山道期刊

Religious Commitment in a Pluralistic Society: An Old Testament Perspective

WONG Fook Kong

This essay begins with Brueggemann's observation about the “amazing pluralism” both within and without the Church. I agree with this statement with the qualification that this has been the experience of Asian churches all along. Pluralism both within and without its ranks is not new to Asian churches. When we look at the Old Testament against the background of the ancient Near East, it is evident that ancient Israel also lived in a pluralistic society. Different gods competed for loyalty among the nations. Within Israel too there were different views about YHWH . It is against these competing ideologies that the authors of the Bible affirmed their commitment to worship YHWH as the one and only God. Thus pluralism should not be a reason for abandoning one's commitment to worship YHWH as the one and only God. Rather, it is exactly in face of alternatives and competing claims that one needs to make a firm commitment to worship YHWH.

The Challenge of Religious Pluralism: The Book of Acts as a Test Case

Poling J. Sun

Since the 80s of the last century the issue of religious pluralism has become a challenge to Christian communities. Granted the highly developed connections among nations in this electronic age resulting in conversations and mutual influences, a plurality of cultural and religious phenomena seems inevitable. This is similar to the situation in which the early Christian communities found themselves, addressing and being addressed by a world characterized by cultural inter-penetration. With this in view, this article offers a study of several passages in the Book of Acts, attempting to explore how the early Christian communities encountered their surrounding culture in the course of finding their identity and appropriating their mission.

The Church and Pluralism in the Patristic Period: A Reconsideration of the Progress of Christianization of the Roman Empire during the Time of Constantine

Nathan K. Ng

The reason for the conversion of Constantine has long been a matter of scholarly debate. Traditionally, the emperor is believed to have been converted religiously by the power of Christ. Modern scholarship, however, tends to attribute the conversion to political reason. This article intends to reevaluate the controversial conversion through a reexamination of the progress of christianization of the Roman Empire.

The first section tries to show that the political stature of paganism was actually at that time much higher than the church. It would be very difficult to explain why Constantine chose to become a Christian if, as many modern scholars suggest, political stability was his sole concern. On this foundation, the second section argues that the emperor's bias towards Christianity was at least partially religious. Putting all evidences into consideration, a proposal of the spiritual journey of Constantine is tentatively reconstructed at the end of the discussion.

The Political Intention of the “Oracles against the Nations” in the Book of Isaiah

CHEUNG Ming Kwong

This article explores the formation process and purpose of the section “Oracles against the Nations” (Isaiah 13-23). The section occupied a strategic position as one of the few places in the book that references Babylon. This article argues that this series of oracles comprises two earlier collections, each serving a distinct political function in its respective period during pre-exilic time. These collections later function rhetorically to support the Babylonian oracle, which was added during the exilic or post-exilic time.

Within the Babylonian oracle, the mythic Helel, son of Dawn (Is 14:12), whose image is used to portray Babylon, is examined. The analysis suggests that the oracle seeks to subvert Babylonian imperial propaganda by mocking of this image. The genre of “Oracles against the Nations” survives after the fall of Judah and assumes a new political function in exilic and post-exilic contexts.

Preaching “the Baptism of Repentance”: The Spiritual Formation and Renewal of Emerging Adults through the Service of the Word

Kit-ying LAW

The post-pandemic crisis of worship attendance and baptismal formation in Hong Kong Chinese churches reflects a profound liturgical-theological challenge concerning how the baptized are gathered and renewed by the Word, rather than a mere institutional decline or communication breakdown. Focusing on emerging adults aged 18-29, whose lives are marked by transition, fragmentation, vocational uncertainty, digital mediation, and fluid forms of belonging, this article argues that the Service of the Word provides a critical locus for spiritual formation and ecclesial reorientation. Drawing upon William H. Willimon's account of “peculiar speech” and preaching to the baptized, the argument contends that Christian proclamation must recover its baptismal grammar—namely repentance, death, and resurrection with Christ, the renunciation of false powers, incorporation into the church, and a renewed participation in God's mission.

This proposal is situated within the theological tensions generated by the New Homiletics since the 1970s. While acknowledging the pastoral value of inductive, narrative, and listener-sensitive preaching, a critique is offered against homiletical approaches that over-accommodate proclamation to human experience, therapeutic expectations, or consumer culture. In contrast, preaching baptismal repentance functions as an inherently ecclesial act within worship rather than a generic religious address to a secular audience. It speaks directly to a community already regenerated by water and the Word, thereby summoning believers repeatedly into the identity first conferred in baptism. Such preaching does not abandon pastoral sensitivity; rather, it relocates pastoral care within the church's primary act of hearing the Word of the Lord.

This argument is further developed through the resources of the liturgical movement, the lectionary tradition, and the recovery of the Psalms in worship. Within this framework, Taizé worship is understood not merely as a contemporary musical style, but also as a liturgical pattern of repetitive psalmic chant, silence, and contemplative listening that serves to support Lectio Divina and to deepen the congregation's participation in the Service of the Word. For retreatants at Taizé, the weekly rhythm from Friday to Sunday functions as a communal mini-Triduum, moving from Christ's passion and death to renewed participation in resurrection joy.

