Preaching [and Teaching] Thurman’s New Testament Spirituality

The paper considers the hermeneutical and homiletical model of New Testament spirituality available through Howard Thurman’s writings. The paper argues that at least three features distinguish Thurman’s NT spirituality from dominant understandings of Christian spirituality that serve preachers, biblical and theological teachers, and the NT exegete. Attuned to the histories and contexts of African Americans and diverse understandings of spiritual experience, Thurman’s approach to NT spirituality attends to matters of genre and biography, explores the activities of God’s Spirit as attested in the Bible and the lives of faithful people, and utilizes diverse modes of African American rhetorical aesthetics from oral, literary, and visual materials.