Videos by David J Calvert
A paper presentation and Q&A from the virtual conference held by SEBTS during quarantine.
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Drafts by David J Calvert
What might we be doing to our hearers as we use language in corporate worship? Does it matter how... more What might we be doing to our hearers as we use language in corporate worship? Does it matter how we speak in and of the Lord's Supper? What is happening when the words "This is my body" are spoken in a congregation? One approach to answering these questions is by using the tools of speech act theory. Dan Block makes the bold statement, "The Lord's Supper is the defining ritual of the Christian community." This statement can be helpfully explored by conceiving of the Supper as consisting of liturgical speech acts. The speech acts at the Lord's Supper have multiple, simultaneous illocutionary forces that have significant formative, perlocutionary potential. Though evangelical theologians have primarily used speech act theory for hermeneutics, it has usefulness for examining the performative speech of corporate worship. Originally conceived by J. L. Austin and further articulated by John Searle, speech act theory focuses on the intentions of the speaker, or what one does with words. Speech act theory utilizes the categories of locution, illocutionary acts, and perlocutionary effect. Liturgical speech acts are one way of construing speech act theory for examining the language of congregational worship, and they are the subject of my dissertation research.
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Videos by David J Calvert
Drafts by David J Calvert