In conversation with Walter Brueggemann's movement from orientation through disorientation to new orientation, the Psalms provide emerging adults with a disciplined liturgical speech that enables them to inhabit instability without surrendering to despair. Taizé-style prayer, responsorial psalmody, intentional silence, and communal intercession serve as concrete practices that extend the Service of the Word into the ordinary rhythms of κοινωνία.

Finally, contemporary preaching is interpreted within a metamodern context, wherein hearers oscillate between suspicion and longing, irony and sincerity, critique and renewed participation. Samuel Wells's account of faithful improvisation within the drama of God's salvation offers a constructive ecclesial imagination for communities seeking to navigate the tension between baptismal identity and eschatological fulfillment. Ultimately, preaching “the baptism of repentance” restores the embodied and formative power of the Word, forming emerging adults as servants of God's Word through Scripture, fellowship, and sacramental memory.

The Construction of Chinese Rhetoric and the Legitimacy of Chinese Homiletics: A Preliminary Study Using the Concept of “Persuasion” as an Example

Ken KS LUI

Western homiletics has been shaped since Augustine by a paradigm integrating classical Greco-Roman rhetoric with Christian preaching. This article asks whether Chinese churches should follow this paradigm to construct a distinctively “Chinese Homiletics” (华人讲道学). It first establishes Chinese rhetoric as a legitimate academic discipline, independent of Western traditions, and then focuses on a comparative analysis of the concept of “persuasion” in Chinese and Western rhetoric. Western rhetoric, typified by Aristotle, is traditionally speaker-centered, emphasizing the technical means of persuasion—logos, ethos, and pathos. The Chinese rhetorical tradition, by contrast, centers on the concept of fu (服, “compliance/conviction”), privileging xinfu (心服, “heartfelt conviction”) as the ideal rhetorical outcome, governed by the principle xiuci li qi cheng (修辞立其诚, “rhetoric grounded in virtue and truth”) and yi de fu ren (以德服人, “winning hearts through virtue”). This article concludes that Chinese Homiletics should be grounded in the preacher's morality and spirituality rather than rhetorical technique.

“Story Is Argument”: The Use of Life Stories in William H. Willimon's Preaching

WONG Shun Shing

This article examines William H. Willimon's homiletical theology, which posits that narrative—especially life stories—serves not as mere illustration but as the primary argumentative structure in Christian preaching.

Amid contemporary challenges of entertainment-oriented, consumerist, and attractional preaching that often reduce the gospel to therapeutic advice, moral guidelines, or marketable spiritual products, Willimon advocates a theocentric model. Preaching, in his view, constitutes a divine theological event wherein God speaks disruptively through the peculiar and alien qualities of biblical and ecclesial narratives.

Drawing on narrative theology influenced by Karl Barth, Willimon maintains that Christian faith is fundamentally narrative, witnessing to God's historical acts culminating in Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection. Preaching thus performs and re-presents God's story in the present, inviting hearers into its drama. Stories function generatively and performatively: they enact theological truth and create a new reality rather than passively reflecting or decorating pre-existing propositions.

This study contrasts Willimon's approach with conventional narrative practices, which typically familiarize the gospel, emphasize individual inspiration, address felt needs, instrumentally prove abstract truths, or depend on the preacher's charisma. Willimon instead employs estrangement to underscore the gospel's scandalous strangeness, prioritizes communal formation, embodies truth narratively, and relies on the Holy Spirit rather than human technique.

Central to his method are life stories—personal, congregational, and historical testimonies—that form the core of argumentation. These function as existential witnesses, embedding individual experiences within God's redemptive narrative, countering modern individualism, and cultivating the church's identity as a peculiar people shaped by divine initiative.

Applying this framework to the Chinese church context, the article critiques prevalent tendencies toward prosperity theology, pragmatic applications, and commodified personal testimonies that domesticate the gospel's cruciform oddity. It advocates defamiliarizing, Spirit-reliant, community-focused storytelling that honors failure, unresolved tension, and waiting as loci of grace.

In conclusion, Willimon reclaims preaching as a relational divine–human encounter rather than an attractional performance. By treating story as an argument, preachers participate in God's reality-creating speech, entrusting their vulnerable words to the Holy Spirit for disciple formation and immersion in the ongoing drama of salvation.

