Abstract:
Drawing on Jungian psychological type theory, the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics
and liturgical preaching suggests that the reading and proclaiming of scripture reflects
the psychological type preferences of the reader and preacher. This thesis is examined
among a sample of clergy (training incumbents and curates) serving in the one Diocese
of the Church of England (N = 22). After completing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the
clergy worked in groups (designed to cluster individuals who shared similar psychological
type characteristics) to reflect on and to discuss the Advent call of John the Baptist. The
Marcan account was chosen for the exercise exploring the perceiving functions (sensing
and intuition) in light of its rich narrative. The Lucan account was chosen for the exercise
exploring the judging functions (thinking and feeling) in light of the challenges offered by
the passage. In accordance with the theory, the data confirmed characteristic differences
between the approaches of sensing types and intuitive types, and between the approaches
of thinking types and feeling types.
