BV 660 .H6 1869 Hoppin, J. M. 1820-1906 The office and work of the Christian ministry THE OFFICE AND WORK OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. BY JAMES M.^HOPPIN, PBOFESSOR OF HOMILETICS AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY IN TALE COLLEGE. jN'ew Tokk: SHELDON AND COMPANY, 498 & 500 BROADWAY. 1869. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by SHELDON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, No. 19 Spring Lane. PREFACE. Truth, born of God, does not change ; but the forms in which it is apprehended, and its modes of influencing the mind, are continually undergoing development. The old gospel contains many new systems of theology, and it is capable of producing many new methods of preaching. The human method of presenting divine truth so that it may be received to the welfare of the soul, must be adapt- ed to the soul, and to the soul of an age. Preaching is a progressive art, and in this aspect it is worthy of pro- found study. Preaching has not lost its power (as some assert) over the human mind, any more than the gospel has lost its power, — for truth always demands an inter- preter, and the soul always yearns for a teacher in divme things ; but there are times, when, from inexplicable causes, preaching passes through new phases and modifications, and in that process of transition its power is obscured. The present is such a period. This is confessedly an un- settled age : theories of society, education, and science are evolved and tested with astonishmg rapidity ; and it would be indeed strange if preaching did not feel the influence of the breatli that has come over the intellectual world. (iii) IV PREFACE. Much that is merely extrinsic and conventional must dis- appear; but the free thought and philosophic culture of the day will, in the end, pass into, instead of dimin- ishing, the power of preaching, and Christianity will work in and throuo:h them for its own his/her ends. The preacher cannot hope to lead and guide minds if he does in no manner comprehend the wants of an advancing age, like the present, which is one of real interest, though of fearless inquiry, in theological questions, and of the bold reconstruction of religious philosophies. The preacher can no longer successfully deal in dull learning and trite ideas, without fresh thought, original and conscientious exegesis, noble and true literary form, and, above all, practical ear- nestness and spiritual life. Not that the want of these has. characterized the past age, but that the time has come when their absence is a marked deficiency. Still, too much ought not to be made of the intellectual aspects of the subject, important as they are ; for, of the two classes into which Pascal divided preachers, — into those who belong to the order of intellect, and those who belong to the order of love, — the greatest preachers, as Pascal thought (among whom he counted Augustine), have ever been of the latter class ; for to love God is the only way to know him and to teach him. Truly, for one to be a great preacher, he must have a deep and pervading enthusiasm ; he must have an inward harmony with the object which interested the heart of Christ, and in which every selfish feeling is absorbed and lost. The main impulse of the preacher must be from within, — from sanctified afiections, from the real sympathy of his soul with God. Thought PREFACE. V and expression — the profoundest thought and the most fit expression — are of little moment, if there is not the true, glowing heart behind them. Men, indeed, for the service of the Christian ministry, may be dwarfed by becoming accomplished scholars and polished orators, if they are not also rendered large-hearted, courageous, spiritual, conse- crated men. While I believe that divine truth should be presented to men's minds in fresh, powerful, and beautiful forms, — no less so than should scientific and literary truth, — there are, nevertheless, certain principles of preaching which do not vary, and which are always true, for "the church must light its candle at the old lamp ; " and an endeavor has been made in the following pages to set forth some of those true and essential principles. This volume is chiefly designed as a text-booh in Homi- letics and Pastoral Theology, for those who are in a regu- lar course of training for the ministry of the gospel. While I hope that pastors may find in it something of value to themselves, it is mainly intended to be used by the- ological students in the class-room, for the purpose of recitation ; and that will account for the broken-up and analytical style of the book, that being necessitated by the treatment in condensed, rather than expanded, forms of discussion of so many and varied themes. That will also explain the formal arrangement of the book ; for the efibrt has been, not so much to depart from the ordinary plan, as to produce a good text-book of judicious rules ; not so much to express private thoughts and opinions, as to state general and well-grounded principles. Vi PREFACE. I have always regarded it as a happy circumstance, that I enjoyed the teachings of Professor Park, of Andover, in the department of Homiletics ; and it gives me pleasure to acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe him for first awakening in me a lively interest in that study. I have had another aim in publishing this book; and that is, to free myself in some measure from the routine of lecturing, and to secure time for that direct, familiar, and informal method of instruction which is peculiarly needed in treating the subject of preaching with beginners ; and, indeed, I have meditated upon some new methods of teach- ing homiletics, which promise at least (though the result may not prove it) to be of a more quickening and truly philosophical nature than those sometimes pursued ; but, at the same time, I fully recognize the necessity of a system- atic course of training in this important department. " And so in art and religion. First in point of time, submit to rules; but first in point of importance, — the grand aim, indeed, of all rules, — rise through them to the spirit and meaning of them. Write that upon the heart and be free ; then you can use the maxim, not like a pedant, but like an artist, — not like a Pharisee, but like a Christian." What is contained in the following pages was composed primarily for the use of a Congregational theological school ; but while by education and choice a believer and worship- per in the simple way of our New England fathers, I am every day less and less of a sectarian. Though, happily, the true tendency of the times is to the real unity of all Chris- tians and Christian churches, yet not because of this popu- lar current (which is as apt to be false as true) , but from PREFACE. Vn deeply cherished convictions on this subject, I grow ever more inclined to honor the name of Christian above that of every other earthly name ; and to hold the one " holy catholic church" above any particular portion of it, how- ever loved and deserving of love ; and I hope, therefore, that nothing of a narrow spirit will be found in these pages, even in regard to the views of other denominations of Christians where I honestly differ from them. May the time be hastened when each shall impart to the other freely of whatever gift or portion of truth may be committed to its keeping, and when the Holy Spirit may ^''gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth" In the second part of the book, in that which treats of Pastoral Theology, I have not intended to dictate what a pastor should be, but only to offer friendly suggestion and advice to young men ; thinking that, though this sub- ject is to a great extent a matter of personal experi- ence, much may be done to prepare candidates for the ministry for their pastoral work. That kind of prepara- tion has been, perhaps, too much neglected heretofore in our seminaries, which have laid themselves 'open to the charge of rearing scholars (or attempting to do so) rather than pastors ; but it is the ])astoral worli, which is the true test of ministerial character. I have endeavored to set forth a high ideal of this character — that though no aureole surrounds the head of the true Christian pastor and preacher, as in old pictures, yet that sanctity and truth should crown his life with a heavenly light ; and that to the work of saving souls from the power of sin, through the preaching of the Till PREFACE. Cross, the rarest faculties of mind, heart, and spirit may be devoted. If the counsels herein contained shall in the slightest degree tend to produce those strong, hardy, cross- bearing, cheerful, hopeful, wise, loving, and single-minded pastors, who are willing to labor among the poor as well as among the rich and the educated, who are willing to go anywhere, and to do anything which is required for the highest good of men, — such pastors, in fine, as Christ would bless as the spiritual guides of his people into a nobler life in Him, that result would be the greatest reward I could ask. New Haven, Cokk., May, 1869. CONTENTS. INTEODUCTION. Pagb § 1. Greatness of the Work of the Ministry 1 PREACHIl^G. PART FIRST. PREACHING SPECIALLY CONSIDERED. FIEST DIVISION. The History and Art of Preaching. § 2. Definition of Preaching. 23 § 3. History of Preaching. Its governing Law. . . . . 25 Preacliing in the Old Testament 26 Of the Apostolic Church. 27 Of the First Five Centuries 30 Of Chrysostom and Augustine 35 From the Sixth Century to the Eeformation. . . .40 Of Luther and the Reformation 42 Of Germany and France 45 Of England 47 Of New England and America 61 § 4. The Object and Design of Preaching. 56 § 5. Difficulties of Preaching. 69 § 6. Faults of Preaching 61 § 7. Method of composing a Sermon 65 X CONTENTS. § 8. Classification of Sermons. Memoriter Preaching. . . 70 Written Sermons » 72 Extempore Sermons 77 § 9. Classification of Sermons, continued 90 SECOND DIVISION. The Analysis of a Sermon. § 10. Parts of a Sermon 93 § 11. The Text 94 Objections to the Use of Texts. 95 Advantages of the Use of Texts 98 Principles in the Choice of Texts 100 § 12. The Introduction 118 Definition of the Introduction. 121 I Uses of the Introduction 122 Qualities of the Introduction 125 § 13. The Explanation 132 Sources of the Explanation 136 Qualities of the Explanation. 140 § 14, The Proposition 143 Definition of the Proposition of a Sermon 144 Substance and Matter of the Proposition. .... 147 Structure and Qualities of the Proposition 148 § 15. The Division 151 Definition of the Divisions of a Sermon 153 Sources and Qualities of Divisions 165 Composition of Divisions 158 § 16. The Development 160 Expository Development 161 Illustrative Development. . 164 Argumentative Development 165 Persuasive Development. 170 Qualities of the Development 174 § 17. The Conclusion 178 Eecapitulation . 180 Applicatory Remarks and Inferences. . . ... . 181 Appeal to the Feelings 185 CONTENTS. XI PART SECOND. RHETORIC APPLIED TO PREACHING. FIRST DIVISION. Genekal Principles of Bhetobic. §18. Definition of Rhetoric. . . 191 Ancient Ideas of Rhetoric 192 Modern Ideas of Rhetoric 195 § 19. Uses and Sources of Rhetoric. 202 § 20. Use of Reasoning to the Preacher. 212 § 21. The Study of Language 228 English Literature . . 235 English Philology 237 § 22. Delivery 245 § 23. Taste in Preaching 256 The Use of the Imagination 264 Principles of Taste in Preaching. 266 SECOND DIVISION. Invention and Style. § 24. Invention. Sources of Invention 271 Qualities of the True Subject 274 Christian Doctrine 281 Christian Morality 285 Christian Experience. 290 §26. Style 291 The invariable Properties of Style 292 The related Properties of Style. . . . . . . 299 Purity 306 Propriety 311 Precision 312 Perspicuity 316 Energy 319 Elegance 333 xii CONTENTS. THE PASTORAL OFFICE. PART FIRST. THE PASTOKAL OFFICE IN ITSELF CONSIDERED. § 26. The Pastoral Office founded in Nature 341 § 27. Divine Institution of Pastoral Office 348 '^n6(7Tolog 350 JlQOcpriTr]g 357 Ztvv&fiSig 359 Xaqlafiaza Ifi&Timv 360 ^AvTiXr^ifjEig, xv^SQvr^aEig — JE'Oayj'eAtaTi^g. . . . 362 IJoifir^p 367 ^id&axaXog . . 368 nqea^iTEQog. 370 'Enlaxonog 371 Other Titles of the Ministry 374 § 28. The Idea of the Pastoral Office 377 § 29. The Model of the Pastor 385 § 30. The Call to the Ministry 390 § 31. Ordination 40G § 32. The Trials and Rewards of the Pastor 410 PART SECOND. THE PASTOR AS A MAN. § 33. Spiritual Qualifications 423 § 34. Intellectual Culture 435 Value of Scholarly Culture 437 Nature of Ministerial Study. 441 Method of Study 444 § 35. Moral Culture 451 CONTENTS. Xm PART THIRD. THE PASTOR IN HIS RELATIONS TO SOCIETY. § 36. Domestic and Social Eelations ^ . . 459 § 37. Public Eelations. 476 PART FOURTH. THE PASTOR IN HIS RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH. FIRST DIVISION. Public Worship. § 38. Theory and Form of Public Worship 482 § 39. The Sanctuary 499 § 40. Church Music 511 § 41. Conducting a Prayer Meeting. 519 § 42. Marriage and Burial 527 SECOND DIVISION. The Care op Souls. § 43. Qualifications for the Care of Souls 631 § 44. Pastoral Visiting 542 § 45. Care of the Sick and Afflicted 554 § 46. The Treatment of different Classes 665 The Unbelieving and Impenitent. ...... 665 The Inquirer 670 The Young Convert. ........ 687 §47. Pastoral Oversight of the Church 691 Church Membership. . . 691 Church Discipline 696 Christian Nurture 699 Catechetics 601 The Church's Benevolent Activity. 602 Almsgiving. ........•• 602 Missions 604 INDEX. . . • -611 INTRODUCTION". § 1. Greatness of tJie Work. The. apostle to the Gentiles, who was not accustomed to glory, excepting in the Lord, gloried in his ministry. In that ministry of Christ he found his divine vocation ; his whole being rejoiced in it ; he had for it a holy enthusi- asm ; he gave his life freely to it, and he would have given a thousand lives. Before treating of the office of the ministry and the methods of preaching, let us consider briefly the real greatness of this work. It may indeed be said that these thoughts are obvious — that none are more so ; yet it is good to re-inform and refill our minds with them, and thus awaken in ourselves new earnestness and zeal. 1. The greatness of the preacher's work is seen in that he is an ambassador of God to man. If the New Testament contains a rule of faith and con- duct for men, essential for their salvation, we should expect to find in the same record that contains the faith, the ap- pointed means of its ministration. We could not conceive of God's giving a revelation of such import to men without at the same time distinctly 1 (1) 2 INTRODUCTION. ordaining the best method of making it known to them. He wonld not leave this to loose, uncertain methods. If uo regular divine agency had been appointed to publish the message of reconciliation between God and man, we should be apt to think that God is not in earnest in this ; or, that it is no true revelation. If there is a word of jjeacc from the higher government to our souls, there must be also a permanent embassy of peace, established in the foreign government of an alienated world. God could have converted the world by the preaching of Christ ; he could have converted it by a pure act of power ; but why is it that twenty centuries have passed, and but a fraction of the earth is Christian? Is it not because God sees fit to commit this work to men — to involve human effort, trial, sympathy, responsibility, in this circle of human redemption? We clearly recognize the fact that all Christians are in- volved in this circle of responsibility to win souls to Christ, and M^e claim for the ministry no exclusive right to teach or to work. We do not forget for a moment that there is no essential distinction between the people and the preacher in point of responsibility. The preacher is but one of the people, as a captain is but one of an army, whom the army has chosen out of its own body to perform a certain duty. All who love Christ are called to the work of making him known ; and this universal duty of all Chris- tians is now better understood ; or, rather, the church is returning to this primitive idea of Christianity. God speed the progress of this idea, until all the energy and working talent of the church, of whatever kind, shall be developed. We are no sticklers for ministerial prerogative in doing good. The minister has no monopoly in preaching, or praying, or worldng. The church of God is the ^;eqp?e of God, and not the ministry. Still, there is a ministry of the gospel, and it has a great work to do, which other men in their worldly occupations and business cannot do § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WORK. 3 SO well. It is the entire consecration of some to the high- est good of others and of all. Augustine says that this ministry was not given to angels, because then "human nature would have been degraded. It would have been degraded had it seemed as if God would not communicate his word by man to man. The love which binds mankind in the bond of unity would have no means of fusing dispositions, so to speak, together, and placing them in communion with each other, if men were not to be taught by men." Yet Augustine himself had so profound a conception of the greatness and responsibility of this work, that when the eyes of the Christian world were fastened on him, he would go to no assembly or council which could ordain him a minister ; and at last, when almost by accident he was chosen to a small spiritual charge, he received it with expressions of great affliction, so that his opposers said he was troubled because so small a place had been given him.^ In like manner, Chrysostom, at the age of twenty-six, could not possibly be persuaded to take up the public service of the ministry, because he felt his unfitness for it.~ God, in other things also, works b}^ secondary agencies — himself the originating power of all things, j^et the only invisible One. He loves to hide himself in his instrumen- talities, and to manifest himself through them. He who made the light before he collected it into the sun, and hung that in the heavens to be the steady reservoir and distribu- ter of the light, seems to prefer, for his own wise ends, this instrumental method of working ; and we should there- fore expect, in the revelation of a new Faith from the skies, the simultaneous ordaining of special agencies to make known this new message of truth and life. We actually do find in the Scriptures of God's revealed ' Aug. Confessions, B. XI. See also Epist. XXL, ad Valerium. * Neander's Chrysostom, Eng. ed., p. 22. 4 IXTRODUCTION. will, this work of making known his Avorcl committed to the human instrument. As Christ gave the bread to his disciples to be distributed to the famishing multitudes, so God distributes the bread of life to men through the hands of his believing children and ministers ; they are not priests, but ministers; they are not mediators, but simply servants. Acts 20: 28. ^' Take 1 teed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock over the ivhich the Holy S])irit hath made you overseers y to feed the church of God." 2 Cor. 5 : 18. "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given us the ministry of reconcilia- tion.'" Col. 4: 17. ^'And say to Archipj)us, Take heed to the ministry wltich thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.''' Tit. 1 : 3. '^ But hath in due time manifested his word through preaching , which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior." The Gospel is a word, even as Christ is the Word. He was the perfect expression of God. In his preaching, character, life, and death, he spoke the word of God ; and he com- missions his preachers to continue to speak this word. One of the most extraordinary passages in the Bible, fitted to fill every Christian preacher's mind with awe, is that con- tained in 2 Cor. 5 : 20, "Now then ice are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.''^ True preachers (and of these we speak) are here made to stand in loco Christi; they not only testify of Christ, but they rep- resent him ; they continue his work in his spirit and power ; they arc clothed in his representative authority. As minis- ters of Christ, they exhibit the love both of God and of man. In the gospel which they announce, setting forth the Way of union by faith, and bringing God into sinful human- ity, they sustain and carr}'^ on the blessed "ministry of recon- ciliation." And so long as they truly love God and man, God speaks purely and powerfully through them to men ; they persuade men to love God, even as they love him ; § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WOEK. 5 they give God's invitations from hearts stirred by his love ; they hold forth the means of a divine life ; they stand, as does the cross they preach, half in the light of heaven, and half of earth; they are, not physically, nor officially, but morally, instruments of converting men to God ; they do not produce conversion, but they are the means to its pro- duction ; they use the truth to produce it, taking the Bible out of the dead letter, and making it a living word to men. While they thus speak his word, and manifest his spirit and his love, they are the living ambassadors of God as truly as were Elijah and Elisha, Paul and John ; and no man may despise them, for they speak with a divine author- ity— they speak the word of God to man. ^^ If any man speak, let him speah as the oracles of God.'''' God said to an ancient preacher, "^e not afraid of their faces; for I am with thee, to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces.'' This sense of his divine commission is indeed the preacher's strength. He centres himself in God. He speaks out of the consciousness of God's choice of him, and of God's will expressed through him ; and here is the source of his eloquence. The moment he loses this divine presence, and is conscious that he is delivering his own message, that he is speaking a human word, he becomes an ordinary man, an "earthen vessel" indeed. This whole subject of the divine appointment of the niin- istry will be treated more thoroughly when we come to speak of the Pastoral Office ; but it is a good opportunity here, though not rightly belonging to the introduction, to say a single word on this mooted point of the preacher's authority, as one who speaks the word of God. As a practical matter, young preachers find this trouble — that they have the feeling often that many in their audience do not receive the Bible Avith the reverent faith that they do themselves ; and they think, therefore, that they cannot, 1* 6 INTRODUCTIOX. like the lawyer at the bar, poiut them to the word of God as filial authority, saying, '' This is the law on the subject, this is the statute, this settles the question." In answer to this we would say that the preacher has a right, or, to put it stronger, is compelled, to take for granted two things. First, that the Bible is the word of God, and therefore is final in its authority. This he must do to have a right to preach at all ; here is his own commission. Christianity is, above all, a word, the word of God. He should preach as if he believed this ; and here he finds his author- ity for what he says, and here is his standing-point to heave the minds of men from their deep-rooted sinfulness and sensuality. And he has to assume, secondly, that the audi- ence before him do also believe that the Bible is the word of God, and that they may be spoken and appealed to as those who believe this. If the audience is composed of professed believers, as at the communion table, the difficulty vanishes. If the audience is a common mixed one, composed of believers and unbelievers, still the un- believing portion put themselves in the position of believ- ers by coming to the house of God to hear the gospel preached. They know that it is the house of God, where the Bible is preached as the word of God. There are, in any case, few in our congregations on the Sabbath who do not yield an outward respect to the Bible as the revealed word of God. Even a sceptical writer like Strauss con- cedes the historical value of a great portion of the Bible, and the value also of the religion which Christ, who he believed actually did live, taught. At all events there will not, probably, be one in the audience who does not believe in a God ; and if one does believe in a God, he must also believe that God has created him and cares for him, and that he has somewhere or somehow expressed this care and love for him. The preacher then has a right to assume that the Bible is that good word and message of God to man ; for if it is not, where can such a word be found? § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WORK. 7 The apostles, when they preached to pure heathens and infidels, planted themselves on the simple word of God, and they appealed to the primary laws of God written in the conscience to confirm what they spoke. It was "by manifestation of the truth to every man's conscience in the sight of God" that they preached. The autl\ority of the word of God was final with the apostles, while at the same time they cast themselves upon men's reason and conscious- ness to confirm the word preached. The apostles' preach- ing was thus both authoritative and persuasive. "Knowing the terrors of the law, we j)ersuade men." "Abstain from fleshly lusts ivhich war against the soul:" here, while a command is uttered, a reason is also given ; and a preacher may develop this reason to any extent, and show how inor- dinate appetites injure the spiritual nature. Times, it is true, have changed, and the authority of the preacher has apparently diminished ; other influences have now come in to compete with the pulpit ; and the preacher's faith and patience are tried more than formerly to sustain his heaven- delegated authority ; but he should plant himself the more firmly on the word of God. He should awaken a deeper faith in his people in that word which " endureth forever,'* though the human preacher soon vanishes away. In the struggle between the authority of divine revelation and that of human consciousness, while Christianity admits both, and brings both to utter the same thing, it founds its final authority on the will of God ; and here the preacher should stand, where Luther stood, and where the apostles stood. 2. The greatness of the preacher's work is seen from the nature of the truths with which he deals. These truths may be generally summed up under the one name of divin- ity. " And what is divinity," says Eobert South, " but a doctrine treating of the nature, attributes, and works of the great God, as he stands related to rational creatures, and the way how rational creatures may serve, worship, S INTRODUCTION. and enjoy him? And if so, is not the subject of it the greatest, and the design and business of it the noblest, in the Avorld, as being no less than to direct an immortal soul to its endless and eternal felicity ? It has been disputed to •which of the intellectual habits mentioned by Aristotle it most properly belongs ; some referring it to wisdom, some to science, some to prudence, and some compounding it of several of them together ; but those seem to speak most to the purpose who will not have it formally, any one of them, but virtually, and in an eminent, transcendent man- ner, all. And now, can we think that a doctrine of that depth, that height, and that vast compass, grasping within it all the perfections and dimensions of human science, does not worthily claim all the preparations whereby the wit and industry of man can fit him for it ? All other sciences are but handmaids to divinity ; and shall the handmaid be richer adorned and better clothed and set off than her mistress? In other things the art usually excels the matter, and the ornament we bestow is better than the subject we bestow it upon ; but here we are sure that we have such a subject before us as not only calls for, but commands, and not only commands, but deserves our application to it ; a subject of that native, that inherent worth, that it is not capable of any addition to it from us, but shines both through and above all the artificial lustre we can put upon it. The study of divinity is indeed difficult, and we are to labor hard and dig deep for it. But then we dig in a golden mine, which equally invites and rewards our labor." ^ South says again, "For I reckon upon this as a great truth, that there can be no endowment in the soul of a man which God himself is the cause and giver of, but may, even in its highest and choicest operations, be sanctified and employed in the work of the ministry."^ But let us consider this more particu- * South's Sermons, Phil, ed., vol. ii., p. 79. 2 Id., p. 70. § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WORK. 9 larly. The high aud difficult nature of the truths with which the preacher deals appears in the fact that they are (a.) metophysical truths. The preacher's work is neces- sarily intellectual ; he deals with men's minds and rational nature ; he must adapt the divine word to the human mind ; he must know how to interpret it according to men's intel- lectual nature. True preaching is addressed first to the intellect, for men must know the truth before they can be expected to obey or love it. The intellect, conscience, affections, and will are so blended, that they form one spiritual nature, and we cannot tell where are the lines of separation. The importance to the preacher of understand- ing the human mind is thus spoken of by Sir William Hamilton : " Theology is not independent of philosophy. For as God only exists for us as we have faculties capable of apprehending his existence, and of fulfilling his behests, nay, as the phenomena from which we are warranted to infer his being are wholly mental, the examination of these faculties and of these phenomena is consequently the pri- mary condition of every sound theology."^ This must be 60. Hov/ can the preacher approach the mind God has made with the truth of which God is the author, if he has no clear conception of those mental laws which affect the reception of truth, which turn it to sweetness or bitter- ness, to life or death? How can he reach the conscience, the real man of the heart, if he does not comprehend the relations of conscience to the faculties of knowledge ? How can he influence the judgment or sway the reason, if he is totally untaught, by either education or observation, in the great principles of causality? Or how can he move the affections, if he knows nothing of their proper place in the mind, aud what and where are the true springs to touch? Besides, we cannot know God's mind if we do not under- stand our own. We reason from our own nature to God's ^ Metapliysics, p. 44. 10 INTRODUCTION. nature. All reasoning upon strictly Natural Theology dc- pencls upon the clear apprehension of metaphysical axioms, and upon a sound philosophy. Everything, in fact, in the world of mind is subservient to the preacher's work. He works through ideas, reasons, motives, penetrating the depths of the mind. The first preachers, if they were illiterate men at the beginning, became learned in the Scriptures, in the human heart, in the gift of tongues, and in the incomparable instructions and impartations of Christ and his spirit. Robert South has a characteristic passage which may apply here, in which he vents his scorn against unlearned persons who crept into the ministry during the commonwealth, some of them, without doubt, better men than himself. " Many rushed into the ministry as being the only calling they could profess without serving an appren- ticeship. Had, indeed, the old Levitical hierarchy still con- tinued, in Avhich it was part of the ministerial ofiice to flay the sacrifices, to cleanse the vessels, to scour the flesh-forks, to sweep the temple, and to carr}'' the filth and rubbish to the brook Kidron, no persons living had been better fitted for the ministry, and to serve in this nature at the altar. But since it is made a labor of the mind, as to inform men's judgments and move their affections, to resolve difficult places of Scripture, to decide and clear off controversies, I cannot see how to be a butcher, scavenger, or any such trade, does at all qualify and prepare men for this work. We have had almost all sermons full of gibes and scoffs at human learning. Hereupon the ignorant have taken heart to venture upon this great calling, and instead of cutting their way to it according to the usual course, through the knowledge of the tongues, the study of philosophy, school divinity, the fathers and councils, they have taken another and shorter cut, and having read perhaps a treatise or two upon the Heart, the Bruised Reed, the Crumbs of Comfort, WoUebius in English, and some other little authors, the usual furniture of old women's closets, they have set forth § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WORK. 11 as accomplished cli vines, and forthwith they present them- selves to the service ; and there have not been wanting Jeroboams as willing to consecrate and receive them as they to offer themselves." South was not a believer ■ in lay- lireacliing . Indeed, in view of the greatness of the work, much is to be said on both sides of that question, and there may be extreme views taken on either side which are inju- rious to the cause of truth and religion. While all Chris- tians should "preach the gospel," and many an uuordained preacher, like the great lay-preacher who suffered for his boldness twelve years in Bedford jail, may be a hundred fold more effective than one who is regularly appointed, yet even the lay-preacher should be fitted for the work both by human and divine preparation ; he should not be a "novice;" he should be "apt to teach." The fitness for this work, in fact, lies more in quality than in quantity. But there are also (&.) moral truths with which the preacher has to deal. As our moral nature is higher than our intel- lectual, so the preacher's work, which has to do chiefly with moral truth, is superior to all merely intellectual pro- fessions. The preacher is called upon to study those laws of God's government which underlie the whole system of truth ; and his field is that vast moral system which God has opened to the human mind — that law which is "exceed- insT broad : " which is eternal because it is the manifestation of God's nature ; which is perfect because it is the expres- sion of his will ; which is the law of the intelligent uni- verse, one and simple in essence, but infinitely manifold in its applications. To harmonize moral truth into a living whole is the preacher's work ; for every man who deserves to be called " a preacher of righteousness " should, like Bunyan and Luther, have his own system of theology ; that which he has himself drawn from the word, and which he preaches and lives. It is a want of reverence for moral truth not to strive, by one's own thought, in communion with the divine mind, 12 INTRODUCTION. to discover the laws of order, arrangement, and beauty stamped upon it ; and one cannot preach with the highest clearness and power who does not possess some well- ordered-system of moral truth for his groundwork of rea- soning and appeal. Moral truth has also an intimate and special relation to man's nature and duty. It enters the complex sphere of human life, and whatever bears directly or indirectly upon the common life of humanity belongs to the preacher's domain. He deals with the wonderful world of the human heart, its mixed good and evil, its atfections that are so tender, its hate, passion, and crime, its joy and despair, its hopes and fears, its desires that are never satisfied but in God. Nothing is shut out from the preacher in mind, nature, morals, letters, art, science, government, the varied relations of society and human life, which influ- ences moral character, and enters into the schooling of this lower life for a perfect life in God — in a word, that human theology concerning which Neander loved to quote ^the words, ^^ Pectus est quod facit tJteologum." But there is a still higher sphere of truth to which the preacher must ascend. He deals (c.) with sjnritual truths. He must rise from the seen to the unseen, from the natural to the spiritual. In 1 Cor. 4 : 1 it is written, ''Let a man so ac- count of us as of the ministers of Christ and steivards of the mysteries of God.'" In Eph. 6 : 19 it is also written, " That I may open my mouth boldly to mahe known the mystery of the gospel." In these passages, to pvoxiiijLov means literally a secret, a thing not obvious, not explained, or not explained to all, and perhaps impossible to be known by human reason ; for there is a true as well as a false mys- ticism. Vinet says, "Le bon mysticisme est la manne ca- chde des vdritoes (ivangdliques ; il fait sentir ce que ne pent pas se dire, ce que I'analyse est impuissante a expliquer." ^ In divine truth there is that which is obvious and that ' ' Histoire de la Predication des Ecformes, etc., p. 624. § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WORK. 13 which is more spiritual and hidden, but of which much may be known by the spiritual mind. A telescope applied to the heavens brings to view objects which for thousands of years were not known to the simple, unaided human mind ; and Christian faith is, as it were, the application of a telescope to the spiritual firmament ; it reveals things ^' hidden from the foundation of the worlds Christian faith is not a mere continuation or extension of natural religion, nor is it a sj^stem of religious truth which may be reached by, or is on a level with, our natural reason. It is above the level of natural religion. It is revealed by the Spirit. We could, of ourselves, never have arrived at the truth of the Atonement, although there is a profound prepara- tion for it in man's history, and in the intimations and wants of his nature. Now, into this higher sphere of revealed truth, of those spiritual verities which compre- hend the love and perfections of God and the truths of eternal life, — the whole unseen world of foith, — the preacher of Christ has to rise by the steps of faith, medi- tation, and prayer, so that he may become the interpreter of the hidden things of God ; for it is no easy or common thing to " rightly divide the word of truth ; " it shows that one has himself entered into it and apprehended it. It presupposes something more than scholarship, viz., spirit- ual insight, or the habit of communion with God and holy things. To be the guide of others in these regions of the higher truth, one must have had some true inward experi- ence of the renewing power of truth ; as Tholuck says, " Truth must have been revealed to him through the divine light of the cross shining upon his heart." The preaching of such men as Chrysostom, Fendlon, Herbert, Leighton, Baxter, Flavel, Bunyan, Whitefield, Gossner, Chalmers, Pay son, entering into hearts by " ^/^e jjoiver of the spirit of Christ " came from a true knowledge of the saving and purifying power of the grace of Christ in the heart. 2 14 INTRODUCTION. 3. The greatness of the preacher's work appears from its results. These would be seen negatively were the pulpit stricken out of existence ; or by the comparison of Chris- tian lands with heathen lands, or even with countries where the pulpit is chiefly an engine of hierarchical and political power. A superior condition of morality, education, and civilization is never found in lands where the Christian pulpit is not found; and wherever, even, the pulpit has been shorn of its power, there is to be seen a correspond- ing moral deterioration among the people. Chalmers com- plained of the "dormancy of the Scottish popular mind," and we know the degraded character of the Scotch pulpit when he first entered public life ; and this same dulness and moral stupor were seen across the Tweed in the popular mind, when the English pulpit had in a great measure lost the power it possessed in the days of Howe, Owen, Baxter, Leighton. The quickening influence of the pulpit upon the American mind is too obvious to be denied. Daniel Webster said that he first learned how to reason from the preaching which he heard in his native village. Dr. Wood, the minister of Boscawen, fitted him for college ; and his tribute to the American ministry, in his argument on the Girard College case, is a proof of his intense convictions on this subject. The preacher goes deeper than the book in moulding the intellectual habits and tastes of his peo- ple ; for he begins earlier than the author, and exercises a more vital sway upon mind. Almost the only true elo- quence that now reaches the popular mind in Germany is the eloquence of the pulpit ; and where are the men in any other profession who may be compared with those spirit- ual sovereigns in our own land, who, from their thrones, send forth a life-giving, shaping influence far around them? Some of the views of the living theologian of Connecticut may be considered to be open to attack ; but his stimu- lating power upon American thought will not pass away. All the colleges in the land, with one or two exceptions, § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WORK. 15 owe their life principally to ministers ; and how many a young man, educated at college, and afterward distin- guished for great intellectual attainments and wide influence among men, Avas sent from some obscure village through the agency of his minister, who had awaked in him the thirst for knowledge ! Many of our cities and towns were founded by ministers in the wilderness : New Haven by John Davenport ; Hartford by Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone ; Providence by Roger Williams ; Salem by Francis Higginson ; Cambridge and Dorchester by John Warham ; this country was settled through the influence of John Robinson, Richard Clifton, and other humble English Congregational ministers ; and we need not repeat the well- proved fact, that our democratic institutions and republican form of government were modelled upon the practical work- ing s^^stems of that primitive Puritan New England church polity which was the fruit of the thought and wisdom of these minds. The intellectual, social, and moral influence of the preacher is too broad a theme to be entered upon in these introductory remarks ; and as Oberlin, in the bar- ren Ban de la Roche, among the Vosges Mountains, elevated his parish in a physical and m'oral scale of being, and taught them how to make roads and raise crops, as Avell as to seek the kingdom of heaven, so every true minister raises the scale of being about him. He forms a central power in the moral world. Sitting in his study, or standing in his pulpit, he wields a formative influence upon public opinion. He is the guardian of public virtue. He is the elect cham- pion of the law of righteousness, as well as of the law of love. Wrong cannot withstand a free and faithful Chris- tian pulpit. Every kind of vice — intemperance, licen- tiousness, slander, covetousness, dishonesty, law-breaking — feels its restraining hand. The importance of the Chris- tian pulpit is comprehensively shown in the fact that it so eflectually resists the power of the kingdom of evil in the world ; that it sets itself in opposition to this great current ; 16 INTRODUCTION. that it docs so hold the passions of men in check, that it speaks to men as with the voice of God, and bids them do what is right, and not do what is wrong. It not only resists but attacks evil. A true preacher is aggressive. He has taken np a warfare for truth. He assails the power of evil wherever it shows itself, and seeks it out in its deepest hiding-places. In the reproof of sin he is terrible as Eli- jah and stern as Amos ; though he trusts more to "the gen- tleness of Christ," and to ^HJie still small voice" that finds its way to the heart. Yet these results which have been glanced at are but the incidental and almost accidental side-issues and overflow- ings of the preacher's work ; the direct results of his labors, under God, are inner and permanent, being wrought upon the soul. His work tells on character; and, viewed in this relation, it is not to be estimated by gross standards; we cannot weigh spiritual results ; faith, hope, joy, holiness, everlasting life, are incommensurable in quantity. To be a spiritual counsellor and consoler, one to whom men turn instinctively in their sorrow for strength, for Christian consolation — what office so blessed! To speak the word of sympathy to the soul, to be its guide through the dark- ness and doubt of life, and to conduct it to the gates of everlasting life — what work is so great? He wdio can say of a single being, " whom I have begotten in the gospel," has "saved a soul from death " and has hid an innumerable and ever-increasing "multitude of sins." One soul, that of a child, brought to the knowledge of the Saviour, and shielded from the evil of the world, is a result which w^ould infi- nitely more than outweigh the toils and suflerings of a whole ministerial life. It is difficult to make a statement like this look natural and true, although so easy to make it ; but if the apostle believed what he declared, that it is through " the foolishness of preaching " that men are "saved," then such a statement is true. What words, truly, were those spoken by Christ to Paul at his conversion I "Rise § 1. GREATNESS OF THE WORK. 17 and stand upon thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those tilings in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the peo- ple and the Gentiles, to ivhom I noio send thee, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgive- ness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me." Does not Christ say these words to every true preacher now? And if not only the enlightening of one soul, but of hundreds of souls, may follow his labors, how can he suf- ficiently magnify the greatness of his work ? AVhile Luther was still a monk, he was urged to accept the office of " Preacher and Doctor of the Holy Scriptures ; " he drew back with terror. " Seek one more worthy of it," he said ; but when the vicar-general pressed it, Luther, trembling, declared that " the Holy Spirit could alone make a Doctor of the Holy Scriptures ; " and when at last constrained to accept the charge, he took this simple oath: "I swear to defend manfully the truth of the gospel ; " as if this were all he could do, or dared to undertake, and that God must do the rest. The earnest, homely words of Philip Henry, on the day of his ordination, cannot be too often quoted to those entering the ministry : " I did this day receive so much honor and work as ever I shall know what to do with. Lord Jesus, proportion supplies accordingly." 4. The greatness and dignity of the preacher's work are seen from the fact that Jesus was a preacher. It seems strange that we do not, as a general thing, seem to think of the Saviour as a preacher, nor set his preaching before us as a model for our own ; for while there may be, it can- not be doubted, a profound truth in this negative sentiment of all reverent minds, arising from the fact that our Lord is above all human comparison, and also in the blended fact 2* 18 INTRODUCTION. that our Lord furnished the material and was "the truth" that we, as preachers, are to use and proclaim, as iu an- other's words : " Thus he spoke to them of the kingdom of heaven ; and when he wielded the powers of his king- dom, they felt more and more that he governed the secret heart of nature and of man ;"' yet, notwithstanding all this, if we take the Saviour's own testimony upon this point, he claimed to be a preacher, and made this a main part of his earthly work. We have but to recall the scene in the synagogue at Nazareth, where he applied to himself Isaiah's words, " The Sjnrit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me, to preach the gospel to the poor, lie hath sent me to heal the broT^en-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and i^ecovering of sight to the blind, to set at lib- erty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the LordJ^ And it is said in Matt. 11 : 1, '"And it came to pass, ivhen Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach in their cities" And in Mark 1 : 38, 39, ^^And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also ; for therefore came I forth ; and he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee." The power of Jesus' preaching may be estimated by its effects. Great multitudes followed him. He drew them after him in a triumphal train wherever he went. The Pharisees said, ^^ If we let him alone, all the people will believe on him;" and it was from his deadly enemies that the remarkable confession came, "O, sirs, never man spake as this man." The fears, hope, love, hate, of the multitudes who thronged him were touched. If eloquence consists in moving the soul, this was elo- quence. He made men look into their hearts, and they rushed upon him to destroy him, or cast themselves at his feet to adore him. He swayed men at his will. He made men look to him for help. They brought their real wants, ' r. D. Maurice. Theol. Essays. § 1. GREATNESS OP THE WORK. 19 doubts, and sorrows to him. They asked him questions with that popuUir instinct which, in some sense, is the voice of God, because it is the voice of nature, perceiving in him a divine truth, seeing that he was a true teacher. And how many cases are mentioned in the Gospels of immediate con- version's following his words ! The more remote results of Christ's preaching is a theme bej'ond the power of imagina- tion to conceive ; for the few recorded discourses and words of Christ have formed the staple of divine truth and of all true preaching, ever since. The great characteristic of Christ's preaching might reverently be thus expressed : that essential truth, truth which is necessary for the soul's life, was conveyed by him in such a way — with such clearness, naturalness, and illustrative force — that this truth came to be apprehended, not only by the minds, but in the hearts, of his hearers. They saw the truth and loved it, or they saw the truth and hated it. There was in his teaching a perfect adaptation to those whom he addressed. He found the heart of every one to whom he spoke. He had the effi- ciency of sympathetic love. He reached every one because he perfectly loved every one. When he preached to his disciples, it was one thing ; when to the Pharisees, it was another. But there was always a fundamental truth, a fact concerning God and man's relations to him, a princi- ple of divine life which was already acknowledged by the natural conscience, or revealed in the Scriptures ; and this fact, principle, or truth, be it terrible or joyful, was set forth before the people's eyes and hearts, as clearly as the sun. Neither they, nor any men after them, will ever for- get or really disbelieve the truth of the forgiving mercy of the heavenly Father, as set forth in the parable of the " Prodigal Son." Therefore the teachings of Christ, in a higher sense than the words were originally used, are a xTTi^a is 6et. They will never drop out of the world's heart. May we not, then, as preachers, proflt from Christ's preach- ing? Should we not earnestly study him as a preacher? 20 INTRODucTIO^^ It may be that the Occidental mind demands a treatment of truth different from what the Oriental requires, and that the ages difi'er ; but truth is the same, and man's mind is the same now as then ; and the intrinsic qualities of our Lord's preaching may be studied, even if his preaching was that of Omniscience. The dignity and greatness of the preacher's work is, at all events, crowned by the fact that Jesus was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor. PREACHING. (21) PART FIRST. PREACHING SPECIALLY CONSIDERED. FIRST DIVISION". THE HISTORY AND ART OF PREACHING. § 2. Definition of Preaching . "Preaching," or '^ x^/^Qvyfta" is a generic scriptural word, which signifies literally a heralding of the word of God to man, to one man as well as to all people. It is not neces- sarily a popular address, or discourse, but may be applied to all kinds of "proclaiming," or "publishing," of Christian truth, in conversation, in the interviews of missionaries with the heathen, in the common intercourse of men, in the daily life and examjile — in fact, it is making known, in any and every way, the gospel to men. The Greek word "homily," which sprang up in post- apostolic times, and which is precisely identical with our modern word "sermon," applies more especially to theses preaching which is addressed to an assembled congregation, forming part of the public worship of the sanctuary. It is derived from ofnlta, or o^dog, meaning an assembly ; whence the term "Homiletics." Some modern definitions of " Homiletics " are the follow- ing : " The science which teaches the principles of adapting the discourses of the pulpit to the spiritual benefit of the (23) 24 PREACHING. hearers. It is a part of practical Theology."