The Threefold Forms of the Word of God: Karl Barth's Shortcomings and Critical Revisions in Recent Barthian Theology

TSENG Shao Kai

This paper examines the shortcomings of Karl Barth's doctrine of Scripture in his formulation of the “threefold forms of the Word of God” and explores recent Barthian revisions to Barth's model. Barth borrowed this concept from the classical Reformed notion of the “triplex Logos,” yet he replaced the traditional verbum Dei essentiale or Logos hypostatikos with the “Word of God revealed.” Barth's emphasis is thereby shifted to the narrative dimension of the verbum Dei scriptum whilst downplaying its propositional dimension. This opened an avenue to deconstructionist exegesis and inspired the so-called “postmodern” school of Barthianism. Barth himself would not have accepted this hermeneutic, and postliberal theologians like Hans Frei and George Lindbeck began to draw upon the organic connections between Barth's notions of the Word written and the Word proclaimed to provide doctrinal-propositional norms for biblical interpretation. More recently, the postliberal Barthian theologian George Hunsinger, inspired by Frei and Lindbeck, further proposed the theory of “ecclesiastical hermeneutics,” using Barth's notion of the “Word of God proclaimed” to supplement the shortcomings in Barth's understanding of Scripture. Hunsinger's ecclesiological hermeneutics is distinctively Protestant in that it presupposes a mutually reinforcing relationship between the formation of the biblical canon and the Church's creedal orthodoxy, treating the Word proclaimed as norma normata and the written Word as the norma normans et non normata.

Reality, Interpretation, and Proclamation: The Task of Christian Semiotics according to Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana

Andrew Cheuk Kei WONG

Attention to homiletics is usually limited to the biblical exegetical task and sermon design. For Christian preaching to be true to its task, it requires, however, a lot more than this. This article investigates Augustine of Hippo's understanding of preaching by focusing on De doctrina christiana (doctr. chr.), and proposes that ancient semiotics provides an excellent starting point for elucidating his conception of a preacher's task. After demonstrating the rhetorical context of doctr. chr. and emphasizing the implicative relation between signs and things in ancient semiotics, the article presents Augustine's understanding of the task of Christian semiotics—that preaching is the overall purpose of a process composed of the three interrelated stages of Christian theology, Christian hermeneutics, and Christian rhetoric. In each of these stages, the theme of love and the use of signs, together with the utility of adopting secular learnings for Christian purpose, recurs.

The article begins with the discussion that the task of Christian theology is to speak of the ineffable God through human words, made possible by the Incarnation of the Word. The semiotic principle to be introduced here is that the realities signified by signs must have been antecedently known by the interpreter. Having adopted teleological conceptions then common in ethics to support his principle of the ordering of love, Augustine demonstrates that God must be known, through love in worship, before one can comprehend the signs of the Bible. The article then turns to Christian hermeneutics. Centered on the interpretation of the ecclesiastically established set of signs that is known as the Bible, the key semiotic observation lies in the inherent ambiguity of words. Due to fluidities in the meaning of signs and the propensity of language to be elevated in religious contexts, understanding biblical signs requires the application of not only literal but also figurative interpretation, governed by the dominical commandment of the love of God and the neighbor. This semiotic analysis of doctr. chr. is completed by investigating briefly the subject of Christian rhetoric. Semiotics is related to rhetoric, in that efficacious communication depends on the listeners' ability to comprehend the signs, their patience to remain listening, as well as their willingness to act upon what have been heard. Aided by the learning of ancient rhetoric, Augustine maintains the need of eloquence to be in the service of wisdom for Christian preaching to testify to the truth and to respond to the commandment of love. This is done by the appropriate use of rhetoric techniques to influence the listeners' affections, so as to facilitate transformations of life.

This article argues that proclamation itself presupposes theological reflection, just as theology is the result of correct interpretation and effective preaching of the Bible. It concludes by proposing the advantages of bringing to the fore the distinction between signs and signified realities. Focusing on signified realities presupposes the listeners' prior knowledge of God before they can comprehend the biblical words, while attention to verbal signs deepens our understanding of the characteristics of the verbal medium. The final analysis suggests that given Augustine's insistence of prior knowledge of God has been matched by recent works of theology while contemporary theological investigations of the verbal medium in terms of semiotics appear to remain, by and large, in short supply, it testifies to the continued relevance of patristic theology and the great promises of semiotic investigations in contemporary theological tasks.

Preaching the Strange and Inconceivable Word of God

CHIU Shung-ming

Many Christians complain that church sermons sound clichéd, lack novelty, and fail to address real-life situations and specific cultural contexts. The author of this article agrees that preaching should be practical and relevant (“down-to-earth”); however, preachers must be cautious, for making sermons too “down-to-earth” not only demonstrates our attempt to shape God according to our felt needs but also risks making preaching human-centered.

Regarding this issue, the author argues that the secularization of the church significantly influences how audiences perceive preaching. Over time, preaching may become a tool to cater to human ideas or needs. As a result, audiences may misunderstand the purpose of preaching as serving people rather than serving the Word of God.

To address this problem, the author draws on the theological insights of Karl Barth and William H. Willimon to reflect on the theology of preaching. Barth and Willimon emphasize the transcendence of God. God is the Wholly Other, and there exists an infinite ontological distinction between God and humanity. Therefore, as finite beings, we cannot rely solely on our reason and sensory experience to know or speak about God. Since there is no way for humanity to reach God on its own, knowledge of God must come from God Himself. In other words, the starting point for understanding the Divine Being must be God's self-revelation in Christ, accompanied by the Holy Spirit, who comes to us from beyond ourselves and dwells within us, and by our aided reason in faith through which we seek to understand Christ, the Word of God. Consequently, for us, this Word must be the strange and inconceivable Word from above, and what preachers proclaim can only be the strange and inconceivable Word of God. This article aims to provide theological reflection on this very point.

