>30 =-.<-708>-64>A 91 >30 @9</, >3<9?23 >30 608= 91 >30 -88?8.4->498 >9 7-<A 5ORITB /BLF 2FNJH - >IFRJR =TCMJSSFE GOQ SIF /FHQFF OG ;I/ BS SIF ?NJUFQRJSW OG =S$ -NEQFVR (&'( 1TLL MFSBEBSB GOQ SIJR JSFM JR BUBJLBCLF JN =S -NEQFVR <FRFBQDI <FPORJSOQW BS, ISSP,%%QFRFBQDI#QFPORJSOQW$RS#BNEQFVR$BD$TK% ;LFBRF TRF SIJR JEFNSJGJFQ SO DJSF OQ LJNK SO SIJR JSFM, ISSP,%%IEL$IBNELF$NFS%'&&()%(++* >IJR JSFM JR PQOSFDSFE CW OQJHJNBL DOPWQJHIS >IJR JSFM JR LJDFNRFE TNEFQ B .QFBSJUF .OMMONR 6JDFNRF The Sacramentality of the Word: Through the Lens of the Annunciation to Mary Joshua Dale Genig This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 30 January 2012 Abstract The Sacramentality of the Word: Through the Lens of the Annunciation to Mary Professor David W. Brown, Adviser Joshua Dale Genig This thesis seeks to demonstrate that, in failing to take the sacramentality of the Word seriously, the preaching of the Church has suffered negative consequences. In short, preaching has often become, at best, a form of instruction or, at worst, an incantation of sorts, rather than an integral part of deepening our relationship with Christ by functioning sacramentally to bring about divine participation with Jesus’ corporeal humanity in his living Word. Moreover, this trouble has had a profoundly negative effect on my own Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod due, in part, to our Reformation heritage as Christians who believe, teach, and confess the sole authority and divine inspiration of Holy Scripture. Yet, what has been lost over the past 500 years since the Reformation began is the reality of Christ’s ongoing corporeal presence in and for the Church, particularly as he is present in the viva vox of preaching. In order to recover that reality, I propose that one should consider the annunciation to Mary where, with a sermon of sorts, the corporeal Christ took up residence in the flesh of his hearer. In addition to granting Mary a son, however, this tangible presence of Jesus also delivered to her precisely what was contained within his own flesh: the fullness of the Godhead (Col 2:9). When understood as a biblical paradigm for the Church, it becomes clear that what happened to Mary can, indeed, happen to Christians of the present day. To that end, I propose that preaching today, when understood sacramentally, can deliver the fullness of the person of Christ, who continues to come in corporeality, with humanity and divinity, in the viva vox of preaching. 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Joshua Dale Genig, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 79,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in January, 2007 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in January, 2007; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in Durham University between 2007 and 2008 and in the University of St Andrews between 2008 and 2011. Date _________________________ signature of candidate ________________________ 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date _________________________ signature of supervisor ________________________ 3. Permission for electronic publication: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: (i) Access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews. Date _________________________ signature of candidate _________________________ signature of supervisor _________________________ Table of Contents Preface i Chapter 1. Defining the Terms 1 Introduction 1 Word 1 Sacrament 9 1. musth,rion 10 2. Sacramentum 15 Constituting the Sacramental 18 1. Roman Catholic 19 2. Lutheran 33 3. Calvinistic/Reformed 40 4. Summary of the Various Sacramental 49 Theologies Can the Word Function Sacramentally? 51 1. The Sacramentality of Words in Real Time 52 2. Relationship: The Foundation of 55 Communication 3. Oral Communication and a Tangible 58 Presence Word and Sacrament: Commonality or Distinction? 60 Conclusion 70 2. