Preaching as master’s discourse. A Foucauldian interpretation of Lutheran pastoral power

Critical Research on Religion 7 (2):113-129 (2019)
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Abstract

Michel Foucault acknowledged that the Reformation was a pastoral battle and a reorganization of pastoral power. He did not, however, analyze Protestantism much further. This article broadens the scope of critical research on Protestantism, focusing on Lutheranism. Preaching is a fruitful way to overcome overemphasis on confession. In this endeavor I apply Foucault’s concept of “master’s discourse.” I argue that while, in Lutheranism, conversion through comprehensive soul-searching is an individual matter, at the same time it relies on technologies aimed at a collective audience, such as preaching. Since preaching is divine speech, the Lutheran priest wields enormous spiritual power: the preacher is the truth-teller and the subject is required to listen to and internalize the proclaimed truth, instead of confessing their sins.

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References found in this work

The Subject and Power.Michel Foucault - 1982 - Critical Inquiry 8 (4):777-795.
Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics.Hubert L. Dreyfus & Paul Rabinow - 1982 - Chicago: Routledge. Edited by Paul Rabinow & Michel Foucault.
The hermeneutics of the subject: lectures at the Collège de France, 1981-1982.Michel Foucault - 2005 - New York: Palgrave-Macmillan. Edited by Frédéric Gros, François Ewald & Alessandro Fontana.
Abnormal: lectures at the Collège de France, 1974-1975.Michel Foucault - 2003 - New York: Picador. Edited by Valerio Marchetti, Antonella Salomoni & Arnold I. Davidson.

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