编者的话

雷健生邓绍光

宣讲是教会最古老的使命，却也是最容易被误解的。在消费主义文化的冲击下，讲道日渐被理解为一种沟通技术，讲台的成效往往以听众的满意度来衡量。本期《山道期刊》以「圣道之宣讲」为主题，邀请六位学者从不同角度重新审视宣讲的神学根基、诠释原则、修辞资源，以及当代处境中的实践方向。

赵崇明的〈宣讲上主奇异陌生及不可思议的道〉指出，当代讲道的危机根源于两个现象：一是老生常谈、千篇一律，未能带给听道者任何陌生感；二是「过度回应市场需要」，以听众感受为出发点，结果「以人为中心」取代「以上帝为中心」。作者援引巴特（Karl Barth）和路德（Martin Luther）的洞见，强调上帝之道是「从外而来的外在的道」，其陌生性和奇异性正是其转化力量的根源。道的奇异性根植于「显─隐」二重结构，宣讲本质上是参与三一上帝的言说行动。听众在听道中理应经历的，不是熟悉感的确认，而是面对上帝话语「他性」所带来的审判和更新。

黄卓基的〈现实、诠释及宣讲：从奥古斯丁《基督教教导》看基督教符号学的任务〉从奥古斯丁（Augustine）的《基督教教导》（De doctrina christiana）出发，为宣讲神学提供符号学的理论框架。奥古斯丁的核心原则是：人认识符号所指涉的现实，必须先于认识符号本身。应用于宣讲，这意味着传道人必须先对上主有真实的认识，方能正确诠释圣经符号，进而有效宣讲。作者将《基督教教导》分为「神学」、「诠释学」、「修辞学」等三部分，加以分析，显示奥古斯丁的宣讲观以「爱」为核心――这「爱」不单是神学命题，更要求传道人在生命中实践爱神爱人的诫命，否则宣讲便失去其根基。

曾劭恺的〈上帝之道的三重形式：巴特的缺失与近期巴特主义的修正〉对巴特的圣经论作出批判性评估，指出巴特过于强调圣经的叙事维度，淡化了其命题内容，为后现代解构诠释留下空间。作者进而介绍后自由派神学家杭星格（George Hunsinger）如何在弗莱（Hans Frei）和林贝克（George Lindbeck）的基础上，透过强调「书写之道」与「宣讲之道」的有机联系来修正这个缺失：大公会议的信条属「宣讲之道」，其权威源自圣经，是「被规范之规范」；圣经本身才是「具规范权威而不被规范的规范」。杭星格的贡献在于加强圣经命题对神学解经的规范地位。这提醒传道人讲道时，既要忠于圣经叙事，也要让教义命题框架引导解经，两者缺一不可。

黄顺成的〈「故事即论证」：韦利蒙讲道中生命故事的运用〉聚焦于韦利蒙（William H. Willimon）的叙事讲道神学。韦利蒙将故事从辅助说明的工具，提升为神学论证本身――故事不是通往真理的桥梁，而是真理得以呈现的场域。这种「演练性」的叙事观，使讲道成为上帝在当下说话的事件，而非单纯的资讯传递。作者对比韦利蒙与一般故事运用的差异，并将其应用于华人教会的处境，批判成功神学和消费主义对讲道的侵蚀――吸引式讲道将故事工具化，使讲道向消费主义妥协，遮蔽了福音的奇异性、圣灵的主权，以及故事应有的本体论地位。作者转而主张以陌生化策略、群体叙事和神本见证为进路，召唤传道人重新正视福音的转化力量。

笔者雷健生的〈中国修辞学的建构与华人讲道学之合理性初探──以「说服」观念为例〉以「说服」观念为切入点，探讨华人讲道学。奥古斯丁将希罗修辞学引入基督教讲道学，奠定西方讲道学的基本范式；本文建议华人教会效法此范式，以中国修辞学为基础，建构本色化的华人讲道学。然而，要确立这一方向的合理性，须先论证中国修辞学已具备独立的学术地位。在「说服」观念上，中西修辞传统存在根本差异：西方以说话者的说服技巧为核心；中国传统则以受众「心悦诚服」（心服）为目标，强调「修辞立其诚」，视道德品格为说服力的根本。这一差异对华人讲道学具有直接启示：传道人的灵命修养，远比讲道技巧更为关键。周联华的著作《新编讲道法》已在实践层面作出相关尝试，可资借鉴。

罗洁盈的〈宣讲「悔改的浸礼」：圣道礼仪对成青的灵性塑造与更新〉针对后疫情时代香港教会的讲坛危机，提出整合性的宣讲与牧养回应。作者首先批判「新讲道学」过度迁就听众经验的倾向，继而以韦利蒙提出的「悔改的浸礼」为核心，主张宣讲必须回归受浸群体的身分认同，而非沦为一般宗教演说。针对成青（18-29岁）四种过渡状态，文章援引布鲁格曼（Walter Brueggemann）「定向—失向—新定向」的诗篇神学，主张诗篇是成青在人生失序中向上主祷告的重要语言资源，并批评现时华人教会削减诗篇的做法。文章进而结合教会年历经课、依纳爵（Ignatius of Loyola）的「日常生活神操」及韦尔斯（Samuel Wells）「五幕剧」的终末性教会想像，为成青提出一套使其能「居于上主故事中」的宣讲及灵性塑造方案。

