Associate Professor of Preaching
Carol Miles loves the challenge of biblical preaching. "The Bible is filled with texts that reflect a different time and culture. They can seem strange, even alien to a contemporary congregation. Yet they continue to speak to us today as a word of address--as the Word of God," she says.
Miles wants the men and women in her classes to be passionate students of the Bible and to understand themselves as practical theologians who interpret texts for particular congregations living out their faith in the world.
To do this means paying attention not only to the Bible's historical setting, but to the literary details and rhetorical devices used by the biblical authors. "In our preaching, we need to lift up and explicate those details because it is often there, in the language, that the theological freight is carried," Miles says.
A Presbyterian who holds a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, Miles is pleased to be at Luther. "I appreciate the richness of Lutheran theology and worship. And because I come from a tradition that emphasizes the preached word, I am excited about the seminary's strong commitment to biblical preaching," she says.
Miles sees herself as a coach for preaching students. "I know they often feel vulnerable in class. I want them to become more confident of their own voice and more comfortable with their call to ministry, while developing their preaching skills. I especially want them to be capable of good self-critique. This means asking the right questions of their own sermons," she says.
Above all, Miles wants students to share her sense of urgency about the gospel and preaching: "There are preachers who speak from the pulpit as though absolutely nothing were at stake. We serve a risen Christ who is alive and present and active in the world. If we preached as though that were true, who knows what could happen?"
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