Exemplary Preaching

Definition and Meaning

Exemplary preaching is a method of preaching that draws lessons from the actions of figures in Scripture, especially those in the historical narratives of the Old Testament, by treating them as models for believers to follow or as warnings to heed. An "example" here means a pattern worthy of imitation. A sermon on the David and Goliath narrative that concludes, "Like David, let us overcome the giants in our lives with bold faith," is a typical instance of this approach. The term was applied chiefly by critics of the method. It is used alongside its contrasting concept, redemptive-historical preaching, which reads the text with God's history of salvation and Jesus Christ at its center.

Biblical and Historical Background

Defenders of exemplary preaching point out that the New Testament itself uses Old Testament figures as examples. Paul wrote that the experiences of the wilderness generation "happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:11–12). Chapter 11 of Hebrews, known as the Faith Chapter, recounts the faith of Old Testament figures one after another. The Epistle of James likewise cites the prayer of Elijah as an example (James 5:16–18).

The term "exemplary preaching" is generally understood to have become established in theological debate through a controversy over preaching within the Dutch Reformed churches from the 1930s to the early 1940s. Klaas Schilder and others who advocated redemptive-historical preaching criticized character-centered preaching for reducing the text to moral instruction and obscuring God's saving acts. Supporters of exemplary preaching countered that redemptive-historical preaching was overly objective and speculative and therefore difficult to apply to the lives of listeners. The controversy became widely known in the English-speaking world and in Korea through Sidney Greidanus's 1970 book Sola Scriptura.

Practice in Korean Churches

In Korean Protestant churches, the use of the faith and failures of biblical figures as examples has long been widespread in Sunday sermons and in revival meeting preaching. Its commonly cited strengths are that listeners readily identify with it and can apply it directly to their lives.

Among Korean Presbyterian seminaries and denominations that emphasize the Reformed tradition, such as those associated with the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin) and the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapshin), there has been relatively active discussion introducing redemptive-historical preaching and pointing out the limitations of exemplary preaching. These groups hold that the center of the text lies not in human example but in God's saving acts. By contrast, Methodist and Holiness churches in the Wesleyan tradition, which emphasizes sanctification and practical piety, as well as many evangelical preachers, tend to accept application through biblical figures as a legitimate method of preaching. More recently, mediating approaches have also been discussed that do not regard the two methods as mutually exclusive but instead apply the examples of biblical figures within the flow of redemptive history.