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod’s Calvinistic Theology 71 of the Word and Preaching Introduction 71 Scriptural Authority 72 1. Calvin, the Authority of Scripture, 78 and Preaching 2. Lutherans, the Authority of Scripture, 87 and Preaching 3. ‘Battle Over the Bible’ 88 Conclusion 94 3. The Word as Viva Vox 96 Introduction 96 Proclamation as Primary Theology 97 Incarnational 100 Christological 107 Creation 117 1. The Goodness of Matter 119 2. Incarnation: The Summit of Creation 124 3. The Fall: Damaging Sacramentality 125 Conclusion 127 4. Adaptability: A Marian Example of a Christological Reality 129 Introduction 129 The Necessity of a Woman 130 Mary Among the Lutherans 132 The Preaching of the Annunciation 136 1. The Speaking 136 a. ‘Rejoice!’ 138 b. The Depth of Mary’s Connection 143 to Zion’s Daughter 2. Mary’s Response 145 The Adaptability of the Angel’s Sermon 150 1. Two Levels of Meaning 152 2. A First Level of Meaning for Mary 160 Conclusion 163 5. Tangibility: Mary’s Joyful Receptivity of the Angel’s 166 Sacramental Sermon Introduction 166 The Climax of the Angel’s Proclamation 167 Sacramental Speech 171 1. Fulfilment of the Creative Act 171 2. New and Greater Temple 172 Mary’s Response 176 1. The Way of the Lord: Freedom 178 through Grace 2. The Way of Mary: Receiving the 186 ‘Let there be’ of Creation The Tangibility of the Angel’s Sermon 188 1. Sacramental Words: Justifying, 195 Divinizing, or Both? 2. Preaching: A Word that Bestows 203 Divine Life? Conclusion 211 6. Adaptability and Tangibility: Sacramental Preaching and 213 Hearing Today Introduction 213 Two Levels of Meaning 213 The Process of Sacred Listening 216 Conclusion 220 7. Contemporary Approaches to Preaching: Sacramental or Not? 223 Introduction 223 Texts Promoting Sacramentality 223 Sermon Forms 228 A Possible Preaching Form for Moving Forward 233 Conclusion 238 Conclusion 242 Select Bibliography 245 Acknowledgements One advantage of pursuing post-graduate work while serving as a parish pastor is that one comes in contact with so many generous folks along the way. I am especially grateful to two of my former summer interns, Sarah Steiner and Jacquelyn Magnuson, along with all of my former vicars, who each, in their own unique way, offered tremendous aid to my research and writing. This doctorate began, however, long before I was accepted to write for a Ph.D. at The University of Durham, beginning in January of 2007. In the fall of 1996, I first met Brother James Rottenbucher, CSC, who, whether he knows it or not, forever changed my theological life. He pressed me to think and speak clearly and, more than anything else, to see my own Lutheran heritage as part of the Great Tradition. Due to illness, he is no longer able to leave his mark on Gabriel Richard Catholic Prep School, from whence I graduated in 2000, but his spirit is alive in his numerous theological children. He has changed me, and I am better for it. After three joyous years at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, I was accepted into the Master of Divinity program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne in 2003. While I am grateful for the theological and pastoral formation I was given there, most notably through the scholarship and encouragement of The Reverend Doctor James Bushur, The Reverend Doctor Arthur Just, Jr., The Reverend Doctor Timothy Quill, The Reverend Doctor Lawrence Rast, The Reverend Doctor William Weinrich, and The Reverend Doctor Dean Wenthe, I am especially indebted to my mentor and friend, The Reverend Doctor David Scaer. He was the first to challenge my, then, narrow Lutheran hermeneutic. However, he did not simply push me toward some other theoretical theological system. Rather, he pushed me toward Jesus, particularly the Jesus of the Gospels. In turn, he taught me how to hear the words of Jesus as the actual viva vox , the living voice of God in Christ. He embodied for me what it meant to be a theologian and a doctor of the Church by comprehending, long before anyone else, that all theology was, fully and finally, Christology. I pray that this, the first of my theological works, honors him for all the good he did to me and for me. Words cannot express how grateful I am to him for helping to make me the theologian that I am today, however inadequate I may be.