除专题文章外，本期亦收录张明光的讨论文章〈以赛亚书中列国神谕的政治意图〉，论证以赛亚书十三至二十三章的列国神谕经历了多个编辑阶段：两部早期神谕集分别在撒珥根二世和西拿基立时期塑造犹大的外交政策；被掳时期加入的巴比伦神谕，则借其位置安排及颠覆神话意象（如「赫勒尔」），抵抗巴比伦帝国的意识形态影响。

本期另设五篇书评，涵盖圣经诠释学、约翰福音与对观福音研究、教会论的神学类型、上帝论与创造论之关系，以及群体伦理神学，为读者开拓宣讲以外的神学视野。

Please refer to the Chinese page.

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Please refer to the Chinese page.

网上报名

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The Political Intention of the “Oracles against the Nations” in the Book of Isaiah

CHEUNG Ming Kwong

This article explores the formation process and purpose of the section “Oracles against the Nations” (Isaiah 13-23). The section occupied a strategic position as one of the few places in the book that references Babylon. This article argues that this series of oracles comprises two earlier collections, each serving a distinct political function in its respective period during pre-exilic time. These collections later function rhetorically to support the Babylonian oracle, which was added during the exilic or post-exilic time.

Within the Babylonian oracle, the mythic Helel, son of Dawn (Is 14:12), whose image is used to portray Babylon, is examined. The analysis suggests that the oracle seeks to subvert Babylonian imperial propaganda by mocking of this image. The genre of “Oracles against the Nations” survives after the fall of Judah and assumes a new political function in exilic and post-exilic contexts.

Preaching “the Baptism of Repentance”: The Spiritual Formation and Renewal of Emerging Adults through the Service of the Word

Kit-ying LAW

The post-pandemic crisis of worship attendance and baptismal formation in Hong Kong Chinese churches reflects a profound liturgical-theological challenge concerning how the baptized are gathered and renewed by the Word, rather than a mere institutional decline or communication breakdown. Focusing on emerging adults aged 18-29, whose lives are marked by transition, fragmentation, vocational uncertainty, digital mediation, and fluid forms of belonging, this article argues that the Service of the Word provides a critical locus for spiritual formation and ecclesial reorientation. Drawing upon William H. Willimon's account of “peculiar speech” and preaching to the baptized, the argument contends that Christian proclamation must recover its baptismal grammar—namely repentance, death, and resurrection with Christ, the renunciation of false powers, incorporation into the church, and a renewed participation in God's mission.

This proposal is situated within the theological tensions generated by the New Homiletics since the 1970s. While acknowledging the pastoral value of inductive, narrative, and listener-sensitive preaching, a critique is offered against homiletical approaches that over-accommodate proclamation to human experience, therapeutic expectations, or consumer culture. In contrast, preaching baptismal repentance functions as an inherently ecclesial act within worship rather than a generic religious address to a secular audience. It speaks directly to a community already regenerated by water and the Word, thereby summoning believers repeatedly into the identity first conferred in baptism. Such preaching does not abandon pastoral sensitivity; rather, it relocates pastoral care within the church's primary act of hearing the Word of the Lord.

This argument is further developed through the resources of the liturgical movement, the lectionary tradition, and the recovery of the Psalms in worship. Within this framework, Taizé worship is understood not merely as a contemporary musical style, but also as a liturgical pattern of repetitive psalmic chant, silence, and contemplative listening that serves to support Lectio Divina and to deepen the congregation's participation in the Service of the Word. For retreatants at Taizé, the weekly rhythm from Friday to Sunday functions as a communal mini-Triduum, moving from Christ's passion and death to renewed participation in resurrection joy.

In conversation with Walter Brueggemann's movement from orientation through disorientation to new orientation, the Psalms provide emerging adults with a disciplined liturgical speech that enables them to inhabit instability without surrendering to despair. Taizé-style prayer, responsorial psalmody, intentional silence, and communal intercession serve as concrete practices that extend the Service of the Word into the ordinary rhythms of κοινωνία.

Finally, contemporary preaching is interpreted within a metamodern context, wherein hearers oscillate between suspicion and longing, irony and sincerity, critique and renewed participation. Samuel Wells's account of faithful improvisation within the drama of God's salvation offers a constructive ecclesial imagination for communities seeking to navigate the tension between baptismal identity and eschatological fulfillment. Ultimately, preaching “the baptism of repentance” restores the embodied and formative power of the Word, forming emerging adults as servants of God's Word through Scripture, fellowship, and sacramental memory.

