"It is one thing to say something
quite another to have it listened to
a distinct third to have it understood
a different matter again to have it remembered
and a frequently unattainable fifth to have it put into practice"
(Paul
Edwards 'The Practical Preacher')
So how much of that should a preacher feel responsible for?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that why a more effective way of teaching/learning is to explain something, have people try it out and then reflect, repeat and improve? Not appropriate in every situation but much better than the model Edwards describes in most, and certainly the way many more people actually remember! If I wrote an account of Saturday's rugby, you'd find it a lot harder to remember than if you were simply at the game but if you were playing, it would be etched on your mind for ever! Even abstract concepts are better fixed in the mind but having to explain or defend them to someone else.
ReplyDelete