From Consternation to Conventionality? Initial Insights from Research on Preachers’ Reactions to Political Events or: October 7th 2023 in German Sermons
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In the broad field of discourse on the topic of political preaching, which is outlined at the beginning, this article takes a reductive approach and asks how preachers in Germany deal with Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 in their sermons. The essay offers initial insights into an empirical project that collected sermons from major German cities and examined them with regard to the aforementioned question. It posits the thesis that three phases can be distinguished: A first phase of speechlessness and consternation is followed by a second phase in which preachers integrate the events theologically. In the third phase, October 7 becomes a motif or an allusion. The first conclusions for political preaching and its liturgical environment are derived from this observation.
Authors: Alexander Deeg, Georg Matusche
Institution: Leipzig University
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4404591646