^ "The sci- ence of Rhetoric applied to the theory of Preaching, to the construction and delivery of a sermon." 2 A defini- tion from a popular source is still simpler : " The Art of Preaching." ^ Vinet calls Homiletics " a department of Rhetoric ; " but it would be more dignified to call it the application of the principles of Rhetoric to preaching the word of God, which is the end and aim of all eloquence. The term " homily " occurs but once in the Scriptures, in 1 Cor. 15 : 33, and then in a sense entirely foreign to preach- ing. A "homily," in the ancient church succeeding the apostolical times, signified a more formal address to a regu- lar religious assembly. Thus Hagenbach quotes this pas- sage from one of the fathers : " Theologi Christiani, et nominatim ex veteribus Qhrysostomus, Basilius, Macarius, et alii, ofuliuc, vacant sermones ad costum hahitos. Atque ita ofidia et Xoyog diffevunt.''"^ The "homily," or, which is the same thing, the " sermon," combines the simple idea of "preaching," or "publishing the word of God," with the idea of more thoughtful and systematic instruction of God's people in the truth. It has essentially the character of a "discourse," combining, in however rude a form, analysis and synthesis. Vinet's definition of the "sermon" is, "a discourse incor- porated with public worship, and designed, concurrently or alternately, to conduct to Christian truth one who has not yet believed in it, and to explain and apply it to those who admit it." ^ ' Dr. Fitch. ^ Prof. Phelps. =* British Critic. * Hagenbach's Grund. der Lit., etc., Der Predigt, § 31. * Vinet's Homiletics,, p. 28. § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 25 § 3. History of Preaching. This is a theme upon which much time might be spent, and there is no richer field of research, since, in some sense, it comprehends the history of theology and of spirit- ual religion ; for in no part of the history of the church is the progress and advancement of spiritual truth, and of the kingdom of God in the world, more clearly exhibited than in the history of preaching. It is, indeed, still but partially developed ; but we cannot linger long upon it in a work that has a more immediately practical aim. 1. Nothing marks the intellectual and religious spirit of a period more distinctively nor more delicately, than its style of preaching. As Coleridge says, " The tone, the matter, the anticipated sympathies in the sermons of an age, form the best criterion of the character of that age ; " and this may serve as a guiding principle in the investigation of the his- tory of preaching, for while the great fundamental truths of Christian preachiug remain the same in all times and in every age, the style of preaching, in its spirit and form, has been a genuine though ever-changing index of the phases of reli- gious and theological opinion of different Christian epochs and civilizations. And have we not good reason to think that preaching itself has been shaped and guided by the Spirit of God? There are ever thus, in the historj^ of preaching, the per- manent and the variable elements, since preaching does not remain the same, while its theme is ever the same ; and he surely is the preacher who is best fitted to influence the age in which he lives, who, while he remains true to the un- changeable principles of divine truth, is still impressible and intelligently alive to the influences of the present time, of which he forms a part. So far as the mere form of preaching is concerned, he 3 26 ' PREACHING. who would preach now precisely in the style of the scho- lastic asres, or even of the age of our earliest New England fathers, would be regarded as a crazed enthusiast; and we might perhaps extend that remark to the age of the reform- ers, and of the apostles themselves ; for Christ may be preached under other forms, and with a different style of argumentation, and a new clothing of words and diction, and it would still be "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday , to-day, and forever." 2. There has been, from the beginning of time, a Word of God in the world, which is to be taught to men prin- cipally through the intelligent and independent, though divinely-directed, instrumentality of human agencies, — we may freely term them ''preachers,'' — for they publish divine truth as with the clear sound of a trumpet. Noah, early in the beginning, but after the world had fallen away from the knowledge of God, is thus called '^ a preacher of righteous- ness." Moses, who could lead an exodus, felt himself une- qual to the task of teaching the people by public address, and transferred that work to Aaron. " Schools of the proph- ets " were established very early in the history of the Jew- ish nation. In Jehoshaphat's time we read (2 Chron. 17 : 9) of those "'?^Ao taught in Judah, and had the book of the law with them, and went throughout the cities of Judah and taught the people." The '^ prophets " of the Old Testament are, above all, no- ticeable in this regard ; as resembling, far more than the " priests " of that time and dispensation, the preachers of the Christian church ; for they were true teachers of the people ; and the most ancient meaning of the word " proph- et " in the original Hebrew, and in its earliest use in the Bible, was not so much ."foreteller," as "spokesman," or " interpreter," of God's will.^ In the " prophet," the moral and spiritual elements of ' Stanley's Hist, of Jewish Church, Scribner's ed., vol. i., p. 459. § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 27 religion altogether prevailed over the formal and cere- monial. After the Captivity, there was great and renewed enthu- siasm for the pure teaching of the books of the Law, and schools were established to raise up accomplished teachers of the moral law, who were the "lawyers" and "scribes" of the New Testament. Synagogues, also, were founded, in which were regular expositions of "the Law and the Proph- ets" on the Sabbath; and in the time of the apostles, ac- cording to Philo, the services in the large and splendidly adorned Jewish synagogues, consisted chiefly in oral in- struction and free, extended speaking. Still, it must be said that "preaching," in the New Testa- ment and Christian sense of the term, was not the chief or prominent instrumentality of spreading divine truth and building up the kingdom of God in the Old Testament time and dispensation ; but we do not, nevertheless, consider preaching to be so peculiar to the Christian economy, that there are no suggestions of it, or examples of it, in the older church ; for it belongs, rather, to the very needs of our human nature, to the divine method of reason and love, to the character of a reasonable and spiritual religion, and to the most efficient mode of communicating truth. 3. When the time had come for the kingdom of God to be published to all men, to be given to Gentiles as well as to Jews, then Christ said, "6rO, ■preach the gospel to every creature " — " j^roclaim it everywhere and to all men as with the sound of a trumpet." The great means of its advance- ment and establishment in the whole world, was to be preaching. He himself set the example of this ; for he not only preached in the synagogue and in the porch of the Temple, but in the market-place, in the country, and by the wayside. The apostles, in imitation of the Saviour, who founded Christian preaching in his vocation as " prophet," took up and carried on this great work, sowing the seed of truth 28 PREACHING. everywhere, making the Scriptures the basis of their preach- ing, but treating them more freely than the Old Testament preachers, and adding to these inspired writings their own words and teachings as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Petei'ls preaching on the day of Pentecost has been called "the first Christian sermon," but we prefer to date Christian preaching from a higher source. JPaul's preaching was cer- tainly no rude or rambling address ; and although it was not, as some have contended, formed upon the scientific rules of ancient eloquence, his discourses had a method ; they exhibit in their fragmentary forms the graces of the introduction, the vehement logic of the argument, the feel- ing pathos and direct appeal of the close. His language has a strongly rhetorical as well as spiritual power. Luther said of Paul's preaching, " His words are not dead w ords ; they are living creatures, with hands and feet." Paul, it is true, was an educated man, and had experienced the influence of both the Greek and Eoman cultures, as well as of the He- brew and Rabbinical schools ; but the other disciples were also specially gifted to persuade men to be reconciled to God ; they were men of sound minds, deeply versed in the Hebrew Scriptures, of popular magnetic power, and, above all, enlightened and inspired by the Holy Spirit. The special gifts of Knowledge, of Interpretation, of Teaching, in the primitive church, all point to the fact and importance of the preacher's ofiice, or to what Neander calls *' the ordinary and regular office of preaching." The preaching of the primitive church was literally " preaching," or heralding, the Glad Tidings, and was char- acterised by brevity, spontaneousness, and feeling, rather than by argument and labored eloquence. It had less of the didactic than of the simple manifesting or proclaiming element; it had to penetrate the massed heathenism and darkness of the world ; it was more addressed to the con- version of the unbeliever than to the building up of believ- ers; still, there seems to have been, in addition to the § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 29 expounding of the Scriptures after the manner of the syna- gogue, something which might be more truly called Christian preaching ; impelling men to faith and a godly life, and dwell- ing greatly on the personal example of the Lord. It had, in fact, first of all, to gather and make the church, which should become the instructing power in the world, which should have its own regular system of teaching, which should be itself " a ministry of the word." "The preaching of the gospel appears in the first period mostly in the form of a missionary address to the unconverted ; that is, a simple living presentation of the main facts of the life of Jesus, with practical exhortation to repentance and conversion. Christ crucified and risen was the luminous centre, whence a sanctifying light was shed on all the relations of life. Gushing forth from a full heart, this preaching went home to the heart ; and spring- ing from an inward life it kindled life, a new divine life in the susceptible hearers. It was revival preaching in the purest sense. Of this primitive Christian testimony several examples from Peter and Paul are preserved in the Acts of the Apostles. The Epistles also may be regarded in the widest sense as sermons, addressed, however, to believers, and designed to nourish the Christian life already planted." ' Neander calls these "preachings" in the early church "simple addresses." They must have been such, when we consider how feeble and small were the early Christian as- semblies. They worshipped, for the most part, in private houses ; and, in times of persecution, in dens and caves of the earth. Justin Martyr says of them, "The presiding officer of the church gives a word of exhortation, and incites the people to exemplify in their lives the good things they had listened to." Preaching is described by the earliest Christian writers as, generally speaking, a ministerial function, or that of a regularly appointed teacher or minister ; although there was ' Schaff's Hist, of the Christian Church, vol. i., p. 119. 3* 30 PREACHING. extraordinary preaching by "the prophets," "exhorters," &c., and also, in the hirgest sense of the term, by all believ- ers. It is said of those who received Christ as the Messiah, that, in the first strength and impulse of their new faith, " they went everywhere preaching the word ; " but the more extraordinary and irregular methods of preaching which be- longed to the earliest beginnings of the faith, and to a prop- affatins: era, soon settled down into the uniform and ordi- nary modes of teaching (ihSaayaliu) . Preaching to regular Christian assemblages, drawn out from Judaic and heathen circles, celebrating together in simple forms the Lord's Sup- per, and requiring a mode of instruction and cultus entirely different and peculiar, characterized the two first centuries of the Christian era ; and to this epoch belong Clement of Rome, Polycaiy, Ignatius, Tertullian, and all the so-called apostolic fathers, or preachers, for they were truly such, of that primitive period. 4. In the third century, Origen was perhaps one of the first, if not the very first, to construct the formal sermon, or the sacred oration, built more or less on the rules of Greek eloquence. The homiletical principle Avhich was sure to come into preaching with the growth of learning and the progress of philosophical thought in the church, received from Origen its first, though perhaps unconscious, impulse ; the father of Origen was himself a classical scholar and a trained rhetorician, from whom he received his earliest in- structions. Origen took truth out of the Scriptures and treated it homiletically, as a theme {dii.ia) of thought, com- bining it in a synthetic process, and developing it in rhetori- cal and philosophical forms. He was, in fact, probably the originator of what might be specifically termed the docti^inal sermon. He was also the leader in the method of exegeti- cal and expository preaching, in the application of Scrip- tural interpretation to the practical wants of his hearers ; and although so injuriously inclined to allegorical and mys- tical interpretation, yet he conscientiously made the exposi- § 3. HISTORY Oi' PKJiJACniNG. 31 tion of the Scriptures the basis of his preaching and public teaching. Many of his own " homilies " are partially pre- served to us, though very much corrupted by Latin annota- tors and translators. At the middle or end of the tliird century, owing to the wider power of Christian truth and the more regular char- acter of Christian assemblies, preaching assumed a more prominent and central place in public worship as the best means of instructing the people in the life and work of Christ, although the fire and earnestness of the preaching of the earlier period began sensibly to decline. The work of instruction gradually grew to be exclusively confined to the presbyteral ofiice, although the free laic element in teaching which characterized the early church was by no means as yet entirely extinguished ; yet preaching, by this time, whether rightly or wrongly, though it may be on account of the abuse of the privilege by fanatical and igno- rant men, was assumed to be a ministerial function ; and theological schools were formed in the great cities like the one instituted by Origen at Alexandria, which was, in fact, the first Christian seminary. These schools were under the immediate supervision of individual bishops or presbyters, and were at first gathered together by the fame of some great theological teacher ; but afterward, in the fourth cen- tury, they were enlarged, and made in a measure indepen- dent by the appointment of special instructors. In these schools, together with the study of Christian doctrine, hom- iletical instruction, with exegetical and dialectical practice, for the purpose of public address, became important branches. To this period belong the names of many illus- trious preachers of Christ, such as Origen^ Hi2)polytus, and the orator and martyr Oyprian. Eegular places of assembly, ^or what we call "churches," were by this time in use ; and in the period of the Em- peror Constantine, in the beginning of the fourth century, we find the "basilicas," or "Roman Halls of Justice," the 32 PREACHING. largest buildings in the cities, appropriated for Christian worship. The general form and arrangement of these edi- fices with the apsis, choir, one main and two lateral aisles, became the models of our Christian church edifices down to the present day. The bishop, or presbyter, spoke while sitting, in token of the authority of the divine word ; or else from a high-raised pulpit, nearer the middle of the church, called an " amho," or, sometimes, "throne of the preacher." In some churches were two ^^ambones," as may now be seen in the most ancient churches of Eome and Milan ; one of these was for the reading of the Scriptures. The people sometimes stood during the preaching ; in the church of North Africa, this was the universal custom. The sermon was generally without notes, being chiefly remarks upon the portion of Scripture read, as the lesson of the day, or what was called the " jjericope ," a selection from the Gospels or Epistles. The reading and exposition of whole books of the Bible in this way remained in practice until the Jifth cen- tury, as may be seen in the works of Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, and Athanasius ; and this constituted, probably, the chief matter and form of preaching. On special occasions, however, a regular text was often taken, and a sacred oration, with a distinct theme, constructed more or less in reference to the rules of art, was delivered ; and there is reason to think that the great preachers of the first five centuries felt themselves free to take any portion of the word of God as their theme, and that the province of the pulpit extended over the whole field of revealed truth. ^ But preaching soon lost its primitive simplicity and spir- ituality. It not only began to admit the speculative and polemic- elements, mingling human philosophy with the pure Christian dogma ; but it was formed too exclusively upon the rules of civil eloquence, and was aimed too much at ' Schaff's Hist., vol. ii., p. 478. § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 33 rhetorical display. It sometimes called forth popular ap- plause, expressed by stamping or exclamations, as we read of in the preaching of Chrysostom and Augustine, and espe- cially of Cyril of Alexandria : some one Avould exclaim, " The orthodox Cyril ! " " The thirteenth apostle ! " Nean- der, in a comprehensive passage, speaking of the preaching of the fourth and fifth centuries, says, "As to the relation of the sermon to the whole office of worship, this is a point on which we meet with the most opposite errors of judgment. Some, who looked upon the clergy only as officiating priests, and who considered the main parts of Christian worship to consist in the magical effects of the priestly ser- vices, were hence inclined greatly to overvalue the liturgi- cal element of worship. The gift of teaching they regarded as something foreign from the spiritual office, as they sup- posed the Holy Ghost, imparted to the priestly ordination, could be ti'ansmitted to others only by his sensible media- tion. Others, however, and on account of the rhetorical style of culture which prevailed among the higher classes in the large cities of the East, — this was especially the case of the Greek church, — gave undue importance to the didactic and rhetorical part of worship, and did not attach impor- tance enough to the essentials of Christian fellowship, and of common edification and devotion. Hence the church would be thronged when some famous speaker was to be heard ; but only a few remained behind when the sermon was ended and the church prayers followed. 'The sermon,' said they, 'we can hear nowhere but at church ; but we can pray just as well at home.' Against this abuse Chrysostom had frequent occasion to speak, in his discourses preached at Antioch and Constantinople. Hence, too, without regard to the essential character of the church, a style borrowed from the theatre or lecture-rooms of declaimers was intro- duced into the church assemblies ; as these were frequented for the purpose of hearing some orator celebrated for his eloquent language, or his power of producing a momentary 34 PREACHING. effect on the imagination or the feelings. Hence the custom of interrupting such speakers, at their more striking and impassioned passages, witli noisy testimonials of approba- tion (y.^oTog). Vain ecclesiastics, men whose hearts were not full of the Ijoly cause they professed, made it the chief or only aim of their discourses to secure the applause of such hearers, and hence labored solely to display their brilliant eloquence or wit, to say something with point and effect. But many of the better class, too, — such men as Gregory of Nazianzen, — could not wholly overcome the vanity which this custom tended to foster, and thus fell into the mistake of being too rhetorical in their sermons. Men of holy seriousness, like Chrysostom, strongly rebuked this declamatory and theatrical style, and said that through such vanity the whole Christian cause would come to be suspected by the heathens. Many short-hand writers eagerly em- ployed themselves in taking down, on the spot, the dis- courses of famous speakers in order to give them a wider circulation. The sermons were sometimes, though rarely, read off entirely from notes, or committed to memory ; sometimes they were freely delivered, after a plan prepared beforehand ; and sometimes they were altogether extem- porary. The last w^e learn incidentally, from being informed that Augustine was occasionally directed to the choice of a subject by the passage which the ' prjelector ' had selected for reading; when, as he tells us, he was sometimes urged, by some impressions of the moment, to give his sermon a different turn from what he had originally proposed. We are also informed by Chrysostom that his subject was fre- quently suggested to him by something he met with on his way to church, or which suddenly occurred during divine service." 1 Reference is made in a note to a sermon of Chrysostom, chosen on his way to church, w^hen he saw, in the winter, lying in the vicinity of the church, many sick ' Neander's Church Hist., vol. ii., p. 316. § 3. HISTORY or PREACHING. 35 persons and beggars ; and, touched with pity, he felt con- strained to exhort his hearers to works of brotherly kindness and charity, and also reference is made to the turn given to his discourse when the lighting of the lamps drew away the attention of his hearers. 5. We cannot enter here into any lengthened analysis of the pulpit orators of the period just mentioned. We will notice briefly but two of the greatest of them, representing the Eastern and Western churches. Chrysosto?n was gifted by nature with splendid oratorical talents, with a fiery vital- ity, a bold, penetrative intellect, a pungent wit, the graphic power of the imagination, and a deep original genius. He had, too, the training of the most distinguished rhetorician of his day, Libanius of Antioch, who was also the teacher of Basil and of Gregory Nazianzen. As far as he could imitate any one, he built himself upon the apostle Paul as a preacher ; and he had the same ministerial zeal burning in his heart. He said, "It is the firm resolve of my soul, as long as I breathe, and as long as it pleaseth God to continue me in this present life, to perform this service, whether I am listened to or not, to do that which the Lord hath com- manded me." He felt that he had a special call to be a preacher of Christ — of Christ, not only in his divine, but in his human nature. The moral element of Christianity entered largely into his preaching, and he sought, above all, to impress the practical truths of religion, and to gain influ- ence over men for their spiritual welfare. He preached on Christian works as well as on Christian faith, dwelling con- stantly on the life, pouring out the treasures of his heart upon the loveliness of the image of Christ in the believer's character, and striving to build up this inward Christ-like life in the hearts of his hearers. " In him we find a most complete mutual interpretation of theoretical and i)ractical theology, as well as of the dogmatical and ethical elements, exhibited mainlj'^ in the fusion of the exegetical and homi- letical. Hence his exesresis was guarded against barren 36 PRE ACHING. philology and dogma, and his pulpit discourse was free from doctrinal abstraction and empty rhetoric. The introduction of the knowledge of Christianity from the sources into the practical life of the people left him little time for the devel- opment of special dogmas." ^ He had a deep insight into the human heart, and under- stood men of all classes and characters. He was a fearless rebuker of sin in high places, when it was a perilous thing to attack vice clothed with imperial-arbitrary power. Yet from contemporary testimony, and from the testimony of the sermons we have, his preaching, which made the dome of St. Sophia ring Avith its rhythmical periods, was charac- terized by the noblest eloquence, as vigorous, direct, and vehement as, but far more copious than, that of Demos- thenes, rich in the play of imagination, and at times in- expressibly tender and pathetic. His discourses, like those of Augustine, rise into high devotional flights, where the incomprehensible nature of God occupies all his thoughts, and the human audience is lost sight of; but, as a general thing, the practical, the pastoral, the missionary element prevails in them — that of the shepherd of souls, of the leader and guardian of the church of God. He glories in his work oi jpreacJiing tlie goi^i^el to the poor! He varied his style of preaching — now using homely and familiar lan- guage ; at another time, more stirring, splendid, and ener- getic language ; and at another time, metaphysical and ab- struse ; for he said that the table of the gospel feast should be covered Avith various dishes, and the banquet should be like the divine generosity of the Giver. He was eminently a biblical preacher, making, as did Origen and all the great preachers, the interpretation of the Word the. basis of his argument, elevating the gospel above philosophy, having the evangelic spirit in his preaching ; still, there is philos- ophy in his preaching, and he appeals to general principles, . ' Neander, quoted by Schaflf, vol. iii., p. 937. § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 37 and wields the whole truth with power in its particular ap- plications. He had the free spirit of the Alexandrian school of theologians, whose works he deeply studied. He be- longed to the polemic and apologetic age of the church, and was thus led, in his life of mental and spiritual strife, in opposition to the false philosophies of the age, to medi- tate upon and to bring out the profounder harmonies of truth ; but he was such a loyal, practical, pointed Scrip- tural preacher, of the true apostolic stamp, that he awoke a deadly opposition in the corrupt circle of the demoralized Greek church, which finally destroyed him. The style of his sermonizing, undeniably, was rhetorical, but his preach- ing was rhetoric in its best sense, being the persuasive com- munication of truth. He studied his sermons with care, preparing himself to preach by a thorough exegesis of the Scriptures, meditation, and prayer. From his habit of expository preaching, all his discourses do not have an elaborate method or plan, and they are often rambling and diffuse ; but they are pervaded by an earnest aim, by the desire to build up the church of Christ, to reform its cor- ruptions, to vindicate the gospel against heathen philoso- phy, and to pluck souls from the depths of sin and unbe- lief in which they were sunken. Sometimes, he preaches on a particular subject or proposition with something of the strict order of a classical discourse ; but generally he is more free, and speaks the thought to which the Scripture or the occasion gives rise. His sermons, like most of those previous to his time, were rather simply loyoi, (addresses, spoken words, upon the scriptural lesson) than ofuhui, set discourses. He preached to the popular heart, and no preacher ever had a more unbounded popularity ; the people were often completely carried away by his eloquence, and acted like drunken persons ; they said, when he was about to be banished, " Better that the sun should cease to shine than that our Chrysostom's mouth should be stopped;" even 4 38 PREACHING. the cold Gibbon praises his golden eloquence, and, as another has said, " his tongue flowed like the stream of the Nile."' Augustine was the culmination of the patristic age as a theologian and preacher, and was, taken altogether, sur- passed perhaps by none. Though one of the most profound thinkers of the Christian church, and an original seeker in the vast problems of theology, as well as a brilliant rheto- rician and dialectician, he was as a preacher uncommonly simple and direct. Most of his sermons are so plain in their style, and so biblical and spiritual in their themes, that they could be preached with effect at this day ; they have that freshness which springs from the central life of Christian truth. They are full of the expression of devo- tional feeling, often rising to the highest sublimity. There is in his discourses no rigidly logical plan, — for he followed the rhetorical rather than the logical order, — but there is evident unity of aim. While always drawn from some ^ Of the many " homilies " which we have of Chryscstom, twelve are upon the " Incomprehensible Nature of God ; " eight against the Jews and Heathen, to prove that "Christ is God;" seven upon Lazarus; twenty-one upon Idol Statues, addressed to the people of Antioch; nine upon Repentance; seven in eulogy of the apostle Paul, and twenty-five upon the Saints and Martyrs; thirty-four principally upon certain passages in the New Testament; sixty- seven upon Genesis ; sixty upon the Psalms ; six upon Isaiah ; ninety-one upon Matthew ; eighty-seven upon John ; twenty-five upon the Acts ; thirty- two upon Romans ; forty-four upon the First Epistle to the Corinthians ; thirty upon the Second ; twenty-four upon the Epistle to the Ephesians ; fifteen upon Philippians ; twelve upon Colossians ; eleven upon the First, nxiAfive upon the Second Book of Thessalonians ; eighteen upon the First, and ten upon the Second Epistle to Timothy ; six upon the Epistle to Titus, and three upon that to Philemon ; thirty-four upon the Epistle to the Hebrews ; a great number upon special occasions, the most interesting of which, historically, are those that relate to his first and second exiles. His most eloquent sermons are those upon Lazarus, upon Images, upon Repentance, upon the History of David and Saul, upon the Gospel of Matthew, upon the Parable of the Debtor, upon the Forgiveness of Enemies, upon Almsgiving, upon Future Blessed- ness. Chrysostom aimed to explain the entire word of God, following it book by book, text by text. — Paniel, Geschichte der Christlichen Beredsam- keit, vol. i., p. 609. § 3. HISTORY OF PEEACHING. 39 portion of the Word of God, they do not always seem to be built upon particular texts ; and yet one text is usually prominently brought forward near the beginning of the sermon, and this appears to be the main text around which other passages of Scripture are grouped, and about which the sermon itself revolves. As the moral element was prominent in Chrysostom's preaching, so in Augustine's preaching the doctrinal or doginatic element predominated, and from his example it has entered and ruled in the Chris- tian pulpit to this day. He also, however, like Chrysos- tom, preached to the popular heart, and was above oratori- cal vanity, or the ambition to be considered eloquent, though his sermons show the effect of rhetorical and philosophical training. " He often preached five days in succession, sometimes twice a day^j and set it as the object of his preaching that all might live with him, and he with all, in Christ. Wherever he went in Africa he was begged to preach the word of salvation."' Ambrose of Milan was also an accomplished and power- ful preacher, cultivated by all that the schools could do for him, but far more by the Spirit of God, and he was charac- terized by dignity and unction. As an exegete, however, from his ardent study of Origen's writings, he had a fatal 'tendency to allegorical interpretation. Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Nazianzen, Gregory of JSfyssa, Macarius, Jerome, and many other renowned preach- ers of the Eastern and Western churches, belong to this period; and while these were, many of them, thoroughly educated and skilful orators, they subordinated their elo- quence and art to the higher purpose of preachiug Christ intelligibly to the people ; and thus their rhetorical and philosophical culture enriched but did not weaken them as religious teachers. Athanasius sternly rebuked the ambitious style of some ' Schaff's Hist., vol. iii., p. 994. 40 PREACHING. of the preaching of the day. He said, "If the church were an audience for the hearing of orators, then eloquent words would be in place ; but since it was a place of contention for the highest achievements of piety, words were not so much needed there as good conduct." Indeed, accounts are given us of the degraded character of the clergy of the Roman Empire, East and West, during the fourth and fifth centuries. Gregory of Nazianzeu says, "No longer the most worthy, but the most powerful, take the episcopal ofBce ; " and Jerome also speaks of mau}'^ of the bishops and lower orders of the ministry, that " with their scented clothing and luxurious manners, they were more like brides^rooms than ministers of Christ." During this period, however, in spite of all imperfec- tions and errors, preaching Avas an important element in spreading and establishing the Christian faith. It was not confined to the Sabbath, but there was frequent preaching during the week, especially on feast and fast seasons, and on the commemoration days of martyrs, and on ordina- tion occasions. The system of expository preaching, of explaining whole books of Scripture, enabled ministers to preach thus continuously day after day. Certainly in the first five, and even perhaps six, centuries of the church, there was, with all errors and superstitions, an earnest de-" sire to interpret and set forth the word of God to men ; and this was undoubtedly the chief purpose and aim of the great preachers we have mentioned. 6. When we come down as late as the seventh century, we find that preaching was beginning to sink to those depths of degradation which continued to grow more and more profound, even to the time of the Reformation. The idea «f bringing the Word of God to bear directly on the mind and heart of the people was more and more lost sight of, though it was not as yet entirely lost. In the middle of the eighth century, at the council of Cloveshire, for exam- ple, constituted for the reformation of abuses in the Eng- § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 41 lish church, preaching was declared by the bishops to be a duty whenever they visited the different churches ; they implied, however, by this fact, that in the interval of these pastoral visitations, the people had no public religious in- struction. Afterwards, Charlemagne, in his time, exhorted his clergy to preach on certain occasions ; and Alcuin, his adviser, especially strove to renew this duty, which had almost follen into complete disuse in the German and Gal- lic churches ; but where preaching was renewed, those who preached — the bishops themselves — were rude and un- learned men, and public worship had become a round of senseless forms and ceremonials. True preaching had lost its important place in worship ; its light was put out in the temple. Certain "postils" as they were called, delivered after the reading of Scripture, were short discourses or commonplaces that were manufactured to be recited by the preacher. They had for their principal themes the authorit}^ of the Eoman Catholic church, the glory of the Virgin, the efficacy of relics, the flames of Purgatory, the utility of indulgences, and similar topics. In the 7iinfh century, at the councils of Mayence and Langres, some earnest effort seems to have been made to renew the office of regular preaching in the church ; and it was decreed that the Christian faith should be tauo^ht to the people, and the Bible expounded in their vernacular, in such a wa}^ that the}^ could understand what was spoken. These, however, were but transient efforts, gleams athwart the darkness, that did not influence the deep prevailing want of religious instruction from the pulpit ; and all that related to public worship grew more and more sensuous and puer- ile. From the tivelftli to the fourteenth centuries, there was much preaching in the common tongue by itinerant friars of a highly fanatical kind. They dealt with the fears and superstitions of the people, who were indeed but chil- dren in their hands. One of the chief aims of this preach- ing was to induce the people to enter upon the church's 4* 42 PREACHING. pilgrimages and crusades. Tliat was the time of Peter the Hermit, and of the greater and truly eloquent 8t. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. With the exception of here and there such a man of native genius, and true, though misguided, zeal, preaching was generally but the blind leading the blind. Brawling and ignorant priests used their spiritual author- ity, and their office as leaders of the people, to foment discords in the state, to fasten the chains of ecclesiastical tyranny more firmly, and to carry out their own crafty and evil purposes. The period even immediately preced- ing the Reformation, witnessed a most profound depth of degradation in the manner and matter of preaching. The harangues of the pulpit were addressed to the lowest pas- sions, and, above all, to the sentiment of the marvellous; and they consisted in the detailing of absurd legends hatched in the brains of half cunning, half fanatical monks, in the cells of monasteries. Mummeries and bufiboneries were enacted in the pulpit. Anything like a pious sentiment was considered insupportable ; and at the Easter season especially, preachers taxed their ingenuity to invent all kinds of fables, odd stories, and vulgar witticisms, to amuse the audience, and to excite roars of laughter. There were, of course, as we have hinted, all through the middle ages, some eloquent and able preachers in the Romish church, such as Nicholas of Basle, John Tauter^ and Henry 8uso the Dominican, and, above all, Wickliffe and Huss, in the fourteenth and ffteenth centuries, who were especially powerful because in them the truth burned in the darkness, because they were reformers before the Reformation ; but, generally speaking, preaching had come to such a pass, that when Luther arose, in the beginning of the sixteenth cen- tury, he saw the necessity of reforming not only the church, but the pulpit itself, and the church through the pulpit. 7. Luther reintroduced into preaching biblical truth — in a word, the evangelical element. He also brought into the pulpit a new and elevated spirit, and plucked up preach- § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 43 ing from the mire into which it had fallen, and reinstated it as the central light in the house of God. He restored the true idea of preaching, viz., to bring divine truth to bear upon the conscience and sympathies of men. He returned to the source of power, to the Word of God. He was ^^ mighty in the Scriptures" The great work which he did, though aided and confirmed by his writings, was chiefly carried forward by his preaching ; and this accounts for the roughness, harshness, coarseness often, of his style of preaching. "His w^ords were half battles." He said of himself and of his preaching, " I was born to fight with devils and factions. This is the reason that my writings are so boisterous and stormy. It is my business to remove obstructions, to cut down thorns, to fill up quagmires, and to open and make straight the paths ; but if I must, neces- sarily, have some failing, let me rather speak the truth with too great severity than once to act the hypocrite and con- ceal the truth." The chief source of his power as a preacher, next to his fidelity to the word of truth, to the essence and life of the gospel, was his vast emotional power, his pas- sion, his immense vitality. His was a great nature, full of great afiections and great feelings. His sermons remind one, in some respects, of those of Augustine, upon whom he modelled himself. They are plain and practical, spring- ing from the running exposition of Scripture, often with- out any particular text; but still, as a general rule, all the principal parts of the sermon — the text, the theme, the exposition, the argument, and the application — are found in his discourses. A large jDortion of them are upon doctrinal subjects — upon the nature of God, the Trinity, the creation; upon sin, justification by faith, and the character and work of Christ ; upon the church and its sacraments — but all, with a strong controversial drift, mingling the contests that then were going on with the older conflict of light and darkness, of God and his enemy. He did not despise the aids of learning and rhetoric in 44 PREACHING, preaching, nor, indeed, any other lawful weapon ; such as figurative illustration, allegory, irony, and wit. He intro- duced nature into the pulpit, as well as learning and faith. The preaching, also, of Zwingle, Calvin^ and Farel, of Bucer, Barnes^ Knox, Cranmer, Latimer, Jewel, Hooper, and the other English Reformers, aided to restore the dig- nit3% earnestness, and biblical authority of the pulpit. The preaching of the Reformation, wherever its seeds were car- ried, was characterized by its hihlical element, its direct- ness, its freedom from ecclesiastical forms, its plain style, and its robust energy. It did not deal so much in moral or subjective views of truth as in its objective doctrinal aspects ; but the mind, freed from its fetters, stood erect again, and transmitted the message of God with apostolic power and boldness. This, also, was the period of the revival of letters ; and, though feebly at first, yet with in- creasing strength, the influence of the renewed stud}'- of the classic models was felt upon Christian eloquence, and entered more and more into the structure and style of the sermon. The sermon began soon to lose somewhat of its biblical life and pure evangelic element, until, much later, in the age of German and French illumiuism, in the seven- teentli and eighteenth centuries, it had become nothing better than polished puerility, when preachers preached upon agri- culture, the raising of tobacco, and the Copernican system. The French church in particular fostered this classic barren- ness and varnished impiety. The English pulpit was saved from this curse, in a great measure, by the early infusion into it of the Puritan element, when such profound and earnest preachers as Howe, Baxter, Flavel, Owen, arose. Each reformed nation, however, retained something of its original spiritual life and pulpit power, and became at length intellectually represented or expressed by its own peculiar style of preaching. In Germany, France, England, Scot- land, and afterward in America, the shaping influence of the national mind, unbound by freer Protestant influences, § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 43- acted powerfully on the type of preaching in these sev- eral countries, and this reacted on the political, intellect- ual, and social character of the civilization of these several nations. 8. The German pnlpit still retains something of the free- dom, fire, and naturalness of Luther's style, being charac- terized by its lively exposition of the word of God, accom- panied with much emotional glow. The German mind, from the earliest times till now, is distinguished above all by its power of sympathy, and this is shown in German preach- ing; while, singularly enough, the metaphysical taste of the German mind is more rarely shown in its preaching. The German sermon is generally expository or hortatory, rather than analytic and didactic ; it gives considerable play to the imagination, and in its plan and substance is sinipler than the English or French sermon. There is, however, a class of more modern German preachers, such as ScJdeiermachei\ Mailer, and TJioluck, in whose sermons much of the Ger- man subjectivity and philosophic cast of mind is seen ; but even in these there is a child-like simplicity and a devotional feeling which have not been entirely extinguished by learn- ing and thought. 9. The French pulpit is classic and brilliant. Jacques Saurin, who is, perhaps, its most eloquent Protestant rep- resentative (though his ministerial life w^as sj^ent at the Hague), aimed at the great end of preaching — the spiritual welfare of men. He therefore stands higher as an evangel- ical preacher, though not as an orator, than most of the great Catholic French preachers. He was one of the first Protestant preachers who adorned the plain, didactic method of the Reformed pulpit with the ornaments of eloquence.^ His sermons have an elaborate method, and are built on the plan of a classic oration ; indeed, he rarely puts off his oratorical robes. His " introductions " are often very beau- ' Histoire de la Predication aux Dix-septieme Siocle, p. 599. 46 PREACHING. tiful, and ho follows the strictly logical method in the devel- opment. His style is clear, vivid, energetic, at times almost rough, and rather deficient in pathos and unction. He opened the field of Christian ethics more widely and boldly than his predecessors, but he was, more than all, and in spite of all, an earnest, practical preacher of the gospel. We usually think of the French pulpit in connection with the brilliant and world-famous names of the great Roman Catholic preachers ; but there was also a class of noble French contemporaneous Protestant preachers, who are too often overlooked. Bossuet said of Calvin, who belonged to an earlier date, ^' son style est triste; "' but Calvin, stern theologian though he was, was yet a great preacher. He had a style totally bare of ornament, and with no ray of imagination, thouo;h he lived within the shadow of Mont Blanc ; but his preaching was weighty with biblical truth, clear in reasoning, and burning with an intense purpose. Coming after him, and possessing much of his spirit, from the middle of the sixteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century, there are names of many men of remarkable power as preachers — Pierre du Moulin, MicJiel de Faucheur, Jean Mestrezat, Jean Claude, Pierre du Pose, and others. They were pastors of the French Protestant church in times of its distress and persecution, when it was "the church in the wil- derness." They were also statesmen, and leaders and coun- sellors of the people ; they were — that is, the earliest of them — somewhat rude in style, but solid, scriptural, full of the primitive fire. Their sermons are generally a continuous exegesis of the text, which they evolve, explain, and enforce with all their power, depending on the truth to perform its own work in men's hearts. Like the English Puritans, whom they much resemble, they preached to the conscience, but they had more directness, liveliness, and simplicity. The oratorical and literary elements were, mostly, lacking in their ' Histoire de la Predication aux Dix-septieme Siecle, p. 3. § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 47 preaching, but those qualities were replaced by masculine plainness and vehemence. Men of martyr-spirit, they spoke with irresistible power in times of persecution for the truth's sake. Du Moulin was looked upon as a formidable antaofonist of the Romish church, and Claude was considered to be a match, in controversy, for Bossuet himself. These preachers were not far removed from the first heat of the Reformation, and they preached with a feai'less ear- nestness that counted all things loss for Christ's sake and the gospel's. Saurin, of whom we have spoken, and who fell upon later and more peaceful days, finishes the list of great Protestant preachers ; and he showed their spirit. The more widely known and celebrated French Catholic divines are headed by Bossuet, "the Eagle of Meaux," He has been not unjustly compared to Demosthenes. His ser- mons abound in passages of the utmost grandeur and force. His six "oraisons funebres" are full of majesty of tone, and have a breadth and freedom of style far beyond that of all other French preachers. He despised the minute and fine- spun styles ; but his faults also are great, having a tendency to stage eflfect, or the false sublime, and to an imperious harshness and virulence of language. He was devoted to his church rather than to the simplest and highest objects of preaching, and he was the indomitable, untiring servant of the Papacy, or, as he called himself, ^^ Bos suetus aratro" Massillon is moderate and self-contained, even in his most impassioned and ardent utterances ; and this noticea- ble " vis tem/perata " of Massillon is one chief source of his eloquence ; it marks reserved force — a great quality in preaching. Fenelon, whose name cannot be mentioned but with admiration and afiection by all who love Christ, united a polished but easy and natural style with spiritual simplicity and unction. 10. The English or British pulpit is excelled by none in its great names. It is robust, practical, sober, direct; 48 PEEACHIXG. though it is uot without its highly speculative and even mystical side. Its greatest preachers lived in the seven- teenth century, which was the golden age of the English IDulpit, when the Puritan strength and tire, caught from direct communion with the Holy Spirit, were still unadul- terated. Even in the latter portion of the previous century, during the fires of the Reformation in Elizabeth's reign, the emancipation of the English mind showed itself in the new vigor and spiritual freedom of the pulpit, and many de- voted preachers of the pure gospel, like Joltn Rogers^ Henry Smith, Bernard Gilpin, were true precursors of the more learned and eloquent of the Puritan divines of the next reigns, whose preaching was massive in philosophic thought, with a hard rind of controversial theology, but informed and instinct in every part with spiritual light and living energy — the age of John Howe, Flavel, Calamy, Owe7iy Bates, Charnock, Baxter, and their powerful com- peers of the Church party, Hooker, Donne, Bishop Hall^ South, Barrow, Jeremy Taylor, Leighton. Hooker and Donne, it is true, belong also to a somewhat earlier period, and they possess much of the richness and power of the wonderful Elizabethan age of intellectual development. Old Fuller says of Hooker, "Mr. Hooker his voice was low, stature little, gesture none at all, standing stone still in the pulpit, as if the posture of his body were the emblem of his mind, immovable in his opinions. Where his eye was left fixed at the beginning, it was found fixed at the end of his sermon ; in a word, the doctrine he delivered had nothing but itself to garnish it. His style was long and pithy, driv- ins: on a whole flock of several clauses before he came to the close of a sentence. So that, when the copiousness of his style met not with proportionable capacity in his audi- tors, it was unjustly censured for perplext, tedious, and ob- scure. His sermons followed the inclination of his studies, and were for the most part on controversies and deep points of school divinity." § 3. HISTORY OF PEEACHING. 