Original Research - Special Collection: Applied subjects - Practical Theology and Science of Religion

Reading and proclaiming the Advent call of John the Baptist: An empirical enquiry employing the SIFT method

Leslie J. Francis, Greg Smith
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 70, No 1 | a2718 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v70i1.2718 | © 2014 Leslie J. Francis, Greg Smith | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 08 May 2014 | Published: 08 October 2014

About the author(s)

Leslie J. Francis, Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, University of Warwick, United Kingdom; Department of New Testament Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Greg Smith, Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, University of Warwick, United Kingdom; Department of New Testament Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Drawing on Jungian psychological type theory, the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching suggests that the reading and proclaiming of scripture reflects the psychological type preferences of the reader and preacher. This thesis is examined among a sample of clergy (training incumbents and curates) serving in the one Diocese of the Church of England (N = 22). After completing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the clergy worked in groups (designed to cluster individuals who shared similar psychological type characteristics) to reflect on and to discuss the Advent call of John the Baptist. The Marcan account was chosen for the exercise exploring the perceiving functions (sensing and intuition) in light of its rich narrative. The Lucan account was chosen for the exercise exploring the judging functions (thinking and feeling) in light of the challenges offered by the passage. In accordance with the theory, the data confirmed characteristic differences between the approaches of sensing types and intuitive types, and between the approaches of thinking types and feeling types.


Keywords

No related keywords in the metadata.

Metrics

Total abstract views: 3498
Total article views: 5533

 

Crossref Citations

1. Hiring labourers for the vineyard and making sense of God’s grace at work: An empirical investigation in hermeneutical theory and ordinary theology
Leslie J. Francis, Greg Smith, Jeff Astley
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 78  issue: 4  year: 2022  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v78i4.7444