Why sermons (no longer) hit home. How the Emergent Cyclical Levels of Existence Theory by Clare Graves (1914–1986) can be linguistically refined to make it useful for homiletics

The article is the first attempt to use the Emergent Cyclical Levels of Existence Theory (ECLET) by Clare W. Graves as well as its expansion by M. Küstenmacher / T. Haberer / W. T. Küstenmacher (cf. their book “Gott 9.0”, 2010) to study conceptualizations of God in modern sermons. On the example of a sermon based on Mt 25:31–46 (Christ the King Sunday) Kucharska-Dreiß shows how it is possible for a preacher to start with a biblical pericope containing the image of God 4.0 (corresponding with the level four of the spiritual development of an individual) and to develop it in such a way that it may be of interest for listeners at other/different levels of religious awareness (e.g. at the level 6.0). In the conclusion of the article the author points to the essential role ECLET Theory may have for preaching practice as well as for research on communication in religious context as a whole.

The article is the first attempt to use the Emergent Cyclical Levels of Existence Theory (ECLET) by Clare W. Graves as well as its expansion by M. Küstenmacher / T. Haberer / W. T. Küstenmacher (cf. their book “Gott 9.0”, 2010) to study conceptualizations of God in modern sermons. On the example of a sermon based on Mt 25:31–46 (Christ the King Sunday) Kucharska-Dreiß shows how it is possible for a preacher to start with a biblical pericope containing the image of God 4.0 (corresponding with the level four of the spiritual development of an individual) and to develop it in such a way that it may be of interest for listeners at other/different levels of religious awareness (e.g. at the level 6.0). In the conclusion of the article the author points to the essential role ECLET Theory may have for preaching practice as well as for research on communication in religious context as a whole.