49 In the other preachers of this period there was a rich phiy of the imagination, and often great eloquence : perhaps there are no passages of more eloquence to be found in the sermons of any preacher than in those of Dr. Donne ; but they are "purple patches," interwoven with a great deal that is rhapsodical and feeble. Charnock is vigorous and mas- culine, perspicuous, and oftentimes profound. Of English sermonizers, Robert South is to be particu- larly noticed. He very much lacked, it is true, the pure evangelical element ; he also lacked unction, and he had more wit than grace ; but he was, notwithstanding, a great moral reasoner, reasoning not in dry scholastic forms, but with freedom and immense natural force, lashing vice with an imsparing hand. His English style, for nervousness, point, masculine energy, freedom from false ornament and vital freshness, is incomparable. Isaac Barrow was also a great master of the moral- descriptive style of preaching ; but his language does not compare with Sonth's for condensed vigor, and it is over- burdened with qualificatives, inclining even to verbosity. Jeremy Taylor cannot be judged of, superficially ; for he is like a mountain or a kingdom. He affords illustrations of all kinds of style, of the best and the worst. There is too little of clear doctrinal truth, in his sermons ; of Christ as Intercessor ; but still his sermons and writings are vast treasures of theology, though his works are better adapted for private reading and meditation than for imitation in the pulpit. To read him is like looking into a gorgeous sunset ; there is often a vagueness and indistinctness in the ideas, but it is a glorious and sublime illumination of the earth and heavens, an indescribable magnificence of imagery, through which his imao^ination shines like the sun. He might have been born in the Orient and reared in a "garden of spices," nor would David and David's royal son have despised his companionship, nor failed to acknowledge the kinship of his genius 5 50 PREACHING. In the eighteenth century, although preaching was charac- terized by less richness, originality, and still less spontane- ity, there were, nevertheless, some efi'ective and faithful preachers, who saved the spiritual character of the English pulpit : such men as John Newton, Thomas Scott, Drs. Watts and Doddridge, Cecil, Charles Simeon, George Whitefield, and John Wesley. The last two stirred the stagnant atmos- phere far beyond any power of mere human eloquence, and their influence is deeplj^ felt to this day in England, Amer- ica, and the world. Whitefield was an accomplished rhetori- cian and pulpit orator, but it was his intense earnestness, his burning desire to save souls, his power of emotion and sympathy, his plain, pointed, arousing appeals to the heart, rather than his intellectual force or theological weight and thought, which constituted his power. There was also, in this period, a school of sound intel- lectual and philosophic, though somewhat cold, preachers, represented by such men as Cudivorth, More, Tillotson, Stilling fieet , Lloyd; and these were followed by another school (their lineal successors) of still more polished but even less earnest and effective preachers, represented by Clarice, Sherlock, Blair, Paley, and men of that class, who represented preeminently the " moiml-essay" period of Eng- lish preaching — correct, elegant, and superficial. Indeed, at the time of the rise of the Methodist reformation, there were hut few evangelical and earnest preachers in all Eng- land. It is related of the celebrated Blackstone, in the early part of the reign of George III., that he went dili- gently through the churches of London, and declared that " he did not hear a single discourse which had more Chris- tianity in it than the writings of Cicero, and that it would have been impossible for him to discover, from what he heard, whether the preacher was a follower of Confucius, of Mohammed, or of Christ." Nearer to our own day arose a -class of far more power- ful divines : Robert Hall, — the most magnificent of pulpit § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 51 orators, though lacking somewhat in warmth and practical directness, — John Foster, Andrew Fuller, William Jay^ and their great Scotch contemporaries Edioard Irving and Thomas Chalmers. A Scotchman said of Dr. Chahners that " he owed his power to the activity and quantity of his affections." He had, indeed, like Luther, a great nature, ample in all its proportions of reason, sensibility, and will; there was in him a vast vital force ; and when this was fully aroused by the truths which he preached, he carried all before him, as a river that inundates its banks. The British pulpit of our own day has exhibited many men of very decided power, such as, in the established church, Arnold, Hare, Whately, Trench, Samuel Wilber- force, Henry Melville, John Henrxj JSfetmnan in his better days, and that matchless sermonizer, F. W. Robertson; among dissenters, John Angell James, Dr. Ha^es, Baptist Noel, Drs. Guthrie and Candlish, McCheyne, 3inney, Dr. Cumming, Dr. Raleigh, Charles Spurgeon. English preach- ing, it must be said, has, generally speaking, fallen into a somewhat narrower range of ideas, and does not apjjear to have the freedom, profound depth, solid thought, or literary splendor of its earlier days, being too often intensely de- voted to an ecclesiastical idea ; and-, if it has aught remain- ing of the old Puritan energy and assertion of the free principle, it does not always possess the corresponding Puritan spirituality of tone. There are, however, in all the various bodies of the English religious world, many preachers of great learning and originality, as well as of high earnestness of aim, who represent the advanced state of religious thought in England. O O D 11. Coming to America and New England, we find that, while the first ministers were educated and able men, the true leaders (ly^'ov/nevoi) of the people, and men of inflexi- ble martyr-spirit ; their style of preaching was exceedingly scholastic and theological, owing, perhaps, to the fact that all the learning in the community was confined to the min- 52 PREACHING. isterial class; but, notwithstanding this, such men as the Christ-like Eliot, John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, Nathaniel Ward, John Davenport, the Mayhews, Roger Williams, the Mathers, were preachers of marked power, and, in most instances, of eminent piety, and highly learned for their day, when the people considered a learned ministry to be a first necessity of life — as necessary as " fire to a smith." About the beginning of the second century after the set- tlement of New England, there sprang up a style of preach- ing far superior to that of the earliest ministers ; which, for metaphysical depth as well as spiritual earnestness, has rarely, if ever, been surpassed. Its great master and origi- nator was Jonathan Edwards, who was followed by Hop- kins, Bellamy, Edwards the younger, Emmons, Dwight, and many other noted preachers and theologians, who showed the controlling influence of Edwards's mind, which has, in fact, moulded the American pulpit in all its essential qualities and characteristics, down even to the present day. The power of Jonathan Edwards as a preacher is repre- sented to have been tremendous. In his sermon on "the Last Judgment," one of his hearers said that he " expected, when Mr. Edwards stopped, that the heavens would open, and the Judge descend, and the separation of the righteous and wicked immediately take place." His style, regarded in a literary point of view, was not finished, and was often, on the contrary, hard and rugged ; but his clear mind shone through it, and by the pure force of his mental vision he made spiritual truths plain. This graphic power, as it has been called, of exhibiting truth showed not only his force of thought, but his luminous and all-penetrating im- agination. He felt the want of early culture in the art of writing, and set himself in middle life to the work of im- proving his style ; but thought was the important element of his preaching : he addressed chiefly the understanding and conscience. His sermons w^ere carefully written with § 3. HISTORY OF PEEACHING. 53 a methodical plan. He dwelt on the explanation of Scrip- ture, which he presented as a fact the most momentous to the soul ; and his idea seemed to be that the truth — the simple truth — made clear to the mind, and there left, was sufficient to do its own work. He preached from a divine point of view, wielding the attributes of God, especially those of justice and holiness, with mighty power, and with a kind of celestial, inexorable logic; but he did not bring out so clearly the love of God, and the grace of the gospel. His own purity and holiness of character added weight to what he said, and in the immediate results of his preaching few apparently have equalled him. His sermons were won- derfully adapted to awaken the New England church, then fallen, through the influence of the "Half-way Covenant" and other causes, into an apathetic and dead state. They startled his auditors like the notes of the judgment-trump. The sermonizing of Edwards and his immediate suc- cessors was characterized, as we have said, by a faithful exposition of the Scriptures, and by a careful drawing out of the doctrine, which they fortified with all manner of illustrative reasoning, moral and metaphysical ; and after that came the application, which included often more than half the sermon, and was very solemn and pointed. This saved the preaching from being altogether too abstract and metaphysical. It had, doubtless, great faults, which have since been more or less corrected ; and which will doubt- less be still more successfully guarded against as a better taste and a profouuder knowledge of the life of the gospel prevail ; but the American style of preaching, according to the principle we started with, is also the direct product of the intellectual character and the religious history of the American people. It unites the argument-loving or logical element with the more practical element of the American mind. Doctrinal characterizes it ; but it is both doctrinal and experimental ; it aims to reach the conscience and will through the understanding, and to bring men to an imme- 6* 54 " FEE ACHING. diate decision in matters of the soul. It deals with these doctrines as if theywere the greatest of truths, and the only truths worthy of an immortal soul's attention. It is therefore characterized by the most intense and often terrible earnest- ness. And why has not the Holy Spirit guided also in the preaching of American ministers of the Word, adapting it to the character, circumstances, and wants of the American people, just as truly as in the preaching of those apostolic ambassadors of old, who delivered the message of God to the Jews, Greeks, and Romans? The American sermon, as we have already described it, is generally built upon a logical plan, cast into the form of an argument, with direct and practical lessons drawn from the demonstrated truth ; it is synthetic in form, and although generally biblical in tone and aim, yet it is not simply biblical as confining itself to the interpre- tation of Scripture and the setting forth of the Word of God ; it is not satisfied with this, but it aims at a philo- sophical systemization of divine truth. Indeed, there has been sometimes a want of the more genuinely evangelic element, a want, one might say, of Christ in his fulness, in his perfect sympathy, in his love to man, and in the multifarious and infinite relationships and applications of his incarnation, and of the new life of God that has come into the human soul through Christ's entering into human- ity. It addresses the head more than the heart. It is not too intellectual, but too exclusively so; and it has thus a rigidity of form which has not suflTered it to come freely enough down to the wants, feelings, and comprehension of all men, so that it might be indeed and in every sense "the glad tidings." There is recently more of this free and vital element com- ing into our preaching, and the great fear is, that it will come too fast, and destroy the noble and substantial ground- work of American preaching. One great puljjit orator, in especial, who belongs to a family of theological princes, is § 3. HISTORY OF PREACHING. 55 the type aiid almost founder of a style of sermon which applies the truth to the life in an exceedingly interesting and vitalizing manner. It introduces the new power of the Christian element into every part and eveiy faculty of our nature, and freely expresses the broader sympathies of the gospel for all men. Its faults of secularity, and of a certain carrying of the human element to an extent that oftentimes seems to overlie and obstruct the divine — these exaggera- tions, we think, will become hereafter toned down, and will leave the soil enriched, like an overflow of the Nile. There can be no pulpit eloquence, says Vinet, without the moral element ; but the moral, the ethical, is formed upon the dogmatic, and although exclusive dogma without the moral element extinguishes both eloquence and spirituality, j^et the moral without the dogmatic also loses its deepest spring and power ; a wholesome mingling and interfusing of the two will make the future true eloquence and power of the American pulpit. The names of our great preachers — of Samuel Davies, John M. Mason, Griffin, Payson, the Alexanders, Sjwing, Lyman Beecher, Olin, Bedell, Bethune, without mentioning eminent names of other denominations, and of living men — are familiar to all intelligent American readers; and, taken together, there probably never has been such a body of preachers, comprising so much of intellectual power, of sanctified earnestness, and. of living faith, since the days of the apostles. What are the main practical lessons to be drawn from this brief survey of the history of preaching? They arc, (1) that the preacher, especially the young preacher, should st7'ive to comprehend and combine the excellences of the different kinds of preaching of all times and ages, and to enrich and elevate his own preaching by imitating what is good in them ; (2) that he should study to catch the spirit of his own age, feeling that the spirit sweeps on like wind, and never 56 PREACHING. recedes ; that it always hastens to a higher and fuller ex- pression of the love of God ; and he should adapt his preaching to the evident leadings and manifestations of the spirit in his day, and to the living men about him, without giving up any of the great essential qualities and character- istics of the true preacher of the gospel, which belong to all time and to eternal truth. § 4. Object and Design of Preaching. Considering, then, preaching, now and henceforth, in its more commonly understood sense, as forming part of the regular public service of the sanctuary, it should seek, as its great and chief aim, the praise and glory of God ; for it is as truly tvorship, though of a less direct kind, as any other part of the service. While the preaching should harmonize with the other parts of public worship in praising God and in setting forth his name, his love, and his glorious works, especially in the redemption of man through Christ, it should seek also for the praise and glory of God in the actual conversion of men. It should have also this profoundly practical aim ; and in order to accomplish this, it must aim at two things; viz., to make the truth and love of God known to men ; and, to persuade them to obey it. We would say, therefore, more specifically, that the object of preaching is, — (1.) To teach men divine truth. Its first idea is i7istruction — instruction in the things of God. It is intended primarily for the purpose of publish- ing the gospel, of making it knoicm to men. The preacher tells men plainly what is the new message of God in his gos- pel, and what are the terms of the gospel, so that they need not misapprehend him. Archbishop Usher says, "Breth- ren, it will require all our learning to make the gospel plain and intelligible to the whole of our hearers, so that the}^ may thoroughly understand it." Besides this instruction § 4. OBJECT AND DESIGN OF PREACHING. 57 in what the vital truth of Christianity is for the apprehen- sion of faith, the preacher is to furnish his hearers with all other needed instruction in religious things ; in the reasons and proofs of divine truth, by which they themselves will be enabled to " hold forth the word of life " to other men ; and to be established and built up in the most holy faith : he should seek to give them a broad and thorough compre- hension of the doctrines of the Christian religion, so that they shall not be overcome through ignorance and unaware. The didactic element, if not the chief element in preaching, thus comes first in the order of time ; for men must know the truth before they can obey it. The truth which is pre- sented and made known should be essentially scriptural and spiritual ; it should be the pure essence of the word of God, "^/(le truth as it is in Jesus.'" It may often tax all the powers to present this clearly, and the preaching may be the fruit of severe thought ; but while it should have thought, and fresh thought ; thought, after all, or the purely discursive process of the mind, is not the principal object even of instruc- tion in preaching. Divine truth in preaching should not be chiefly regarded for the interesting subjects of thought which it opens, but as the will and word of God, which preaching is to so set forth, exemplify, and explain, that it may be *^ profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good ivorks.^' The preacher himself is not so much the instructor, as God through him. He is to let the truth instruct. The intel- lectual or didactic idea of the sermon, therefore, even in relation to divine truth, though a very important, is a sec- ondary one ; and therefore, — (2.) Another object of preaching is, to commend divine truth to the heart, so that it shall be received to the salvation and edification of the soul. It does not end in setting forth truth, but it is to impel men, by God's help, to choose and obey it ; it is the practical application of divine truth to 58 PREACHING. meet the great wants of the soul. It cannot, therefore, be classed with any other kind of oration, or address, like the scientific lecture, or the parliamentary speech, for these chiefly address the understanding ; but it is a sacred oration for God, to persuade men to be reconciled to him, not next year, nor to-morrow, but to-day. Newman Hall says, "Preaching is the art of producing religious convic- tions and emotions in an audience. Its effect must be im- mediate, or it fails as preaching. It must be understood at once. Every thought must be made clear before another is presented. Thus repetitions are often necessary, the ex- pression of the same idea in various forms, and occasionally the repetition of the very same words. Whatever interferes with earnestness of manner should be disregarded. The whole mind should be bent on the special work to be done, and that work is immediate impression. Just so far as the preacher's mind is diverted from this object by his anxiety in respect to the grammatical accuracy of his words, and the perfect taste of every expression, just so far will the sermon fail in impressiveness." If we join with this true but altogether partial conception, the plan of continuous instruction, of the more thoughtful and comprehensive de- velopment of divine truth, in order that the people may be well founded in the truth, and built up in the life of faith, we have some just conception of the true object and design of preaching. Preaching, according to the German writer Schott, is de- signed, above all, to edify ; that is, to build up a living faith in men's sensual, sinful hearts ; but mere knowledge cannot do this ; faith, love, obedience in the hearer himself, must fit him to receive the truth, and to be built up in it. Edifi- cation is the improvement of the whole man, and his devel- opment in the life of God ; and thus it is that the moial, and, above all, the spiritual, nature is the special field of preaching ; the spiritual idea and purpose should predomi- nate ; the heart of true preaching is Christ — Christ as § 5. DIFFICULTIES OF PREACHING. 59 the life of our spiritual nature. Its great aim is to win souls to Christ, and make them Christ-like. It has been said that Christ need not be in every sermon ; but as Christ is the life of all divine truth, and thus must be the end of all preaching, ^ how can he be really absent from any true sermon ? To ex- hibit the truth of Christ requires the spirit of Christ in the jDreacher, his own spirit of love to men ; otherwise the con- verting energy of the sermon is lacking. All preaching should be "a word of the Lord" and should have this char- acteristic of apostolic preaching ; that it leads to Him who is the life. The design of Christian preaching, then, in the largest and fullest view of it, is, b}^ God's blessing, so to set forth divine truth, with such clearness, simjplicity, love, and de- pendence upon the spirit of Christ, as to build vp men in the whole faith and life of Christ — to convert ^ educate, and sanctify their soids. § 5. Difficulties of Preaching. Although the common impression is, that any one is able "to preach," or even to compose a sermon, it is neverthe- less a difficult thing to preach. This prevalent idea of the ease of preaching has been greatly increased by the com- mon and commendable habit of universal religious address, of exhorting in prayer meetings and Sunday schools, and on the platform — good things, but not always good preach- ing. A popular style of sermonizing, itself, which is easy rather than thoughtful, sensational rather than searching, pointed rather than penetrating, has served to increase and strengthen this false impression. To compose a good sermon requires many things which a merel}^ literary composition does not. One should possess a fund of knowledge, both of men and of men's thoughts, and, above all, of the Scriptures, to be a good preacher. He should be imbued with the spirit, and filled with the knowl- 60 PREACHING. edge of the Word of God ; and then he should know how to choose his subject, so as to adapt it to men's hearts and their real wants : this requires in him insight and judgment, and some considerable maturity of mind and character. The truth, also, must be reasonably and appropriately'' set forth ; and still more, spiritual truths, the most difficult of all to comprehend and to teach, should be so comprehended by him as to be made plain to others ; and that religious expe- rience, that inward condition of mind and heart, that love of Christ and of souls which is fitted for the production of gen- uine efiective preaching, is not often possessed by the most eloquent and learned men ; so that it is not every one who can write a good literary composition, or deliver an effective address on other subjects, who can also preach; for true preaching is the result of the combination of many precious qualities of intellect, character, and heart, though these diffi- culties need not deter from attempting to become a preacher any earnest man who loves the Saviour, and who is resolved under God to do as well as he can ; and he need not fear but he will, by God's help, succeed. Preaching cannot be rushed upon with heedless haste, as if one who had some little knack at writing, or speaking, could at once preach a pungent, edifying sermon. He who begins this work, therefore, should expect hard work ; it will draw forth all his energies. Lord Bacon says that there was a proverb among those who presided at the Grecian mysteries that "the wand-bearers are many, but few are inspired." So, even, although it is an ungracious thing to say it, there are ministers who are not, and who do not seek to be, inspired. They will not labor to preach Avell ; they will not learn even the outward collateral means and accomplishments of their profession ; they will not learn how to write ; they will not trouble themselves about the simplest rhetorical culture ; they w^ill not mend awkward habits of delivery ; they will not correct a false tone or a harsh pronunciation ; they will not take pains to § 6. FAULTS OF PEE ACHING. 61 acquire the art of public speaking, so that they can address an assembly upon any subject with effect ; but, above all, they will not grapple with the real difficulties of the setting forth of divine truth in preaching, which requires thought, clear arrangement of ideas, spiritual meditation, and earnest prayer. They are doing, perhaps, all other things except giving their undivided energies to preaching. They say there is no need to take so much trouble about these thinsfs, for they will be helped at the time of speaking ; but they who say that are those who, above all others, need this thor- ough training ; for in God's work, as well as in man's, those who do not work are not helped ; and do such preachers de- serve to be successful? Let us, then, come to the conclusion that it is a great ^ thing to preach the gospel ; and yet we do not mean, by that, preaching great sermons. § 6. Faults of PreacJiing . 1. Preaching without a strong, impelling purpose. To preach merely to serve a professional necessity is surely an unworthy object ; for there should be in every sermon a definite purpose to convert souls, and to build them up in the faith and life of the gospel. In his preaching, the true preacher grasps men's spirits, and draws them unto Christ, that they may be warmed into new life ; there should be this spiritual grasp in every sermon, this laying hold of the souls of men to bring them to Christ. " The Judge stand- eth at the door." 2. Preaching too long, and too learnedly expressed ser- mons. A sermon should be intensive, rather than extensive or pretensive ; there should be more pith and point than elab- orate argumentation in a sermon. It is a religious address to men, and not a religious treatise. A common audience does not come together to follow out the painfully elaborate pro- cesses of a subtile and critical mind ; and so a too discursive 6 62 PREACHING. style, which sweeps over a vast deal of ground, which deals with truth too philosophically or abstractly, without positive- ness and a definite aim, wastes the precious time allotted, in the hurry and rush of this world's busy life, to the preacher of divine truth. There may be learning, and the results of critical scholarship, in the discourse ; but the sermon should not have a tone of learning, for learning deals with the past, and "knowledge should be turned into life."^ The divinely practical element in a sermon should sweep everything along with it. One should not stop to exhibit his learning ; and of what great importance is it, after all, to one who has a higher end in view ; who has to gain his hearer and persuade him to serve the Lord? We would make a difference be- tween learning and scholarship, as they are manifested in sermon-writing. We need the last, but we should not ex- hibit the first; or, to quote from another writer (Euskin), upon quite a different theme, " The artist need not be a learned man ; in all probability it will be a disadvantage to him to become so; but he ought, if possible, to be an edu- cated man ; that is, one who has understanding of his own uses and duties in the world, and therefore of the general nature of the things done and existing in the world, and who has so trained himself, or been trained, as to turn to the best account whatever faculties or knowledge he has. The mind of an educated man is greater than the knowl- edge it possesses ; it is like the vault of heaven, encompass- ing the earth Avhich lives and flourishes beneath it ; but the mind of an uneducated and learned man is like an India- rubber baud, with an everlasting spirit of contraction in it, listening together papers which it cannot open and keeps from being opened." 3. Preaching sennons addressed to the fancy and the nervous sensibilities. This is what Shakspeare would call "taffeta-writing." It is striving to rival brilliant and popular ' Dr. Brown's Spare Hours. § 6. FAULTS or PEEACniNG. 63 lecturers, who, by continually working upon their lectures, have made them like polished gems, and have taken every- thing out of them which is not brilliant and immediately effective. It is also what is commonly called ^^sensational ^reacJdng ; " since it is determining to produce a sensation on the nerves hy w^ords, rather than on the conscience and heart by thought and feeling. It is Avriting from the motive of exciting men for the moment, and of catching their atten- tion by novelties, rather than of doing them good for eter- nity. And it is also appealing to a lower class of motives, leavinor men's higher nature untouched. It is true that the mass of men will be attracted by this style, and perhaps encourage it ; and yet, sooner or later, even they will tire of it; for it is turning the sanctuary into a lecture-hall or thea- tre ; and the results of this kind of preaching are indeed as superficial as those of the popular lecturer and player, for if there are conversions, they are of a doubtful sort, it being poor seed sown in bad soil. In the words of another writer, " This whole business of preaching and hearing for enter- tainment may be told in these two words, 'deceiving and being deceived.'" We do not say that a preacher should not attract his audience, nor, if he has anything original in thought, or powerful in imagination, or moving in truth, that he should repress it ; on the contrary, let him be him- self; let him use every power that he possesses: let his thought be fresh, and let him make a sensation if he can ; but let him not preach for the special purpose of making a sensation, of captivating, entertaining, exciting, drawing. How wasteful the efforts of such a preacher ! How terrible the responsibility he incurs ! If the objection be urged that the sermon of an opposite character fails to interest an audi- ence, it springs probably from other reasons : the preacher has, perhaps, failed to inspire a true and manly taste in his congregation ; he does not put genuine thought, feeling, or spiritual earnestness into his preaching ; there is nothing to attract in it ; there is no unction ; he copies his ideas, and 64 PREACHING. feigns his emotions, and how can he create a legitimate inter- est in this "way ? The preacher should therefore resist the temi^tution (which is one of the first to assail him) to make a fine, attractive sermon, but let him rather strive to make a plain one ; and if there is aught of literary or awakening l^ower in him, it will vshine out in due time. In saying this we would not be imderstood as saying anything against true eloquence in the pulpit ; but it is difficult to draw the line between the true and false. We find no fault with him who strives, for the sake of the truth, to say a thing strongly, attractively, eloquently ; but if he says anything in order to be eloquent, to make himself attractive, to build up his own reputation, to produce an excitement for his or its own sake, to gain the name of an eloquent preacher, to make preach- ing a vehicle for personal or popular influence, — here we detect the false style ; it is thoroughly and in the lowest sense human, and not divine. 4. Preaching too easy sermons. Antiquity and the au- thority of the Scriptures have made preaching on the Lord's day a matter of great and eternal moment, a reasoning of God with man, ^'the savor of life unto life^ or the savor of death unto death." True preaching must, therefore, still continue to be bibli- cal, thoughtful, authoritative ; it doubtless may and should have much more of popular application, naturalness, and life ; it may come down more truly to the sympathies and comprehensions of all men ; but the preparation for the pul- pit should continue to be a severe exercise, and the sermon should still deal seriously with great thoughts and themes ; it should not play with them. But, is it objected, how can a minister, with all his other duties, prepare two such thoughtful and faithful sermons in a week? This is a chronic question, and we can answer it only by asking another : '"How have the best preachers done this?" In some way or another, they have contrived to preach solidly, attractively, effectively, twice on Sunday, § 7. METHOD OF COMPOSING A SERMON. 65 and every time they preach. Whitefield preached, on an average, ten times a week for the space of thirty-four years, and John Wesley nearly the same number for a much longer time ; and Wesley's sermons, if not Whitefield's, were care- fully composed. A young minister doubtless has a difficult task at first; but by severe labor, by frequent exchanges, by repeating his sermons, and by not preaching more than twice on Sunday, he can accomplish this as others have done. And, as a general rule, short sermons, short ser- ^ mons. One subject, one thought, one duty, fully handled, fully illustrated, fully brought home to the conscience and heart, is enough for one sermon ; and, would that young ministers, as well as older ones, could have the sagacity, humility, and independence, to see and follow this rule ! § 7. Method of composing a Sermon. We will, in the first place, quote two or three passages from Dr. Alexander's Thoughts on Preaching : " I wish I could make sermons as if I had never heard or read hoAv they are made by other people. The formalism of regular divisions and applications is deadly." " In writing or speak- ing, throw off all restraint. Writing from a precomposed skeleton is eminently restraining. It forces one to parcel out his matter in a forced, Procrustean way. The current is often thus stopped at the very moment when it begins to crush. The ideal of a discourse is that of a flow from first o to last." "The true way is to have an object, and to be full . of it." " I never could understand what is meant by making a sermon on a prescribed text. The right text is one which comes of itself during reading and meditation ; which ac- companies you in walks, goes to bed with you, and rises with you. On such a text thoughts swarm and cluster like bees upon a branch. The sermon ferments for hours and days, and at length, after patient waiting and almost spon- taneous working, the subject clarifies itself, and the true 6* 66 PREACHING. method of treatment presents itself in a shape which can- not be rejected." There is great truth in these remarks, but we might be allowed to differ from them in some par- ticulars, especially in regard to the use of a ;plan. We agree fully with the idea that the plan should not be made to restrain or to confine the thought; it should regulate, not repress ; it should not be the frigid application of the rule and square to every sermon ; but it is often useful as a method of arranging thought, and of employing our materi- als to the best advantage. Let us, then, suppose, that in studying or reading the Scriptures, a text, or a theme contained in a text, has sug- gested itself to the mind, although we know that there is no rule in the manner and mode of these suirgestions, for the subject of a sermon may come to one in travelling, or upon a walk, or in pastoral visitation, or upon his bed, or at the bedside of the sick, almost as readily as in the study ; yet texts and subjects for preaching that are sug- gested to one in Ms regular daily study and meditation of the Word of God, are certainly the truest, richest, and most profitable subjects for preaching. They seem thus to come to us by the direct inspiration of the Word and Spirit of God. A portion of truth, a real subject of thought, has thus been presented to the mind, which must have something to work upon ; for all thought depends upon previous knowl- edge, and reasoning is simply a deduction from previous facts of which the knowing faculties have taken co£rnizance. Now, although the subject is thus before the mind, the sim- ple theme is not itself sufficient to keep the mind working ; for to begin at once to write upon this subject, is prepos- terous ; to catch up an idea, or half idea, and compose an edifying discourse upon it, without more study and reflec- tion, is to heap up words without wisdom. After obtaining the theme, the first thing to do is to learn something about it; to read, to investigate, to study upon § 7. METHOD OF COMPOSING A SERMON. 67 it ; to draw out from the best sources, and all sources, the real knowledge of the subject; to recall, revolve, and de- velop it by patient thought. The thorough stuchj of the Word of God is always thus a primary work, in order to get at the right inter j)retation of the passage, and to gain a clear idea of its contents ; and then the particular truth thus evolved, the idea which is contained within the text, may be taken out of its connection with the text, and con- ceived of in its wider relations ; and not only the reasons for, but the objections that may be brought against it, may be contemplated. The subject should be looked at in its whole length and depth ; all the possible side-light should be let in ; and thus the mind works in and through it till the whole is leavened, till the simple thought is fully developed. All this, perhaps, may be done (if one is preparing a written sermon) without putting pen to paper; for the great thing is to get the mind thoroughly aroused, every faculty of it, and all directed to one particular object. This is the momentum which is required to carry one through. And this should not be a merely intellectual excitement ; it should be the stirring of the depths of the nature and of the soul. "A purely intellectual force may arrest and inter- est an audience, but taken by itself it cannot persuade their wills or melt their hearts. The best sermons of a preacher \ are generally those composed under the impulse of a lively state of religious feeling."^ When one is ready to compose his sermon, the books he has read, the commentaries he has consulted, the notes he has made, might be laid aside for a little while, in order to give the mind time to recover its independent tone and action, and to think for itself. At this stage, we would suggest that one should rapidly write down his ideas, and the thoughts he has collected together or originated upon the subject, however diverse ' Shedd's Homiletics, p. 131. 68 PREACHING. from each other, and without any particular regard to con- nection or arrangement ; say to one's self, " What definite thoughts, after all this study and investigation, have I really gathered on this subject?" If there is anything so gained, no matter what it is, let him put it down ; and these more or less disconnected thoughts will form the nucleus of the sermon, out of which order will finally spring: this is the first step out of confusion towards order ; and in this process the inner connections of ideas will bemn to manifest them- selves more clearly. By this time (and this may not be a long time) one is ready to form something like a plan, because now he has the materials to do it with. No true sermon springs out V of a plan, but a plan springs out of study and thought, and is only a help in the orderly development of a sermon. The difficulty concerning a plan has generally arisen from supposing that inspiration comes from the plan. Not at all ; it is hut an aid to guide and harmonize thought, not an original source of thought; and we would therefore not entirely dispense with a plan ; for both nature and reason teach us that it is indispensable. Is not creation — God's discourse — carried out on a plan? So every true work should have a plan, an inner unity, some one idea to be developed, some one aim to be attained ; and that should guide and shape every subordinate detail, to the furthest and minutest ramification of the theme. In the mean time, the mind is busy in moulding and fusing what has been thus thrown together in some degree of just quantity and proportion ; and truly it were well if the ordering, guiding, and illumining Spirit were invoked to one's aid. The religious energies should have ample opportunity to warm and act upon the subject-matter of thought, and the mind should be kindled with the love of Christ, and filled with the truth ; for no sermon should be written without prayer, since no true sermon, even if it is not divinely originated and inspired, should fail § 7. METHOD OF COMPOSING A SERMON. 69 to be guided by the spirit of divine wisdom, truth, and grace. Then taking hold of it with interest and with absorbed attention (for preaching, above all things, comes under the nihil invitd Minervd), one should compose as rapidly as possible, with a glow of mind, without the least constraint or care for rhetorical rules, not stopping for a moment to correct or improve. This rapidity is important for the unity and life of a discourse ; for let the gold simmer ever so long, at last it should run out in a continuous stream. J. W. Alexander says, "If I have ever written anything acceptably, it has been with a free pen, and from a full heart. Write with great rapidity whatever occurs to you. This you may methodize afterward."^ T\\& finishing of a sermon is a matter requiring more care, time, and deliberation. Lord Brougham wrote the perora- tion of his argument on the trial of Queen Caroline twenty times; and even a genius like Goethe said that "nothing came to him in his sleep." Now, is it said, Would you set this forth as the invariable method of making a sermon, or of preparing to preach? By no means. That is but one method, and it has a more particular and distinct reference to the written discourse. Different men have different ways of preparation for preaching ; let each one follow his own method. We throw this out only as a hint toward some practical method of proceeding to make a sermon, since the question is frequently asked by the theological student, " How shall I go to work to write a sermon ? " But when the sermon is finished by the exercise of one's best powers, let it be finished, and let not the mind continually worry itself because it has not reached its ideal. Apelles, the ancient Greek painter, said " he knew when to leave off — an art that Protogenes did not know." One's aim may be high, but when he has made an honest effort to reach it he • Thoughts on Preaching, p. 7. ^ 70 PREACHING. should be satisfied ; for the mind may get absolutely mor- bid upon this point, and may maunder and complain over its imperfect productions, when the manlier way is to say nothing, and to write better sermons. § 8. Sermons classified according to their MetJiod of Delivery. Sermons classified simply in regard to their mode of delivery are, written, memoriter, and extempore; and to beoin with that method which is considered to be the least commendable, — 1. Memoriter preaching. Memoriter preaching, called sometimes "reciting," was never so much in favor in this country as in England and Scotland ; for it has the disadvantages of the written method, without securing the advantages of the extempo- raneous method. It is the written method, though appar- ently unwritten; one is' confined, though seemingly free; he is attempting two processes at once — that of remem- bering and delivering ; and this real want of freedom will surely make itself manifest, if in no other way, by the ab- stracted expression of the eyes, gazing at vacancy, by which it will be soon discovered that the preacher is "reading from his memory." There is more honesty and power in openly delivering the sermon from the manuscript ; for the secret being out that one is speaking from memory, the virtue has departed from the discourse. Yet it may be said in favor of memoriter preaching, that it serves to correct the written style. One readily discov- ers, in delivering the sermon away from the manuscript, whatever is stifl' and essayish in it, whatever is not suited to be spoken, whatever cannot be delivered easily and natu- rally. Hagenbach indeed recommends the memoriter style first of all, the written next, and the extempore not at all ; and it is interesting to notice what Dr. Samuel Hopkins § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS — MEMOEITER. 71 says of Jonathan Edwards's preaching : " He was wont to read so considerable a part of what he delivered, yet he was far from thinking this the best way of preaching in general, and looked upon using his notes so much as he did a deficiency and infirmity ; and in the latter part of his life he was inclined to think it would have been better if he had never been accustomed to use his notes at all. It appeared to him that preaching wholly without notes, agreeably to the custom in most Protestant countries, and in what seems evidently to have been the manner of the apostles and primitive preachers of the gospel, was by far the most natural way, and had the greatest tendency, on the whole, to answer the end of preaching ; and supposed that no one who had talents equal to the work of the min- istry was incapable of speaking memor^7er, if he took suit- able pains for this attainment in his youth. He would have the young preacher write all his sermons, or, at least, most of them, out, at large; and instead of reading them to his hearers, take pains to commit them to memory ; which, though it would require a great deal of labor at first, yet would soon become easier by use, and help him to speak more correctly and freely, and be of great service to him all his days."' In memoriter preaching, if one can overcome the nervous fear of breaking down, he has certainly gained accuracy of language and deliberation of thought, and he can look an audience in the face and be free in his action. Some men of remarkable memories have succeeded in that style of preaching, and it is wonderful how a verbal memory may be cultivated. It is, at least, a great acquisition to a min- ister to have his memory stored with passages of Scrip- ture. Even if a minister adopts a written, rather than a memoriter style, he should be thoroughly familiar with his manuscript, so that it amounts to a memoriter style. Scotch ' Works of Jonathan Edwards, London ed., p. ccxxxi. 72 PREACHING. preachers call this method "mandating" — a process which, it is said, may be heard going on with great energy in a Scotch parsonage every Saturday uight. Reinhard early adopted the memoriter style. His reasons for it, strongly urged, may be found in his "Letters on Preaching." But, notwithstanding all that may be said in its favor, "we cannot heartily recommend this style, for, in addition to the objec- tions already stated, there are these : that by repeating his sermon so many times, in order to commit it, one will be apt to get tired of it ; the fire and energy will be taken out of it ; a great deal of time is also consumed ; and, after all, it is quite impossible to conceal the idea that it has been written, and thus the air of delivering a thoughtful sermon as if it were composed on the spot will have a shade of in- sincerity. But all these objections may vanish in particular cases. 2. Written Sermons. As to the written sermon, though mostly a modern usage, — for Tillotson may be said to be the originator of the regu- lar custom of j)reachiug written sermons in the English pul- pit,— we nevertheless conclude that, with many ministers, it must and should continue to form the staple method of preaching; for all men have not the mental facility, the linguistic gift, and the cool-headedness, to become good memoriter or extempore preachers. The emotions of some men rise too suddenly, like agitated waves, to permit the calm process of making well-expressed and impromptu sen- tences. Even Demosthenes never ventured upon extempo- raneous speaking, but carefully wrote out all his orations. The subjects which are generally preached upon in the pul- pits of a highly-educated Christian community also require that carefulness of treatment, and that precision of state- ment, which almost necessitate the written discourse ; and it may be added that he who does not write out his sermons will be in danger of rapidly deteriorating as a preacher, and of losing his power of accurate thinking. Writing makes § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS — WRITTEN. 73 a clear style. The man who does not write does not, as a general rule, present his thoughts clearly. Says J. W. Alexander, "The remedy of sterile reverie is the pen. State down every attainment in your thinking by a verbal proposition. The thing of emphasis is the propositional form. We never have the full use of language as an in- strument of thought, unless we cause our thoughts to fall in an assertory shape."' The familiar advice of Cicero, in the thirty-third section of the De Oratore, is, " Caput autem est . . . quam plurimum scribere. Stilus optitnus et prcestantissimus dicendi effector ac magister. . . . Ipsa collatio conformatioque verhorum perjicitur in scribendo, non poetico, sed quodam oratorio numero et modo." Profes- sor Shepard, in his discourse on the Congregational Pulpit, preached at the annual meeting of the American Congre- gational Union, in 1857, makes these strong remarks : " We insist, then, that we are not to cease following the fathers in a fervid use of the pen, more or less, in connection with preparing for the pulpit. Some of them, doubtless, placed too much reliance on it. Some come under a ser- vile bondage to it. But it does not follow from this that our wisdom consists in throwing it wholly away. We have said that some of those writers for the pulpit proved them- selves as among the most effective that ever stood there. They made men see the truth, believe it, confess it, and be Christians. They made them thinkers, reasoners, orators. The sage of Franklin was the teacher of logic to laAvyers. The greatest mathematician of the age was the product of that pulpit; at any rate, he sprang out from before it. In the light of our history we pronounce the clamor raised in some quarters against all writing for the pulpit a miserably shallow and most senseless clamor. The pulpit cannot maintain its moulding efficacy, its ruling position, unless the men thereof are men of the sturdy pen, as well as of * Thoughts on Preaching, pp. 503-506. 7 74 PREACHING. the nimble tongue. People, take them as they rise, are greatly given to be lazy; hard thinking is hard work, and lazy men won't do it if they can help it. Let the mere off- hand be the mode and the law, and we shall have mere flip- pant, off-hand, extemporaneous dribble. It will answer for exhortation, but not for doctrine, for correction, for instruc- tion in righteousness ; the thin liquid flow will do for babes, but it will Jiot support the stomachs of men. There are discourses which ought to be made, but cannot be made in this way; crises, wants, demands, which cannot be wholly met in this way." Funeral discourses, occasional dis- courses, and meditative sermons, cannot possibly be con- structed in this off-hand way. Besides these reasons, which have chiefly regard to the preacher himself, habit may so form a congregation, that they may be as readily and deeply moved by a written dis- course as by a freer extemporaneous one. There have been revivals under written sermons, as well as under extem- pore sermons ; among Congregationalists as well as among Metho(,lists. Dr. Chalmers did not seem to lose much b}'- written sermons ; and now, though dead, he speaks through them. His unsuccessful efibrts at extemporaneous preach- ing are described in Hauua's "Life," vol. i., p. 342. The editor says he found that " the ampler the matter he had prepared, the more difiicult was the utterance. It Avas not easy for him to light at once on words and phrases which could give anything like adequate conveyance to convictions so intense as his were ; and he could not be satisliecl, and with no comfort could he proceed, while an interval so wide remained between the truth as it was felt and the truth as his words had represented it. After a succession of eflbrts, the attempt at extempore preaching was relinquished ; but he carried into his study a secure and effective lodgment of the truth in the minds of others, which had so much to do with the origin of all that amplification and iteration with which his writings abound. In preparing for the pulpit, he § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SEEMONS WRITTEN. 