The Construction of Chinese Rhetoric and the Legitimacy of Chinese Homiletics: A Preliminary Study Using the Concept of “Persuasion” as an Example

Ken KS LUI

Western homiletics has been shaped since Augustine by a paradigm integrating classical Greco-Roman rhetoric with Christian preaching. This article asks whether Chinese churches should follow this paradigm to construct a distinctively “Chinese Homiletics” (华人讲道学). It first establishes Chinese rhetoric as a legitimate academic discipline, independent of Western traditions, and then focuses on a comparative analysis of the concept of “persuasion” in Chinese and Western rhetoric. Western rhetoric, typified by Aristotle, is traditionally speaker-centered, emphasizing the technical means of persuasion—logos, ethos, and pathos. The Chinese rhetorical tradition, by contrast, centers on the concept of fu (服, “compliance/conviction”), privileging xinfu (心服, “heartfelt conviction”) as the ideal rhetorical outcome, governed by the principle xiuci li qi cheng (修辞立其诚, “rhetoric grounded in virtue and truth”) and yi de fu ren (以德服人, “winning hearts through virtue”). This article concludes that Chinese Homiletics should be grounded in the preacher's morality and spirituality rather than rhetorical technique.

“Story Is Argument”: The Use of Life Stories in William H. Willimon's Preaching

WONG Shun Shing

This article examines William H. Willimon's homiletical theology, which posits that narrative—especially life stories—serves not as mere illustration but as the primary argumentative structure in Christian preaching.

Amid contemporary challenges of entertainment-oriented, consumerist, and attractional preaching that often reduce the gospel to therapeutic advice, moral guidelines, or marketable spiritual products, Willimon advocates a theocentric model. Preaching, in his view, constitutes a divine theological event wherein God speaks disruptively through the peculiar and alien qualities of biblical and ecclesial narratives.

Drawing on narrative theology influenced by Karl Barth, Willimon maintains that Christian faith is fundamentally narrative, witnessing to God's historical acts culminating in Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection. Preaching thus performs and re-presents God's story in the present, inviting hearers into its drama. Stories function generatively and performatively: they enact theological truth and create a new reality rather than passively reflecting or decorating pre-existing propositions.

This study contrasts Willimon's approach with conventional narrative practices, which typically familiarize the gospel, emphasize individual inspiration, address felt needs, instrumentally prove abstract truths, or depend on the preacher's charisma. Willimon instead employs estrangement to underscore the gospel's scandalous strangeness, prioritizes communal formation, embodies truth narratively, and relies on the Holy Spirit rather than human technique.

Central to his method are life stories—personal, congregational, and historical testimonies—that form the core of argumentation. These function as existential witnesses, embedding individual experiences within God's redemptive narrative, countering modern individualism, and cultivating the church's identity as a peculiar people shaped by divine initiative.

Applying this framework to the Chinese church context, the article critiques prevalent tendencies toward prosperity theology, pragmatic applications, and commodified personal testimonies that domesticate the gospel's cruciform oddity. It advocates defamiliarizing, Spirit-reliant, community-focused storytelling that honors failure, unresolved tension, and waiting as loci of grace.

In conclusion, Willimon reclaims preaching as a relational divine–human encounter rather than an attractional performance. By treating story as an argument, preachers participate in God's reality-creating speech, entrusting their vulnerable words to the Holy Spirit for disciple formation and immersion in the ongoing drama of salvation.

The Threefold Forms of the Word of God: Karl Barth's Shortcomings and Critical Revisions in Recent Barthian Theology

TSENG Shao Kai

This paper examines the shortcomings of Karl Barth's doctrine of Scripture in his formulation of the “threefold forms of the Word of God” and explores recent Barthian revisions to Barth's model. Barth borrowed this concept from the classical Reformed notion of the “triplex Logos,” yet he replaced the traditional verbum Dei essentiale or Logos hypostatikos with the “Word of God revealed.” Barth's emphasis is thereby shifted to the narrative dimension of the verbum Dei scriptum whilst downplaying its propositional dimension. This opened an avenue to deconstructionist exegesis and inspired the so-called “postmodern” school of Barthianism. Barth himself would not have accepted this hermeneutic, and postliberal theologians like Hans Frei and George Lindbeck began to draw upon the organic connections between Barth's notions of the Word written and the Word proclaimed to provide doctrinal-propositional norms for biblical interpretation. More recently, the postliberal Barthian theologian George Hunsinger, inspired by Frei and Lindbeck, further proposed the theory of “ecclesiastical hermeneutics,” using Barth's notion of the “Word of God proclaimed” to supplement the shortcomings in Barth's understanding of Scripture. Hunsinger's ecclesiological hermeneutics is distinctively Protestant in that it presupposes a mutually reinforcing relationship between the formation of the biblical canon and the Church's creedal orthodoxy, treating the Word proclaimed as norma normata and the written Word as the norma normans et non normata.

