Copyright © 2011 Jason Keith Allen All rights reserved.

173 Pages·2011·0.69 MB·English

Copyright © 2011 Jason Keith Allen
All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to
reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen
by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation, or instruction.
THE CHRIST-CENTERED HOMILETICS OF EDMUND CLOWNEY AND
SIDNEY GREIDANUS IN CONTRAST WITH THE HUMAN AUTHOR-
CENTERED HERMENEUTICS OF WALTER KAISER

__________________

A Dissertation
Presented to
the Faculty of
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

__________________

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

__________________

by
Jason Keith Allen
December 2011
APPROVAL SHEET
THE CHRIST-CENTERED HOMILETICS OF EDMUND CLOWNEY AND
SIDNEY GREIDANUS IN CONTRAST WITH THE HUMAN AUTHOR-
CENTERED HERMENEUTICS OF WALTER KAISER

Jason Keith Allen

Read and Approved by:

__________________________________________
Hershael W. York (Chair)

__________________________________________
Robert A. Vogel

__________________________________________
David L. Puckett

Date ______________________________
To our five children,
Anne-Marie, Caroline, William, Alden, and Elizabeth.
You are indeed gifts from the Lord.
And most especially to
Karen.
A wife in whom charm abides and beauty is abundant,
but her fear of the Lord is what I most cherish.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Old Testament: Problem or Potentiality? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Redemptive-Historical Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Pillars of Redemptive-Historical Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Statement and Explanation of Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Relevance of Dissertation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Methodology of Dissertation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. THE AUTHOR-CENTERED HERMENEUTIC
OF WALTER C. KAISER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Walter Kaiser and the Human Author-Centered Hermeneutic . . . . . . . . . . 18
Walter Kaiser and Biblical Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Kaiser and the Dimensions of Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Human Author-Centered Hermeneutic and Single Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Kaiser’s Axioms of Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Author-Centered Hermeneutic and Dual Authorship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Author-Centered Hermeneutic and Prophetic Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . 28
Human Author-Centered Hermeneutic and the Analogy of Faith . . . . . . . . 29
iv
Chapter Page
Author-Centered Hermeneutics and the “Analogy
of Antecedent Scripture” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The Analogy of Faith and Heuristic Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Human Author-Centered Hermeneutic and the Sensus Plenior . . . . . . . . . 36
The Author-Centered Hermeneutic and Typology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3. EDMUND CLOWNEY, BIBLICAL THEOLOGY, AND
CHRIST-CENTERED PREACHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Clowney, Biblical Theology, and Christ-Centered Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Biblical Theology and Hermeneutical Presuppositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Biblical Theology and the Authority of Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Biblical Theology and the Character of Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Biblical Theology and the Content for Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Primary Tools for Finding Christ in the Old Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Clowney’s Christ-Centered Model in Sermon Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Analysis and Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4. SIDNEY GREIDANUS’ METHODOLOGY OF PREACHING
CHRIST FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Greidanus’ Theological Presuppositions for Preaching Christ . . . . . . . . . . 85
Greidanus’ Theory of Preaching Christ from the Old Testament . . . . . . . . 87
The Methodology of Redemptive-Historical Christocentric
Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Analysis and Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

v
Chapter Page
5. SUMMARY ASSESSMENTS AND HOMILETICAL PRINCIPLES
FOR IMPLEMENTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Areas of Redemptive-Historical Preaching Often Diverges from an
Author-Centered Hermeneutic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Strategies of Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
vi
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

Clowney typology chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

vii
PREFACE
Southern Seminary has graduated more worthy men, but never a more grateful
one. Drafting a preface such as this is a nostalgic, even sentimental, endeavor because so
many have given so much to me. Though this work bears my name I am deeply indebted
to many who have made this journey possible and who have helped me see it through to
completion.
First, I thank my parents, Ray and Sandra Allen, who reared me in a Christian
home, always managed to balance encouragement with challenge, and have been a steady
source of support my whole life. Likewise, I am grateful for brothers who I am proud to
say are also among my closest friends. I thank Greg and Marc who are a constant source
of joy and encouragement in my life. I thank God for the four of them, my parents and
brothers, and that appreciation for each one of them only grows year by year.
I am indebted to my boyhood pastor, Fred Wolfe, who consistently preached
the inerrancy of Scripture, the Lordship of Christ, and the necessity of the new birth. I was
converted under his ministry and will forever be indebted to God for his gospel influence.
Likewise, I am deeply indebted to Steve Lawson. He is a mentor, friend, faithful preacher,
and the primary one God used to call me to preach. I have never preached a sermon that
in some way does not reveal his influence. Thank you.
I am grateful for friends that are like brothers. These men have encouraged me
much over the course of this project. Jon Elliff, Brad Walker, John Powell, Charles Smith,
Ben Dockery, Don Whitney, and Greg Wills have alternately provided humor, prayer,
editorial input, counsel, and motivation all at just the right time. Most especially, I am
viii
grateful for Dan Dumas and Matt Hall. No friends over the past two years have been more
encouraging to me than these two. As iron sharpens iron, so God has used them in this
process and in my life. May God give us many more years of serving Christ together at
Southern Seminary.
Two churches have afforded me the opportunity to pursue this degree while
pastoring. I am forever indebted to Muldraugh Baptist Church. Most especially, Ed
Carroll, Bud and Pat Watts, and Bill and Kelli Wilson. They loved us like family and
supported my pastoral ambitions all the while overlooking my youthful shortcomings. No
young minister ever had a more pleasant first pastorate than I. I thank God for them. Also,
it has been my joy to serve as preaching pastor at Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church these
past six years. Their faith, service, and love of the gospel keeps before me an ever-present
reminder of what ministry is all about. I am especially grateful for Louie Turner, Steve
and Lu Adams, George and Ida Sanders, and the late Randy Heady. God has used each
one of them in my life more than they will ever know.
Beyond family, friends, and church, the institution I serve, the Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary, and all that it represents, merits my indebtedness. It is so much
more to me than a place of employment. It is a calling, a ministry, and a way of life.
Southern Seminary is in my DNA and in every way, she is my alma mater, my mother of
learning. 2825 Lexington Road has been an intellectual home, an incubator of spiritual
growth, an ideal setting to rear my family and an unsurpassed place to give my life in
pursuit of the highest of callings. I am forever indebted to those, past and present, who
have made her what she is.
I am grateful for my team in the office of Institutional Advancement. These
colleagues have prayed for me, encouraged me, and abided my unorthodox schedule during
the final weeks of this dissertation. Moreover, I am grateful for friends on the Southern
ix