75 scarcely ever sat down to write without the idea of other minds, whom it was his object to impress, being either more distinctly or more latently present to his thoughts ; and he seldom rose from writing without the feeling that still other modes of influential representation remained untried." Here was Dr. Chalmers's security as a preacher of writ- ten sermons, — his earnestness to impress truth on the souls of his hearers. In Scotland there is a strong aversion to what is called " paper ; " but Dr. Chalmers had — so it Avas said by a peasant woman of another Scotch preacher — "a pith wi' his paper." During the delivery of his "Astronom- ical Discourses " on Thursday's during two of the best busi- ness hours of the day, the counting-rooms and coffee-houses were deserted, and from twelve to fifteen hundred business men would crowd into the church, great numbers going away because there was no room. We would add, that even in the most practical light in which this matter can be viewed, the preacher, by skilful management, by gaining a perfect familiarit}^ Avith his manu- script (having it written out in a clear, large, bold hand), and by becoming in some measure independent of the man- uscript, and rising above it, — by filling his mind with the subject-matter, — may be able, in the delivery of the written sermon, to do away almost entirely with the impression that it is not, in form at least, a spontaneous discourse. But the usual awkward and confused maimer of reading written discourses is unendurable. He who has good sight and good memory should deliver his sermon standing erect, as if he had no shred of manuscript before him. To see a preacher of the free gospel with his head continually bent over his sermon, and tied down to his manuscript, as if there were no living audience before him, is certainly a pitiable spectacle. The thing chiefly to be guarded against in a written ser- mon, is writing and delivering it as if it were a literary jprch- duction to he ready instead of an address to be spoken. A 76 PREACHING. sermon, as has been often said, is a discourse addressed to an audience, and is intended to produce a specific efi'ect upon some particular audience. This idea, ever present, will break up the essay-style of written sermons. Let one never think of reading a sermon, but of ])reacJdng it. And even while composing a discourse, the audience should be men- tally in sight. Henry Ward Beecher has somewhere given an interesting account of the first sermon he ever preached, after he had been a preacher some years. The idea that made it a sermon was this : that the living souls before him formed the end of his preaching, — the impressions for life or death produced upon them, — not the sermon itself, which was of little importance. The sermon should be a living word rather than a w^ritten composition ; and he who preaches Christ as the way of justification and eternal life with any of the earnest feeling which such a truth should inspire, will not be a dead preacher, although he preaches written discourses. The mode is not of so much importance as the spirit and substance. A man dying of thirst cares little whether water be brought to him in bare hands or a silver cup. A caution should be given about repeating written sermons. It is too much the habit of preachers to snatch up at the last moment, for an exchange, or for a second preaching, a manuscript sermon, without studying it carefully. Every sermon preached, whether written or unwritten, whether preached the first or the for- tieth time, should be a fresh discourse. There should be not only an intellectual, but a spiritual reproduction of the sermon ; it should be thought out afresh ; it should be re-created ; it should be prayed over and breathed upon by the same intense feeling as that in which it was com- posed. It is seldom, indeed, that an old sermon does not need correction and improvement, and even re-writing ; for one may have gained new thoughts and experiences on the same subject ; at all events, every sermon preached should bear a fresh coinage, and if repeated, it should be re-minted. § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS — EXTEMPORE. 77 3. Extempore Sermons, There is, without doubt, a wide-spread impression, that something is greatly wanting in our preaching, and that there is a decided demand for more of practical efiectiveness, sim- plicity, and common interest, in this part of divine service. No thought or logic can make up for the lack of that which excites a real interest in the audience. There is an ill-con- ■ cealed restlessness under the formal style of sermonizing ; the thought is too abstract ; it wearies the common mind, and is out of the range of our usual habits of thinking ; also it is not sufficiently spiritual, and nourishing to the spiritual nature, and people neither understand it nor are editied by it. When preaching " loses out of it the elements of popu- larity," it is useless and dead. Luther said, "I would not bave preachers torment their hearers with long and tedious preaching. When I am in the pulpit, I regard neither doc- tors nor magistrates, of whom about forty are in the church ; but I have an eye to the multitudes of young people, chil- dren, and servants, of whom there are about two thousand." This want has of late been sought to be met by a " sen- sational " style of preaching ; but this is not its remedy, for charlatanism in the pulpit cannot long maintain its influ- ence. A partial remedy of this want would doubtless be in the introduction of a more natural style of preaching, like Luther's, in which the man speaks himself out more freely ; and the question thus arises : would not the more general cultivation of the extemporaneous style of sermonizing tend to make preaching more natural, free, and popularly inter- esting? It is certainly well for younger ministers to hear the mutterings of the coming storm, and to direct their attention to this inquiry. Many preachers, who have pro- duced the profoundest results, have been extempore preach- ers; these have been preachers not only like Whitefield, Nettleton, Spurgeon, and Newman Hall, — men of that type, — but Fen^lon, Eobert Hall, Schleiermacher, F. W. Robertson ; men of a thoughtful and philosophical character 7* 78 PREACHING. of mind. F. W. Robertson's most finished sermons were preached from "a few words pencilled on a visiting card." Schleiermacher, in the latter years of his life, did not put pen to paper before preaching, but would stand for hours lean- ing out of a window, meditating his discourse.^ There is something in the London Baptist apostle's audiences of eight to ten thousand hearers, composed of all classes of society, high and low, which should set us thinking where his power lies. The reformers, Luther, Calvin, Knox, and their contemporaries, as well as the early fathers, the preachers of the primitive church, and the apostles them- selves, doubtless, preached extemporaneously. It may be hard for one who has formed the habit of preaching from notes to change his style, although Albert Barnes became an extemporaneous preacher at sixty, and is said never to have preached so powerfully ; but for persons entering upon the ministry, and who are determined to avail themselves of all the power which an extemporaneous style, or any other, may give, it seems to be a duty manfully to grapple with this question. There are certainly strong arguments in favor of extem- pore preaching : (1.) It stimulates the ])reaclier. It Avakes him up. It makes him a quick thinker. It makes him master of his mental powers. It goads him by the presence and sympathy of an expectant audience. It often originates new thoughts of living power, that could not have come into the mind in the calm silence of the study. (2.) It breaks up a stiff , artificial style. Gossner, quoted by Hagenbach, said, "He who is a true preacher is not obliged first to meditate and conceive at a writing-desk what he has to say, but with trustful courage to mount the pulpit and speak, even as, on the day of Pentecost, fiery tongues, not writing pens, fell from heaven on the apostles." ' Hagenbach's Grundlinien, Lit. und Horn., p. 137. § 8. CLASSIFICATIOX OT SERMONS — EXTEMPORE. 79 In extempore speaking, the preacher learns to go at once to the heart of things, and to express himself in a direct manner. He thus acquires a manly straightforwardness. The elaborate beauties and fastidious elegances of a highly rhetorical style are inconsistent with extempore speaking. Extempore speaking tends also to the concrete rather than the abstract; to vivid manifestation and iUustration of thought, rather than technical reasoning. It is less philo- sophical, but has more of flesh and blood in it ; it makes the hearer thrill with something that is taken from the hour in which he lives, the thought his heart is busy with, and the work his hands are glowing with. (3.) It is adapted to produce immediate effect. It ena- bles the speaker thus to feel the pulse of an audience, t(^ meet its exact wants, and to judge of its state by those fine and delicate signs which a skilful extemporaneous preadier learns to detect. It gives the impression that one is jr'eally talking to the audience before him, and to no other. /Hence extemporaneous preaching is peculiarly adapted to |^imes of revival ; and it is a strong argument in its favor*, that it does unconsciously take the place of other methods in times of real urgency. i (4.) It has more of outward and inward freedom^ It gives plaj^ to the eye, the arm, the finger, the whole body, and also to the subtler motions of the soul ; so that the whole man becomes an instrument for God's Spirit to speak through men. Then speech is electric; then there can be "eloquence." And perhaps the highest conceivable effi- ciency of the orator and of the preacher has been brought out in extemporaneous speech. Though every speaker is not capable of eloquence, every true preacher has probably done Ms best at a moment when he was free, when the pressure was on him, when he must speak or die, and when to his own apprehension, it may be, he is making the most entire and conclusive failure. But the people at once see the difference between what is free and what is artificial — 80 PREACHING. between sincerity and false confidence. Once let it be understood that the strait-jacket has been thrown off", that the soul acts unrestrainedly, and the congregation feels it and rejoices in it. In this method, the preacher is able to use whatever thought occurs to him at the moment. He is not prevented by fears that it will spoil the unity of his sermon. Locke says, "Thoughts are best which drop into the mind." With all previous preparation, room, nevertheless, should be left in extemporaneous speaking for purely new thoughts — thoughts which literally occur at the moment. Sometimes one may change the whole current of his discourse, and dwell upon a thought as the main thought, which he in- tended to make only a side thought, or, perhaps, not to introduce at all ; and this is the ideal of extemporaneous preaching : not often reached, it is true, but sometimes reached, when the speaker is inspired with perfect freedom of utterance. (5.) It enables one to use a more conversatiotial style, both of thought and delivery. This, perhaps, is the great- est advantage of the extemporaneous method, that it serves to abolish a strained style, which supposes certain circum- stances, and certain characters, and certain antagonisms, and certain wants, that do not exist in an audience, — - — in which style one may write, but cannot talk, — and tends to make preaching more like ordinary conversation, without at the same time losing its dignity. Let a man talk to his audience, and if he does sensibly and earnestly, every one will listen ; just as everybody will listen to any man who converses well. The moment a preacher ceases declaiming, and begins talking, every one wakes up. That is the power of many of our greatest living orators, both clerical and secular. These men do not talk spasmodic nonsense, but their " forte " lies in uttering fresh and sub- stantial thought in the natural language of ordinary and earnest conversation among men ; they talk to an audience § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS — EXTEMPORE. 81 as one clever mau talks to another ; they gradually bring an audience into their own way of thinking by thus stooping to conquer. This style, when kept free from familiarity or lowness, is the perfection of close, atiectionate, reasonable, interesting, and effective preaching. We remember an extemporaneous sermon preached by the French Eomau Catholic Bishop of Quebec. His discourse was, for the most part, in its substance and doctrine, sheer Mariolatry ; 3^et the immense assembly hung entranced on his words, as he stood, simply erect, without gesture, his hands laid passively on the cushion before him, while he talked in a natural tone, in plain but beautifully-flowing periods, and without hesitation. It was like listening to a strain of pleasing music, with nothing highly wrought, but bearing the minds of the hear- ers steadily upon its even, calm, and rapid flow. It was not eloquence, but it was nevertheless potent to hold a great multitude in rapt attention, and by its simple charm of natural, unaffected, fluent speech, to command and sway men's minds. If extemporaneous speaking tends to bring about this result, viz., to put preachers en rapport with their congre- gations, we would say. Let every preacher who can do so begin at once to practise it, even if it cost him a complete revolution of his mental habits. Better live in a cave six months, until he has become master of his own faculties of mind and body, than to be a dead preacher, who cannot, with all his writing, reasoning, and preaching, reach an audience or a soul. But extemporaneous preaching should be of the right kind — not the semblance and sham. What^ then, is ex- tempore preaching f True extempore preaching is trusting to the moment of speaking for the Jorm of words in which the thought is expressed. That is all. The carrying of the idea beyond that leads to fanaticism and absurdity. Extemporaneous 82 PREACHING. speaking has relation to the language more than to the thought; it is catching the inspiration "ex tempore" — from the present moment — for the mode of uttering that which is already clear in the mind. Extempore preaching is not unpremeditated preaching. If extempore preaching is made to refer to the speaking of totally unpremeditated thought, as well as language, we would have none of it. Thus purely extempore speaking is out of the question, except in regard to brief expressions of thought and feel- ing which occur spontaneously in the excitation of the mind upon a particular theme, and do so sometimes in a written as well as an extempore discourse. Schleiermacher, although he preached extemporaneously, said, "Before going into the pulpit, the sermon, as a whole, — that is, the separate thoughts in their relation to all the members, and to the whole, — should be clearl}^ in the mind."^ The argument sometimes used for not making a faithful preparation for preaching — that God will now, as in apostolic times, put into the mouth of preachers the words they shall utter — is, at least, highly irreverent. It is also a false view of Scripture, and only an excuse for indolence. There is a kind of inspiration, which, at favored moments, comes upon true preachers, in which they do be- come the mouthpieces of God's Spirit ; but this is a very difierent thing from that audacious assumption that God will inspire one at the moment with just what he should say. Bautaiu's definition of extempore speaking is this : "Extemporization consists of speaking on the first impulse ; that is to say, without a preliminary arrangement of phrases. It is the instantaneous manifestation, the expression, of an actual thought, or the sudden explosion of a feeling or mental movement. It is very evident that extemporization can act only on the form of ivords.'"^ a. ' Hagenbach, Grund. Lit. unci Horn., p. 137. * Bautain on Extemp. Speaking, p. 3. § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SEEMOJSTS — EXTEJIPORE. 83 We will give a few jpracticdl hints for extemporaneous speaking. (a.) Train yourself to tJiinh without luriting. This power of mental abstraction, or what Dr. Brown calls "the imperial presence of mind," is the source of extempore speaking, which has its spring in the thinking faculty. Mental discipline tells on the power of extemporaneous speech. One should have some logical and theological training before he can speak clearly on divine themes ; for "that which is well conceived is clearly enunciated," says Bautain. The real ability for extemporaneous speaking- comes from having clear ideas, not merely from having the faculty of language. It did not require much prepa- ration for Luther, nor, in more modern times, Eobert Hall and John Wesley, to preach on any subject connected with divine truth. These men were always searching into divine truth ; their minds were working constantly upon these great subjects ; they could preach every day, and every hour almost, as Luther and Calvin did. And so it may be with any man who is a working and growing theolo- gian, and who has cultivated a homiletical habit of mind. Such a man's actual preparation for speaking may be brief. But one, unless he is peculiarly gifted in this respect, when beginning to speak extemporaneously, should make careful and particular preparation for it. (p.) One should think through the subject beforehand. The foundations should be laid firm and deep. There should be no indefiuiteness or obscureness here. Never trust to the inspiration of the moment for the solid parts of the discourse — the main ideas, the arguments, the proofs, the conclusions. These should be thoroughly arranged in the mind. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that extempore preaching will succeed without such previous study ; here is the mistake that has lain at the root of failure in extem- pore speaking. Bautain makes a great deal of what he calls the " main idea ; " there must be this inain idea in 84 PREACHING. every living discourse, and this should be fixed firmly in the speaker's mind. It will form its own plan, and every detail will group itself naturally about this principal idea. This sustains all, and must never for a moment be lost sight of. "Nothing," says Bautain, "is so fatal to extemporiza- tion as this wretched facilit}^ of the mind for losing itself in details, and neglecting the main point." One should also avoid the common error, in extemporaneous speaking, of talking a great deal about unessentials ; of introducing long and stereotyped phrases of parliamentary or argumen- tative persiflage as to what he intends to prove or say. (c.) Prepare beforehand, either mentally or on paper, the actual wording of your main proposition and the prin- cipal divisions, and j^^rhaps of some of the most impor- tant passages. It may be recommended, indeed, to some beginners to combine the two methods of the written and extemporaneous sermon; i. e., to write a good portion of the sermon, — the body of the sermon, — and trust the rest to the utterance of the moment. The illustrations, for example, may be given extemporaneously, and will gain decidedly in freedom, Aavidness, and life. But per- haps it is best at first to write out the sermon altogether, and then destroy it. That will have aroused and clarified the mind ; the subject will have become a familiar road for the mind to travel ; by and by one can diminish, or give up altogether, the written preparation. The German preach- ers pursue this method of previously writing their sermons, and then preaching them without the manuscript. The Welsh do it also, and they are remarkable preachers. This, in fact, is F. B. Zincke's famous plan or method of making an extemporary preacher. He says, "Nor will the practice of extemporary preaching deprive a man of the advantage of attaining to that accuracy which is a result of written composition. I am addressing myself to those who have energy enough to persevere for some years, or for whatever time may be required, in the practice of carefully compiling §8. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS — EXTEMPORE. 85 their sermons during the week, and then preaching them extemporarily on Sunday. The time will come when full notes, containing only the more important parts in extenso, will be sufficient, and at last nothing more, in most cases, be needed than such a sketch as may be written on one side of half a sheet of note paper, the rest of the study being carried on mentally, or without the aid of writing. I sup- pose that for several years more or less of writing Avill be necessary, because that alone will demonstrate to the preacher that he has mastered the subject, and properly arranged his materials, and so will enable his mind to rest on the fact that it has already produced what it now has only to reproduce in the pulpit. And I can imagine per- sons preferring to the last to write very full abstracts of what they intend to say, and doing this from a religious regard for their work. A sermon, such persons will feel, is too important a work, too much depends upon it, to jus- tify the preacher in leaving anything to the chances of the moment. This must be done to some extent in a debate, and it may be done generally in secular oratory, when the main object is to please ; but it is irreverent and unwise to trust in this way to the moment for the matter or arrange- ment of a sermon. It will, therefore, I think, be better that the preacher, however practised, should never wholly lay aside the pen."i Zincke considers extemporary preach- ing, instead of being the easiest, to be the most laborious style to attain ; he labored for it through a number of years. He was driven to do so through poignant shame at the indolent ease of reading written sermons, and their comparatively small effect upon the audience. He made it a conflict, a long and sore struggle, to overcome the marked inaptitude of his own nature and mental habits for extem- pore preaching, because he wished to make the most of himself as a preacher, and to be faithful in his work. For a ' The Duty and Discipline of Extemporary Preaching, p. 33. 8 86 PREACHING. long period, therefore, he gave his earnest study to the com- position of his sermons ; he wrote them out fully, and re- wrote them ; though in the pulpit he entirely discarded notes, and spoke from a thorough preparation and a full mind. Into the pulpit itself, Dr. J. W. Alexander advises, "carry not a scrap of paper. But if a little schedule would give more confidence at first, take it." We should say, quite de- cidedly, take into the ipuljpit a written sermon, or noticing. One can learn to swim only in the water. Bautaiu is strongly opposed to making use of any notes in extempora- neous speaking ; he does not even think that the advice of Cicero should be regarded. Dr. Mcllvaine says, "Use no notes." Dr. J. W. Alexander's advice is, "Prepare no words beforehand." (c?.) Cultivate tJie faculty of expression. "For you must not," says Bautain, "grope for your words while speaking, under the penalty of braying like a donkey, which is the death of a discourse." Not only the power of thinking, but the power of uttering, is to be cultivated ; and to have this power — never to be at a loss for the fit word — this itself is a noble accomplishment. The faculty of expression is a part of clerical education that has been too much neglected. Pitt used to translate aloud, in a running' method, from foreign languages, being critical in the choice of his words ; Cicero's method was to read an author, and then repeat the author's thoughts in his own words. The principle of association is a great law of facile expression ; for one may accustom himself to remember what he has to say even by a word in each proposition or division, — by some word naturally suggested from the text itself; but it is better to remember by the association of ideas, than of words. There is, per- haps, no better way of cultivating the power of expression, than by cultivating the habit of conversing with facility y accuracy, and correctness. Let no one allow himself to converse loosely, vaguely, or incoherently, — avoiding both undue precision and undue laxness. Yet there is a certain § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS — EXTEMPORE. 87 mere facility of expression, or fluency, which may become a dangerous gift to a speaker. It serves him in the j)hice of thought, and it will be soon discovered to his injury. It also tends to destroy his power, by giving him an appearance of arrogance, or a dictatorial manner. More of humility, and hesitancy of speech, is sometimes efiective in a young speaker. What have been called "fluent, complacent, me- chanical utterances " are not enough for the pulpit. (e.) Make a beginning at once. Stand not shivering on the brink. Eloquent speaking is gained by always working and striving for the power of free and forceful utterance, and by giving one's whole attention to it, — by coming up to it again and again, even if one fails at first. It is doing it, and not preparing to do it. Robert Hall, at an earlier day, as well as some distinguished extemporaneous preach- ers of the present day, made, it is said, miserable failures at first in attempting extemporaneous addresses. (y.) Do not choose too easy or familiar subjects. This is a common error. The mind should be interested in the development of some new and specific truth, in which it may be thoroughly roused and tasked. ((/.) Look beyond and above the opinion of men ujpon your preaching . To speak extemporaneously, one must have courage. Let one think more of his duty than of his reputation. If one has this spirit, he will not be disheart- ened at a blunder, nor even if he now and then breaks down. A little incorrectness of language, or halting hesi- tation, in extempore speaking, is of small importance, and will not be censured by the audience so much as the speak- er imagines — especially if they see he is in earnest. A modern writer well says of a young speaker, " Sometimes a momentary pause — a hesitation to collect the thought and utter the right word — is a becoming act of deference to an intellio-ent audience."^ One who has "a mission to teach" * Essays on Social Subjects, from Saturday Review- 88 PREACHING. is apt to forget that " reserve is an element of strength." It is better not to be always finished and polished. A rough, ragged, imperfectly expressed remark, boldly thrown out and left, is sometimes more suggestive to the hearers mind than the most elaborate paragraph. One should not go back to improve a sentence in extemporaneous speaking. Let him press on boldly to the end, no matter how he comes out. But as the undue fear of man vanishes, so much of the imaginary difficulty of extempore speaking vanishes. If a great part of extemporaneous speaking consists in preserv- ing one's presence of mind, what will better enable one to do this than to look beyond man to God ? (/i.) 3Iingle the written and extem^poraneous methods. Let one preach a written sermon in the morning, and an extemporaneous one in the afternoon ; and let him never think of writing out his weekly lectures, or other public ad- dresses. But a man who does not write much cannot speak well ; therefore it is usually recommended to pursue both methods. Yet, if one will continue to write and study care- fully, and not let down his literary standard, but be con- stantly advancing it, then he may, and perhaps should, strive to make himself altogether an extemporaneous preacher. Only let him not get too easy an idea of extemporary preach- ing ; to be of the right kind, it is the hardest of all. If he can attain to it, it will keep his mind and body fresh ; he will not become the slave of his desk ; he will be released from the immense manual labor of writing so much, and from leaving behind him a thousand sermons stored away in a barrel in the garret, to be devoured, not by admiring men, but by mice. All that he esteems valuable in his ser- mons he can save and write out after preaching, which was Kobert Hall's and F. W. Robertson's method. Professor Park remarks that two hundred good sermons are enough to leave for a long life. (^.) Cultivate oratorical delivery. Here elocution is of § 8. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS — EXTEMPORE. 89 great importance. The written sermon depends much for its interest upon its carefully condensed thought ; but the extempore speaker must have everything in himself: he must have the charms of good delivery, the trained voice, the natural gesture, and the dignified and expressive atti- tude. He needs all the helps that can be given by the eye, the hand, the " eloquence of the body ; " for it is with him good delivery or nothing. He should acquire a clear, dis- tinct articulation, rising and falling naturally with the thought ; varied and yet even ; neat and yet capable of feel- ing, and of vehement, rending force ; and, above all, free from tones of earthly passion, and breathing pure, holy, spiritual emotions. The preacher may be his own master of delivery and elocution teacher. It is thought, chiefly, that does this. It is said that Macready studied the play of Hamlet seven years before he felt himself equal to act it. Every sentence, every word, every syllable, had received thought, so that he was able to bring out its full meaning in delivery, to give it its efliective emphasis, to be the vehicle of the spirit's winged words. This is an intense, unsettled age. Men are full of restless thought, movement, and inquiry. Those who would influ- ence the age must think quickly and act boldly. We are bound to try every method, to strain every nerve, to be preachers equal to the demands of the time, and to seize its opportunities. If we imitate our true model, Christ, we shall be willing to lose ourselves, in order to gain the great end for which the gospel was given — to win men to a higher life. As ministers of Christ, we are to have really but one business in life, and that should be done well. Oar business is to ]}reacli the gosjpel; to preach it successfully; to sufier no personal inconvenience, or indolence, or dead theory, to stand for a moment in the way of a living and life-giving ministry. "Xe^ the dead bury their dead^ but go thou and preach the kingdom of God''' 90 PREACHING. § 9. Sermons classified according to their Method of Treatment, We have spoken of the classification of sermons according to their more external method of delivery ; we now refer to the classification of sermons in regard especially to their internal character and treatment. In no part of the science of Homiletics (if it be a science) is there more of confusion than in the attempt of authors to classify sermons according to their intrinsic design and character. Every writer has a system of his own ; therefore we have not thought it worth the while to enter largel}'^ into this matter of classification, but simply to name a few of the principal classes of ser- mons, and to treat of these incidentally, as they come up afterward, in describing more particularly the composition of a sermon. As an example of the great fertility of analysis in this field, we quote "Gerard and Campbell's" list of difierent kinds of sermons, as chiefly adopted by Dr. Fitch. 1. Critical expository lecture, on a text diflicult of exposition. 2. Prac- tical ex'pository lecture, on a text not so diiEcult of exposi- tion. 3. Explanatory sermon; in other words, "instructive" and "explicator3\" 4. Biorjraphical sermon; in other words, "commendatory," "panegyrical." 5. Particidar demon- strative, setting forth some one act or quality of a good life. 6. General demonstrative, presenting the sum of virtues of one life. 7. Argumentative; in other words, " convictive" or " probatory." 8. Pathetic, presenting motives without par- ticular reference to duties. 9. General persuasive ; a duty enforced by fit motives. 10. Particular persuasive ; a duty enforced by some one motive taken for text, etc., etc. Dr. Fitch, however, thinks that all sermons, in respect of their method of treatment, may be comprehended under the three simple divisions of Explanatory , Argumentative, and Per- suasive sermons. While he thinks that, on the whole, the § 9. CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS, CONTINUED. 91 topical or synthetic form of a sermon is the most profitable, he is in favor of variety in the forms of presenting divine truth, and even of variety in the treatment of a particular passage or text, sometimes taking the explanatory form, sometimes the argumentative. He is of the opinion that the explanatory form allows of the greatest range and scope of thought, being not merely confined to the explanation of a text, but of a given truth or doctrine drawn from a text. It addresses the understanding rather than the passions, and is the ordinary method of laying open the vast treasures of scriptural truth to the human mind. Discourses relating to life and character' are difficult, but profitable as setting forth truth "in living characters." The great danger is in over- stepping the strict bounds of truth. Argumentative dis- courses Dr. Fitch considers to be best for young writers, for youth is the argumentative age, and such discourses are the most easily susceptible of unity of treatment. But stiff, scholastic forms of argumentation should be avoided ; the logic should be animated with sentiment and feeling. The unity of the Persuasive discourse consists not so much in having one subject or argument, as in having one tendency in the various parts to affect the will and feelings. We would offer the following more simple classification of ser- mons in relation to their mode of treatment : — 1. As depending upon the manner of treating the text: (a.) textual; (b.) tojjical; (c.) ex])ository, or exegetical- expository. 2. As depending upon the manner of treating the sub- ject: (a.) doctrinal; (b.) ethical; (c.) 7netaphysical ; (d.) histoincal. 3. As depending upon the general rhetorical treatment: (a.) argumentative ; (b.) meditative ; (c.) desci-i^ptive ; (d.) hortatory. "We will not enter now into the particular discussion of these different kinds of sermons, as something more will be said on this point under the head of the "Development" of a Sermon. 92 PEE ACHING. One sermon sometimes, in fact, combines all, or nearly all, the characteristics of treatment which have been men- jtioned; although generally in one sermon some one quality, or some one characteristic of matter or form, decidedly pre- dominates, which gives it its stamp ; but even the simple classification which has been made shows the great variety there may be in the treatment of religious truth from the pulpit. A preacher, from his peculiar character of mind, may naturally fiill into one habitual kind of discourse, say the doctrinal ; l)ut he should guard himself agaiust too great a uniformity. He should seek variety. He should not always preach argumentative sermons, dealing only with rio:orous loiric ; but he should now and then write an his- torical or illustrative discourse, expounding and enriching his theme with the fruits of learning, extensive reading, and the study of human nature. Here the imagination has scope. The laoral-descriptive sermon has gone too much out of use. Tw^o of the noblest and most interesting of Dr. Fitch's dis- courses are "on the sacrifice of Isaac." They abound in eloquent descriptive writing, in which tiie picture is wrought to the highest degree of the morally picturesque. The conversation between Abraham and Isaac, and the thoughts of Abraham, as the father and child climb Mount Moriah, are imagined with great pathos and power, and every minute circumstance in the narrative is seized upon and enlarged with the greatest dramatic skill. This is a legiti- mate use of art. Such sermons can never be forgotten by those who have heard them. Power is lost by confining ourselves too exclusively to the didactic and argumentative style, and not taking advantage of the rich narrative, poetic, and dramatic portions of the Bible. The textual, or, more strictly, textual-expository sermon, where the lesson of the text, or the idea contained in the passage, is grasped and developed, in addition to the simple explanation of the passage, is, perhaps, the best style of preaching. This combines analysis and synthesis. The method of continu- § 10. PAETS OF A SERMON. 93 ous exposition of the Scriptures in some regular course of pulpit instruction is a good plan, and is also, as we have seen, a very ancient method of preaching. Some such method of reading and expounding the Scriptures in course as exists in the English and Lutheran churches, under the system of " the Christian year," is worthy of attention ; for a minister should have some thoug-htful and regular system in his preaching, in order to present to his people as much of inspired truth as possible, and to bring forth from his treasury ^Hhings new and old.^^ SECOND DIYISIOK THE ANALYSIS OF A SEEMON. § 10. Parts of a Sermon. Undek this head we refer to those constituent elements of a discourse which demand attention while in the j^^'ocess of constructing a sermon. These, however, need not be distinctly and formally expressed in every sermon ; but they belong to the essential structure, the osseous frame- work, of ever}'^ intelligible discourse, which must be made conformable to the laws of the human mind. In any formal address we cannot dispense with such grand divisions as the Introduction, the Argument, and the Conclusion; for every true discourse must have at least a beginning, a middle, and an end ; and the beginning and end are naturally of less dimensions than the middle. In like manner every human frame has a head, body, and extremities ; every rock has a foot, middle, and summit; every tree has a root, trunk, and crown. 1 ^ Hagenbacb's Grundlinien Lit. und Horn. / 94 PREACHING. Vinet's analysis of a sermon, in his Homiletics, is some- what technical, and comprises the following parts : 1. The Subject or the Text. 2. The Homily or Paraphrase. 3. The Matter. 4. The Explication. 5. The Proof. A less formal and technical, yet plainer and more ex- tended analysis, wonld be the following, which we shall adopt: 1. The Text. 2. The Introduction. 3. The Ex- planation. 4. The Proposition. 5. The Division. 6. The Development. 7. The Conclusion. This general method of partitioning a sermon varies in different sermons. It depends, in fact, upon the nature of the discourse itself, which develops its outward form accord- ing to its own internal law, and has, or should have, one individual organic unity. It is our intention to exhibit, not the invariable form of every individual sermon, but rather the parts that legiti- mately enter into, and that generally should and do enter into, the composition of a well-constructed sermon. We shall try to present the ideal sermon in all its parts ; and although the logical method of partition is regarded, yet it is chiefly the rhetorical, or the practical, or, more truly still, the natural order that will guide us ; for, to use Vinet's words, " the dj^namical is preferable to the mechanical style of sermon." § 11. The Text. The text — from texo, "to weave," or textus, a "web," — is that which forms the "Aveb," or "tissue," or "main thread," of the discourse. The "text" of a sermon is, of course, some genuine word of Scripture ; although the Bible itself, as a whole, is, par eminence, "the Text." As to the scriptural authority for the use of texts in preaching, we certainly find some reason for the general' principle of employing a portion of Scripture as the ground- § 11. THE TEXT. 95 work of discourse, in the Old Testament, us in Nehemiah 8:8; and also in the New Testament, in our Lord's exam- ple in Luke 4 : 16-27, and in the example of the apostles in Acts 13 : 15-44, and Acts 15 : 30, and in other places. The basis of the apostles' preaching was usually some les- son read from the law or the prophets ; and as has been said, "even if Christ and his apostles did not strictly conform themselves to the use of texts, it may be answered that they, in their preaching, furnished the texts for us." While the general historical use of texts, or the founding of the sermon directly upon the word of God, is to be traced back to the earliest ages, the use of the single brief text in the more confined manner of our times, as standing for the particular theme of the discourse, is ascribed to the Presbyter Musmus of Marseilles, in the fifth century. It was, however, by no means the uniform custom of preach- ers in the first centuries, nor even down to the time of the Eeformation, to employ specific texts in preaching, although about the time of Luther the custom was quite generally adopted. As to the objections to the use of texts, Vinet himself says (Homiletics, p. 96) that "what gives a Christian character to a sermon is not the use of a text, but the spirit of the preacher." He says also, "The use of iso- lated texts, joined to the necessity of never preaching with- out a text, has certainly, in its rigor and absoluteness, something false, something servile, which narrows the field, confuses the thought, puts restraint upon the individuality of the preacher." ' For a perfect defence of the use of texts, he thinks that every text should contain a complete subject, and every subject should find a complete text. As every sermon, he argues, rests upon a thesis, which is an abstract truth complete in itself; then a text, to be what it ' Homiletics, chap, iii., p. 81. 96 PREACHING. should .be, should contain a perfect theme; and few texts do this. Viuet, however, on the whole, argues for the use of texts, as a custom sanctified by the practice of the church, and as aftbrdiug more advantages than disadvantages. But to bring these objections into a more definite form, — 1. The use of a text 2')reve7its the unify of the discourse. Here the objection rests upon the fact that the sermon is necessarily built upon the rules of classical eloquence — the ancient oration not strictly demanding a text. But this idea of the sermon, even if admissible, was one of later introduction, and did not belong to it originally, and is not essential to it ; its essence being simply an address, aiming to bring the word of God to bear effectively upon the minds and hearts of the people. But even if the sermon be a true oration, it may be said that the orators of antiquity had no infallible truth to speak from as a basis ; if they had pos- sessed this, they would doubtless have reasoned from it. All writings, to them, were of little or no higher authority than their own thoughts ; they had no inspired word of wisdom to draw from. But, as a matter of fact, the prac- tice of speaking from some text, or definite proposition, was frequently the custom of Greek and Eoman orators. Demosthenes almost always spoke upon some special sum- mons, or indictment, or carefully-worded motion, introduced into a deliberative assembly, which served him for a text. And this has continued to be the custom in forensic and parliamentary address formed upon classic models ; men speak to a point of law, a special motion or resolution, or else their speaking lacks definiteness and unity. But we argue further that the true use of the text does promote the unity of a sermon. The main truth of the text, however complex the passage may be, should form the directive and unifying law of the sermon. It is not a true sermon which simply presents the exegesis of the text — which merely explains it ; but that is a true sermon which develops the text, and which is moulded in all its § 11. THE TEXT. 97 parts by one organic principle of life that springs from the inspired word. 2. That the use of a text hampers the discourse. The idea is, that a short text cannot afford enough matter for a long discourse ; and thus the mind of the speaker must be continually fettered by the narrow requirements of his text ; it cannot act with perfect freedom. One answer to this is, that it is a good thing to compel the speaker to concentrate his thoughts and to restrain him- self from rambling discourse. This is not an enfeebling but an enriching process. One goes over less surface, but he sinks deeper. We answer again, that there are few texts which do not contain the substance of more truth and of larger discourse than most men are capable of drawing from them. This objection is founded on the idea that the Scriptures are a book, like a human book, capable of ex- haustion. Besides this, the literal and servile following out of a passage is not required. This following out of a text, word by word, and step by step, without an inner grasp of its meaning, is, after all, but a superficial treatment of it ; it is what Hagenbach calls " mosaic-preaching," or making small bits of sermons on every member of the text, — arranging these along together, sticking them side by side, — and not one sermon, embracing the truth of the whole of it. The text need exert no tyranny over the free thought of him who has comprehended its spirit, and seized upon its true meaning and scope. His mind is inspired and freed, rather than hampered. 3. Texts cannot he found which form jperfect theses for all subjects imj^ortant to he discussed in the pulpit. This is really the main stress of Vinet's objection. We answer that the Bible contains the seeds of all religious truth, or else it is not a suiScient revelation. It may be that the truth is sometimes contained in a concrete form in the Scriptures ; but that is better than an abstract form for the preacher, because it is vital and self-inspiring. It may 98 PREACHING. stand thus as a generic truth that can be analyzed and ap- plied ; or as a specific truth, presenting at least one aspect of the subject, which has a root in the general principle, and which thus legitimately opens to the discussion of the whole theme. All these and other objections will vanish when we re- gard the minister in his true light, as an interpi^eter of the word of God to 7nen. Whether conformed to classical or unclassical rules, the minister's responsibility is to make known to men the will of God, and this will is contained most perfectly in the Scriptures ; and although he may preach the word of God sometimes without taking a text from the Bible, yet so long as he is a minister of the word, he will not find a subject proper to be preached upon, for which he cannot find a legitimate text in the Scriptures. Let us, on the other hand, look at the true design and advantages of the use of texts. They are chiefly fourfold. 1 . The use of the text has the sanction of an ancient and consecrated custoin. It is the way in which the Christian church has been taught the word of God, and the way in which the truth has been preached to men, from the earliest times, and it has therefore accumulated pow^er and solem- nity. What possible gain, then, would there be in cutting loose from this ancient custom of founding the instruction of the pulpit upon a definite portion of the word of God, and of delivering a religious essay, or address, from an inde- pendent or human point of view ? 2. The use of the text serves to interpret and explain the Scriptures. This is nearly all the Bible truth that some hear- ers get in the course of their lives ; and this is the way that they learn what is contained in the Bible. A clearer under- standing of the Scriptures is thus promoted ; and this we look upon as the great advantage of having a definite pas- sage of the word of God to preach upon. The use of the text seems to remind the preacher of his chief responsibility § 11. THE TEXT. 99 as a minister of the word. Every text he chooses says to him, "Preach the preaching that I bid thee. Preach not yourself, but Christ Jesus the Lord." And one text often comprehends a whole system of truth, the whole of Chris- tianity — as the entire arch of heaven is said to be reflected in a drop of dew. 3. The use of the text lends a divine authority to the ser- mon. It recognizes the authority of the word of God as the basis of all true preaching, and the truth itself has a convert- ing power. " The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.'^ ^' Wow ye are clean through the word I have spohen unto you^ ^^ Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.'''' ^^ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the potcer of God tmto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greeh.''^ "/So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.'' The use of the text as the foundation of the sermon leads us to see and feel that it is the authoritative word of God, not the doubtful word of man, which is set forth. This gives the preacher a more than personal authority, and it has also a reflex influence upon the hearer, awakening in him' a renewed reverence for God and his word, which perhajos had become dulled. He is put in mind that there is a sure Mord of prophecy given from heaven to men, an infallible standard of faith and practice, by which at last he shall be judged. 4. The use of the text serves to introduce and limit the subject of discourse. It obliges the preacher, or should do so, to have a definite subject of remark, and it affords, too, a bet- ter subject than the preacher, even if left to himself, would probably choose for the spiritual instruction of his hearers. And with the whole Bible to select from, the preacher need never be at a loss for subjects ; the great trouble is to choose among the multitude of subjects that the word of God pre- 100 PEE ACHING. sents. The proper use of texts is thus promotive of variety in preaching ; for where the mind naturally runs into one track of thinking, the very responsibility laid upon the preacher to give something like a comprehensive view of the word of God, compels him to choose a great variety of themes. We would now consider the main principles to guide us in the choice of texts. 