칼빈의 성경해석에 비추어본 합동측 목회자들의 설교

An Analysis of Korean Hapdong Presbyterian Denomination Pastor's Sermons in the Light of Calvin's Biblical Interpretation

This paper, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth, analyzes and evaluates the 19 NT sermons of Korean pastors in the light of Calvin's exegetical principles and his related commentaries. Calvin's exegetical method is commonly well summarized as lucid brevity or clear brevity (brevitas et facilitas), which is concretely displayed in his commentaries. The major task of an exegete, to Calvin, is "to lay open the mind of the writer". In order to understand the mind and thought of the biblical author, readers must pay a careful attention to the whole context of word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, and whole book. The analyzed and evaluated 19 sermons of selected Korean pastors are in some way positive, and at the same time, somewhat negative; Positively, the sermons of concerned Korean pastors are in principle faithful to the Reformed view of the Bible as the infallible word of God. The unshakable conviction that the Bible is the reliable and faithful word of God stands in the background of these sermons. Negatively, these sermons are not faithful enough to the overall context of the selected biblical text to the degree Calvin's commentaries was faithful. Most sermons still fall into the category of Korean traditional topical sermon. The contexts and narrative flows of the text are often neglected or ignored in the process of explaining or exegeting the given text. The probable advice of John Calvin for 21st century Korean pastors is to pay a serious attention to what the text says by taking the overall context into a serious consideration.