When analyzing the excerpts of Dr. Martin Luther King, one automatically observes
the human experience within his excerpts. King is known for using human
experience throughout his sermons. Throughout his entire excerpt we find human
experience as he expresses love for his enemies. Also, King shares his human
experiences, along with his fellow brethren, of social injustice within his sermons.
According to Benjamin K. Forrest, Kevin L. King, Bill Curtis, and Dwayne Millioni,
“King drew from a corpus of “Negro Spirituals,” songs, narratives, poetry and
testimony. Also, the themes of human dignity for all and the inherent decency of
humanity despite the evil some, were woven into King’s speeches and sermons.”1
Moreover, King used the Persuasive Element model to appeal to his audience and
make beautiful the African American culture. Furthermore, King exercised his voice
in a unique way using the McDill’s Oratory Presentation Model. As described by
Forrest, King, Curtis and Millioni, “King argued, ‘A sermon is not an essay to be read
but a discourse to be heard. It should be a convincing appeal to a listening
congregation. Therefore, a sermon is directed toward the listening ear rather than
the reading eye’.”2 a One could assume that King almost perfectly exhibited McDill’s
Model throughout his sermons.When analyzing Adrian Rogers, I observed McDill’s
model of Preaching for Faith within his expert. Rogers had a purpose for the
outcome of his preaching. As stated by Forrest, King,Curtis, and Millioni, “Rogers
believed preaching to be more than the dissemination of truth. It is not primarily
information, but transformation. An effective sermon moves toward effective
action. If there is no call to action, there has been no sermon preached, only a
lesson rendered.”3 Also, Rogers models McDill’s Human Experience as he believes
preaching should meet the needs of his audience. Therefore, he utilizes illustrations,
explanations, and application to drive home the truth of God’s Word. Moreover,
Rogers utilizes the Persuasive Elements model to keep his audience engaged and
make sure they could easily follow along with the outline of the text. According to
Forrest, King, Curtis and Millioni, “King would craft strong division statements and
strong transitional statement so that his readers could easily follow along.”4 a
Furthermore, through his excerpt Rogers Model’s McDill’s Natural Analogies as he
uses real life illustrations to illustrate the biblical text. As stated by Forrest, King,
Curtis, and Millioni, “Rogers utilized illustrations to help his listeners to “see” how
the truth of the text connected with their own lives.”5 a People are often moved and
more willing to listen when you can bring their issues into the biblical text. Overall,
Rogers Christocentric preaching was often imbedded into the hearts and minds of
his audience.
1 Benjamin Forest, Kevin L. King, Bill Curtis, and Dwayne Milioni, “A Legacy of
Preaching, Volume Two:
Enlightenment to the Present Day: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great
Preachers, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2018), 472.
2 Ibid., 475.
3 Ibid., 4894 Forest, King, Curtis, and Milioni, “A Legacy of Preaching, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2018), 491.
5 Ibid., 491