1. The text should he the word of God. ^^ If any man speak, let him speah according to the oracles of God.'' All preaching should have a biblical truth, ''a loord of the Lord,'' in it ; it should be a real nq^qi-Teiu^ spring- ing from a divine, not human, root. To illustrate this prin- ciple more carefully, — (a.) It should not be drawn from any apocryphal writing. (7>.) It should not be of doubtful authenticity. How far texts should be chosen from books of whose canonical au- thorship, or even authenticity, there is more controversy than of others, — as the books of Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Second of Peter, Hebrews, and Revelation, — all we can say is, that English and American criticism has not yet reached the sublimations of German criticism ; for the critical faculty, rather than the faculty of faith, — the faculty of believing as little as possible, — has been developed in Germany during the last half century. The passion for scientific investiga- tion should be subordinated in the preacher to the practical fiiculty. He should look for the word of God from every source, and in all its multiform modes of communication, rather than be continually striving to diminish and narrow down the field of inspired truth. Every book of the Bil)le, at least, stands upon its own evidences. The preacher should certainly examine those evidences with care ; but no book of Scripture has been left unassailed ; even the Gospel of John has been the theme of peculiar hostility. Shall we discontinue to take texts from John's Gospel, because, for- § 11. THE TEXT. 101 sooth, this or that German critic has doubted its canouicity ? And so of the book of Hebrews, and of Revelation. Chris- tianity does not fall even with these great books. Paul may not, indeed, have written the Epistle to the Hebrews, nor John, the apostle, the Apocalypse ; but does this contro- versy as to their authorship diminish their essential value? and will the controversy be settled in our lives, and while the world stands ? Everything that has been assailed is not, for that reason, less true or divine. The proof of the inspi- ration of these books, both outward and inward, is over- whelmingly great, far greater than the arguments for their non-inspiration ; and they remain in the canon, and con- tinue to nourish the faith and piety of the church, ak they have done for ages. Let us then continue freely to use these precious portions of the word of God, though there may be peculiar difficulties that remain to be cleared up respecting their human authorship ; or, perhaps we should say, instead of "peculiar,'* more difficulties than attend the other books of the Bible. (c.) It should not disregard the analog^/ of faith. We mean by this the right dividing of the word of God, in rela- tion both to the essential and the relative importance of every portion of Scripture. Thus one should not preach Judaism instead of Christianity, or dwell upon the Old Tes- tament with such continuous intensity as to draw his inspi- ration from the spirit of the Old, rather than of the New, whose ministers we are. When we preach from the Old Testament, we should surely seek to find the New Testa- ment in it — the testimony of Christ, the analogy of faith. The Old Testament is the New Testament in its germ, and therefore cannot be neglected by the preachers of Christ ; but we should choose our texts, and treat them in such a way as that they may all bear upon the "tricth as it is in Jesus;'* and we think, indeed, that a minister of the New Testament should preach most of the time from the New Testament, as being the fuller revelation, the perfect truth. The Old 9* 102 I'KEACHINO. Testament is more especially the law, and therefore prepar- ative, but the New is more truly the gospel of the grace of God, of his perfect manifestation in his Sou ; and even in tjie New Testament itself there are some portions more particularly to be chosen and dwelt upon, as containing more of the truth and riches of Christ. (fZ.) It should not be an incorrect translation. The cor- rect rendering of a text should certainly always be given, even though our English translation of the passage be not entirely literal; for a preacher should establish his people on the original text, and educate them up to this idea, though he ought to do this in such a way as not to impair confidence in our own version, which is admitted to contain no essential error or perversion of the truth, but he may, in a proper way, let them understand that the scholarship of the present time is, as would be naturally expected, more advanced than formerly, though great tact and prudence are to be employed in doing this. The continual repetition of the phrases, "or, as it is in the original," "more cori'ectly translated," "more literally rendered," weaken confidence; and rather than introduce these phrases commonly and care- lessly, similar texts of correct interpretation, conveying the same truth, should be used in preference. But the exact rendering of a passage gives it often an un- expected beauty and force ; even the right punctuation of a passage adds vastly to its homiletical value. How immeasurably different is the Roman Catholic read- ing, " I say unto thee this day. Thou shalt be with me in Par- adise," from the true rendering, "I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise" P The more literal ren- dering of d/'«Ai3acc.ic, in 2 Tim. 4 : 6, by loosening, instead of "departure," brings out an unexpected and beautiful mean- ing of the old mariner nearly ready to cast off from the world, and sail forth on the sea of eternity. In 2 Pet. 3 : 12, ' Bib. Sac, October, 1868. § 11. THE TEXT. 103 ans-CSoviug might very well be rendered in the active and more stimulating sense of " looking for and hastening the day of God." In Gal. 3 : 24, nuiduyioyog should be translated, "the slave who leads the child to the house of the schoolmaster ; " so the law leads us to our teacher, Christ, that we may be taught and justified by faith. 1 Cor. 4 : 4, O^Siv ejLtavTib avvoiSa, instead of meaning, "I know nothing of myself," is, literally, "I am not conscious to myself of any guilt," and yet I am not thereby justified ; showing that even the unconsciousness of his sins cannot justify the sinner — an important horailetical and practical sense. Numerous simi- lar passages might be mentioned, and are familiar; yet how pertinaciously some faulty translations have been preached upon ! not, perhaps, to the inculcation of error, but certainly without a nice regard to exact truth. The text in Acts 2G : 28, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian," has been used to serve as the basis of discourses on "being almost a Christian ; " whereas it would seem to have be^n a poor jest of Agrippa's, to the efiect that Paul should be foolish enough to expect that in so short a time, or by so little effort, he, Agrippa, should be made a Christian ! If this indeed is the true meaning, it should be followed, although, in this case, it is hard to give up the commonly received rendering ; but if it is not the meaning of the text, it should not be so used. The beautiful passage, so often used, in 1 Cor. 13 : 12, "For now we see through a glass darkly," would be stronger still if rendered literally, " For now we see in a mirror ob- scurely (enigmatically)." The idea is not that of looking through a glass ; but it is the imperfect reflection of an ob- ject in a steel mirror of the apostle's time, compared with the actual sight of the object itself. This is likened to the reflection of divine truth in these lower works of God, as compared with the future clear beholding of that truth in God himself. The translation of "temptation," instead of "bodily infirmity," in Gal. 4 : 14, exposes the passage to the false and pernicious idea sometimes brought out in preaching 104 PREACHING. upon it, that the apostle was in the power or continual temptation of some sinful habit which had fastened itself upon him, so as to be well nigh irresistible — a totally in- correct meaning, for the "temptation" here is the trial occasioned by some physical disease or weakness. Biblical hermeneutics is the preacher's life-long study. He should have the principles of interpretation clearly established in his mind, so that they may be constantly applied in practice ; for his material for preaching lies in the Bible. The word of God is his field. Mere fragmen- tary studies of the word of God, therefore, for the purpose of selecting and elucidating individual texts for the material of preaching, are not enough ; his noble and diflicult office is to be an interpreter of the whole word of God to men. He should explore it thoroughly, its heights and depths, leaving no unknown land. He should make a systematic study of the Bible, following its books connectedly, accord- ing to the law of harmonious development, and not being content with the investigation of isolated texts upon a par- ticular theme. Thus Whately says, "Beware of classing texts together in regard to their subjects alone, without any regard to the jperiods in which successive steps were made in the Christian revelation — jumbling confusedl^^ Evangel- ists, Acts, Epistles. This, among other things, makes Sociu- ians, who are right up to a certain point, but stop short in the middle of the gradual revelation ; they have the blos- som without the fruit. Jesus Christ was first made known as a man sent from God, whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power ; then as the promised Christ ; then a,s He in whom ' dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bod- ily,' in whom 'God was manifest in the flesh,' in M'hom 'God was manifesting himself unto the world.' "^ If the preacher studies the Bible as a whole, then, when he comes to the interpretation of a single text, or passage of > E. Jane Whately's Life of Whately, vol. i., p. 207. § 11. THE TEXT. 105 Scripture, be sees its proper relations, limitation^, scope, and bearing ; and tbe philological exegesis of au individual text, tbougb tbe first, is tberefore sometimes tbe least part of tbe matter. Its real, spiritual interpretation as an harmonious portion of God's word is of higher import ; for the Spirit, who inspires tbe whole, who gives unity to tbe whole, must breathe new life into tbe word, and bring back its original power, its divine meaning. It was said of Edward Irving, who, with all bis errors, had some grand traits as a preacher, that "the Bible w^as to him, not tbe foundation from which bis theology was to be substantiated or proved, but a divine word, instinct with meaning and life, never to be exhausted, and from Avhich light and guidance — not vague, but partic- ular— could be brought for every need."^ These remarks lead us to add, as coming under this general head, another principle in the choice of a text : — (e.) It should be suggested by the regidar study of the Scnjytures, rathei' than by accident. This we have before remarked upon. Tbe text should rather choose than be chosen ; it should spring out of the habitual meditation of the word of God. There should be a certain divine order in tbe selection of texts, and tbe mind should, in some true sense, be guided by tbe Holy Spirit in the selec- tion of proper texts. The text should be the text to be preached upon, because tbe Spirit has brought the mind of tbe preacher to it — has led bis thoughts, studies, and de- sires up to tbe open door of tbe bouse of God, where food may be received for the nourishment of the souls of pastor and people. (f.) It should not be a merely human utterance, used as if it were the word of God. " All that lies between tbe covers of the Bible is not divine." It is not all a word or speech of God himself, since a large portibn of the Bible is the record of human sayings and doings. The record ' Mrs. Oliphant's Life of Irving. / 106 PREACHING. may be divinely guided and preserved, while the text itself is but the expression of human imperfection and sin. It may be used as a text in its true connections, as an impor- tant fact of human history, as something essentially related to God's government and the redemption of men, but not as an expression of the mind of God. There are texts spoken by angels, men, and devils, by ignorant men, by wicked men and opposers, by the prince of evil himself. These may be usefuU}'- employed to illustrate the workings of the wicked heart, and also as forcible indirect arguments ; thus if even demoniacs, for example, acknowledge the truth and divine nature of Jesus, how much more should we ! We surely should never employ a text expressing a ivrong sentiment, as if it were authoritative, simply because it stands in the Bil)le. The book of Ecdesiastes is, on this account, peculiarly difficult to be handled ; and a right or wrong theory of this book makes all imaginable difference in the authority of many of its passages — whether they are considered to be truly inspired by the Spirit of God, or are the utterances of the disappointed and corrupt human heart of Solomon, or of some writer of the splendid but mor- ally fallen Solomonic epoch. Many a false doctrinal argu- ment, or perverse opinion, has been bolstered up by texts which, if studied in all their bearings, would lead to pre- cisely opposite conclusions. There are, it is true, texts which are the spontaneous words of men, and which are, nevertheless, inspired by the Holy Spirit ; they flow from the teachings of God's law and spirit. Such is the passage in Gen. 32 : 10, where Jacob says, "/am not wortliy of the least of oM the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant. ^^ Most of the words of Job and of Daniel (though not all) are of the same character; they are "the reflection of the word of God in the spirit of man."^ These, of course, constitute legitimate texts, as 1 Hagenbach. § 11. THE TEXT. 107 do also those words where the Spirit of God forces the truth, as it were, from irreligious or wicked men, as in the case of Balaam, and of Pilate, and of the Eoman cen- turion at the sepulchre ; and the utterances of Job's friends, although condemned by God in the gross, are, in the de- tail, good. 2. The text should be fitted for edification. In its adaptation to the audience, time, and occasion, it should be suited to the high purposes of sacred instruction. (a.) It should he jfiain and perspicuous. If easily under- stood, and naturally suggestive of the subject, this helps the common mind to comprehend and remember it ; and it also removes the temptation from the preacher to be pedan- tic and obscure ; he is led by it to a solid and earnest style of discourse. But there are exceptions to this choice of plain texts. An obscure text may sometimes be advanta- geous. Its treatment assists in the interpretation of the Bible to the common mind ; and it leads to an expository style of discourse. The very announcement of such a text in itself awakens attention ; for men like to see a hard knot untied. It is a gi-eat mental refreshment and excitement to the pious mind to obtain a new idea from God's word ; and all men love to have mysteries unfolded. But the very obscure and difficult passages, such, for example, as Paul's meaning in Rom. 7 : 9-25, or Christ's preaching to "the spirits in prison," or the passage in 2 Pet. 1 : 20, 21, or " God's hardening Pharaoh's heart," should not be too frequently taken, nor as a general rule ; otherwise a curi- ous, rather than trustful, spirit will be nourished in the congregation. And as another caution, it is not best to take a difficult passage unless we are sure we can go some way toward clearing up its difficulties, instead of increasing them ; thus we should not take such a text when pressed for time, or when we wish to talk in a direct, practical manner. In a word, he who is in earnest to convert the souls of his 108 PREACHING. people will be most apt to take for texts those plain, impor- tant passages which contain saving truth expressed in the most simple and solid form, comprehending in clear propo- sitions the great truths of the gospel — the incarnation, the atonement, faith, love, repentance, the Christian life, the judgment, eternal life. (6.) It should be dignified, as opjoosed to tokat is odd. In so vast and various a book as the Bible, — a world in itself, — there are passages treating simply and freely of human life, which are to be taken in their right historical connections, and with proper mental preparation ; but which, suddenly announced from so solemn a place as the pulpit, would have a startling elSect, tending to produce irreverence. The dig- nity of the text may be violated, (1.) By a text which ex- presses no moral or religious idea; as if one should take the passage concerning the apostle Paul, "Having shorn his head in Cenchrea ; " or the words of the Saviour, "Loose the colt, and bring him here." (2.) By a text which sug- gests ludicrous associations. These words have been actu- ally preached upon : Cant. 5:3; "I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on ? " "Moab is my wash-pot." "Ephra- im is a cake unturned." (3.) By a text not adajJted to mod- ern or occidental ideas of modesty.^ There may be too great a fear on the part of the preacher of offending a sickly fastidiousness, which, by and by, may grow so ex- travagant that it cannot even bear the truth that our Lord was conceived and born of a woman ; or that could not repeat many of his own words drawn from common things. To the pure all things are pure ; but, notwithstanding this, it is still true that oriental and occidental ideas of delicacy differ ; and many of our words and customs would be highly indelicate to oriental minds. The ideas of different ages also greatly differ in respect to these things, and a due regard should be had to that fact. The soberness of the -&' ' Professor Phelps. § 11. THE TEXT. 109 text should be observed, in order, if nothing else, to main- tain respect and reverence for the word of God. (4.) By a 'merely ingenious and wittily -a2:)2)lied text. An old divine of the time of James I. of England and VI. of Scotland, preached before that unstable monarch upon the words in James 1 : 6 — " Waver not." This text was surely apt enough and bold enough to be admissible ; but the fol- lowing use of a passage in Gen. 48 : 13, 14 was much too ingenious. Jacob, in his blessing of Manasseh, laid his right hand upon him, crossed over his left ; and the theme drawn from this was, " We derive our blessings under the cross." Sometimes, however, there is a piquancy and pertinency in the text which is simply felicitous, and yet not undignified ; thus Edward Irving's first sermon in London was upon the text, "jTAere/bre came I unto you without gainsaying^ as soon as I was sent for. I ask you, therefore, for what intent you have sent for me." (c.) It should be foesh. That is to say, as a general rule, it is well not to take too hackneyed a text ; for a fresh text creates interest" in the writer's own mind, and in the minds of his hearers ; it is turning over a fresh leaf in the Bible ; it promotes a broader knowledge of the Scriptures ; it is bringing out of the divine treasures " things new and old." Some preachers seem to think that the}'' must in no case depart from the use of immemorial texts upon imme- morial subjects ; whereas other texts, a little out of the common, would throw new light upon the subject. This, however, should not deter one from employing those famil- iar texts which have the merit of greater appropriateness, and which seem to be peculiarly consecrated to particular themes ; such, for example, as some of the words of Christ, which have a peculiar weight and sanction as coming directly from his mouth. "I^e must be born again" is and will ever be the great standard text upon the subject of regeneration ; and yet there are other fruitful texts upon this fundamental theme. There are, indeed, a few precious, familiar texts 10 110 PKE ACHING. which a minister should most certainly preach upon, and repeatedly preach upon ; for, though so familiar, when treat- ed with earnestness they never fail of having a powerful efl'ect ; and, like the green earth, or the sun, or the stars, that we see every day, because they are so great, so good, so deep, so divine, they are ever fresh. Searching out novel texts is not what is meant by employ- ing fresh texts ; for fresh texts are those which, as soon as uttered, suggest original reading and study of the Bible, as if the preacher had gone farther and deeper into the myste- ries of the word, and found new and rare words of divine truth. The stereotyped use of certain texts in preaching — setting aside those few familiar texts that stand out like mountains that cannot be hid — may be explained by the fact, that great preachers who have gone before have made certain texts familiar and popular by pi'eaching great sermons upon them, by dwelling upon these passages as their favor- ites, as their theological proof-texts ; and less original minds of their own denominations and theological opinions have concluded that there were no texts in the Bible other than these. How different was a mind like that of Leigh- ton, that found food in every part of the word of God ! (cZ.) It should be as im^iersonal as possible^ That is, any marked personality in the text that directs thought to the speaker, or to any particular person or persons among his hearers, is to be avoided ; and. this has been, oddly enough, illustrated in the history of preaching. Dr. Strong, preaching to a congregation in which there was a contro- versy raging, took for his text, "/ hea7^ there be conten- tions among you; I partly believe it;" and it is related of Wetsteiu, the distinguished German preacher, that, after having had an annoying dispute with a man named Alex- ander, he preached upon the text, '^Alexander the copper- smith did me much injury." Yet there may be special ' Professor Phelps. § 11. THE TEXT. Ill occasions — funeral occasions — when a personal text is not only appropriate, but singularly impressive and affecting; as, for instance, a most touching funeral sermon upon the character of an aged deacon noted far and wide for his prim- itive piety and livel}'^ strength of religious character, was preached from the text, " An old discij)le." (e.) It shoidd, as a general ride, he didactic. That is, it should be a text capable of analj'^sis, of expansion, of thoughtful treatment, in opposition to a highly imaginative, poetical, or impassioned text. Such an impassioned text might be sometimes effective ; but it demands a peculiar state of feeling in preacher and audience, and requires an equally fervid introduction and continuously impassioned treatment. It also excites undue expectation in the audi- ence, and strings up a sermon to too high a pitch. A text, therefore, which contains truth in a suggestive form, is bet- ter than one which gives full expression to the feeling of the truth suggested ; for there is something undeveloped in the first, something that requires an act of reflection to awaken feeling, and it does not start from too high a point, thus aiding in the gradual development of the sermon. It is better to have feeling flow naturally from the actual treat- ment of a text, than to require it to flow at once on the mere pronouncing of the text. The preacher should not, there- fore, acquire the habit of depending upon sensational, or what may be called ambitious texts. Yet, in a time when spirit- ual indiflerence broods like a death-pall over his congrega- tion, it might be impressive for a minister to pour out his feelings in a vehement, ejaculatory text, which was uttered originally at a similar time of religious apathy and death : ''Thine altars, 0 Lord of hosts, my King and my God I" Sometimes, also, a brilliant text gives power and glory to a sermon, when it is carried out, as are some of Melville's sermons, in the same striking and exalted strain. Such a text at once raises the audience into a higher sphere, and bears their thoughts beyond this world ; but it requires deep 112 . PREACHING. feeling, powerful imagination, and bold tlioiiglit inspired by bold faith, to treat such texts successfully. 3. T]ie text should have true relations to the subject. The text should be vitally one and the same with the subject. (a.) It should have pertinency. This means that there should be an organic, and not a merel}'' mechanical, con- nection between the text and the sermon ; that the sermon should grow from the text like a living plant from its root. The pertinency of the text may be violated, (1.) Wlien the text does not contain the subject of the sermon. Thus the text may refer to an entirely diiferent truth, or class of truths, from that treated of in the sermon. 1 Cor. 11 : 34, ^' If any man hunger^ let him eat at home;'''' subject, "Home and Home Piety." Is. 40: 1, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people;" subject, "A comfortable religion not to be sought for by Christians." It is the habit of some preachers to touch the text so lightly, to avoid it so scrupulously, to display one's independence in talking of everything but the text, and to look upon this fastidious avoidance of the text as a matter of good taste (as, indeed, it is in essay- writing, where one strives to convey an idea indirectly, and where philosophy, instead of the gospel, is often preached), that Cowper's words are brought to mind : — " How oft, when Paul has served us with a text, Has Epictetus, Plato, TuUy preached ! " (2.) When the text has not the spirit of the sermon. Thus the sermon may be imaginative and poetical, when the text is didactic ; or it may be logical and argumentative, when the text is emotional and pathetic ; whereas the text should give the key-note to the sermon. (6.) It should have uirectness. A direct treatment and application evidently secure more of divine authority, and tend more certainly to edification. The question arises here, May we employ an accommo- § 11. THE TEXT. 113 dated text? An accommodated text has been defined as " one which is applied to a subject resembling that in the text, but yet entirely distinct from it."^ Being thus chosen, not on the principle of identity, but of resemblance or simi- larity only, an accommodated text, though sometimes allow- able, and even necessary, should be very sparingly used, and never from resemblance of mere sound of words, or any fanciful resemb'lance, but only from a similarity of ideas, or truths. " Speah unto the children of Israel that they go forward " may be justly applied to Christian sanctification amid difficulties, or to Christian activity in discouraging circumstances. Such an accommodated text, when it suggests a natural and sensible resemblance of ideas, without anything strained, or frivolous, or fanciful, and is at the same time itself found- ed upon some deep principle of truth, applied only to dif- ferent circumstances, is perfectly justifiable. Thus " Christ stilling the storm " is well applied to his peace-giving power in spiritual things, in stilling the storm of the wicked and passionate heart ; for outer things may typify inward feel- ings. " Simon bearing the cross " is a proper type of the Christian bearing the cross after Christ ; in fact, the princi- ple of humble obedience is identically the same in both ac- tions. But this typical use of texts may be carried too far ; thus Hagenbach mentions a German preacher's drawina^ from the words of the Saviour on the cross, ^^ I thirst " the theme that " Christ thirsted for the salvation of men." It is one thing to take an outw^ard type as obviously suggesting an inward truth, and another thing deliberately to turn the text to a sense entirely diflferent from what it plainly will bear. The allegorical use of texts in the past, especially by the older Puritan divines, among them the peerless John Bunyan himself, is an illustration of this. And to what absurdities has it not sometimes led ! Thus the two pennies given by ' Professor Phelps. 10* 114 PREACHING. the Good Samaritan have been turned hi to the two sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper ! A preacher who deals in allegorical preaching, or in such a fanciful torturing of the plain meaning of texts, not only shows weakness, but is apt to lead himself and others into error, mysticism, and obscu- rity, as did Origeu, with all his profound intellect and piety. Yet the use of this principle of accommodation in texts cannot be entirely given up ; for if we give it up, we should lose much that is interesting to the mind in the inward and outward resemblances of truth, and in the matter of actual instruction. Language, for example, which is addressed to the apostles, may, in most instances, be legitimately accom- modated to apply to all Christians. But in using accommo- dated texts, the original significance of the text should not be lost sight of; it should be fairly applied, and it should be always clearly stated in some way, that it is an accom- modated use. But to the employment of what is called motto texts, we are decidedly opposed. They are used merely as a matter of form, in order that there may be a text to stand at the head of the sermon ; but they have no further shaping influence on the subject, or on the mode of treating it. That is using the word of God unworthily, and the " text " becomes a " pretext." (c.) It should have correctness. That is, it should be employed according to the truth, — according to the true intention of the author, be he God or man ; and it should be applied to a subject which is the true one taught by it, and not to any other subject. We do not refer now alto- gether to the correctness of the verbal interpretation of the text, to which reference has been made ; but more to the substance of the text itself, since truth is better than false- hood, and even truth cannot be helped by untrue argu- ments ; and if certain texts have been used from time imme- morial as proof-texts of any particular subject, which are not so in fact, it is, on a broader view of truth, right to dis- § 11. THE TEXT. 115 use them for such a purpose, and to give them their true meaning ; for it is not the number of proof-texts that estab- lishes a truth, but the clearness and authority of one text ; and if many texts may be used by way of illustration, they should not be employed as proof, and much less as contain- ing the true substance of a particular doctrine or subject. This opens an interesting field of discussion iu regard to the external and internal sense of Scripture and the just limita- tions of biblical truth ; which questions, however, belong more properly to the department of Interpretation, and we cannot here discuss them. The simple principle now before us is, that the text should be correctly employed in its relation to the subject; that the real contents of the subject should be found in it, though it may be in the simplest synthetical form ; it should not be wrested from its true meaning, force, and relations ; and thus an honest and careful study of the context is essen- tial. One can often arrive at the truth of a text only from a study of the w^hole passage, or chapter, or even book, in which it is contained, and the practice of using individual texts, without consulting them in the original, is always to be deprecated. A text should never be taken merely from memory, without carefully consulting the passage iu the original Hebrew or Greek. The principle is sometimes laid down that a text should be interpreted to mean all that it can possibly be made to mean, without regard to the limitations of the context; but preachers, we think, will hereafter be called to a stricter account iu their use of texts ; they will be required to be more candid and true, and their preaching will gain propor- tionally in point and power. " Bonus textuarius est bonus theologus.''^ (d.) It should have fruitfulness. The Bible is full of germinal texts capable of almost infinite development; and yet every word and sentence in the Bible which seem to convey such fruitful ideas, do not always do so. Preachers 116 PREACHING. are sometimes apt to be caught by the appearance of a pas- sage, rather than by the substance of truth which it contains ; for a text often appears very suggestive ; it seems to open a most fruitful subject of thought ; whereas it may be but an incidental or accidental expression, and by no means the best and fullest manifestation of the truth. Vinet (Homiletics, p. 137) thus describes a fruitful text: "I call a text fruitful which, without foreign additions, without the aid of minute details, without discussion, furnishes, when reduced to its just meaning, matter for a development interesting in all its parts, and which leaves with us an important result." "We close this topic with a few practical suggestions. 1. The text should have unity in itself. It is not best, as a rule, to employ two or more texts from different parts of the Bible ; it is better to have but one text, one pas- sage of Scripture, and that, whether long or short, should cont^ain one subject, and be complete in itself. The advice is commonly given that the text should be short, for a short text is better remembered. Brief, con- densed, penetrating texts stick in the memory like nails fastened by the masters of assemblies. And yet texts may be too brief; they may not contain a complete subject; the}'' may be mere fragments of a truth or of a sentence. The better rule is, that the text should contain one com- plete truth or idea, and then it may be very brief. What a world of meaning is in that shortest text of the Bible, " Jesus we'pt " ! It is wholly unjustifiable to take a mere portion or clause of a verse, even if it contains good sense in itself, but "which, by thus dismembering it from the rest, does not give the real or full sense intended to be conveyed by the whole verse — such a text, for instance, as Heb. 4 : 2, ^'^ But ike word 'preached did not profit them;'''' without adding the very important clause, "no< being mixed with faith in them that heard it.''' The longer the passage, however, that § 11. THE TEXT. 117 we may conveniently employ for a text, without violating the law of unity, the more of the actual body of Scripture we bring before the people, and the nearer do we come, undoubtedly, to the primitive style of preaching. 2. The text should he chosen before the subject. There can be no doubt of this, as a general rule ; for this seems to honor the word of God — that the subject should spring from it, rather than that it should be fitted to the subject. This rule is continually violated by those who preach alto- gether topically. Dr. Emmons even recommended the choosing of a subject before a text ; and there may be ex- ceptional cases ; as, for instance, when a subject which has possessed the mind has sprung up without connection with any particular text ; yet, when an appropriate text is found for such a subject, it will often receive new light and rich- ness from the discussion of the text itself. 3. The text should be announced first of all. It is the European custom to preface the text with some remarks, sometimes with a little sermon, on the general subject of praise, or on the necessity of God's blessing the word : our custom of announcing the text first is, however, we think, the best. 4. Tlie text should be pronounced clearly^ with some sim- ple prefatory remarh^ introducing it easily. All things should be in readiness, so that there may be no hasti- ness or business-like air at the commencement of the dis- course. Even as the pulpit itself should be entered with simple dignity and seriousness, so the opening services should be simple, modest, serious, yet without dulness or gloomy gravity. There should be no act or gesture that draws the attention of the audience to the speaker ; but the thought of God and the word of God should be the first impression. It is well to mention distinctly the chapter and verse before the words of the text ; for the habit of consulting the Bible, and following the preacher in the Bible, on the part of the 118 PEE ACHING. congregation, is certainly one to be encouraged. If the text is a brief one, it is well to read it twice ; if a longer one, it may be repeated in some way in the introduction : at all events, the audience should hear and understand distinctly what the text is, or the effect of the whole discourse is greatly impaired, perhaps lost. The text should be read in a slow and clear voice, but not loud, and perhaps a little more emphatically the second time than the first. § 12. The Introduction. The introduction to a discourse is naturally compared to the door, or vestibule, of a house : it oi3ens to what the house contains. The comparison might be carried still further ; for since the door of the house should accord with the style and character of the house itself, and one would not put a Grecian portico on a Gothic house, so the introduction should harmonize with the subject of the dis- course, and not strike the mind with incongruity; and as the door ought not to be too large for the house, neither should the introduction be so for the sermon. Neither should the doorway be mean and narrow, nor the introduction fail of an air of freedom and simple elegance ; and as the door is generally placed in the centre of the building, in like manner the introduction strikes the central thought and purpose of the sermon. In the matter of the introduction, it is well to study the best models, not only of the introductions of orations and sermons, but of all true literary works; for every work addressed to the human mind must have an intelligent and fit beginning, which suggests its object and denotes its leading idea. The brief but impressive introductions of all the books of the Bible show that their authors, writing under the impulse of inspiration, did not disdain this rational method of making their objects known, and of interesting those whom they addressed. The short introductions of § 12. THE INTRODUCTION. 119 the "Iliad," the "iEiieicl," the "Paradise Lost," the "Divina Commedia" of Daute, the "Faerie Queene," and the "Jeru- salem Delivered," short as they are, may have cost their authors more labor than any other part of their poems, and may have been the last finished ; for they gathered up all the rays of light into one beam, they smote the human mind with a new thought and theme. Although it is well for a preacher to study good models of introductions in the works of great writers, and especially in the orations and discourses of the best orators, it is bet- ter to take the best preachers for our models. Dr. SoutJi's introductions are characteristic, and may be described by the word commanding ; for they immediately arrest attention, and strike the key-note of the sermon with a ringing blow, as much as to say, "Listen, ye people, to what I have to say on this subject, for I have that to say which is important." There is no frippery, or fancy, or fine writing, but a plain common sense, which appeals at once to the masculine understanding, and leads the hearer to say, " At all events, here is a man who has begun to speak ; he is worth listening to, even if I cannot agree with him." South's introductions are not so long as to lead the mind away from the object set before him, or from the work laid out in the text itself — which he explains and develops with great care. Dr. Emmons's introductions are also, in some respects, models of excellence, and possess the same characteristics of common sense, and the union of strong thought with simple expression. They are judicious introductions ; they seem perfectly pertinent to the subject, while at the same time they are sagacious, and they awaken curiosity. They are like a Doric porch — very plain and unornamented, but with a certain pleasing, attractive majesty. Saurin^s introductions are particularly happy, and some- times they are exceedingly bold and striking. They make it difficult to carry on and out the first impressions produced. 120 PREACHING. and which it would not be well for any less brilliant and vigorous preacher to imitate. Of contemporaneous and younger preachers, the sermons of F. W. Robertson deserve to be studied for their artistic excellence. Some of his introductions consist of but six or seven lines ; others seem to lead on impercei3tibly, without indicating where they leave oflf, into the heart of the ser- mon ; but in all of them, while there is no display, there is, at the outset, a fresh turn given to the subject, a new and awakenins: train of thouo;ht started. Robertson's introduc- tions give the idea of a steel forceps seizing upon an object with tenacious grasp, and holding it up with perfect ease and power, turning it round, and looking it through, and then thrusting it into the glowing fire of thought, and weld- ing it with the hammer of an earnest purpose : his intro- duction seems to say, " I have thought this subject through ; I have gone to the heart of it ; I intend to treat it in my own way, and out of my own head ; " and then the preacher proceeds to lay the subject open, with the same free and confident power. There is no parading of theological or philological pedantry ; he is evidently not talking to scholars or philosophers, but he is talking to men — to thinking and feeling men. Perhaps the epithet which would best characterize his introductions is, manly; just like the greeting of one genuine man to another, with no servility and no concealment, and yet with a certain thoughtful- ness and art. The introduction to the sermon on "Caia- phas' View of a Vicarious Atonement" (First Series, p. 164), is a masterpiece of elaborate and subtile thought, as preparing the way for a remarkable and original view of the atonement ; but generally he begins with a simple, strong, and interesting train of thought, without a shade of learned afiectation, or even of mock rhetoric; as, for instance, in the sermon on " Worldliness " (Second Series, p. 173), from the text 1 John 11 : 15-17. This introduction, while it is simple and easy to comprehend, yet contains § 12. THE mTEODUCTION. 121 an extremely interesting and profound question, to the solution of Avliich the mind of the hearer is excited and pushed on. The somewhat extended introduction to the sermon on "Realizing the Second Advent" (First Series, p. 180) is a fine example of the plain, strong, unpedantic, and yet fresh and original way in which this preacher takes up a theme ; it is the highest art of a highly-cultured and philosophic mind, determined to be simple, determined to be true and practical, and to be understood by all. Robertson's introductions are, in fact, unconscious exhi- bitions of the man himself, of his earnest, penetrating, and, as it were, military mind, that surveys the field at a glance, « and at once seizes upon the most advantageous positions to bring his forces into action. He stands before us at the instant he begins to speak, an able and sincere teacher, who must be attended to ; he wins, in his very introduction, our respect for himself, if not our convictions of the truth of what he says ; and the hearer wishes to hear such a man through, which is a great point gained. That is, perhaps, the great end of the introduction, which should excite a strong and healthy feeling of expectation for what is to follow it. What is an introduction? (Lat. exordium, Gr. proem.) To speak in general terms, it is something which conducts to the real subject, but which is not the real subject. It is not, strictly speaking, the beginning of the discourse, but it leads to the beginning. It does not even include all that is preliminary to the proposition in the way of actual ex- planation or clearing up of difficulties ; but it has regard rather to the state of mind of the audience and of the speaker, putting the speaker in correspondence with the audience. We would, therefore, more fully define a true introduc- tion to be, all that precedes the real discussion of the 11 122 PREACHING. subject, and which is fitted to secure the favorable, attention of the hearer to the speaker and to his theme. Quintilian says, " An exordium is designed to make the hearer think favorably of what the speaker is about to say." Schott's definition is, "All that part of a sermon which is intended to prepare the hearers for the body of the sermon, by bringing them into the same circle of ideas and sympa- thy of feeling of the speaker." Vinet says (Homiletics, J). 300), "The exordium should be drawn from an idea in im- mediate contact with the subject, without forming a part of it. It should be an idea between which and that of the dis- , course there is no place for another idea, so that the first step we take out of that idea, transports us into our subject." As to the necessity of an introduction, although there may be cases where an introduction is not necessary, — where the subject, for instance, is a very familiar one, or where the audience is entirely prepared to hear it discussed, — yet the necessity of some introduction to an important discourse, is founded in nature and in the very laws of the mind. Nature has few sudden movements ; the ocean shelves oflf graduall}^, and one season imperceptibly introduces another ; a thunder-storm which rends the heavens is preceded by a period of impressive silence and warning ; a battle is usu- ally begun by skirmishing and tentative operations ; a legis- lative assembly does not enter upon important business at the first moment of its session, but the way is gradually cleared for more serious questions. The human mind, which, in its healthy state, has a sense of dignity and self- respect, does not like to be hurried, or compelled to move by another's impulse rather than by its own voluntary act ; it will not be pushed, but may be drawn. What, let us ask, are some of the objects to be gained by a good intr'oduction? § 12. THE INTRODUCTION. 123 1. To remove actual prejudices against the speaker. The preacher may have created an unfavorable impres- sion by his course of action in some particular ; he may have aroused the jealousies or antagonism of a certain class in his audience — the fashionable class, or the conservative class, or the radical class, or whatever it may be. He may possibly have certain traits of character, which, he is conscious, place him in an unfavorable light with his hearers, especially in re- gard to his introduction of particular subjects ; he may have excited suspicions of his orthodoxy, or, at least, of his sin- cere belief in some portions of the Christian faith ; and yet, although he is weak, imperfect, and inconsistent, the truth must be preached, the instruction must be given to the peo- ple : in the introduction, then, he is to feel his way through these subtile, popular prejudices, and dispel them, if they are unjust, without, perhaps, seeming to do so. It is not often by direct allusions to himself that he can do this, but rather by indirect suggestions of the intrinsic importance of the theme, of the imperfection of preachers and of men, and of the perfection of truth. 2. To create a favorable regard for the speaker. He may be a young man, a comparative stranger ; he may have an abstruse, or what may be called even an ambitious theme ; he should begin modestly ; — the old Jewish Eabbis used to say that " the creation was made from night to morn- ing, not from morning to night ;"^ — he should avoid making too great promises of what he intends to do ; he should show an honest interest in the good of his hearers, without saying too much about it — above all things avoiding flattery ; he should endeavor, in a simple, manly M^ay, to bring himself into sympathy wath his audience, and to gain their good will and willing hearing ; and to he modest, to be in earnest, is the best way to efiect this. 3. To create a favorable regard for the subject, ' Bautain. 124 PREACHING. The preacher is to turn the current of religious feeling, already set flowing, perhaps, by the previous devotional ex- ercises, into the contemplation of some definite religious truth or duty, into some positive and particular direction. In order to secure this end of a favorable regard toward his subject, (a.) He may state the intellectual advantages to be derived from discussing such a theme. The subject may be the doctrine of moral evil, or that of divine sovereignty; it may be stated at the beginning, that these are the great- est problems of the human mind, meeting the philosopher as well as the theologian ; that they have called forth the strength of the best intellects of the race ; that no problems are more difiicult, and therefore none more deserving of the attention of thinking minds, (b.) He may state the connections of the subject with other more practical spiritual truths. He may remove the prejudice that the doctrine has no immediate practical bearing or utility, even as deprav- ity, for instance, or the doctrine of sin, lies, in one sense, at the base of the whole Christian system of the atonement, regeneration, holiness, and the Christian life. (c.) He may make some historical allusion naturally connected with the theme, which always forms an attractive introduction. {d.) He may make it appear, at the very beginning, that the subject bears upon the welfare of all his hearers ; but one should be careful not to use too hackneyed phrases about the greatness and importance of the subject in hand, and should shun stereotyped introductions like the ^^ constat inter omnes" of the old scholastic preachers. The clas- sic orators, it is true, had introductions prepared before- hand, which they could fit to any subject ; Cicero recom- mends this ; but times have changed, and the duty of the preacher, above all, requires simple earnestness and truth in all parts of the discourse. He should so treat his subject from the start, that his hearers will be impressed with the importance of it, without any formal stereotyped assevera- tion of its importance, (e.) He may make general and § 12. THE INTRODUCTION. 125 modifying suggestions in the introduction ; for this is just the place for these incidental remarks, which cannot have a a proper place anywhere else. The preacher, looking for- ward, wishes to give a certain turn to the discourse, or to draw forth a new idea or lesson from the text. In the intro- duction he may skilfully prepare the way for this ; he may make the groove, which he will widen and deepen for the sermon to run in. In the introduction, also, he may set aside, in a few words, any false impressions which a certain text, or the foreshadowing of a certain subject, may awaken : here, in a word, he is still free ; he has not yet bound him- self to any particular line of thought, and he has the advan- tage of the fresh state of mind of his audience, and of the natural curiosity which is awaked at the first words of a discourse, to see what it may be, and what may be the metal of the speaker. The qualities of a good introduction may be resolved chiefly into four — jSimplicity, Modesty, Fitness, and Sug~ gestiveness. 1. Simplicity. The first five moments, or perhaps three, of a discourse, are often the critical moments, and success or defeat is sometimes contained in them ; for, one may see that to begin a sermon in a stilted or highly artificial man- ner, is to insure its condemnation ; but as a ship glides out of port when she is fully ready, with a steady and graceful motion, so a sermon should begin without display, but with a full and firm consciousness of power to reach the end in view. This simplicity in the introduction may be violated, (a.) B}'- too great abstruseness. There may be an interesting thought in the introduction, but it should not be so difficult and deep as at once to discourage attention : it should be natural, rather than abstruse.. (6.) By too earnest argu- ment. One should not plunge at once into argument, but he should trim his sails and enter more cautiously upon the 11* 126 PREACHING. open, agitated sea of discussion, (c.) By too impassioned and imaginative language. It is not well to be brilliant immediately, and prose is always better than poetry to start with. One may sometimes use a strong and homely figure to begin with, but generally anything like figurative lan- guage is in bad taste, until the mind is warmed up to it, and it glances off "like sparks from a working engine." Appeals to feeling are generally altogether out of place in the introduction ; for what begins in excited feeling may end either in frenz}'^ or in the depths of ba^thos. Bold flights of fiincy and startling language at first, produce dul- ness at last. Cicero recommends an ornate introduction, in order to raise and embellish the character of what succeeds ; but that is doubtful advice for the preacher and for the pres- ent' age. The simplicity of the introduction, however, should be rather in the expression than in the thought ; for it is a great blunder to begin a sermon with a trite truism, as, ''The young may die, and the old must," and a very com- monplace beginning generally kills the sermon, and is not simplicity, (d.) By indirectness of thought or style. All elaborate and circuitous language in the introduction, in- genious sentences and painfully wrought antitheses, are out of place, for, generally, a straight, manly marching up to a subject is best, as Dr. Barrow said, that "a straight line is the shortest, both in geometry and morals ;" and to besfin too far off mav lead the hearer's mind to such a dis- tance from the subject, that it cannot be brought back again ; but a simple directness, on the other hand, wins the confidence of the hearer. To conceal the subject of the sermon, and to spring it by surprise on the audience, ap- peals, after all, to an inferior motive, and seems to have something of the nature of " clap-trap " in it. The inter- est should come from the subject, and from one's power and earnestness in treating it : this is the beauty of Robert- son's introductions, upon which we have commented; they combine both originality and clearness of thought, (e.) By . § 12. THE INTRODUCTION. 127 being too long. An introduction, almost without exception, should be brief; for divine truth does not lie in such unfor- tunate and obscure circumstances that it needs protracted effort to bring it to light, or to introduce it to the human mind. Augustine's introductions are thus generally brief, simple, and beautiful. Theremin is particularly opposed to long introductions ; he says, " Time spent in merely paving the way for the idea [of the discourse] might better be employed in the development of the idea itself." He recommends the immediate connection of the idea with some one of those plain moral or religious ideas which all understand and approve, namely, truth, happiness, or duty, and which can be done without circumlocution. No intro- duction is better than one too long and wearisome. Interest in the main subject is wasted, and cannot be easily revived. It is the experience of preachers, which is itself suggestive, that as one grows older he is more inclined to cut off sev- eral pages of the introductions of his earlier written sermons. 