The Public Pulpit of Johan Cilliers

Abstract South African pastor, professor and homiletician Johan Cilliers advocates for the capacity of preaching to shape a healing and healthy political imagination among God’s people. A brief biography of Cilliers, particularly his experiential and scholarly entanglements at key points in South African history, exemplifies what it looks like when the preacher serves the congregation as a public theologian. Cilliers offers critique of what he calls the “closed seriousness” of apartheid era preaching followed by a hopeful case made in favor of “open seriousness” on the part of any preacher bold enough to stare down the powers and principalities from the pulpit. This essay concludes by suggesting possibilities for on-going discernment regarding the public pulpit, particularly during seasons of socio-political turmoil.