Propuesta de solución para uso en los sistemas de la UdelaR

etymological approach, the word ‘apply’ has the following meaning in the English dictionary: ‘apply’ in English originated in ‘applicare’, which is a compound word of ‘ad’ and ‘plicare’ in Latin. The ‘ad’ is a prefix and has the meaning of ‘to’ and ‘plicare’ is a verb that has meaning of ‘to fold’. Therefore, an application has the meaning of ‘to approach something, to make contact with something/someone’ or ‘to supply for a specific use’ (Brown 1993:100).

If so, what does it mean in preaching? Simply speaking, an application in preaching would allow the text to permeate the audience through a sermon. The preaching occurs from the place at which the horizon of the text and the context meet. It is a speech event where the meaning of the text is experienced from the horizon of an audience. As part of this process, the application demands that the situation of the audience be taken into account. This is application of preaching. Application in preaching is a speech event whereby the meaning of the text is delivered to a specific audience. In doing so, it challenges the congregation to realign its life with the meaning of the text.

Thus, the purpose of the application is to change in the lives of parishioners. The transformation of the listener’s conduct and heart would also be the ultimate purpose of preaching (Chang Gyun 2002:55).

As regards the importance of application in preaching, Chapell (2005:210) maintains, “Application is the present, personal consequence of scriptural truth. Without application, a preacher has no reason to preach, because truth without actual or potential application fulfills no redemptive purpose.” According to Veerman (1990:121-122), “application is answering two questions: So what? and Now what? The first question asks, “Why is this passage important to me?” The second asks, “What should I do about it today?” Application focuses on the truth of God’s Word on specific, life-related situations. It helps people understand what to do or how to use what they have learned. Moreover, application directs and enables people to act on what they have been taught is true and meaningful.

Concerning the definition of application in preaching, we cannot ignore the following explanation given by (Adams 1990:15-16):

“When you “apply” pressure to a wound, you make forceful contact with it in order to stop the bleeding. When you give a dingy wall a fresh “application” of paint, you lay paint onto the wall in such a way that it sticks and thereby affects the looks of the wall. When you speak of “applied” science, you mean theory worked out in various useful ways that make a difference in everyday living. To “apply” is to bring one thing into contact with another in

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such a way that the two adhere, so that what is applied to something affects that to which it is applied. The pressure stops the bleeding, the paint freshens the wall, and the theory changes daily life in practical ways. In homiletics, the term application has come to be applied to one aspect of preaching (in this sentence I am using the verb apply to mean much the same thing as I did when speaking or “applying” paint to a wall: the word application, I am saying, has become attached to a process that occurs in faithful preaching.

The description of Adams (1990:15-16) highlights three points in relation to application. Firstly, there are things that are applied to something. If we use his example, these are pressure and paint. Secondly, there are objects of application. These are wounds and dingy walls. Thirdly, there are the results of application. These are to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to a wound and to clean a dingy through painting. If we consider that these factors are related to preaching, the first element would be the truth of the Bible. The second one may be the situation of people, and third one could be the changed life that is brought about by the truth of the Bible and how it touches the life of the audience.

Therefore, preaching interprets the text that was given in ancient times for a faith community today. For the church in other words, preaching is the act through which ‘the text that was given for them at that time’ is connected with ‘the audience of here and now’. Furthermore, preaching draws the listener into the text and focuses the truth of God’s Word on specific, life-related situations. So Stephen F. Olford (1998:251) defines from the ‘Webster’s New World Dictionary’ that in a nutshell, “application is connection.”

In view of this, we would be saying that preaching itself is the act of application (Chang Gyun 2002:54). This means that at its heart preaching is not merely the proclamation of truth but truth applied (Adams 1990:39).

A common characteristic to all sermons is not simply the delivery of a truth, but the pursuit of a change in the congregation. Thus, as Fosdick (Wilson 1995:31) points out, preaching is different from lecturing. A lecture has the subject which has to be identified, whereas preaching has a purpose which must be fulfilled. John Broadus, the father of modern expository preaching, also declares, “the application in a sermon is not merely an appendage to the discussion or a subordinate part or it, but is the main thing to be bone” (John A. Broadus 1944:210).

transformation, the success and failure of preaching would depend on the preaching’s application.