2. Modesty. Self-conceit in the introduction is fatal ; and true modesty is ever the most effectual way of gaining the good will of an audience. Allusions to one's self should be rare, and, if made, should be made with genuine delicacy; for any want of respect in the speaker's manner toward the audience is revenged often by their indignation and contempt. Too lofty a style, to begin with, offends modesty as well as simplicity ; any exhibition of a sense of superior learning, wisdom, or thought is unfortunate ; and no modest man, even though he assume the office of teacher, will have such a feeling. In Hobbes's "Brief to the Art of Rhetoric," he says, "That the hearer may be favorable to the speaker, two things are required : that he love him or he pity him." Now, no one can love or pity a conceited man ; and yet modesty is not to sink into feebleness or self-humiliation, though the ancient orators recommend even timidity in the introduction, in 128 PREACHING. order to win sympathy ; but this, of course, could not be recommended to a Christian preacher ; ''for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, hut of power, of love, and of a sound mind.'" Still, one who rises to speak on the great 1 hemes of the gospel, with a due sense of the responsibility of souls committed to his charge and guidance, may have a reasonable fear of not being equal to the greatness of the occasion. 3. Fitness. By this is meant that the introduction should be in keeping and harmony with the sermon ; it should spring from a thorough knowledge of the definite aim one has in vieAV in the sermon. The introduction should have a proportionate and sym- metrical relation, also, to the theme ; it should not be in- vested with independent proportions, as if it were a subject of its own, nor should it have the infelicity to forestall the argument or the important thoughts of the sermon, so that the interest should be all taken up in the introduction ; it should be confined to its own place and Avork. 4. Suggestiveness . The fruitful, suggestive, and original character of Robertson's introductions has been dwelt upon ; in them the attention of the audience is immediately fas- tened upon a fresh train of thought, though simply ex- pressed ; the door is thrown open to something new and powerfully attractive ; the mind is delighted with the pros- pect of obtaining new ideas on familiar but eternal truth, and of being led into a fresh field of instruction ; in a word, he succeeds in arousing interest, which is the great thing to be aimed at in an introduction. Of course the temptation here is to false originality, and to the saying of striking things ; and some preachers have a quaint and pungent way of beginning a sermon, which fastens attention, and yet borders somewhat too closely on wit ; and it is very easy for a witty minister to be too witty. He should endeavor to make his wit a diflfused element of life in the discourse, rather than to condense it into a § 12. THE INTRODUCTION. 129 sentence which strikes too smartly upon the sense of the ridiculous ; antl even that which is profoundly original may be simply and naturally expressed. One may, indeed, no- tice in some of our best New England preachers, past and present, that the first sentence of their discourse is often a very weighty one, — a sentence of true philosophical pro- fundity,— though it is so well thought through that it is expressed in a plain and simple way. The first sentence is thus often the germ of the sermon ; and it is sometimes recommended that the first sentence of a sermon should be one that sets people to thinking ; but this profoundness of thought at starting is a hazardous thing, and unless well done, it is a signal failure ; unless the thought is truly pro- found, and at the same time put in a plain and practical form, it either confuses or disgusts an audience, so that simple good sense in the first sentence is, generally speak- ing, the safer course. The following may be given as one example of a beauti- ful and suggestive introduction from the old French preacher, Michel le Faucheur : "Rom. 8 : 27, ^JVous savons que toutes choses aide id ensemble en Men a ceux qui aiment DieuJ' "Notre texte contient fort peu de paroles, mais dont le sens est merveilleusement fecond Tout ainsi que quand Dieu, a la priere d'Elie, voulut ouvrir le ciel, conime a sa priere il I'avait ferm^, la nuee que ce prophete vit mon- trer de la mer, en execution de cette volonte favorable de Dieu, n'etait pas plus grande que la paume de la main d'un homme, mais cependant en moins de rien elle couvrit le ciel de nu^es et toute la terre de pluie, de meme cette sentence, quoique fort brieve, si vous la m^diter attentivement, en moins d'une heure vous fera voir, par maniere, tout le ciel rempli des merveilles de la providence de Dieu en la direc- tion et en la conservation de tons ceux qui I'airaent, et vos ^mes seront arros^es de toutes parts des consolations de sa grace." ^ } Yinet'fl Histoire de la Predication, &c., p. 107. 130 PREACHING. The Sources of Introduction, though they may be almost endlessly varied, may yet all be classified or' brought under four principal heads : — 1. The circumstances of the text. The time, place, and occasion of the text may be given and described ; as the scenic surroundings of Paul preaching on the Areopagus, or the description of Athens, of Corinth, of Ephesus, of Rome, as forming attractive prefaces to many a text of the Acts and the Epistles. The historical period and the exact historical circumstances of the text, and also its local and philological relations, are always admissible : indeed, There- min lays down the rule that the introduction, in some way or shape, should invariably be drawn from the context — certainly too rigid a requisition. 2. The relations and circumstances of the subject. These are explanatory observations, prefatory and general remarks ; or, it may be, a single word in the text taken and remarked upon for a moment ; and thus the w^ay is prepared for the main subject; e. g., "Holiness, ivithout which no man shall see the Lord." Here one may begin to remark upon the single word " holiness," upon its true evangelical import, and thus lead on gradually to the subject which shall compre- hend the whole text, of which " holiness '' forms the essence. 3. General truth, or truths preparatory to the subject. This method of generalizing'to begin with may, indeed, be carried to excess, and may lead the mind awa}^ from the definite subject in hand ; and it is therefore better to begin as nearly as possible to the thing itself, and not to indulge in introductory platitudes, as is often done in the introduc- tions of Blair. It is well to take some specific truth or fact leading up to the subject, some fit comparison or similitude, some historical fact or proverb, or some striking quotation ; and sometimes an imaginary case may be supposed ; as Massillon's commencing one of his sermons with the idea of a trial or court scene goins; on. 4. Situation of speaker and audience. This requires § 12. THE INTRODUCTION. 131 great tact, of which Cicero's "Pro Milone" and "/?i Catili- nam " are fine examples. Topics of introductions should be taken generally from things rather than persons, though historical examples, even if they are taken from secular history, are sometimes fitted to arouse attention, and they form happy introductions. A series of good hints as to the sources of exordiums, or introductions, is given in Vinet's Homiletics, p. 302. Introductions are sometimes called "the crosses of preach- ers," because beginnings are always difficult ; but no intro- duction is better than a bad one ; and sometimes it is best to plunge at once into deep waters. As to the time of writing the introduction, every one is his own best judge : perhaps it should not be the first or the last thing written ; but it should be done when the mind is fully possessed of the subject, and when one cannot help say- ing just what he does, in order to lay the theme fitly before the audience. " As the introduction is only a subsidiary and a preparatory part of a discourse, the topics which it must embrace, and the form in which it should appear, can- not be fully known until the nature and form of the propo- sition and of the discussion are well ascertained by the speaker. Hence the proper time for the invention and composition of the introduction is after the subject has been thoroughly studied, and the general form of the discussion well settled in the mind."^ This is also Quintiliau's advice,^ who is especially full and excellent on the subject of the "exordium," proving that little can be added to what the ancients have said upon oratory. Vinet says, "There is always an exordium which is better than any other, and it is that on which the true orator ordinarily falls ; " therefore it is well for the preacher to have before his mind, or to set before his mind, precisely what end he has in view, and ' Day's Rhetoric, p. 48. * Instit., B. III., c. 9, s. 8. 132 PEE ACHING. what he is conscious he is able to do to attain that end ; and this will guide him to say the right thing to begin with, for the introduction should ever have an eye to the conclusion. § 13. The Explanation. The explanation of a sermon comprehends all that is required for the purpose of elucidating the meaning and force of the text, and of thus obtaining from it the true subject of the discourse. It refers exclusively to the text. Vinet says that " the explanation is purely definition, and not judgment." It is the defining of the actual terms and contents of the text, so that its true theme may be dis- tinctly presented to the mind. It not only embraces the etymological definition of the text, or that of its verbal terms, but, above all, its rational definition, or that of its complete object of thought; it is, in fact, bringing out in its wholeness the full and entire meaning which the text is intended to convey. An " expository " sermon may be said to be wholly taken up with the explanation ; but in every ordinary sermon, with few exceptions, the explanation has its distinct place, and is applied to the precise matter of defining the text, so that its true subject may be presented. It does nothing more than this ; it may suggest, but it does not formally state the subject ; it leads the way to the proposition and argument, but it is clearly distinguished from them. A sermon, according to Vinet, really consists of but two parts — the explanation and the proof; but we prefer to limit the use of the explanation to the simple object of defining what the text means. As to the extent of the explanation, it includes both the facts and the sentiments of the text, or, in other words, the narrative and the exposition. § 13. THE EXPLANATION. 133 1. The Karrative. This is the investigation and setting forth of the more purely objective truth of the passage in its relations to time, place, and circumstance. It is view- ing the text in the concrete. It is the consideration of the why^ howy and what of the passage, especially in relation to the time in which it originated. Great skill may be used here in accurately developing, in their order of time, all the important and perhaps hidden facts involved in the text ; in taking it apart, and showing the true order and harmonious relations of the parts to one another and to the whole. Where the text is a very easy and familiar one, all the explanation that is needed may be included in a few words of the introduction ; but, generally speaking, some discussion is required to set forth the facts of the text clearly and distinctly, even without developing any new truth from it, or proving anything in particular by it. A lawyer usually makes the explanatory narrative the most important and telling part of his address or plea ; he shows his consummate skill in collating facts, in explaining cir- cumstances and events, so as to bear upon any particular point or principle that he desires to establish ; thus Cicero's oration for Milo has its chief strength in the exquisite skill of the narrative. This is also the place for description, especially historical description^ although that refers, strictly, to place rather than to time. Geographical, historical, and pictorial de- scriptions in a sermon should be brief, truthful, and vivid, and not highly wrought or poetical. The imagination may be indulged, but it should be remembered that a sermon is prose, not poetry. When the materials for description are ample, they should not be so largely drawn upon as to make* it apparent that the sermon was written in order to give the preacher an opportunity to discuss the topography of Jeru- salem or Athens, or to paint a glowing picture of a sacred scene, in order to display his fancy and learning; but, at the same time, everything which tends to vivify divine 12 134 PREACHING. truth, and draw attention to it, and make it fresh and forci- ble, is perfectly justifiable. Whately says, "Let not your sermons be avowedly hortatory, nor begin with exhorta- tion ; let your apparent object be explanation. Ignorance is not the greatest, but it is the first evil to be removed ; it is also the one most in your power to remove, and it is one which people will not be, in the outset, so much dis- gusted to be told of. And do not think anything irrele- vant, however remote it may seem from Christian practice, that tends to interest them in Scripture studies and religious topics." ^ 2. The Exposition. This is, by all means, the principal part of the explanation. It regards the text in the abstract rather than in the concrete ; and it is more strictly the defi- nition of the precise terms and contents of the text. It does not concern itself about the text, so much as it does with the very words and substance of the text. It compre- hends, first of all, a correct verbal definition of the passage, a literal explanation of the terms of the text — simple, it may be, in its results, yet one that demands thorough study and scholarship ; and, in addition to this, and above all, it in- cludes an honest effort to arrive at the internal meaning of the passage.' It is viewing the text subjectively. It is look- ing at it, or rather into it, as taken out of its relations to time, place, and circumstance. It is endeavoring to come at the absolute truth, or the general principle involved in the text. It is, perhaps, as near as anything, what we mean by the expression, "the true spirit of the text." This is the most important idea of the text, because the outward facts and circumstances of the text are comprehended in this inner meaning. This definition of the idea contained in an important passage of divine truth is often the most diflSicult and taxing part of the whole sermon ; for nothing is more difficult than definition, especially the definition of ' Life of Eichard Whately, vol. i., p. 210. Letters to a Young Clergyman. § 13. THE EXPLANATION. 135 ideas. It is the complete separation of the idea from all other ideas and objeofs of thought. It is looking at it as a •vvhole, so that the proposition follows this mastery of the true idea, or the essential meaning of the text, as a matter of course. There may exist doubt as to the true meaning of a text, and several meanings may be claimed by the best scholars and thinkers ; here patient and honest thought is required. There may be, also, wholly difierent ideas, and classes of ideas, drawn from the same passage ; and there may be, further still, various shades of ideas comprehended in it: in the explanation, therefore, it is necessary not only to get at the best exposition of the true principle contained in the text, but to have a clear and indejpendent idea of our own concerning it ; to come ourselves to a distinct and original concej)tion of the truth taught in the text. This view should be clearly defined, and should be the result of accu- rate investigation with all the helps of scholarship ; and then what follows in the other portions of the sermon will have good foundations to rest upon. There are some classes of texts which particularly de- mand exjplanation. Almost every text, being in a dead language, requires some brief explanation ; but those which absolutely demand it may be chiefly divided into three classes : — (1.) Typical and figurative texts. These all contain some true meaning, and that true meaning, or literal truth conveyed by them, is to be set forth; e. g., Ps. 84: 11, ^^For the Lord is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory ; no good thing 2vill he loithhold from them that walk uprightly." Here are two distinct ideas of the nature of God metaphorically inwoven (it would seem) through the whole verse. God is not only a sun — the source of light and truth — but a shield — the source of strength, protection, daily providential oversight; he is the giver 136 PREACHING. both of glory and grace ; he is so as regards the whole of our life, external and internal. (2.) Texts whose sense is complicated, and open to controversy. (3.) Texts of deep and pregnant meaning, not at once obvious, but connected, it may be, with some previous truth, argument, or fact. Especially under this head are to be classed texts of pro- found spiritual meaning. The materials or sources of the explanation are manifold. 1. Philological analysis. This embraces a close and accurate verbal exegesis of the passage, and the different modes of stating and explaining the text, or the different views which may be and have been taken of it, as well as the refutation of false modes of interpreting the text — those, perchance, which are in common use. One may thus judiciously present the more correct translation of a text; e. g., Kom. 12: 1, ^^ That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service^'' — x\v XoyiyJiP laiQeiuv, — the literal mean- ing of loyiii^f here, as in particular passages in John 4 : 23, Rom. 7: 25, 1 Pet. 3 : 2, is ''spiritual" — "pertaining to the spiritual, or the soul's life ; " or the passage in Philipp. 3: 20, — ''Our conversation is in heaven," where the word cToltTsv/.tu, rendered "conversation," is, strictly and nobly, "citizenship." The drawing out and binding together of a complicated parable, like that of the unjust steward, which requires the strict defining of terms and their con- nections, as well as the elucidation of the meaning of the whole, and the explanation of such a weighty, profound passage as 1 Tim. 3:16, are familiar examples of the abso- lute need of accurate, scholarly analysis. In fine, the criti- cal scholarship and pure learning required in the sermon thus generally come in the explanation ; there they find a true place, though even there they should not be obtruded, and should manifest results rather than processes. 2. JExamination of the relative position of the text, or § 13. THE EXPLANATION. 137 the study of what is called the "context." The detaching of texts from their context has been a source of mischief in preaching as great as, at the beginning of the recent war, the too great separation of our smaller military divis- ions from the main body, was to the success of our arms. 3. Oomimrison with ^parallel jiassages and with the main scope of Scr'ipture. This fills up cavities, enriches the mean- ing, clears obscurities, and modifies and defines the limits of the truth taught by the particular passage. 4. Development of historical facts. The preacher ought not to presume too much on the intelligence of his congre- gation in this respect — that they are all well informed even on the most familiar historical points ; but he should bring to bear the animating influence of his own richer and wider historical knowledge. This is a great source of interest. The most minute historical allusion often throws sudden light upon the text. John 7 : 37, "/?i the last day^ that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." This was uttered upon the very day on which the priests em- ployed the symbol of pure water in the temple, and in many ways made this water-symbolism strikingly prominent. As another instance, Matthew, the only evangelist who gives us the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, was him- self by profession a publican. Such an historical fact as the military Roman law which compelled the use of any man or beast along the road illustrates the sentence, ^^ If any man compel thee to go a mile, go with him, twain." The closing of the gate in all oriental cities, even to this day, at an early hour in the evening, gives force to the Saviour's words, ^'Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, but shall not be able." 5. Scientific illustrations. The preacher should lay his hand on these boldly ; and he may thus, in an eminently scientific age like the present, win new interest for religious truth, which is unscientific and undefined. What is called 12* 138 PREACHING. the modern science of "Egyptology," founded upon the inductive process, has totally destroyed the triumph of false science in regard to biblical antiquities, so destructive of the authenticity of the Scriptures. In like manner geologi- cal science is a splendid contribution to theology, as to the main truth of the unity and order of the plan of creation. Science, as well as Art, and all the arts, will become more and more the auxiliary to the interpretation of divine truth. Chrysostom, Luther, Chalmers, Arnold, and even John Wesley, were not afraid of learning and science, consider- ing that the principles of the natural and spiritual worlds emanate from the same mind, although revelation will never be squared to science ; and we may look in vain for this, for the Bible is not, and never can be made, a scien- tific book. But there is one field where a little scientific knowledge is all-important to the preacher ; and that is, in the geography of biblical lands : he should know the difierence between "Antioch in Syria" and "Antioch in Pi- sidia," and what was meant by the "Asia" of the New Tes- tament, and the history and derivation of the " Galatians " of Asia Minor, and such geographical and historical facts as clear up difiiculties in biblical interpretation. 6. AjppUcation of the laws of common sense. Everything must be brought to that. Great scholars sometimes lose their common sense ; and the use of the homely and inde- pendent principle of common sense will do away with many perverse interpretations of Scripture which have been sus- tained by learning falsely applied. 7. The setting forth of the animus of the ivj'iter. This would influence the meaning of much that was written by John, and James, and Peter, and Paul ; and while the marked difierences of the Pauline, Petri ne, and Johannean manifestations of divine truth are presented to us in a forci- ble manner in such a work as Neander's "Planting and Training," the careful study of the inspired writings them- selves is better still. Inspiration admits the human ele- § 13. THE EXPLANATION. 139 ment, and takes form from the peculiarities of individual mind and character ; and, indeed, we have reason to sup- pose that idiosyncrasies of character were taken advantage of by the Spirit for the development of particular truths. Paul's mind, experience, and culture wonderfully fitted him for the expression and inculcation of the liberal doctrines of Christianity, which embrace the human race, and the universal application of the principles of redemption. The peculiar condition of the author's mind at the time of wiHting or speaking is also important as affecting his meaning. Our Lord himself, when he was in the humblest and obscurest circumstances, spoke the words, "/ am the light of the world." When Paul was in the gloomy depths of the Mammertine prison he exhorted men to glory in the cross of Christ. One expression, also, of a scriptural writer may be set over against another expression of the same writer, uttered in entirely different circumstances and states of mind ; thus the character and history of David abound in striking con- trasts ; cross lights are strong lights. 8. By setting forth the animus and spirit of the age in which the text was written. The celestial utterances of the "Sermon on the Mount," and the broad precepts of Chris- tianity in the Epistles, may be contrasted with the narrow Jewish theology, the clashing Greek philosophies, and the imperious and ferocious ideas of the best Eoman civiliza- tion of the time. 9. By showing the character and condition of the persons addressed. "Feed my sheep" would not, in all probability, have been addressed to the loving apostle John, but rather to the ambitious, impetuous, forth-putting Peter. The Epis- tle to the Philippians was written to a kind of people very different from that to which the Epistle to the Corinthians was written. 10. By showing the particular object for which the pas- sage was spoken or written. ^' Sell all that thou hast" was 140 PREACHING. not spoken to a poor man, but was addressed to the pecu- liar form of selfishness in which a wealthy young man's impenitence was garnered up. Our Lord's parables were intended to arouse thought, and to sow truth in the hearts of a people where the direct word of truth would have been treated with contempt, would have been trampled under foot. 1 1 . By bringing forth the hidden tone and qualities of the text. That is, by listening to it not so much with the ear of the mind as with the ear of the heart, and catching its true spirit. Even its rhetorical qualities of naturalness, beauty, and force are not to be neglected ; but by long meditation, and, above all, by prayer, one should strive to penetrate into the inmost soul of a passage, till its full original tone comes out. One should look into his own soul, and see how a text responds to his own spirit, since the study of the laws of the soul now will give one a key to unlock spiritual truth spoken ages ago, for the human heart is the same, and God is the same. The study of the laws of the divine mind will alone enable one to penetrate into the hidden meaning of the divine word ; the spirit only comprehends the mind of the spirit. " TJie natural man discerneth not the things of the spirit of God^ for they are spiritually discerned." As to the qualities of the explanation, it should be, — 1. True. It should develop the true meaning of the text, neither more nor less — not the meaning which this one or that one would give it, or which we ourselves, perhaps, would desire to give it. Honesty in the explanation strength- ens all other parts of the discourse. One may strive for the greatest vividness of impression in bringing out the full idea of the passage ; but when he goes beyond the truth taught, then it is an unworthy means of impression, which will react disastrously. It is even better to understate than to overstate the truth. 2. Perspicuous. The ex'planation is not the place for § 13. THE EXPLANATION. 141 discursiveness ; there all should be exact and concise, clear and convincing. That is laying the foundations. Definition should be neat, proper, and finished work.^ One should avoid learned terms, and should produce the results rather than the terms of philology. In the evolution of long pas- sages it is particularly essential to avoid obscurity ; and it is well to seize upon the main idea of the passage, and make that stand out clearly, while the subordinate parts are grouped around it. 3. Brief. Jonathan Edwards is said, by good judges of his sermonizing, to have spent too much time in expo- sition, thus confusing the true sense of the passage. Mod- ern learning should expedite explanation. But sometimes it is not possible to make the expljlhation brief, for the whole sermon may depend upon, and, in fact, consist of, the evolving of a particular and perhaps recondite mean- ing of the text. Brevity is violated, (a.) By explaining things which need no explanation ; a sermon is often ren- dered insufferably tedious in this way; (6.) By seeking to explain simple ideas, or absolute truths, which cannot be analyzed, such as "God," "love," "life," "spirit;" (c.) Bij •making side issues, or going out of the way to explain diffi- culties which the text might suggest, but which it does not suggest to any in the congregation, and which do not fall within the scope of the sermon to clear up. The common mind is wearied Avith such excursions to explain difficulties that do not originate in itself, and which it cares nothing about. Solid difficulties it can appreciate, and it will patiently bear with their explanation. Those difficulties are chiefly practical — those hard things in truth, doctrine, and life, especially in the beginning of the spiritual life, of which all men have some experience. While the explanation is thus concise, it need not be dry. It should not be a mere analysis of words and sentences, ' Quintilian's Instit., B. VII., c. 3, s. 1. 142 PREACHING. but a search after the living truth, conducted with anima- tion and zest. "Definition," Vinet says, "as much as possi- ble, should excite and stimulate the free and vital forces of the soul. Perfect definition is that which at the same time gives knowledge, comprehension, feeling, and faith." ^ 4. Modest. There may be all the scholarship that is needed in it, but it should be modestly expressed. Any pretentious display of commentators and names of learned authors, especially foreign authors, if harmless, is foolish. Above all, a rash and arrogant attack on our English ver- sion is immodest and harmful.^ 5. It should suggest the proposition or subject of the ser- mon. It should build up the discourse to this point, where the proposition stands forth from all these preparatory scaf- foldings of definition, firm and clear. There should be a natural and logical step from the explanation up to the proposition. The proposition — the explanation seems to say — is thus the great lesson of the text. " Whatever," says Abbd Maury, " in this part of the discourse, doth not lead to the principal parts of a sermon, is useless." 6. It should bear upon every part, even upon the conclu- sion, of a sermon. The explanation should skilfully pre- pare for each after step and thought ; it should lay its train for every future blow. While there is development after the explanation, there should yet be the introduction of no absolutely new or foreign truth in the progress of the ser- mon, the idea of which, or the ground of the introduction of which, is not in some way brought out or suggested in the explanation. As to the time and place of the explanation, its natural place is immediately after the introduction ; but it is some- times intermingled with the introduction, and sometimes takes the place of it. The more important of the two should ' Homiletics, p. 169. ^ Waltham's Old English Prose Authors, vol. vi., p. 286. § 14. THE PEOPOSITION. 143 precede. Nevertheless, although we have assigned to the explanation a formal place immediately after the introduc- tion, and though the best authorities, ancient and modern, would give it this place ; yet even this rule is not a rigid one ; for however or wherever, in the course of a sermon, we define the text, and bring out its true sense more clearly, there is the explanation. It may be direct or indirect ; it may precede or follow the theme ; it may be in the nature of elaborate analysis, or of more brief, condensed synthe- sis ; but the explanation, in all cases, is the use of the criti- cal faculty employed upon the interpretation of the text, rather than the exercise of the logical or more strictly reasoning faculty, which arrives at general truths, and develops the ultimate relations of the truth which is thus distinctly evolved. § 14. The Proj>osition. "A proposition," says Whately, "signifies a sentence in which something is said — afBrmed or denied — of another. That which is spoken of is called the ' subject ' of the propo- sition ; and that which is said of it is called the ^predicate;' and these two are called the Herms^ of the proposition, from their being in natural order the extremes or bounda- ries of it." ^ A proposition is either logical or rhetorical. A logical proposition is "a judgment expressed in words;" as, "The character of sin is progressive." A logical proposition demands proof. A rhetorical or general proposition is the simple announce- ment of any fact or truth: as, "The immutability of the law ; " or, put into a more formal statement, " My subject of discourse is, the immutability of the law." A rhetori- cal proposition admits of general discussion, without strictly demanding proof. ' Beasooing, p. 32. 144 PREACHING. But what, definitely, is the j)ropositio7i of a sermon? The proposition in a sermon is that portion in which the subject of the sermon is more distinctly and more formally announced. The place of such a proposition may be at the beginning or at the end of a discourse, according to the method which we pursue — whether we take a given truth and analyze it, or, from its various scattered elements, we build it up grad- ually into the enunciation of some general synthetic truth. The place, time, and method of announcing the proposi- tion may thus be varied. It may, however, be laid down as an almost invariable principle, that it increases the facility of apprehension and the degree of interest on the part of the audience, to an- nounce, as near the beginning of the discourse as possible ^ what is the subject under discussion. Therefore, as a gen- eral rule, the proposition, in some more or less distinct shape, should immediately follow the explanation. At all events, the preacher should have a definite proposition or subject to speak to, whether he announces it sooner or later, or whether he announces it formally or not. But the subject may be a complex one, involving many particular subjects, or propositions, under some more gen- eral theme, different parts of the same subject, or diifereut views of the same subject. In such cases the proposition must be brought forward in parts, in the form of a more gradual development of the subject, at various stages of the discourse. Perhaps, also, in some cases, it would not do to announce the subject at once ; the audience are not prepared for it, or they may be prejudiced against it, or they may be entirely ignorant of it. At all events, a process of careful prepara- tion is needed to clear the way for the definite statement of the subject. There are, however, few subjects that a min- ister is called to preach upon which he may not clearly and boldly announce at the very outset. § 14. THE PROPOSITION. 145 Mullois, the Catholic writer, says, "Let it be perceived at once what the subject is, and what yon intend to say. Sketch out your truth in a few sententious words, clearly and emphatically enunciated. Let there be none of those vague and halting considerations which give the speaker the air of a man who is blindfolded, and strikes at random ; none of those perplexing exordiums wherein every conceiv- able fancy is brought to bear upon a single idea, and which frequently elicit the remark, 'What is he driving at? What topic is he going to discuss ? ' Let the subject matter be vigorously stated at the outset, so that it may rivet the minds and engage the attention of the audience." ^ It is true that in the meditative discourse, especially recom- mended by Fenelon, in which the thought develops itself from within, and flows along in the more hidden currents of a contemplative mind, the discourse would cease alto- gether to flow, where it was confined in the strict bounds of a proposition. In such a discourse the proposition is not formall}'^ announced, but rather is suggested through the whole course of the sermon. It dawns upon the hearer out of the apparent obscurity of the discussion, like the gradual light of day. Such a style of sermon requires a peculiar theme and a peculiar genius ; and in unskilful hands, and from a mind not in the highest degree spiritual, if it were very commonly adopted, it would be disastrous to profitable and impressive teaching in the pulpit. The significance and importance of the proposition to the strength and beauty of the discourse cannot be better illustrated than in the familiar example of the tree. If the argument forms the branches, the proposition forms the trunk, and the text the root. How can there be a tree without a trunk, or a discourse w^ithout a proposition ? The ' The Clergy and the Pulpit, p. 118. 13 146 PREACHING. trunk, before it disparts itself into divisions, is narrow, rigid, fixed ; it is not the graceful part of the tree ; it is not, apparently, the living part of the tree ; but how could there be an}' life or grace without it? The proposition is just this definite, unyielding, all-comprehending part of the sermon ; the strength of the discourse is bound up in it ; all the life of the sermon runs through it to the minutest extremity, while it draws its life immediately from the text, or the divine word. As one tree has generally one trunk and one character, and bears one kind of fruit and leaf, and is distinguished from all other trees, so one sermon should have one subject and one aim. Dr. Emmons was of this opinion. He says of himself, " For this reason I seldom preached textually, but chose my subject in the first place, and then chose a text adapted to the subject. This enabled me to make my sermons more simple, homogene- ous, and pointed, while, at the same time, it sei-ved to confine the hearers' attention to one important leading sen- timent. Those who preach textually are obliged to follow the text in all its branches, which often lead to different and unconnected subjects. Hence, by the time the preacher has gone through all the branches of the text, his sermon will become so complicated that no hearer can carry away any more of it than a few striking, unconnected expres- sions ; whereas, by the opposite mode of preaching, the hearer may be master of the whole discourse, which hangs together like a fleece of wool" ^ Although we cannot agree with Dr. Emmons's view of textual preaching, and of selecting a subject before a text, it is well to have his positive views upon the matter of a proposition. Whatever may be true of a composition to be read, a sjpoken address needs some distinct proposition to speak upon ; the speaker needs it to give him concentration, and ' Park's Life of Emmons, p. 274. § 14. THE PROPOSITION. 147 the majority of hearers, also, who do not or cannot make accurate discriminations, need to have something definite before them. As to the substance or matter of the proposition, there are some rules to be observed. 1. There should be a unity of the parts of the proposition with the whole. The unity of the sermon depends upon the unity of the subject, and the subject is one which can be stated in a single proposition. There may be different parts, and widely distinct parts, of the subject discussed, but still they should all be comprehended, or be capable of being stated, in one more general subject ; as, (1.) Where the proposition has several subordinate parts; e. g., "The means of spiritual growth" — («.) communion with God, (6.) cultivation of the affections, (c.) active service, &c. (2.) Where there is a general predicate of the coordinate parts of one whole; e. g., "The nature, design, and impor- tance of prayer." It is evident here that the last is the main idea, or the general predicate of all, and the discus- sion of the others should tend to the confirmation of the last. (3.) Where there are other topics of inquiry, xohich the proposition fairly leads to. Thus, having established the proposition that there is such a thing as a visible church, we may go on to show our relations to it, and its relations to us and to other men. 2. Tlie proposition should be plainly involved or implied in the text. Its great beauty is to correspond with the mean- ing and spirit of the text. No theme other than that which finds its ground in the text should be employed. Often the text is the theme pure ; it would be pedantical in such a case to use any terms other than those of the text ; but it is generally necessary to bring what lies in the text into one particular point of view. A sermon has been called an ellipse with two points — text and theme. This ellipse should be as perfect as possible. Sometimes the proposi- tion is too wide for the text; as John 14: 13 — subject, 148 PREACHING. "Prayer : " ''And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son;" whereas the true, limited subject of the passage is, "Prayer ill the name of Jesus." ^ Sometimes, on the other hand, the proposition may be too narrow for the theme ; as Eph. 4: 25 — subject, " Truthfuhiess : " " Wherefore , putting away lying, speah every man truth tvitli his neighbor; for we are members one of another.'''' But the true theme is, "The duty of truthfuhiess, as made obligatory by the member- ship of Christ." The same text may also have different sides to it, and may suggest quite different themes ; all that we should be careful for is, that the theme is truly grounded in the text. Sometimes we cannot find a text which corre- sponds precisely to our subject ; the proposition should then be made as identical as possible, and we may be obliged to use a general text in preaching on a particular theme, and so vice versa. 3. The proposition should include, essentially, all that is to be discussed in the sermon; no less and no more. The proposition is comprehended in the text, and the sermon in the proposition ; one should therefore endeavor to make every word in the proposition suggestive of the sermon. The sermon or discussion is contained in the proposition as parts in a whole. The proposition is a handle of the sermon, to take it all up together, and a rudder of the sermon, to guide it in its definite course of thought. In a doctrinal sermon, especially, the proposition should be restricted to exactly what is discussed, except when a spe- cial advantage is to be gained by a connected view of the relations of doctrines ; therefore we should strive to make the proposition as wide and comprehensive as we wish to make the discussion itself. As to the structure and qualities of the proposition, the general idea of a good proposition is, that it should be, — ' Hagenbach's HomileticS. § 14. THE PROPOSITION. 149 1. Plain and simple. It should be as plain and simple as possible, without being commonplace. This simplicity of form may be violated, («.) By too scientific and philo- sophical a statement of the theme. It should, on the con- trary, be as concrete and popular as possible. Abstract and singular themes characterized the preaching of the eighteenth centur}'' ; thus one of Reinhard's themes for a sermon was, "Upon the habit of the human mind to be indifferent towards a long and earnestly desired good, when the moment of possession comes." (6.) By too metaphori- cal a form, except when the text itself is a figure. Figure in a proposition is sometimes beautiful ; such as " Christ the good shepherd," " Christ the rock of ages." But this last form of typifying the Saviour has been carried to an extravagant pitch ; and German preachers have preached upon " Christ a carpenter," " a hat-maker," " a tailor," and "a clucking hen."^ Anything fanciful in the proposition is peculiarly out of place ; for if plain, strong common sense should appear anywhere, it is in the propqsition ; there may be carving and ornament in other parts of the vessel, but we want the rudder to be made of oak and iron. 2. Neat and condensed. This is for its easier use and remembrance. All unnecessary synonymes and weakening qualifications are to be avoided in the proposition. Com- pactness is an especial good quality. Any superfluous dis- junctions, such as "or," "notwithstanding," "nevertheless," "so far forth," &c., should be dispensed with, and neat strength should be sought for. " In point of intensity, the proposition should rather fall below than fully express the idea of the sermon."^ The proposition may sometimes comprehend in itself the divisions of the sermon, and an- nounce them, thus making all the merely mechanical parts of the sermon as compact as possible ; and this, perhaps, is the best way, generally, to construct a proposition. The ' Hagenbach. * Professor Phelps. 13* 150 PREACHING. proposition may also consist of the grand divisions them- selves. There may be several propositions ; these form parts of one subject : coming one after another, they thus gradually develop the entire thought, subject, or compre- hensive proposition. 3. Specific. Even the unity of the proposition must be sometimes sacrificed to attain this particularity of theme. The discussion of specific subjects — of the species under the genus, of the particular under the general — is indicative of an acute mind. The more restricted a proposition is, the smaller portion of a truth discussed, if ably discussed, the more intensity of interest w^ill be aroused, and the more impression for good will be made. Where difiereut kinds of propositions ofler themselves, then, the more specific one is to be preferred ; and every proposition should express a definite and complete idea. 4. It should not be stated in the language of the text. There should be a fresh form given to it; and although drawn immediately from the text, it should, if possible, present some new form or aspect of the old truth. An exception to this rule is, where the text is itself proposi- tional in form, and makes a complete theme, as in that noblest and profoundest text in the Bible, "'For God is love:' 5. It should be prudently expressed. It should not lay out too large a subject, or present it in too ambitious a way; e. g., "I shall prove in this sermon the doctrine of total depravity." Neither should it be in a paradoxical form, which always carries with it something of a vain or egotistic air. 6. It should be varied. Let there be no stereotyped way of stating the subject. Sometimes it is well to keep the main proposition in the background, and at other times to let it be the first word uttered, the first thing announced. As a rare exception, there may be through the whole ser- mon no definite statement of the subject, but it may be left § 15. THE DIVISION. 151 to be gathered by the hearer. As a rule, however, rarely to be departed from, there should be a clear and specific statement made of what one is intending to discuss. In concluding this subject, the distinct warning should be repeated, that the propositional form belongs almost ex- clusively to the didactic discourse, and should not, there- fore, be invariably followed. It presujjposes the synthetic method of treatment. It requires that a distinct topic should be drawn from the text, gathering up and combining all the ideas of the text in a definite form, and then that the sermon should be built, not upon the text, but upon the proposition. This has been our usual New England method of preaching, which has come down, in fact, from the earli- est Protestant preachers ; ^ and it is not to be rashly given up, for it is admirably adapted to popular instruction ; but, as has been often urged, a return to a simpler and more direct method of preaching from the word of God, and not from a human proposition which is drawn from it, would be healthful. § 15. The Division. The fact of having formal divisions in a sermon, and the character of these divisions, are influenced, of course, by the kind of discussion which a subject may require or assume ; since a certain principle of division is applicable to the pecu- liar character of the individual sermon. Thus the sermon may assume the logical, or the inferential, or the subjective, or the textual form ; each requiring its peculiar divisions. The logical form of discussion proceeds in a regular method of reasoning, by a series of connected propositions or divisions, each of which is true because the one that pre- cedes it is true ; and all of these tend to some general proposition or result. This form of discussion, it is evi- ^ Vinet's Hist, de la Predication des EefOrmes, etc., p. 599. 152 PREACHmO. dent, absolutely requires divisions. It needs a clear state- Ebent of the proofs, or, at least, of each successive part of the argument, and of the connections of these parts. It should resemble, in lucidness of division and statement, a problem of Euclid. The inferential form of discussion, in distinction from the logical, consists in a series of independent inferences, or observations, drawn from the subject, expanding the theme into its various relations and applications. It is sometimes, though rather awkwardly, called " observational preaching,^^ — a very common method, because so easy. The objection to it is its easiness. One may foil into a loose and inconsequential style of remark, without close thought. Divisions here are merely the clear marking of each new observation or new thought, which if not so marked might lead to tedious confusion. This kind of dis- cussion demands, perhaps, the more care in its divisional arrangement from its very facility and tendency to common- place remark. F. W. Robertson's sermons abound in infer- ences ; but they generally come in after an argumentative discussion, when he introduces a number of distinct and interesting observations. He mingles the logical and infer- ential form of sermon, which is a good method. Having thoughtfully set forth a particular idea, he draws remarks from it, and then proceeds to another part of the subject. This is illustrated in his sermon on " The Star in the East," Second Series. The subjective form of discussion almost defies divisions, and scorns regular methods. It wanders "at its ow^n sweet will." It is more liable to run into the essay style, and lose the form of direct address, than the logical or inferential modes ; and yet even a meditative discourse should be some- what amenable to the laws of method. The textual form of discussion, following the very terms of the text, has and can have no very regular or formal divisions. But still, each distinct point or idea of the text § 15. THE DIVISION. 153 should be properly marked by some division, else even an expository sermon becomes a tangled skein. We thus see that regular divisions belong to the logical or argumentative style of sermon more fitly than to any other ; and yet, that all kinds of sermons demand something like "divisions," which clearly mark or set forth the differ- ent steps of the discourse. W7iat are the divisions of a sermon ? They are the different parts in which the main proposi- tion or subject is formally separated and discussed. They do not refer to the free and actual development of a sub- ject so much as to the special points of view in which the proposition is to be held up and regarded. They give a rapid and condensed aspect of the whole subject in its vari- ous parts, and thus the better enable the hearer to follow the thread of the discourse, or the ramifications of the argu- ment. They form the chart of the discourse, which he is to hold in his hand. More than any other part, they mark the plan of the sermon ; they are more important to the plan than is any other portion. As to the utility of divisions : — 1. They promote variety in unity. They do not promote mere variety, for while they seem to separate, they really bind together, in a flexible but strong chain, the whole dis- course. The articulations and joints of the human body do not destroy its unity, but belong to one system, one organ- ized life. Thus all tlie groups of ideas implied in divisions and subdivisions are referred to some common centre of life ; and they are not merely artificial divisions ; they have some good reason for them, bearing upon the true power of the sermon. A just classification of the various ideas or aspects of a subject implies some general law of unity which binds them vitally together. 