Background
Jensen was born on July 4, 1934, in Fremont, Nebraska.
Jensen was born on July 4, 1934, in Fremont, Nebraska.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts cum laude in philosophy from Dana College in 1956, his Bachelor of Divinity from Wartburg Theological Seminary in 1959, his South.T.M. from Chicago Theological Seminary in 1962, and his Doctor of Philosophy from Aquinas Institute of Theology in 1972.
Left Chicago in 1960 to undertake a year of biblical studies under Gerhard von Rad and Otto Piper at Princeton Theological Seminary. returned to the United States in 1965 to teach at his alma mater Dana College. He returned to Wartburg Theological Seminary to teach from 1972–1981. He briefly taught at Luther Seminary before leaving academia in 1982 to host the television and radio program, Lutheran Vespers.
In 1997, was invited to become the first Axel Jacob and Gerde Maria Carlson Professor of Homiletics at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a post he held until his retirement in 2002.
Richard A. was also the Dean of the Doctorate of Ministry program sponsored by the Association of Chicago Theological Seminaries in the late 1980s. Contributions to theology "s research was met some skepticism, but ultimately received positive reception from parish pastors, theologians, and college professors.
Although, "s Doctor of Philosophy was in systematic theology, he developed a story-based preaching technique that emphasized preaching as an oral art of communication rather than written discourse memorized or read to listeners. In 1993, published Thinking in Story.
This was followed by three books that understood the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke as oral narratives from which the preacher used bibilical narrative to enable the listener to participate more holistically in the stories of Jesus. further expanded his understanding of preaching to incorporate the use of art and visual images in the sermon and worship experience.
This thinking culminated in the book published in 2005, Envisioning the Word: The Use of Visual Images in Preaching.