Reality, Interpretation, and Proclamation: The Task of Christian Semiotics according to Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana

Andrew Cheuk Kei WONG

Attention to homiletics is usually limited to the biblical exegetical task and sermon design. For Christian preaching to be true to its task, it requires, however, a lot more than this. This article investigates Augustine of Hippo's understanding of preaching by focusing on De doctrina christiana (doctr. chr.), and proposes that ancient semiotics provides an excellent starting point for elucidating his conception of a preacher's task. After demonstrating the rhetorical context of doctr. chr. and emphasizing the implicative relation between signs and things in ancient semiotics, the article presents Augustine's understanding of the task of Christian semiotics—that preaching is the overall purpose of a process composed of the three interrelated stages of Christian theology, Christian hermeneutics, and Christian rhetoric. In each of these stages, the theme of love and the use of signs, together with the utility of adopting secular learnings for Christian purpose, recurs.

The article begins with the discussion that the task of Christian theology is to speak of the ineffable God through human words, made possible by the Incarnation of the Word. The semiotic principle to be introduced here is that the realities signified by signs must have been antecedently known by the interpreter. Having adopted teleological conceptions then common in ethics to support his principle of the ordering of love, Augustine demonstrates that God must be known, through love in worship, before one can comprehend the signs of the Bible. The article then turns to Christian hermeneutics. Centered on the interpretation of the ecclesiastically established set of signs that is known as the Bible, the key semiotic observation lies in the inherent ambiguity of words. Due to fluidities in the meaning of signs and the propensity of language to be elevated in religious contexts, understanding biblical signs requires the application of not only literal but also figurative interpretation, governed by the dominical commandment of the love of God and the neighbor. This semiotic analysis of doctr. chr. is completed by investigating briefly the subject of Christian rhetoric. Semiotics is related to rhetoric, in that efficacious communication depends on the listeners' ability to comprehend the signs, their patience to remain listening, as well as their willingness to act upon what have been heard. Aided by the learning of ancient rhetoric, Augustine maintains the need of eloquence to be in the service of wisdom for Christian preaching to testify to the truth and to respond to the commandment of love. This is done by the appropriate use of rhetoric techniques to influence the listeners' affections, so as to facilitate transformations of life.

This article argues that proclamation itself presupposes theological reflection, just as theology is the result of correct interpretation and effective preaching of the Bible. It concludes by proposing the advantages of bringing to the fore the distinction between signs and signified realities. Focusing on signified realities presupposes the listeners' prior knowledge of God before they can comprehend the biblical words, while attention to verbal signs deepens our understanding of the characteristics of the verbal medium. The final analysis suggests that given Augustine's insistence of prior knowledge of God has been matched by recent works of theology while contemporary theological investigations of the verbal medium in terms of semiotics appear to remain, by and large, in short supply, it testifies to the continued relevance of patristic theology and the great promises of semiotic investigations in contemporary theological tasks.

Preaching the Strange and Inconceivable Word of God

CHIU Shung-ming

Many Christians complain that church sermons sound clichéd, lack novelty, and fail to address real-life situations and specific cultural contexts. The author of this article agrees that preaching should be practical and relevant (“down-to-earth”); however, preachers must be cautious, for making sermons too “down-to-earth” not only demonstrates our attempt to shape God according to our felt needs but also risks making preaching human-centered.

Regarding this issue, the author argues that the secularization of the church significantly influences how audiences perceive preaching. Over time, preaching may become a tool to cater to human ideas or needs. As a result, audiences may misunderstand the purpose of preaching as serving people rather than serving the Word of God.

To address this problem, the author draws on the theological insights of Karl Barth and William H. Willimon to reflect on the theology of preaching. Barth and Willimon emphasize the transcendence of God. God is the Wholly Other, and there exists an infinite ontological distinction between God and humanity. Therefore, as finite beings, we cannot rely solely on our reason and sensory experience to know or speak about God. Since there is no way for humanity to reach God on its own, knowledge of God must come from God Himself. In other words, the starting point for understanding the Divine Being must be God's self-revelation in Christ, accompanied by the Holy Spirit, who comes to us from beyond ourselves and dwells within us, and by our aided reason in faith through which we seek to understand Christ, the Word of God. Consequently, for us, this Word must be the strange and inconceivable Word from above, and what preachers proclaim can only be the strange and inconceivable Word of God. This article aims to provide theological reflection on this very point.

编者的话

雷健生邓绍光

宣讲是教会最古老的使命，却也是最容易被误解的。在消费主义文化的冲击下，讲道日渐被理解为一种沟通技术，讲台的成效往往以听众的满意度来衡量。本期《山道期刊》以「圣道之宣讲」为主题，邀请六位学者从不同角度重新审视宣讲的神学根基、诠释原则、修辞资源，以及当代处境中的实践方向。

赵崇明的〈宣讲上主奇异陌生及不可思议的道〉指出，当代讲道的危机根源于两个现象：一是老生常谈、千篇一律，未能带给听道者任何陌生感；二是「过度回应市场需要」，以听众感受为出发点，结果「以人为中心」取代「以上帝为中心」。作者援引巴特（Karl Barth）和路德（Martin Luther）的洞见，强调上帝之道是「从外而来的外在的道」，其陌生性和奇异性正是其转化力量的根源。道的奇异性根植于「显─隐」二重结构，宣讲本质上是参与三一上帝的言说行动。听众在听道中理应经历的，不是熟悉感的确认，而是面对上帝话语「他性」所带来的审判和更新。