2. They promote clearness. Feudlon has made an objec- 154 PREACHING. tion to the use of divisions, because, he says, they were de- rived originally from the schoolmen ; but even if they were thus derived, if, withal, they are valuable, there is no reason why they should not be used. Natural divisions of a dis- course are older than the schoolmen ; they spring from the nature of things. Good divisions are nothing more than the clear analysis of any given theme of thought. They break it up into its component parts or specific ideas ; and this analytic process, when not carried into hair-splitting, aids the clear understanding of the subject. It assists the hearer to follow the road which the discussion takes ; and he can- not entirely lose his way, even if he should be for a time thrown out. It also prevents the sermon from becoming a mass of incoherent and confused matter. 3. They iwomote the progress of the discussion. Good divisions enable the writer to step easily from a lower to a higher level of the subject. They mark the logical as well as the natural advancement of thought, and prevent it from becoming retrogressive or rotary. They thus keep the sermon, or rather the preacher, from wasting his power; they enable every thought to have its due weight ; they prevent repetition. Good divisions are, in fact, the result of clear thinking. They themselves often constitute in- trinsically much of the beauty and power of the discourse. "Aptness to seize the principle of division, and to effect the division correctly and fully under it, perhaps more than any other specific capability, marks the degree of ability in the construction of a discourse." ' 4. They refresh the mind and memory both of the speaker and hearer. They introduce breaks ; they enable the mind to repose a moment, and take a view of the field, to recall what has gone before, to note the progress which has been made, and to look forward to what is to come. The mind rests in the trench in which it is working its way up to the ' Day's Art of Discourse, p. 86. § 15. THE DIVISION. 155 stronghold, looking both backward and forward. Divisions also tend to keep up the attention and interest in the hear- er's mind, to prevent its weariness, and to assist in guiding its thought. As to the numher of divisions, the principle should be strongly laid down that there should be as few divisions as possible. Divisions tend to make a discourse stiff; for the sermon should be a living growth from the text, a life rather than a work. All mechanical and artificial divisions should therefore be avoided, nay, more, contemned. The number of divisions, however, is governed, as we have seen, very much by the nature of the subject itself. A very simple subject requires but few divisions. The more a subject will bear analyzing, of course the more of division, separation, and classification of ideas is needed. A difficult theologi- cal theme may sometimes require many divisions, and even subdivisions. There should be no arbitrary number of divisions ; and, indeed, it is puerile to multiply divisions merely for the sake of doing so, and of giving a logical air to a sermon. This is not the way wise men talk. Different forms of stating the same thing do not demand different divisions. One should never introduce a new division unless it is abso- lutely required in order to make the sense plainer, and to mark the progress of thought. Dr. Fitch thinks that, as a general rule, three principal divisions are enough for a ser- mon. He takes as a model for the sacred oration, the ora- tion of Cicero "I^r'O Lege Manilla " in which the orator has one design in a threefold division : " You must choose a general ; you must choose an able general ; you must choose Cneius Pompeius." As to the sources and qualities of divisions: — 1. Divisions should correspond to the nature of the subject. This rule forbids all stereotyped character of divisions. 156 l^REACHINa. There may be, as we have seen, the logical, or the rhetori- cal, or the textual discussion, each of which requires its own style of divisional treatment. The text itself may often point out its own divisions far better than any which could be devised ; but this will be more particularly noticed under the head of Development. 2. Divisions should be made to comprehend or exhaust the contents of the main proposition. This is the law of completeness in divisions ; and as to the main divisions of the discourse, it is absolutely essential.^ Divisions are to the proposition what the proposition is to the text. As the proposition aims to exhaust the text, divisions aim to take up into them the whole meaning and contents of the propo- sition, and to unfold the whole substance of the thought comprehended in it. Limit the proposition itself, rather than have it overrun the divisions. Divisions may, indeed, sometimes comprise the proposition itself, presenting it in diiferent fragments or parts, which together form the gen- eral theme. Thus one of Nettleton's sermons — subject, 1. The departing prodigal; 2. The returning prodigal; without any other general proposition. 3. Divisions should be governed by a law of unity which requires that each division suggest or bear vital relation to the proposition. There can be no true theme which does not comprise one generic truth, or one class of truths, so that all its subordinate parts are but specific divisions of one general truth, and bear common relations to it. "The theme in division is ever a class ; and its parts are denoted by the terms species, varieties, individuals." ^ This sub- ject, or theme, is, of course, made up of its own various attributes, bound together by a common law of identity ; and in division, this common principle of the relation of the specific parts to the generic whole should be strictly observed. No other principle of division should be intro- ^ Day's Art of Discourse, p. 89. '^ Idem, p. 83. § 15. THE DIVISION. 157 duced, thus causing confusion of ideas ; and only those divisions which belong to this single class of ideas set forth in the theme should be introduced.^ No new classification of ideas should arise under a proposition which suggests one specific class of ideas, or one peculiar kind of attributes. To speak more generally, the one comprehensive and char- acteristic thought of the proposition should be reproduced in all the divisions, and ever}' division should bear a neces- sary and living relation to this one thought, although the particular points treated of in each division may be quite dissimilar as regards each other. And the division may not always distinctly express the matter of the proposition, but may only suggest it ; yet it should promote the general result, and the great moral truth or idea of the proposition should run through every division. It should be seen that there is but one bearing to all parts. The subordinate parts should not efface the principal part, but all the divisions should be such as will conduce to the carrying out of the principal idea. 4. One division should not anticipate or include the suc- ceeding one. The distinction which separate's the division should be real ; and that which enters into one idea, or forms part of it, should not be made the theme of a sep- arate division. Ideas which have a very near relation to each other should not form distinct divisions. There should be no blending or confounding of subordinate parts. If a new part, division, or thought is introduced, it should be something- really new and distinct ; for nothing weakens a discourse so much as a confusion and repetition of ideas. 5. Divisions should prepare the way for something to come. There should be progress in them. Yet, while they look forward to something more to come, they should not antici- pate results, which are reserved for the development of the sermon, and especially for the conclusion. They should ^ Day's Art of Discourse, p. 84. 14 158 PREACHING. not hinder or break the contmuous and free movement of the discourse ; they should rather aid it. 6. Divisions belonging to the same class should he similar to each other in form. This gives a neat finish to the ser- mon, and promotes unity. In regard to the composition of divisions, which is simply the art of bringing into one view the several elements of a given subject, or separating it into its component parts, we may, in order to obtain just divisions of our theme, — 1. Divide the whole general subject or proposition into two or several particular propositions. These may be dis- tinct, but true parts of one theme. 2. Separate the genus into its difFerent species. The truths of Scripture are usually given in a generic form, and they are thus capable of almost endless specification and illustration. 3. View the truth in its various appropriate relations or bearings to other truths. One may be obliged to do this in order to eliminate the particular truth in hand, and make it stand out clear in its own proper place in the field of rela- tive truth. 4. Marshal and discuss the principal proofs or arguments of the theme in hand. A truth of Scripture stands on its own ground of inspired authority ; but even this may be strengthened and confirmed by reasoning. 5. Exhibit the grand motives of any given duty or propo- sition, including such duty. 6. Illustrate the fact or duty involved in the subject in various practical ways and observations ; or, in brief, divis- ions may proceed by Classification, Analysis, Relations, Proofs, Motives, Illustration.^ '* ' The sources of divisions, according to rhetoricians, are manifold. One writer, for example, states sixteen of them. We would refer the reader, for different kinds of divisions which may be employed, especially in the textual sermon, and which are useful for reference in composing a sermon, to Kid- der's Homiletics, p. 201. § 15. THE DIVISIOX. 159 In the order or arrangement of divisions, the general principle is, that they should proceed according to the neces- sity of the subject, or the law of arrangement which a partic- ular subject contains within itself when evolved by thought ; or, more specifically, (1.) By an order of logical necessity, as the discussion of the nature of the subject, and then of its circumstances and proofs, or of its rvhat, how, and why. (2.) By an order of inherent dignity or value of ideas. This may be called the natural order. (3.) By an order of time; e. g., reason. Scripture, experience, would be generally the best order, because Scripture includes reason, and experi- ence, reason and Scripture. The order of cause and efl'ect would come under this principle. (4.) Order of jjrogressive strength of argument. We should advance from the weaker to the stronger argument ; or, one may begin with the strong and end with the strong, putting the weaker arguments in the middle. (5.) Order of ]jrogress from the abstract to the concrete — from d priori to a poste7'iori — from arbitrary ideas to the realized consciousness of these in fact and expe- rience. (6.) Order of ^^ersowaZ interest. Those thoughts and facts which most nearly concern our hearers themselves come with more force last — God, the church, j^ourselves. One should so arrange his divisions as to secure progressive interest and moral impression ; he should bear down on th« individual conscience and heart. As was said of the proposition, each division should be plain and perspicuous ; should be clearly cut ; should give complete sense by itself; should not be too commonplace or easy ; and it should be so announced as best to promote the clear progress of the discussion, and its remembrance by the audience. As to the utility of numbering divisions, the tendency is certainly, at the present time, not to announce divisions numerically. But if it were not a paradox to say so, wo think a numerical division is useful when it is needed ; that 160 PREACHING. is, when it makes more plain the discussion of a truth. U a sermon is to iiicle thought, or to amuse an audience, then, by all means, omit the formality of numbers ; yet if divis- ions are useful at all, it may be sometimes useful to number them, and the subject itself may demand it. But the num- bering impairs freedom, and imparts a formal character to a discourse ; therefore we think it best never to number divis- ions, or, wdiat is the same thing, actually to announce the number of divisions, unless numbers are absolutely needed to make the discourse more memorable and useful ; for, as says Quintilian, "division diminishes the appearance of strength."^ Let all the connections of a discourse, there- fore, be made as neatly as possible, and let the jointures be concealed, as Nature conceals them. The more intelligent the audience, the less necessity of formal numerical state- ments of divisions at all. As to the jplace or time of announcing divisions, this may be either before the discussion, during its progress, or at its close. The last was frequently Luther's mode. Gener- ally speaking, it is best to announce divisions at the begin- ning, especially if the sermon is of a topical character. While a cultivated taste would prefer never formally to announce divisions, utility is to be placed before taste in sermonizing. § 16. The Development. The development of the sermon is the whole hody of it as related severally to the text, the subject , the proposition , and the divisions. These originate, mark, and limit the development. The development, in other Avords, is the carrying out and tilling up of the plan, even as the divisions are the carrying out of the proposition, and the proposition of the text. It is the actual treatment of the theme in hand, the free and 1 Instit., B. II., c. 12, 8. 3. § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 161 living current of thonght, sentiment, and remark, after the definite subject and the general outline of treatment have been designated. The word ''body" expresses what is meant by the development better than any other word. The general character of the development of a discourse is decided chiefly by the character of the subject, although the object, or the main purpose we have in view, has also its influence. We have alluded already, in treating of divisions, to the diflerent forms of discussion which a theme may assume ; we would now notice these a little more care- fully. The principal modes of discussion, in relation to the real development of a sermon, are fourfold : the Expository, the Illustrative, the Argumentative, and the Persuasive. 1. Expository development. The expository sermon con- stitutes, as has been often said, perhaps the most genuine and primitive method of preaching, for it confines itself to setting forth the meaning of Scripture, "the ideas of God." It ends in making a passage of Scripture plain to the hear- ers' mind and heart. Expository sermons may be of two kinds : (a.) A simple exposition of the several clauses of a passage of Scripture in their order. This is useful when the portion of Scripture is fragmentary, and afibrds no con- tinuous thread of argument, and also when there are diflS- culties and ambiguities in the text to be critically explained. Such sermons may embrace the exposition of a single pas- sage of Scripture, or of a whole book of Scripture, in the exact order of its passages. (&.) A brief setting forth of the definite truth or truths which the passage thus exp)lained conveys, especially in the way of practical observations and lessons. This comes nearer than the other mode to the topi- cal form of discourse, but it requires a lengthened exjjosition, which forms the body of the sermon. Chalmers's lectures on the Epistle to the Romans are fine examples of this kind of expository preaching ; he shows the connections of thought between many detached passages, and develops their truth in 14* 162 PREACHING. more general practical propositions. This mingling of the textual and topical styles is perhaps, on the whole, the most profitable and instructive method of preaching, as well as the most popular and interesting. Were it more generally adopted, it would infuse a new life into our preaching. Some preachers fail to make expository preaching interest- ing by their extremely dry and barren manner of treating the Scriptures. They bring their exegetical process, instead of its results, into the pulpit. In an article on expository preaching in the New Englander (January, 1866), the writer says, "In this kind of preaching you should take up your subjects, and treat them in a free, popular manner, and never exegeticcdly, as in the schools. In your private study, and for your own benefit, cut and trim an exegesis as much as you will ; but never think of carrying your pruning knife and grafting tools into the desk with you ; or, if j^ou do, keep them out of sight. Common minds love to see good work when it is done, but they dislike the labor of doing it themselves, and the tedium of standing by to see how others do it." But the reason why preachers most commonly fail in ex- pository preaching is, that they do not put study enough into it ; they do not give close thought to the exegesis of the passage, to make it full and rich. They think they can "get up" an expository sermon in a short time; whereas that method, above all, requires original investigation, and, perhaps, more close and searching study than any other, for in it there is less left to invention. True expository preaching is the most profitable of all to the preacher himself, because it enriches his scriptural knowledge, and leads him deeper into the word of God. It gives him broader views of revealed truth, it teaches him to read the sacred writings in a connected Avay, and it fol- lows out an inspired train of thought or argument sometimes throngTi a whole book. It prevents him, also, from mis- applying and misusing individual texts, by taking them out § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 163 of their right relations. It lends variety to preaching, and does not shut it up to a few doctrinal subjects ; it ranges through the broad fields of the word, and goes from theme to theme, as the stream of revelation flows on throusrh the varied regions of divine truth. Expository preaching may lose its interest by being made too formal, by becoming too orderly and topical, by drawing out the truths of a passage into propositions too distinct and rigid ; whereas the mind of the preacher should hover around the passage, should recur to it again and again, should (as has been said) suck the sweetness from it like a bee ; should, in ever nearer and more penetrating ways, draw out its life and exhaust it& deep and precious meaning. Exhaust, did we say ? That would be impossible ; for, after all the preaching, how much there is still in the divine word which is fresh, unexplored, and almost entirely unknown ! Expository preaching also suggests numberless subjects for sermons. It gives an oppor- tunity to remark upon a great many themes on which one would not desire to preach a whole sermon, and it also gives an opportunity sometimes to administer salutary reproof in an indirect way. It is, in fact, the most free and practical method of preaching ; it comes home to the heart the quick- est. It is, above all, feeding the people with the "bread of life," with real biblical nutriment, with that spiritual food which all souls need, and which this age and every age re- quire. There is also in it less of the exclusively human ele- ment than in topical preaching ; the Holy Spirit seems to suggest and to provide the materials for the sermon. It is, therefore, a good change from the logical method, where the form often tyrannizes over the substance ; and a mingling of the two methods of topical and expository preaching will serve to correct the false tendencies of both. Dr. John M. Mason's remarks may be quoted on this point, though they should be received with some reservation. He says, "Do not choose a man who always preaches upon insulated texts. I care not how powerful or eloquent he may be in handling 164 PREACHING. them. The effect of his power aud eloquence will be, to banish a taste for the word of God, and to substitute the preacher in its place. You have been accustomed to hear that word preached to you in its connection. Never permit that practice to drop. Foreign churches call it lecturing ; and when done with discretion, I can assure you that, while it is of all exercises the most difficult for the preacher, it is, in the same proportion, the most profitable for you. It has this peculiar advantage, that in going through a book of Scripture, it spreads out before you all sorts of character, and all forms of opinion, and gives the preacher an oppor- tunity of striking every kind of evil and of error, without subjecting himself to the invidious suspicion of aiming his discourses at individuals." 2. Illustrative development. This has reference to the illustration of truth by the proof and evolution of facts, rather than of words or ideas. It may be chiefly char- acterized as the historical sermon. As the Bible is pre- eminently a book of facts, and has a noble historical development in itself, this may form a legitimate and inter- esting mode of preaching, as it was, indeed, the method of the apostles. As all men love to see truth in living forms, they will listen with interest to lessons drawn from sacred history and biography, which is, indeed, the rich residuum of the deepest experience of the race. The great features and facts of Paul's life, in connection with the old religions and civilizations of the age in which he lived, cannot fail to arrest attention, and lead to nobler and higher thought. We are not to become simply historians in the pulpit, but to set forth and impress the higher truth through the living lessons of history, of all history, not only that of the Bible times and personages, but of man, and of the church in all ages — of the great facts and events of modern days bearing upon the spiritual welfare of man and the interests of Christ's kingdom in the earth. Protestant preaching has § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 165 doubtless lost somethiug here ; and, in this respect, we may learn a lesson from the Roman Catholics ; they choose, as themes for illustrative preaching, the times and examples of eminent Christians, both ancient and modern. This kind of preaching has its own mode of developing a subject, and allows of a more discursive and generalizing method. It permits a freer use of the imagination, where it does not transcend the bounds of truth. It permits the drawing of various, and sometimes unaccustomed, remarks and lessons from the facts evolved — lessons often of a homely, personal, and direct kind. It has been said that " Demosthenes' arguments were Demosthenes' facts ; " and so the argument of every sermon should rest solidly on facts. A writer before quoted, in the New Englander (July, 1863), remarks, "Pulpit eloquence must be grounded on the plainest narrative. Afterwards it may warm itself until it exhales symbols of every form and color; speaks only through its most poetic forms ; but, first and last, it must be a biblical statement of fact. The orator is thereby an orator, that he keeps his feet ever on a fact." Let us be careful, then, not to permit our dogma, or doctrine, or theo- ry, or sentiment, or lesson, lose its foundation in biblical fact and history, since our Saviour's preaching itself was founded upon the great facts of human consciousness and divine revelation. 3. Argumentative development. This is to convince the judgment by bringing out and establishing the truth through proof and evidence. Thus in the text " By grace ye are saved,'' the argumentative development would reason upon and show the truth of this ; while the expositor}' and illus- trative developments would simply set forth the scriptural account of the method of salvation by grace ; and, exemplify it. All subjects are not fitted for the argumentative devel- opment, although, perhaps, reasoning may be applied to 166 PEE ACHING. any subject which admits of being true or false ; but doc- trinal subjects — those which contain scriptural teaching, that may be confirmed by reasons and proofs — are the chief sub- jects for argumentative development. This method also has its advantages ; indeed, many writers, among them Dr. Fitch, prescribe it as the best and invariable method of sermonizing. Argument impresses truth already believed, and convinces of truth not before be- lieved. An enlightened faith rests on proper grounds of evidence, either external or internal, and the more fully these grounds are set forth, the more firmly established will be the faith.* Argument is also often useful in arousinoj the feelins^s. The mind becomes interested in a truth which is capable of clear l^roof, and it is overcome by the spiritual weapons of reason and truth. The most successful preachers, as instruments of producing immediate conversion, the most successful revival preachers, are often at first severely argumentative. They thus gain power to bear down upon the conscience and heart. The argumentative style of sermon is so com- mon with us in New England, that we usually speak of the " body " or " development " of the discourse as " the argu- ment." The argumentative development of a sermon is of two kinds : the indirect and the direct. I. The indirect. Under this comes, (a.) The refutation of objections. This should generally be in the first part of the body of a discourse, be- cause the last words should be the strongest, and should leave a positive impression. When the objections are trivial, they need not be noticed; but when they are real, and present truly intellectual difficulties, it is best to discuss them one by one. Refutation removes the obstacles and clears away the rubbish, before we begin to build the argument. And there is nothing like grappling with an antagonist, to excite interest, for man naturally loves fighting, and almost every one is more forcible in refuting than in proving. But § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 167 the preaching should not stop at the refutation ; for Chris- tianity is not a negative system — it is full of reasons. In refutation we should be especially careful to be candid, since in this way we gain the confidence of. our hearers when we proceed to the proof. We may gain a decided advantage sometimes in turning an objection into a proof; we thus carry the war into Africa. No trifling objections should be stated. No time should be spent in demolishing men of straw. And above all things, acrimony in refuting opposing arguments should be avoided. (6.) The su])posi-, iitious form of argument.^ This is another form of indi- rect argument. It consists in bringing up several different forms of suppositions, beginning with the least plausible ; and by discussiug and disproving these in succession, you lay the way for the one which you wish to establish. Thus the doctrine of human sinfulness may be proved by gradually an- nihilating the various hypotheses of human goodness which men adduce for their own escape from this humbling and consuming truth, and by leaving it as the only possible truth, (c.) The serial or gradual argument. This form of indirect argument begins with some distinct and com- mon truth, that is readily conceded by your hearer, and then comes up by making the predicate of one proved truth the subject of another, until what you wish speci- ally to prove presents itself in an irresistible form, as a foregone conclusion.^ 2. The direct method of argument. This consists in the adducing of direct and positive proof. The subjects of pulpit discourse are commonly those which come under the general department of moral evidence. This permits, and even requires, proof. Proof is that mental act or process by which we arrive at certainty in our judgments respecting truth ; and when the argument relates strictly to truth, or to fact, the proofs are called reasons; when it is concerning right, or duty, they arc called ' Dr. Fitch. ^ Idem. 168 PREACHING. motives. Argument deals chiefly with the first, or with reasons. As to the sources of proof, they are commonly divided into two classes — mediate and immediate. 1. The immedi- ate are those which spring from, (a.) Consciousness, or that which appeals to the internal sense of right in the mere statement of a truth. (6.) PercejJtion, or that which is the object of our own observation as regards cause and effect — as, Poison kills, (c.) Tes^mo?!?/, or the related perceptions of others — in fact, a common and universal perception. (d.) Intuition, which pertains to the apprehension of ab- stract truths — as purely mathematical and rational truths that are the objects of spontaneous belief, because the rea- sons for them exist in the mind itself. Dr. Fitch would add to these common sense, which is a kind of induction from general grounds of human thought and observation. 2. The mediate sources of proof are those which are founded upon the principle that all truth is one, and that its various parts have essential relations to each other. This admits of reasoning from what is known to what is unknown — from what is established to what is to be established ; in a word, if such and such things are true, other things must be true : it is the usual method of deductive reasoning. We would make two or three suggestions in relation to the strictly argumentative development of a discourse : — (1.) In taking an argumentative position one should be sure that it is a strong one. The premise taken in the beginning should be thoughtfully taken ; and the truth you seek to establish should be fairly reasoned out, or be capable of being reasoned out, and not be a mere assump- tion. (2.) In the arrangement of an argument one shoidd eajer- cise great judiciousness and care. One should observe the two great principles of attending to the force of probability § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 169 that unites the proof to the conclusion, and to the right connection between the arguments themselves.^ Without entering into all the rules upon the method and order of argumentative preaching, we would just notice the common argument from the Scriptures. As a general rule, when the direct testimony of Scripture forms a part in a series of arguments, it should occupy the first place. If the series relates to God, it should always be first ; e. g., " the veracity of God." The natural and true order would be, 1. His own word as to his veracity. 2. His conduct as showing this. But in speaking of man we should sometimes take this tes- timony of God last, since he is omniscient and infallible. If we speak to unbelievers, Ave may adduce Scripture first, and then the proofs from reason, which are stronger in their minds ; but when we speak directly to Christians, the Scrip- ture proof should be used last. They may distrust your reasoning, but they will bow to the Scriptures, while still the reasoning may be useful in confirming the truth. ^ (3.) The discourse should rarely or never be exclusively argumentative. Thought should not lose its life by going through a strictly dialectic process. The sermon is not, after all, a proposition of Euclid. No part of it should be entirely disconnected from the will, the feelings, and the experience of men. It should not become a matter of pure intellect. The preacher may in this way conquer, but he will not convince nor convert. To this suggestion that the sermon itself should rarely be wholly or exclusively argumentative, might be added, that the general style of preaching should not be exclusively argumentative. We want often simpler practical sermons — sermons that do not discuss, but only earnestly express, religious truth and feeling — sermons that spring from the heart more than the head — sermons, too, that have a more attractive literary ' Dr. Fitch. ^ Idem. 15 170 PEEACHING. form where the imagination plays freely ; sermons that cast aside the stiff robes of argumentation, and are unbound, spontaneous, spiritual. The jDreacher of an argumentative cast of mind should especially guard against the temptation of this tendency, and should cultivate freer forms of dis- course ; and so, on the other hand, the illogical and sen- sational preacher should cultivate a severer, solider style, just as we give mathematics to a dreamer to make him think. As the argumentative method implies the predomi- nance of the human over the divine element in preaching, a more cautious use of it, and a return to a simpler, less ambitious, and more spiritual manner of preaching, are to be commended. (4.) The argument should not he too high or abstruse for the audience. It may be very close and powerful, but it should ground itself in human nature, or in the common laws, truths, and motives of the human mind, which all men appreciate and understand. It has been said that " the foundations of argument in the pulpit must, to a great extent, be commonplace." 4. Persuasive development. This, too, is a kind of argu- mentative discussion for the purpose of conviction, but it deals chiefly with motives, rather than proofs or reasons. It does not end with mere conviction, but rather with persua- sion. It addresses the will with motives of good, urging it to the performance of immediate duty. If the will of the hearer is opposed to the truth, the aim is to remove the will from its present object of choice, and to fix it upon another and true object ; if the will is apathetic or indifier- ent, the aim is to awaken it to action and choice ; if the will is fiivorable, the aim is to encourage and strengthen this good purpose. This method of development partakes somewhat of the hortatory st^lc of sermon, being addressed to the feelings as well as the reason. It requires something more than proof. A man may be convinced by proof, but § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 171 he must be persuaded to act and choose by motives. Few preachers can afford to leave out the persuasive element. This should be manifested in the course of the develop- ment. We want to bring men to a choice ; to make them rise up and do the word of the Lord. There must be some ultimate ground of choice, or there could be no object or ground of persuasion. Choice implies the existence of an alternative. Now, it is the object of persuasive reasoning to show others the true reasons and motives of choice, that, these being fully set before the mind, and deliberately weighed, the mind may be led to make the good choice. The end of all persuasion is, to show that the greatest good lies on the side of duty. The obvious means to this are, presenting inducements, con- siderations, motives ; for that which moves a man to do anything, is a motive. Of course the preacher of righteous- ness can deal only with good and true motives. What, then, are the sources of persuasionf Vinet reduces all motives which the preacher can employ to two — goodness and Itappiness. In presenting the motive of happiness, one should be careful to present the high and true idea of happiness, ending in the blessedness of the Christian ; he should show that goodness and happiness are necessarily and finally united, are really one, and that the old stoic axiom, "To be conscious of virtue is happi- ness," is realized in an infinitely higher sense in the Chris- tian life. There is even a true self-love which may be justly appealed to. In fact, the tastes, desires, sympathies, and affections of our nature — all that powerful side of our nature — are not to be lost sight of, since it is not mere reason that moves men to act ; it is also feeling, desire, affection. Nothing is more wonderfully adapted to move our deep- est feelings than the motives presented in the gospel. Christ, being lifted up, does draw all men unto him. The attrac- tions of the cross are even greater than the terrors of the 172 PREACHING. law ; and the terrors of the law are to be preached, "to per- suade men," as motives of the gospel. We would mention a few of these motives of persuasion which a preacher of the gospel might legitimately employ. (a.) The good and happiness of this life, which are greater on the side of righteousness than of unrighteousness. The man who has real iriDrightuess of heart is the most apt to secure human friendship and worldly prosperity, to succeed in his business and in whatever he undertakes to do with his fellow-men. Keligion has the promise of this life, as well as of that to come. And yet one should be guarded here in not dwelling exclusively, as is sometimes done, on this lower or prudential range of motives. (b.) The good which comes from self -approval. He who does a good act is amply repaid in his own mind. (c.) The good and happiness which accrue to other beings by righteous action; and, of course, the misery which accrues from the opposite course ; for, in all these motives, that which dissuades from evil is a motive to persuade to good. The condemnation and misery of wicked men form an in- direct persuasive to goodness. Just fear is thus a strong motive. (cZ.) The good which comes from the exercise of the holy affections, to ourselves, to others, and to the universe. (e.) The doing of right because it is right — for its own sake. This meets a motive in our own nature and con- sciousness. (/.) The moving power of the loving will of God, made known in his Son Jesus Christ. Christ is the central mo- tive to be set forth by the Christian preacher — the love of God in Christ to sinners. Gratitude, trust, love, are ap- pealed to here in the strongest conceivable forms. Grace is the grand motive of the gospel. (^.) The eternal as well as temporal happiness arising from righteous action. He who does the will of God will share the blessedness of God himself forever. § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 173 (h.) The glory of God. To the true and perfect mind this is the highest motive, and, in one sense, the only motive. In these motives we appeal both to the lower and higher elements of our nature, to our self-interest, and to the pure, unselfish principle of the good of others and the glory of God. As to the legitimate methods of pe7'suasioii in preaching, whether indirect or direct, these may be mentioned as some of them : — 1. The indirect method of the use of dissuasives to ivrong action i springing from the evil which will certainly accrue. Ab has been said, the dissuading from evil is, in fact, one method to persuade to good. The evils and final miseries of sin are the persuasives of holiness. 2. The indirect method of the presentation of the alterna- tive choice; i. e., if one is not moved by all the good con- siderations which are ofl:ered, he must take the alternative. 3. The use of mixed arguments and motives, blending the argumentative and persuasive forms of development. 4. The use of direct motives, without any abstract reason- ing or circumlocution addressed to the simple end to move the will and heart. Of course our method of persuasion should be adapted to the class of hearers we address ; and we should proceed in a natural way, by first interesting the intellect, bringing out intelligently the motives of persuasion, showing their importance, and their personal importance, and pressing them home upon the heart. Vivid description, moral painting, is a powerful method of persuasion, in which one is led to see his own heart in the masterly delineation of character. In striving to overcome prejudices, before the true motives can be presented, there are two methods : first, to endeavor to do away entirely with the false impression, by showing how unjust and absurd it is ; and, secondly, to admit the feeling, or prejudice, or passion, as having, perhaps, some 15* 174 PEE ACHING. groimcl for its existence, but to give it a truer direction. One saj's, for instance, "If I were only a Christian, I would be a better man than some Christians whom I know." Then press him to he such a Christian as lie boasts that he would be. Another says, "I am too ambitious to be a follower of Christ. I freely confess that I am too aspiring to be thus lowly and humble." Then tell him that Christianity does not extinguish the natural motive of ambition, but leads to a purer ambition for things truly great and honorable. Paul's reasoning with the Athenians in respect to the " unknown God " is one illustration of the skilful employ- ment of this kind of persuasive argument, yielding as it does to the feeling or opinion of others for the moment, so far as it is not harmful to do so, in order to use it with power for the conviction and persuasion of those very persons. One does not often persuade a man to do right by proving to him that he is wrong ; but if, by kindly and skilfully showing him that he is condemned by himself, by his own truer impulses and nobler reason, j^ou may convict him of wrong without injuring his self-respect and arousing his antagonism ; you not only convict, but persuade. What may be termed the motive of the possible — some- times used by preachers — should be employed very cau- tiously, if employed at all; e. g., jpossibhj this may be all true ; jjossibly there may be such a thing as the eternal condemnation of the irrelio:ious. Such reasoning^ is of doubtful character, and is apt to cause injurious reaction. It is better to preach the things that are, rather than those that may be. All these different modes of development which have been mentioned will, of course, vary widely in their form, style, and spirit ; but still there are some simi)le principles or qualities which should be found in the development of all kinds of sermons ; these are, the qualities of unity, round- ness or perfectness, progress, and balance or proportion. § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 175 1. Unity. This has been and will be often mentioned in varions relations ; but it cannot be too much urged. One general aim, one main impression, should, if possible, be given to one discourse ; and this is all we ought to expect for one discourse. This unity should run through its whole substance, and animate ever}^ fibre. This unity may be destroyed by yielding to the temptation of dwelling too long upon an interesting but isolated thought ; by treating entirely diverse topics in one discourse, with no general principle uniting them ; by mixing up two or more similar thoughts ; by following out metaphorical language weari- somely or triviall3\ Any discussion, on any of the parts of the sermon, however profitable and forcible in itself, which is not pertinent to the main subject, impairs unity. The whole development should have regard to every part. 2. Roundness or perfectness. This regards the parts as well as the whole. There should be freedom in carrying out every part of a discourse to its legitimate end of inter- est, employing all the stores of thought and illustration. This is the portion of the discourse for its life to flow out in fullest currents, and not to be hampered by plans and rules. Each thought should be as thoroughly developed as if there were no other thought in the discourse. The idea of the main development should not override or destroy the complete finish, both intellectual and literary, of each of its parts. How full in this development are the sermons of the Plymouth Pulpit, where the preacher seems to give un- limited play to every faculty and every emotion, carrying out a thought to its furthest ramifications, drawing from all the richness of nature and life, and yet not without a method or a sagacious pui*pose which points each illustration, guides each flight of fancy, and, while seemingly most unrestrained, brings all to bear with immense power upon some one prac- tical truth or lesson ! This free development of each of the parts, combined with the workman-lik« welding together of all in one whole, 176 PREACHIXG. SO that there is no imperfect, meagre, flat, and unsatisfying portion of the sermon, constitutes completeness. 3. Progress. This has reference to the right ordering of thoughts, so that one thought should prepare for and be succeeded by another which forms an advance ; this secures an increasing momentum of impression. The sermon should not repeat itself, or retrace its steps, but go on with accel- erated power to the end. 4. Balance or proportion. This has relation to the pro- portion and space each part or thought should occupy in regard to the main development, and to each other part of the discourse. Vigorous brevity is thus secured where it is needed, and careful elaborateness where it is essential. Of course the object we have in view, and the peculiar char- acter of the sermon, must decide this. In an expository sermon, the explanation, which is commonly brief, becomes the elaborate part of the discourse. It is a great beauty when a preacher knows in what part the real pith of his sermon lies, and where to lay out his strength. This gives tone to the sermon. The general idea of proportion is, that there should be a well-made and powerful body to the sermon. The strength should be, as it were, in the loins of the discourse. The sermon should be thoroughly com- pacted, and able to carry itself nobly; not a dwarf with a giant's head and a feeble body. That which is wanted in the body of a sermon is solidity of thought, rapidity of discussion, and a spiritual earnest- ness of purpose rising above every merely intellectual aim, and pressing the truth Avith every reason and motive drawn from time and eternity upon the individual heart. Let there be an expanding fulness here, an unbound, rich, and living thought, a development which is a real growth from the germ of scriptural truth taken into the fructifjdng soil of the soul's meditation, ample and beautiful, and filled with nourishing fruit. We might conceive the ideal of a Christian sermon, not § 16. THE DEVELOPMENT. 177 yet attained, or not attained by all, but which is adapted to the needs of our highest modern civilization, while it does not lose the earnestness and practical aim of the gospel. It is unpretentious, devotional, springing from the meditation of a holy soul upon the Scriptures, with Christ as the cen- tral, burning theme; tender and full of love, but strong in apostolic faith, like the preaching of masculine Paul and Luther; courageously hopeful for man, and filled with the true " enthusiasm of humanity ; " thoughtful and substantial in reasoning, but not intellectual so truly as spiritual; not confined in any set forms, but free with that liberty where- with Christ makes free ; with an internal rather than exter- nal method of thought ; of the highest literary style, because fresh and simple, almost plain and homely, so that the igno- rant man and the child may understand what feeds the most highly educated hearer; as well fitted for backwoodsmen as for philosophers, because it is deep and penetrating, is drawn from the common wells of truth and salvation, appeals to the common wants and desires of the heart, and is fitted to convert men from sin, and to lead them to the life of God. Nothing could be so simple, and yet nothing so high and difiicult, as such a sermon. It could not be learned in the schools, for it is not theological, though it teaches a true theology. It must be taught by the spirit of Christ to the consecrated mind that has conscientiously and laboriously done its part in the way of thorough preparation. The development of such a sermon will be but the expan- sion and filling out of thoughts and words furnished by the secretly inspiring influences of the Holy Spirit, and it will therefore be divinely adapted to the salvation of sinful men, and the edification of the church of Christ. 178 PREACHING. § 17. The Conclusion. The conclusion of a sermon is the fit winding up and the practical application of all that has preceded. In oratory it is called the "peroration." It holds the same relation to the end of the sermon that the " exordium " or introduction does to the beginning. It is not really the sermon itself, but is the taking leave of the subject in such a way as to gather up and forcibly impress its teachings. In the con- clusion, the preacher, if he has wandered away from his hearers, is drawn back to them ; he is reminded that it is for them he is preaching, and for their spiritual welfare ; he is to leave the truth in their hearts. The conclusion is a trying and perilous part of the dis- course, because it is always difficult to stop gracefully, to finish effectively. Boileau says, — " Qui ne sut se borner ne sut jamais ecrire." It is indeed a great thing to know when to stop. Luther, speaking of the qualities of a good preacher, says that " he should know when to make an end." There is a true con- clusion to every discourse. The god Terminus alone, at the building of Rome, would not yield to Jove himself. The conclusions of great literary works, such as Paradise Lost, Jerusalem Delivered, and Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, are memorable for their beautiful simplicity. Many an effective sermon has been greatly weakened by drawing out its conclusion to too great length. Rev. William Taylor has well said, "Often when a preacher has driven a nail in a sure place, instead of clinching it, and securing well the advantage, he hammers away till he breaks the head off, or splits the board." The importance and advantages of a good conclusion are seen in the following reasons : — § 17. THE CONCLUSION. 179 1. It enables the preacher to carry out the true idea of preaching ; i. e., to give a practical application to what he preaches, directing it to the conscience and heart of his hearers. The end of preaching is the actual conversion and sanctification of souls. There may be, however, excep- tions to the rule that the application should come in the conclusion, (a.) When, from the nature of the discussion, there is necessarily a coritinuous application in the body of the sermon.^ In certain kinds of discourse, as, for instance, expository, hortatory, and historical discourses, the appli- cation may naturally run along with the development of the sermon, or, where the divisions of a topical sermon are themselves practical, no direct practical application is needed at the end. The less elaborate and argumentative the dis- course, the less need of reserving the application for the end. {b.) When, from the nature of the audience or the occasion, there is necessarily a continuous application of the subject. The more general, illiterate, and youthful the audience, the more need of a running application of the theme to the conscience and heart, in order to keep attention alive, and to produce a vivid impression. But, notwithstanding these exceptions, a good conclusion is needed to enforce the moral impression of a whole ser- mon ; and in the case of a strictly topical and argumenta- tive discourse, it is almost without exception essential. 2. It combines the scattered impressions of a sermon into one powerful iinpression, and thus adds to the effect of what- ever has gone before. The skilful preacher understands this, and shapes his whole sermon so as to make the conclusion effective, and to leave a deep impression at last. 3. It preserves the sensibilities of preacher and hearer from being exhausted. It does this by retaining all the freshness and force of feeling for the final appeal. 4. It avoids a rude abruptness in closing. It gives a mor ' Professor Phelps. 180 PREACHING. ment's opportunity for the mind to pause and reflect upon the whole subject gone over ; it is the attainment of a momentary superior elevation, from which the eye of the speaker and hearer may sweep back over the sermon, and take in its entire moral impression. We will now look at the different parts of the conclusion. The "conclusion" or "peroration" was, in ancient oratory, divided into the recapitulation and the appeal to the pas- sions. In modern times, and especially in the sermon, the conclusion, rhetorically treated, is commonly divided into, 1. Recapitulation; 2. Applications, inferences, and remarks; 3. Appeal to the feelings, or personal appeal. Each of these, or all combined, may form the conclusion. And what the conclusion should be — whether one of these parts should be chosen, or all of them — is to be de- cided by the character of the development, and by studying how to increase the force of the moral impression, which should be strongest at the end. There ought to be no set manner of ending a sermon ; and, generally speaking, a good sermon ends itself. Those are the best conclusions that make themselves, and that are not too long in the making. Joseph Hall, in his preface to his Virtues and Vices, says, "I desired not to say all that might be said, but enough." The famous Dr. Barrow, after preaching three mortal hours, was finally blown down by the organ's setting up to play ; and old Thomas Fuller gives an amusing account of an Au- gustine friar who came to an end more summarily still. He says that the friar " bellowed so loud that he lost his argu- ment, conscience, and voice, at once and together." 