Why this book?
- To become acquainted with the "preacher as physician" model in the religious tradition.
- To examine the consequences of this model for religious teaching and education.
- To learn about examples of Hossein Ansarian's preaching style and conduct.
- For those involved in religious education within the family, school, or religious institutions.
- To rethink the relationship between rhetoric, ethics, and the real needs of the audience.
About the book
"Preaching as Healing" by Iman Abbasnejad is an attempt to formulate a different model of religious propagation. The book's starting point is the image of prophets and religious leaders as "physicians of the soul"; an image based on which the preacher must, before prescribing, understand the audience and their situation and organize the propagation in accordance with the real needs of the human being.
The book is founded on the idea that viewing religious propagation as a medical practice has important consequences for teaching and education. If we consider the preacher a physician, their relationship with the audience is not merely a one-way transmission of teachings; rather, diagnosis, empathy, attention to individual differences, and choosing a method appropriate to their situation also become important. The author tries to explain some of the requirements of this view and take it beyond a mere metaphor.
A significant part of the book is dedicated to the preaching conduct of Hossein Ansarian. In the author's view, examples of this same medical model can be found in his style of sermonizing and his connection with audiences. For this reason, various parts of the book contain examples of his behavior and preaching experience to show that such a model can also find practical form in the contemporary era.