黄卓基的〈现实、诠释及宣讲：从奥古斯丁《基督教教导》看基督教符号学的任务〉从奥古斯丁（Augustine）的《基督教教导》（De doctrina christiana）出发，为宣讲神学提供符号学的理论框架。奥古斯丁的核心原则是：人认识符号所指涉的现实，必须先于认识符号本身。应用于宣讲，这意味着传道人必须先对上主有真实的认识，方能正确诠释圣经符号，进而有效宣讲。作者将《基督教教导》分为「神学」、「诠释学」、「修辞学」等三部分，加以分析，显示奥古斯丁的宣讲观以「爱」为核心――这「爱」不单是神学命题，更要求传道人在生命中实践爱神爱人的诫命，否则宣讲便失去其根基。

曾劭恺的〈上帝之道的三重形式：巴特的缺失与近期巴特主义的修正〉对巴特的圣经论作出批判性评估，指出巴特过于强调圣经的叙事维度，淡化了其命题内容，为后现代解构诠释留下空间。作者进而介绍后自由派神学家杭星格（George Hunsinger）如何在弗莱（Hans Frei）和林贝克（George Lindbeck）的基础上，透过强调「书写之道」与「宣讲之道」的有机联系来修正这个缺失：大公会议的信条属「宣讲之道」，其权威源自圣经，是「被规范之规范」；圣经本身才是「具规范权威而不被规范的规范」。杭星格的贡献在于加强圣经命题对神学解经的规范地位。这提醒传道人讲道时，既要忠于圣经叙事，也要让教义命题框架引导解经，两者缺一不可。

黄顺成的〈「故事即论证」：韦利蒙讲道中生命故事的运用〉聚焦于韦利蒙（William H. Willimon）的叙事讲道神学。韦利蒙将故事从辅助说明的工具，提升为神学论证本身――故事不是通往真理的桥梁，而是真理得以呈现的场域。这种「演练性」的叙事观，使讲道成为上帝在当下说话的事件，而非单纯的资讯传递。作者对比韦利蒙与一般故事运用的差异，并将其应用于华人教会的处境，批判成功神学和消费主义对讲道的侵蚀――吸引式讲道将故事工具化，使讲道向消费主义妥协，遮蔽了福音的奇异性、圣灵的主权，以及故事应有的本体论地位。作者转而主张以陌生化策略、群体叙事和神本见证为进路，召唤传道人重新正视福音的转化力量。

笔者雷健生的〈中国修辞学的建构与华人讲道学之合理性初探──以「说服」观念为例〉以「说服」观念为切入点，探讨华人讲道学。奥古斯丁将希罗修辞学引入基督教讲道学，奠定西方讲道学的基本范式；本文建议华人教会效法此范式，以中国修辞学为基础，建构本色化的华人讲道学。然而，要确立这一方向的合理性，须先论证中国修辞学已具备独立的学术地位。在「说服」观念上，中西修辞传统存在根本差异：西方以说话者的说服技巧为核心；中国传统则以受众「心悦诚服」（心服）为目标，强调「修辞立其诚」，视道德品格为说服力的根本。这一差异对华人讲道学具有直接启示：传道人的灵命修养，远比讲道技巧更为关键。周联华的著作《新编讲道法》已在实践层面作出相关尝试，可资借鉴。

罗洁盈的〈宣讲「悔改的浸礼」：圣道礼仪对成青的灵性塑造与更新〉针对后疫情时代香港教会的讲坛危机，提出整合性的宣讲与牧养回应。作者首先批判「新讲道学」过度迁就听众经验的倾向，继而以韦利蒙提出的「悔改的浸礼」为核心，主张宣讲必须回归受浸群体的身分认同，而非沦为一般宗教演说。针对成青（18-29岁）四种过渡状态，文章援引布鲁格曼（Walter Brueggemann）「定向—失向—新定向」的诗篇神学，主张诗篇是成青在人生失序中向上主祷告的重要语言资源，并批评现时华人教会削减诗篇的做法。文章进而结合教会年历经课、依纳爵（Ignatius of Loyola）的「日常生活神操」及韦尔斯（Samuel Wells）「五幕剧」的终末性教会想像，为成青提出一套使其能「居于上主故事中」的宣讲及灵性塑造方案。

除专题文章外，本期亦收录张明光的讨论文章〈以赛亚书中列国神谕的政治意图〉，论证以赛亚书十三至二十三章的列国神谕经历了多个编辑阶段：两部早期神谕集分别在撒珥根二世和西拿基立时期塑造犹大的外交政策；被掳时期加入的巴比伦神谕，则借其位置安排及颠覆神话意象（如「赫勒尔」），抵抗巴比伦帝国的意识形态影响。

本期另设五篇书评，涵盖圣经诠释学、约翰福音与对观福音研究、教会论的神学类型、上帝论与创造论之关系，以及群体伦理神学，为读者开拓宣讲以外的神学视野。

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