaching, but also it has continued in the first part of the twenty-first century. The contemporary situation in today’s preaching has been characterized as a crisis, filled with idle chatter that is comprised of do better and be better sermons that emanate from individualized and privatized faith and seek moral reform.6 This therapeutic model has demonstrated remarkable staying power, given that it was popularized through the preaching of Harry Emerson Fosdick. 7 The authors of Engaging Exposition express in eloquent fashion the “Crisis In Twenty-First Century Preaching:” This book reflects a serious concern as well as certain nonnegotiable convictions the three of us hold in common. We believe the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is at a critical point. A crisis is in our pulpits, and this situation is critical. Seduced by the sirens of modernity, preachers of the gospel have jettisoned a word-based ministry that is expository in nature. Skiing across the surface needs of a fallen, sinful humanity, we have turned the pulpit into a pop psychology sideshow and a feel-good pit stop. We have neglected preaching the whole counsel of God's Word. What has resulted? Too many of our people know neither the content nor the doctrines of Scripture. What is the fallout? Not knowing the Word, they do not love or obey the Word. If the Bible is used at all in preaching, it is usually included as a proof-text that is used out of context and has no real connection to what the biblical author is saying. Many who claim and perhaps believe they are expositors betray their confession by their practice. The words of the prophet Amos were never more piercing as they are now: "'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord GOD, 'That I will send a famine on the land, / Not a famine of bread, / Nor a thirst for water, / But of hearing the words of the L ORD . They shall wander from sea to sea, / 6 Danny Akin, Engaging Exposition (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011), 1; Michael Pasquarello III, Christian Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 17; Wayne McDill, 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching 2nd ed. revised and expanded (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2006), 190-191, 7 Harry Emerson Fosdick, “What’s the Matter With Preaching?” in What’s the Matter With Preaching Today? ed. Mike Graves(Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004), Kindle Locations 85-264. Kindle Edition. Eruditio Ardescens Spring 2015 Volume 2 Issue 1 King 3 And from north to east; / They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD , / But shall not find it'" (Amos 8:11–12). Many pastors are guilty of committing ministerial malpractice on their congregation. By what they do, they indicate that they believe we can see people converted and brought to maturity in Christ without the consistent teaching of the Bible. Further, at least implicitly, they question the judgment of God the Holy Spirit is inspiring Scripture as we now have it. By their method and practice, they suggest that the Holy Spirit should have packaged the Bible differently. 8 If preaching is indispensable in the life of the Church, and if the current state of preaching is in crisis, what remedies are there to rescue preaching and preachers from such a situation? The author of this paper believes that going back to the past, and significantly to the writings of Carl F. H. Henry, we can chart a way for the future of preaching. Henry is widely recognized as a theological giant, a prodigious writer, and one who believed in the life changing message of the Gospel. Henry is inextricably linked to the modern expression of evangelicalism in the United States of America. He burst onto the scene in 1947 with the publication of The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism . In this rather short book, Henry challenged the obscurantism of modern Fundamentalism and offered instead a call for substantive social engagement. Henry was involved in the founding of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Evangelical Theological Society, Fuller Theological Seminary, and he was the founding editor of Christianity Today. It was his service as editor for twelve years at Christianity Today that gave Henry a platform to articulate and propagate his vision of evangelicalism. Henry played a prominent role in many evangelical events and his theological writings span seven decades culminating in his magnum opus, the six volumes of God, Revelation and Authority.9 Henry is well suited to offer a cogent and coherent prescription for the crisis that preaching faces. 8 Akin, 1-2. 9 Paul R. House, “Remaking the Modern Mind: Revisiting Carl Henry’s Theological Vision,” Southern Baptist Theological Journal 8, no 4 (Winter 2004), 4-5. House makes the following summary statement regarding Henry’s time as editor of CT : I offer four observations. First, by this time Henry had formed a coherent philosophical vision that took reason and human sinfulness into account. Second, he had crystallized his doctrine of full bible authority and defended it as the most complete answer to the human dilemma. Third, he had outlined what he considered evangelicalism’s ethical and theological responsibilities. Fourth, he had committed himself to disseminating evangelical theology as widely as possible, for he considered Christian theology the expression of God’s plan for the human race. ..” (13). Eruditio Ardescens Spring 2015 Volume 2 Issue 1 King 4 In light of the foregoing description, the thesis of this paper is that there is an inseparable link between Biblical authority and expositional preaching. The one naturally entails the other. To develop this thesis, the paper will summarize the defense of Biblical authority by Carl Henry (noting his philosophical and biblical argument), and conclude by noting several advantages of expository preaching in light of the authority and sufficiency of the Bible for preaching. 10 The Crisis of Authority “No fact of contemporary Western life is more evident than its growing distrust of final truth and its implacable questioning of any sure word.” 11 Henry goes on to describe the effect of this “growing distrust” as having infected nearly every area of Western life as it relates to authority, any authority.
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