Hearing what we want to

At Cliopatria, Ralph Luker is reflecting on Martin Luther King's plagiarism, describing King's theft in terms of the expectations of his various audiences. Besides noting that King gave his professors what they wanted to hear, Luker observes that King was ultimately pursuing success in a field with a guarded attitude toward originality:

Had he pursued an academic career, his heavy reliance on the authorities, often without citing them, could have been fatal. But in preaching, perhaps even in most public speech, genuine originality is more often fatal. A congregation, even a public audience, expects to hear and responds to the word once delivered to the fathers [and mothers]. It is the familiar that resonates with us. The original sounds alien and tends to alienate.

This brings up an interesting question. Certainly, the idea behind church teaching and preaching is to avoid fundamental innovation; the church is worthless if it does not teach eternal truth. However, should we in the church not expect more originality of expression? Is there a way systematically to encourage original scholarship and creative communication in the church despite the fact that it is occasionally likely to make us uncomfortable -- without sacrificing the truth? Is there a way to raise corporate expectations?

| Posted by Wilson at 12:08 Central | TrackBack
| Report submitted to the Humanities Desk