1. Recapitulation. This can be borne only by a decidedly argumentative discussion, and it is borrowed from forensic address. That kind of recapitulation often increases the power of a discourse by compressing its substance into a small space. It likewise strengthens the whole argument, § 17. THE CONCLUSION. 181 by binding up weak and strong arguments together, giving an impression of finish and strength to the whole. It serves, above all, to aid the memory, and it is addressed to the intel- lect more than the feelings. The recapitulation should be, (a.) rapid and dear^ — a bird's eye glance. There should be nothing stiff, formal, and statistical in the recapitulation ; its design, in addition to assisting the memory, is to concen- trate the force of the separate heads of argument into one, thus preparing the way to the application. (6.) It should not repeat arguments in precisely the same language as that employed in the body of the sermon, but should be cast in a fresh form. (c.) It is sometimes effective to vary the order of the arguments themselves, generally by arranging them in a climactic order. (cZ.) The recapitulation should have certainty and confidence of tone. It supposes that the truths enumerated have been proved and settled ; that they have come out from the vague and contradictory condition of the beginning of the sermon into distinct and established shapes. As has been hinted, recapitulation is iK)t always desira- ble, particularly if one has nothing especial to recapitulate, if he has not preached a solid sermon, or if the ideas of the sermon have been ill dijjrested and ill arrano^ed. The reca- pitulatiou, in some instances, may be made during the prog- ress of the discussion, in order to give a clearer view of the connection of parts while passing on, and to impress and gather up all the thoughts, so that at the close there is no need of any further mentioning of these. Above all, a recapitulation is inadmissible when the appeal to the feel- ings grows naturally out of the last topic discussed, or the last division introduced. 2. Applicatory inferences and remarTcs. "Inferences are logical deductions from the argument ; remarks are natural * Professor Phelps. 16 182 PREACHING. suggestions drawn from it." ^ Taken both together, they indicate the use which is made of the subject immediately after the discussion. Tliey form a method of making the direct application of the arguments. Inferences may be made to bring out more clearly the symmetry of truth. Thus, after discussing the doctrine of moral evil in a series of inferences, one may show its deep relations to other and brighter doctrines of the gospel, and may thus take a broad and rajiid sweep from the basis of the discussion, around the whole circle of related truth. Inferences may also conduce to unexpected, powerful impressions. After thoroughly discussing a topic, we may in an inference sud- denly open a hidden relation in an entirely different direc- tion ; and this may have been deliberately prepared for during the whole sermon. The mine may have been silently dug under the citadel of the unbelieving heart. Inferences should not, however, be suffered to destroy the unity of. the discourse ; and this is .their tendency, which is to be care- fully guarded against. Kather than do this, they had better be left out altogether. As to rules for inferences : — ' 1. Thei/ should be draivn directly from the whole char- acter and development of the sermon. Thus in the argumen- tative sermon, after we have given the hearers a view of the proofs, we may in the application bring home the truth that has been proved, more particularly to the hearers' own minds ; we follow out the same design we have heretofore pursued. In the expository sermon, we may close with the uses and lessons we have gained, as applied to the different condi- tions of our hearers. In the persuasive sermon, there should be at the end a more close application of the motives as directed to the particular action to which we would persuade men.^ Thus the subject and our own particular aim in its ' Professor Phelps. ^ Day's Art of Discourse, p. 207. § 17. THE CONCLUSION. 183 discussion should shape the character of the inferences. They should be parts of the body of the sermon ; they should bear the stamp of their common origin, and belong to the same family of thoughts and ideas. There may be sometimes an exception to this rule, when the whole discus- sion of a subject is intended to be only subsidiary to a different application of the subject. Thus, in a biographi- cal discourse, after one has set forth the virtues and char- acter of an individual — in the conclusion, he may enforce some one or more moral truths, that have been livingly exemplified. So, too, the explanation, in the body of a ser- mon, of a certain truth, may be subservient to the setting forth of some other nearlj^-related truth ; or it may show a personal duty, or may lead to a distinct self application, or * self-examination. An argument upon a truth may lead to the conviction of a duty ; indeed, whatever the character of a sermon is, the use of it in the conclusion should be per- suasive.^ 2. They should be forcible, and drawn from the body of the sermon; i. e., they should not be feeble or frivolous in- ferences ; and they should not be all the inferences that could possibly be drawn from a subject. There should be weight and freshness in them. In the application, we go beyond the bare general truth of our subject, and present those forcible conclusions which are to persuade our hearers in particular. Inferences may be drawn from other inferences, if they are still in harmony with the general discussion, and if they grow out of it. As has been said, there may possibly be cases where the inference is entirely aside from the definite subject of the sermon — thus, a lesson to the impenitent may follow a sermon addressed to believers. This kind of side-issue, or divergent inference, should at least follow a discourse which abounds in solid thought, which carries all before it, • Dr. Fitch. 184 PREACHING. and which makes room for itself to send its messasfes in every direction. As a general rule, it is more forcible to make, in the conclusion, a final concentration upon one point which has been more widely discussed and illustrated in the body of the sermon, rather than to make a final difi'usion of thought, or widening out of the discussion into general re- marks. Dr. Fitch says that it is best always to make the applica- tion of the whole subject, and not of the particular thoughts. Build the fortification as nicely and elaborately, piece by piece, as you may, and then fire from it. Subjects, however, difier. Some lead irresistibly to broad and universal con- clusions, especially those which relate to the nature of God. 3. They should have regard to the character and states of mind of the hearers, as well as to the character and design of the subject; e. g., when the hearer is reasonably sup- posed to be persuaded of the truth or necessity of a certain duty, he should then be told how to perform that duty, and should be helped to overcome its difficulties. You do not wish so much to add anything more to convince him, as to aid in doing the thing of which he is presumed to be al- ready persuaded. Christians and unbelievers, as they are in diflerent states of mind, are to be differently addressed in the conclusion. Encouragements, alarms, hopes, fears, choices, afi'ections, are difierent in each. 4. 2Viey should increase in force and importance. Re- marks relating to truth or conviction should precede those respecting duty or persuasion.^ And in persuasion we should address those first Avho are most favorably disposed, and therefore ceteris paribus we should address the converted before the unconverted. 5. They should be free from stiffness, dulness, and mo- notonousness. Never should those qualities appear in a eonclusion, if they do anywhere else, as it is absolutely ' Dr. Pitch. § 17. THE CONCLUSION. 185 needful that there should be the variety, individuality, and vivid life in our concluding remarks. Some preachers draw pretty much the same inferences from all subjects ; but we had better make one bold, im- pressive, original inference, than a dozen that are common- place. F. W. Eobertson, though abounding in inferential remarks, rarely cast his conclusion into a set of formal in- ferences, but in closing usually made one strong remark, one unexpected deduction, driven with tremendous power by all that had gone before. Thus, in a sermon to men of wealth he says, " To conclude ; " and in a few condensed words he pours out a burning torrent of rebuke upon the clerg}^ of England for their flattery of men of wealth, and their cowardly apologizing for the vices of the rich. Such a sermon was not forgotten. It left an ineffaceable impres- sion on the conscience of those persons it was meant to reach. Doddridge says that the conclusion of a sermon should be striking. Massillon sometimes closed with a supplication. Each remark of a conclusion should rise in power, should be free and untrammelled, and often abrupt as a thunder-peal, smiting the conscience with terror. Dr. Fitch says, that in the application there is more occasion for vehemence and force than in any other part. Jonathan Edwards was inclined to be prolix in his conclu- sions ; they were often more full of thought than feeling. 3. Appeal to the feelings. There are usually three modes of ending a sermon : (a.) In the form of a series of in- ferences SiS, just suggested; {b.) In the form of detached observations following generally biographical and historical subjects; (c.) In the form of direct address or appeal^ which follow out the aim of the sermon, or are appended directly to the body of the discourse. In this direct ad- dress is generally the place for the appeal to the feelings. This address to the feelings is something above all art, and the more spontaneous and natural it is the better. That 16* 186 PREACHING. is often the inspired moment of the discourse : it is inspired or not ; it is real or artificial ; it is everything or nothing. There should be true feeling in it, or the speaker should not attempt an appeal to the feelings of others. 1. The whole sermon should be more or less arranged for the moral and emotional effect of the conclusion. This should be unconsciously rather than artfully done. All should hasten to the end. One should begin the sermon with the end in view. He should strike the same chord at the end which he did at the beginning, though with tenfold force. If one has this aim to leave a deep and lasting impression on the heart of the hearers, pathetic and passionate thoughts will present themselves while he is composing the sermon. These should be remembered and gathered up for the conclusive appeal. 2. The appeal shoidd not he for rhetorical ^ hut for true effect. The conclusions of Demosthenes' and ^schines' orations " On the Crown " were introduced to cause in their hearers the feeling which the orators wished to cre- ate. Their banishment or triumph, their political life or death, depended on the result. They reserved their strong word for the last. They hurled it with all their force upon the hearts of their hearers. It was a real thing with them to succeed. It was no child's play. And has the preacher any smaller stake? Has he any less enduring crown in view? Should he himself have less feeling? Bax- ter says, in his Eeformed Pastor, " I know not what others think, but for my own part, I am ashamed of my stupidity and wonder at myself that I deal not with my own and others' souls as one that looks for the great day of the Lord, and that I can have room for almost any other thoughts or words, and that such astonishing matters do not wholly absorb my mind. I marvel how I can preach of them slightly and coldly, and how I can let men alone in their sins, and that I do not go to them and beseech them, for the Lord's sake, to repent, however they take it, or what- ever pains or trouble it should cost me. I seldom come out § 17. THE CONCLUSION. 187 of the pulpit but my conscience smites me that I have been no more serious and fervent in such a cause. It accuses me not so much for want of human ornaments and ele- gancy, but it asketh me, ' How couldst thou speak of life and death with such a heart ? ' " 3. The appeal should not he ovei'drawn. Hamlet's ad- vice is still good ; there should be a calmness, a self-posses- sion, even in the very torrent and flow of the most pathetic appeal. One must control himself, to control his audience. He should not go before them in the manifestation of emotion. Pathos in the conclusion does not so much con- sist in a strained, high-pitched voice, or an agitated manner, or intense and harrowing language, as in a certain deep- ening of the tone of feeling, a concentration of thought, and a profound earnestness of the whole man. Sometimes a preacher must weep, and he would not have a true heart if he did not ; but it were better for him not to weep. Yet if he cannot prevent tears, let them flow ; Christ wept over Jerusalem. Restrained emotion is often more powerful than its expression. The appeal should be made to the spiritual sensibilities. 4. All appeals to feeling should he hrief. Thus the most touching, the most direct remark one has to make, comes naturally, and it were better, spontaneously. It should be said in as simple and few words as possible. " Tears dry fast." Let nature's short road to the feelings be studied. A particular case, or a personal fact, is better than any more general observation, to touch the feelings. An apt allusion to some individual, or some circumstance, is more moving in the conclusion than the best philosophical generalizations. For the real close itself, so far as the feelings are con- cerned, nothing is more impressive and moving than a feeling, solemn passage of the Scripture, either the text or some other perhaps still more pointed word of Scripture. Then the sermon begins and ends with the word of God. The voice of God first breaks the silence, and after the voice 18& PREACHING. of man has been heard for a while, the voice of God comes again at the close ; and if this is the warm expression of the love of the gospel, simple, genuine, pure ; so much the more effective. 5. An indirect appeal is often effective. Men are jealous of appeals to their feelings ; and perhaps the strongest ap- peal, after all, is so to construct the whole discourse as that it shall make its own appeal. " Of every noble work the silent part is best, Of all expression that which cannot be expressed." We are more and more inclined to think that the conclu- sion of a sermon should not be highly wrought, but simple. This is the trial of the conclusion. If there is an appeal to the feelings, it should flow naturally from the last re- mark or thought of the sermon, rather than arouse a dis- tinct expectation that now an appeal is to be made to the impenitent, to the young, to church members. This tends to deprive the conclusion of its effect. Sometimes the whole concluding appeal may be in a single sentence. This was peculiarly characteristic of Luther's "conclusions." A German writer says, "Luther did not lay great stress on the conclusion, and many of his sermons are without any recapitulation. He ends some of his sermons abruptly, with the words, 'Enough now has been said upon this scripture ; let us call upon the grace of God.' In other discourses he simply, in conclusion, repeats the main thought of the last division of the discourse, and says, 'Have faith and love; abide in them ; so you can have and do all this.' Or he closes with a wish : ' God grant that we also may compre- hend;' or, 'God keep us, save us, and grant that we may earnestly hold to this teaching, so that we may not fall into shameful sin and reproach.' " ^ Stereotyped forms of appeal — of direct appeal — to the ' C. Jonas, Die Kanzelberedsamkeit Luther's, p. 513. § 17. THE CONCLUSION. 189 unconverted, have lost much of their power. There is sometimes an impressiveness in leaving them ofi' altogether. But it may possibly be that — the custom of direct appeal having fallen so much into disuse, and sermons having be- come so essay ish and impersonal, and devoid of directness and point — a return now and then to the old method of direct appeal to the impenitent, at the close of the sermon, might, in some cases, be deeply effective. The conclusion of Whitefield's sermon on the " Kingdom of God " is an ex- ample of this kind of personal appeal. The great and only question is, How is the deepest impression to be made by a sermon? It certainly depends very much on the conclusion. The sermon has been compared to a river : it may be small at its beginning, but at its close, when it pours itself into the ocean, it should be the fullest in volume, the profoundest in depth, the most majestic in movement, though, perhaps, at that very moment, it may be the calmest to all appear- ance, from the fact that it is pouring along its greatest volume. So the conclusion of a sermon on divine truth may be apparently the most tranquil part of the sermon ; but that is, and should be, the tranquillity of the deepest feeling, of the fullest thought, of the most solemn and momentous truth ; for it has then reached a point where it is about to mingle with the ocean of eternal life or death ; it is " the savor of life unto life, or of death unto death ; " the word has been spoken, and it returns to God ; the conclusion may be calm, and even joyful, but it should be the calmness of earnest and solemn feeling. As a suggestion in closing a sermon, let the preacher be kind in his words and manner even to the wickedest and worst. In the moment of the most solemn adjuration, or even burning rebuke and denunciation, let the tender affec- tionateness of the gospel glow. This personal appeal in all cases is difficult, and is often better to be indicated than actually made ; but there should be, directly or indirectly, with boldness, but in love, a personal application of the ser- 190 PREACHCNG. mon ; and there may be times when nothing else is suitable, or nothing will reach the point, excepting the words of Na- than to David, ^'Thou art the man!" Love in the heart will teach us, and it alone will teach us, how to reach the hearts of our sinful fellow-men. Let the preacher keep in mind that the end of preaching is not preaching itself, but a lodgment of the renovating truth in the hearts of those who hear : in the language of Vinet, " God has purposed that man should be the channel of truth to man. Not only are words to be transmitted and repeated ; a life is to be communicated.''^ PART SECOND. RHETOEIC APPLIED TO' PREACHING. FIRST DIYISIOK GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RHETORIC. § 18. Definition of Rhetoric. Rhetoric was formerly an absorbing study in schools of learning when they were more truly theological schools than they now are, and in ancient times it comprised the full half of education ; but we are now simply to discuss some of the uses of rhetoric as applied to preaching — its advan- tages in enabling the preacher to master and methodize truth, so as to present it with the most power to the minds of men, that they may more readil}^ grasp it, and that it may, by God's blessing, produce immediate and lasting results. As it is needful, for this purpose, that the preacher should make use of his natural poivers ; as he must call into exer- cise his reason and persuasive faculties ; as he must avail himself of the laws of mental science and the capacities of human speech, just as he does in conveying any natural truth to the mind, — it thus becomes essential for him to understand those universal principles of persuasion, and those laws of thoughtful discourse, which form in them- selves an important subject of inquiry, and mark a definite science. (191) 192 PREACHING. Great minds in the past have carefully thought, observed, and labored upon this subject ; for the power of eloquence has alwaj^s been one of the most wonderful facts in man's history, and the results of their observation and thought, especially in the land of Greece, where eloquence arose and flourished as upon its native soil, were gathered up under the general name, or department, of rhetoric. The word " rhetoric " is derived from (irjTO)^, a speaker, or orator (from stem <>?, to speak, seen in the fut. ^^w, I will speak). This primary meaning of the word should not be lost sight of in considering the true scope and functions of the art of rhetoric ; for it shows that the term was originally exclusively applied to the art of public speaking, or to a spoken discourse. Before endeavoring to define what true rhetoric is, let us notice some of the leading ideas which have prevailed con- cerning it. (1.) Ancient ideas of rhetoric. These are rep- resented principally by Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle con- fined rhetoric almost entirely to the art of public speaking. In accordance with the genius of the free Greek state, where every citizen was an independent, thinking, and governing power, and the state was chiefly composed of the voting citizens who resided in the city, and could thus be reached and swayed by the public orator ; the popular deliberative assembly, in which the civil leader, or counsellor, could come directly in contact with the popular mind, was the great field for the practice of the rhetorical art. This art formed one of the chief means of obtaining mastery over men — of the science of politics. It therefore became asso- ciated with the arts, managements, and sophistries, of polit- ical leaders, and began to be looked upon with suspicion, as meanins: somethino: in itself artful, or artificial. Aristotle regarded it wholly as an instrumental art ; as a means of mastery ; as a means to an end. If he regarded virtue and truth as true rhetorical forces, yet he looked § 18. DEFINITION OF RHETORIC. 193 upon them as but secondary or incidental elements in the dynamics of rhetoric. Rhetoric he looked on as the art of proving. It was with him almost identical with logic, or reasoning. Whatever would enable one to carry his point, to gain the victory, came under the faculty of "'Pi^To^txTj." The end of rhetoric, with Aristotle, was persuasion. He called it " a faculty of considering all the possible means of persuasion on every subject.'^ ^ It was thus, in his idea, an offshoot of dialectics and politics. It was wrestling with minds; the skilful and strenuous assault upon them, with every means of argument and persuasion, to subdue them. It was the art of making men believe as we would wish them to believe, and do as we would wish them to do. Every one might come, good or bad, and gather weapons from this art, and make himself a powerful man to carry his ends with the people. Aristotle's view thus gave the turn to the ancient idea of rhetoric, and it came to be looked upon as a species of dialectic skill that might be taught and acquired, by which the public mind could be influenced, and ambitious ends attained. By the dexterous use of words, plausible arguments, striking terms of speech, and tricks of delivery, the orator could lead the people at will. Aristotle admits, as has been said, that truth itself has an inherent rhetorical power, and he has something to say upon the ethical aspects of the art ; but, if we mistake not, the view which has been given was, in the main, Aristotle's conception of rhetoric ; and doubtless, in the technical sense of the term, he was correct — that rhetoric is the art of persuasion by public discourse. Plato held higher views, and came very near the best modern conception of rhetoric. Under the name and sanc- tion of Socrates, in various treatises, above all in the " Gor- gias," Plato attacks the mere art or artifice of rhetoric, showing the unphilosophical and unprincipled character of ' Aristotle's Rhetoric, chap, ii., sec. 1. 17 194 PREACHING. the sophistic idea of rhetoric, as a mere art to win by ; that if it were solely the application of m«ans to an end, that end miirht be the basest imaginable, and the art of rhet- oric might thus be wholly the art of deceiving and corrupt- ing. This kind of rhetoric, founded on empirical rules, aiming at immediate success, and exalting the seeming over the true — Plato pronounced worthless. He proves, also, that it is no true art ; that it is but a kind of skill or knack, like the boxer's art. After refuting this low idea of rhet- oric, he gives his own conception of the orator ; the true orator is shown to be the man who does not strive only for mastery, but who aims to build up truth and justice in the state, and to exalt himself by just means, and for the good of the people, and who, even if unsuccessful in carrying his point or in obtaining mastery, is nevertheless declared to be the true orator. Cicero held the views of Aristotle, from whom he draws his own. He speaks of his own art with the enthusiasm and zeal of an orator, rather than with the conscientious- ness of a philosopher. 1 He is even more intense than Aristotle in the idea of the purely instrumental character of rhetoric, and he applies oratory chiefly to the business of civil polity, and to the acquiring of mastery in that. He exults in it as an art of fence, or as a strong weapon not possessed by every one, and which is to be skilfully wielded for the purpose of self-defence, power, and conquest ; he says, " What is so useful as at all times to bear about those weapons by which you can defend yourself, challenge the infamous, and, being wounded, revenge?"^ Cicero was naturally cold in his disposition, and inclined to ornament for its own sake; and, though often affirming it, he never- theless, in spirit, difiered from the high Platonic or Socratic view, which made so much of the moral idea in rhetoric ; and he conceded almost everything to outward grace, orna- ^ De Oratore, B. II., c. viii. ^ Idem, B. I., c. viii. § 18. DEFINITION OF RHETORIC. 195 ment, and attraction. "There may be many good speak- ers," he said, "but he alone is eloquent who can in a more admirable and noble manner amplifj'- and adorn whatever subjects he chooses, and who embraces in thought and mem- ory all the principles of everything relating to oratory." ^ Quintilian^s idea of the art of oratory was nearly the same as that held by Cicero, although he maintained, with much more emphasis than Cicero did, that eloquence was an ethi- cal quality, and that the orator must be a good man.^ His practical idea of rhetoric, however, was, that it is a means to an end, and that the end often justifies the means ; and his brief definition of oratory is, ^Hhe art of speaking ?re?i;" affirming the great object and the ultimate end of oratory to be, "to speak well."^ (2.) Modern ideas of rhetoric. In considering these, we should not forget that ages have passed away, bringing great changes of manners and thought with them ; that the enlargement of the means of popular address, and of the diffusion of ideas, chiefly through the press, has widened the field of rhetoric ; and that the whole moral revolution which Christianity has wrought in the intellectual and social world has tended to elevate the conception of the rhetorical art. As one of the forces of the world, Christianity has claimed rhetoric, and permeated it with something of its own spirit, so that there is felt and acknowledged to be such a thing as Christian eloquence. As to the actual field which the modern idea of rhetoric embraces, it has extended itself beyond the ancient limit, which was confined almost entirely to public speaking, or oratory, properly so called, and has taken in the art of prose composition, and even some hinds of literature, in addition to the art of public speaking. But it must have a limit. It cannot include all kinds of literature. It can- not inckide poetry, or philosophj'^, or science, strictly so ' De Oratore, B. I., c. xxi. ' Quintilian's Institutes, B. II., c. xx. ^ Quintilian's Institutes, B. II., c. xv. 196 PREACHING. called. It must confine itself to that species of literary composition which relates to the means of popular persua- sion, and which belongs, directly or indirectly, to the busi- ness of the public speaker. It also legitimately includes all that literary and dialectic training which fits one to be powerful in speech, whether he speaks in the popular assem- bly, the court, or the pulpit. The education of the speaker or orator in these days comprehends, of course, a wader field than in the ancient days, especially if he is a preacher of the great truths of Christianity ; yet, after all, the area of the rhetorical art, though enlarged, is essentially the same as of old. It continues to be in the main a formal science, having to do more exclusively with the regulation of the form and method of public speech than with the materials of thought or contents of speech. It is now, as then, the art of public speaking for the purpose of persua- sion ; and we would give the following as a definition of rhetoric, applying to ancient times as well as to the present : Hhetoric is that art or science which has to do with the Unvs that regulate public speech; and it comprehends all that properly goes to make up the education, training, and true power of the public speaker. We have not attempted to give a definition of eloquence, but only of rhetoric, although rhetoric is, in a true sense, the art of eloquence. While there might be diiferent view's of what eloquence is, — one writer considering it to be sim- ply the power of persuasion; ^ another, the ability to utter strong emotions in an elevated and forceful manner;- an- other, the poioer of fluent and continuous expression;^ another, the gift of the soul which makes one the master of the mind and heart of others, and enables him to inspire them as he wills, or to move them to do what he pleases ; ^ ' Professor Goodrich. * Dr. Webster. ^ Professor H. N. Day, Elements of Ehetoric, p. 3. * La Bruyere. Vinet's Homiletics, p. 22. § 18. DEFINITION OF RHETORIC. 197 and another still, that it is \he potver of sympathy in speech^ or of communicating thought and feeling by apprehending the condition of the hearer's mind, and by so chording in with his thouglit that a certain magnetic union of minds is evolved, in which the hearer's mind is penetrated with new life and power, ^ — whatever may be our idea of eloquence, and however rarely attained this effect which we call eloquence, no one, we presume, will find fault with the definition given of rhetoric, or, without disparaging his own intelligence, deny its use to the preacher. He who speaks must train himself for speaking ; and whatever tends directly to give him power as a public speaker, whether it is the cultivation of the reasoning faculty, or the study of language and style, or even elocutionary discipline, is fairly included in the art of rhetoric. But modern ideas have improved upon the ancient one more in their intrinsic conception of rhetoric than in the extent of its appropriate field ; and yet it is wonderful hoAV the ideas of Aristotle and Plato, who represent the two poles of the human intellect, continue to control the world of phi- losophy and art. Some modern writers on rhetoric incline to the lower Aristotelian view, that it is strictly an art of persuasion ; that truth itself is but one of the means or forces of persuasion, and that rhetoric has little or nothing to do, intrinsically, with virtue or vice, truth or error : most writers, however, incline to the Platonic view, that rhetoric must have a moral groundwork ; and Christianity deepens this moral idea of art, and makes acts of words — acts full of moral significance and choice. Whately, in the structure of his mind, was an Aristo- telian, although his purer morality and Christian culture served in many ways to modify and elevate his views ; but he looks upon rhetoric, and logic also, as purely instrumental ' Vinet's Homiletics, p. 23. ■ 17* 198 PREACHING. arts, "though applicable to various kinds of subject-matter, "which do not properly come under them." ^ The materials of thought, or the moral groundwork of the oration, he does not consider as belonging at all to rhetoric ; but he con- fines rhetoric entirely to the method of employing these materials. It is the art of handling the tools, whatever the work may be. Ehetoric is the best way to persuade men to think as we do. Looking upon it in this light, he defines rhetoric to be ^Hhe art of argumentative composi- tion ; " 2 and his treatise is mostly taken up with discussing the mode of constructing an argument, so as effectually to subdue the reason, passion, and will. It is a good digest of rules upon the composition of arguments. Theremin, a thorough Platonist, holds that, though rhet- oric is an art, or something instrumental to the attainment of an end not in itself, and that, though it has to do with the form rather than the material about which it is employed, yet that it has a vital root in ethics, and that its subject- matter must always be t6 hl-qQig — the truth. He terms eloquence — as did, indeed, Quintilian and some of the older writers — "a virtue; " and he regards it as directly spring- ing from those moral qualities in the speaker and in the hearer which underlie the mere form^^*^' art of the speech itself. Every element of rhetoric, considering it to be the "art of eloquence," — such as the law of adaptation, the law oi progress, the law of vivacity, &c., — he develops from some principle in the moral nature of man ; which view certainly ennobles rhetorical studies, for it leads the speaker to look into himself for power, rather than to any acquired skill. That Theremin's view has some deep truth in it may be seen from the classic orators themselves, although they may have been built ujDon a shallower idea of their own art. It came out in their discourse, because as men they were greater than their theories. The moral power of Demosthenes was strikingly shown in his superi- ' Elements of Ehetoric, Monroe's ed., p. 20. * Idem, p. 21. § 18. DEFINITION OF EHETOEIC. 199 ority to the mere skill or artifice (however extraordinary) of his rival, ^schines. Supposing their intellectual acu- men to have been the same, the arguments of Demosthe- nes were generally drawn from universal principles of truth and right, as they existed not only in himself, but in his hearers ; therefore Demosthenes was the greater ora- tor, and triumphed because truth and right were stronger powers than their opposites. Should rhetoric, or eloquence even, be considered as nothing more than an art, that does not alter the truth of the assertion that it must have an ethi- cal foundation ; for every true art must have this. Why has the art of sculpture, which is but the skill of a man to hew an inanimate block of stone into a certain shape, exerted such an influence on the world ? Why have its great mas- ters— Phidias, Michael Angelo, and Canova — been real powers ? It is because they were great men themselves ; and in their works they drcAV from the depths of their moral nature. Michael Angelo's colossal statue of Moses is a highly ethical work, representing the author's conception of the grandeur, unchangeableness, and majesty of the moral law. Feeling, intense reverence, deep meditation on the character of God, are combined in this production ; it is unspoken eloquence. Eloquent speech, far more than such a dead art as sculpture, is something which must flow from the depths of the moral nature and character. As far as one is a true man, and is in agreement with the law of truth which rules man, and which is perfect in the mind of God, so far his speech will be the expression of the truth ■which is in him ; if not, it is false eloquence and false rhet- oric. If there is no depth to a man, no inward harmony with the truth, he cannot possibly be an eloquent man, though he may be a skilful and plausible pleader ; for truth alone is eloquent, because it finds its correspondence in every man's conscience and heart, and because truth can be advo- cated and defended only by truth, in the spirit of truth. ^ • Vinet's Homiletics, Skinner's trans., p. 25. 200 PREACHING. This more profound idea of eloquence is, above all, impor- tant to the preacher of divine truth, and it applies to him with a force that it has for no other public speaker. He must be what he speaks. He, at all events, is not one who speaks to catch' the ear, or to produce a temporary sensa- tion, he speaks to make the truth which is in him so vividly seen and so deeply felt by the hearer, that the hearer shall grasp it and make it an eternal possession. A thorough conviction of the truth and a genuine love of it, are the real sources of eloquence in the preacher. These are summed up in the single word faith., which includes both the divine gift and the human character. Our real preaching power is our faith. This was the eloquence of the apostles and of the first Christian preachers. 2 Cor. 4 : 13, " We be- lieve, and therefore speak.^' This is what Dr. Bushnell calls " the faith-talent : " our speech should be the utterance of believing souls — the pure speech of the word speak- ing in us ; and if the orator, according to Plato, must be a good man, how much more the preacher, according to Christ ! Is not, indeed, the Christian preacher " that great orator "who, Quintilian said, "had not yet appeared, but who may hereafter, and who would be as consummate in goodness as in eloquence." ' Chrysostom severely censured the error of considering the preacher as a mere orator, and he reduced all the eloquence of preaching to this one object — to please God.^ To speak God's will, "to minister in the spirit," requires an anoint- ing from the Holy One. The New Testament is full of the application of this (as we think) truly rhetorical principle, that out of his own character, out of his inward union with the Spirit of truth, springs the preacher's power. Dr. Bushnell, in his " God in Christ," has an eloquent pas- sage upon the preacher, which ends thus : " The man is to be so united to God, so occupied and possessed by the eter- ' Instit., B. XII., c. 1. § 23. ^ Meander's Life of Chrysostom, p. 73. § 18. DEFINITION OF RHETORIC. 201 nal life, that his acts and words shall be outgoings of a divine power. And exactly this Paul himself declares, when he says, 'And my sjieech and my preaching was not with persuasive words of man's wisdom, but in demonstra- tion of the Spirit and of power.' And this is the proper, the truly sublime conception of the minister of God. He is not a mere preacher, occupying some pulpit, as a stand of natural eloquence, but he is a man whose nature is possessed of God in such a manner that the light of God is seen in him ; a man whose life and words are apodictic — a demonstration of the Spirit." These words fairly carry out what we conceive to be a true rhetorical principle, not, indeed, as regards com- mon speakers, but the Christian preacher, viz., "that the preacher of Christ should be filled with the truth and spirit of Christ — should speak " in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.'' A. We end this discussion upon the idea and definition of rhetoric by saying that, although rhetoric must still be con- sidered mainly as an art, or that it has to do with the form more than with the substance of speech, yet it is itself in harmony with and founded upon truth, and derives its power from the great laws and impulses of man's moral nature ; it is a free, not a mechanical art. And this is es- pecially true in the case of the preacher ; and the principle in his case may be carried still higher, and the assertion may be made, that no man can be a genuine preacher of God's word who is not in some sense inspired by the Spirit of God. As to the question sometimes asked. Is not rhetoric, after all, a rherely mental power or shill, which is afterward deepened by the judgment of the moral sense, or the acceptance by the moral sense of the purely intellectual conclusions of the mind ? That may be true in the technical idea of rhetoric, but in the deeper view of it which we have endeavored to bring out, we would answer, no ; for unless the whole being enters into and goes to make up the orator, his moral as well as intellectual powers, his spirit as well as understand- 202 PREACHING. ing, he cannot arrive at genuine convictions of truth ; these convictions would not be truly his own, and thus they would not carr}'- the weight with them of personal convictions. Eloquence is the breath and force of the man's personality. It is the whole being of a man speaking. Cicero said that '' one might simulate philosophy, but not eloquence." Elo- quence is something more than mere art ; it lies in the depths of moral character. " L' eloquence est en elle-meme un trait du caractere jplutot qu^un don intellectuel." ^ § 19. Uses and Sources of liJietoric. Notwithstanding the noble utility of the rhetorical art, rightly understood, there are popular objections to the preacher's study of rhetoric, which it is worth while to consider. These objections may be comprised in some general statement, like this : TJie rules of rhetoric neces- sarily contain that loJiich is wholly human and artificial^ and they render the study of rhetoric unworthy of the si^n- plicity of the preacher of divine truth, who depends on the truth itself, and on the Holy Spirit, for the true results of preaching . Even the true orator, it is said, is one who trusts more to nature than to art, and who has the least of art in his elo- quence ; and, a fortiori, how much more should this be the case with the preacher of divine truth ! In one sense the rules of rhetoric are artificial, because they concern the art of speaking ; but they are not artificial in the common sense of the term, as meaning what is false. True rhetoric is drawn from truth and nature. It is the dis- covery of the genuine laws of persuasive speech among living men ; and it is simply reducing these to definite principles. It is the study of the best ways which nature employs to com- municate and impress truth. But it is answered, Why, then, * Vinet's Histoire de la Predication des R^formes, etc., p. 673. § 19. USES AND SOURCES OF RHETORIC. .203 make rules at all ? Why not leave rhetoric to nature ? This man and that man are self-taught orators, who never studied a volume on eloquence. The more rules, the less eloquence. It is true there are men of native eloquence, who have not studied the art in books ; but they have in men, in nature, in themselves. This has been the case with many distinguished Methodist preachers ; they have been keen students of the most effective use of motives and arguments, and even of ges- tures and tones, upon the passions. There is nothing artifi- cial about that. That is nature's way ; that is really seeking the truth and the true power of eloquent speech. It is true that the art of rhetoric will not make an uneloquent man elo- quent : this is not the teacher's work, and is beyond his ability. Rhetoric will, however, make an effective speaker more effec- tive, and will enable any man of good abilities to become a good writer and speaker. " If you suppose either to be inde- pendent of the other, nature will be able to do much without learning, but learning will be of no avail without the assist- ance of nature. But if they be united in equal points, I shall be inclined to think that, when both are but moderate, the influence of nature is nevertheless the greater ; but fin- ished orators, I consider, owe more to learning than to nature." ^ Rhetoric will not furnish a man with thoughts, but it will teach a man how to use his thoughts ; and a mind that will be killed by good rules of speaking and writing can- not be a strong mind, and such a mind would be made pedantic by any kind of knowledge. It is possible that rhetorical studies will somewhat repress natural freedom, and there may be a sense of art or arti- ficiality produced; but this must soon wear off when the study is rightly conducted, and when a man is resolved by every means to make himself an effective speaker. He will go through art into -nature, and be all the stronger. ^ Quintilian's Instit., B. II., c. 19. 204. PREACHrNG. And what, truly, should there be in this study, rightly con- ducted, to injure the simplicity of the preacher? This term "6•^w^/>?^6■^7y," as used in the New Testament, signifies " free- dom from guile," and " singleness of heart and purpose," or, in a wider sense, "the unperverted teaching of the gos- pel," rather than intellectual simplicity or barrenness. The preacher's rhetorical study is to aid him to give the truth its true force, to clear it of what is false, and to present it in its real simplicity and strength to the mind. "The foolish- ness of preaching" is not "foolish preaching," but what was esteemed foolish by the Greeks, in opposition to their "wis- dom," viz., "the preaching of the cross." It was not the preaching, but the subject of the preaching, that was foolish. But, it may be said, if the preaclier uses the aids of rhetoric, and strives to make himself an eloquent speaker, does he not put himself on the same level with the platform^ speaker? The difference between the pulpit and platform is deeper than a mere rhetorical difference ; for the preacher may use all the art and skill that the platform-speaker does, and still be a preacher and not a platform-orator. The great difference between the two is, that the eloquence of the plat- form-speaker ends in itself: he has shown his power, or he has gained his point; but the eloquence of the preacher ends in the good and salvation of his hearers ; it is no mere- ly personal or temporary object. The platform-speaker strives for the present mastery, amusement, instruction, or conviction of his hearers, and human powers and eloquence are sufficient for the production of that effect ; but the aim of the true preacher is something out of himself, something enduring and eternal. He needs more than his own powers for this ; he needs something more than human eloquence. But if the preacher needs something more than human eloquence, he still may not despise anything that will make him more effective as a preacher.- Nathan's preaching to David was a piece of pure rhetoric. It was the polished arrow that slew the king's sin, and saved his soul from its § 19. USES AND SOURCES OF RHETORIC. 205 deadly coil. Paul's use of the illustration of the Athenian altar was a skilful use of the law of adaptation in rhetoric ; and did it injure the moral simplicity of his speaking ? Apol- los was, undoubtedly, well trained in the rhetorical schools of Alexandria.^ Upham has some interesting remarks upon the proofs that our blessed Saviour himself valued mental culture, and in his human nature prepared himself for the work of his min- istry by thought and study of the Hebrew Scriptures. 2 As to the most important bearing of the objection in regard to the converting poiver of divine truth accompanied by the Holy Spirit, that certainly does apply in full force to all false ideas of preaching, where the human element is made prominent, and the divine element is made subor- dinate, or is lost sight of; and yet the fact of the con- verting power of divine truth, or that all renewing power is in God alone, does not do away with the value of hu- man preaching. ^^ I have planted, ApoTlos watered; hut God gave the increase.'' The real power — the ultimate power — is in the divine causation, yet the human instru- mentality is not excluded. It is true that if God does not aid the preacher, his best efforts are vain ; and if God also does not animate and fill with his spirit the organization of the church, the church is a useless body ; yet this is not saying that the preacher and the church are not needed, and that these agencies may not, and should not, put forth all the effort, talent, and power ^Zte?/ possess, relying on divine aid. If one should carry the objection to an unreasonable extent, then human agency in the conversion of men would be ex- cluded, and all means employed for men's salvation — prayer as well as preaching — would be vain. This has been the theory of some who have pushed their views to an extrava- gant pitch. In the New England theological controversy ' Conybeare and Howson's Life of St. Paul, v. ii., p. 6. * Interior Life, p. 243. 18 . 206 PREACHING. on "the means of grace," half a century since, it was assert- ed on the one side that the text ^'Consider thy ways" was addressed to every man as a rational and moral being, who must think upon his duty before he did it ; on the other side it was regarded as a thing impossible, or, at least, in- admissible, for an impenitent sinner to consider his ways, because his thoughts would be depraved, and only depraved, continually, and no benefit, but only evil, would come of it. But human efibrt in the line of truth and duty, and for the furtherance and proclamation of the truth, is clearly set forth in the Scriptures. Not only did the apostles preach, but the Seventy, and others who were not endowed with miraculous gifts, and all believers, are to preach, in one sense. If we object to preaching, we might object to all kinds of influence exerted to promote religion, and difi'use truth among men. And if we admit preaching, it should be the best — the best that our human powers, aided by culture and divine grace, and intent upon the building up of the kingdom of God in the world, can produce. The simplicity of truth, and its converting power, are destroyed, not by its running through the human medium, but by its deliberate falsification, for selfish and earthly ends. As one is not defiled by eating with unwashen hands, but is defiled by having an unclean heart, so the truth is not corrupted by being taken into sin- ful human hands, and thus dispensed ; but it is corrupted by passing through an unbelieving and false mind. And the simplicity of the truth may be also injured by the preach- er's trusting to his own eloquence to produce conviction, and not to the word and Spirit of God. But no true preacher does this ; for he considers the gift of God to be intrusted to an earthen vessel ^'that the excellence of the glory may he of God, and not of man'"' He trusts wholly to the divine spirit. What, then, to the preacher of divine truth, are some of the legitimate uses of rhetoric f 1. It prevents the waste of mental energy. § 19. USES AND SOURCES OF RHETORIC. 207 Many preachers, though fertile in thought, are troubled in arranging their materials. They are apt to go over too much ground. Their ideas are not sufficiently compacted ; they are ineffectively marshalled, making a mob, and not an army. Their sermons often are theological treatises, small books. They waste their mental store, and do not get a due return for their outlay. Rhetoric teaches how to husband our resources ; how to methodize and condense ; how to make the most of what we have ; how to say enough upon a subject, and to say it most forcibly. 2. It gives accuracy to logical "processes. Rhetoric aids us to think, as well as to write. It helps one to become master of his mind and of his mental resources ; to regulate his processes of thought ; to start them readily from certain fixed centres, and to follow them along certain defined lines. The mind is invigorated by the study of rhet- oric and logic. It acquires thereby a finer edge. A trained rhetorician who is also a logician (for the two should go together) will not be apt to lay hold of the wrong end or the tough end of a question first, but he will advance upon it with an increasing force and impetus, that carry him through its difficulties. A proper arrangement and method in thinking, aid one to think. No extent of knowledge or brilliancy of imagination can make up for inaccurate habits of thought. In order to write or speak well, one must first think well. He must know how to analyze, to resolve a subject into its parts, to search its depths. The preacher should have depth as well as breadth. He should aim first at true thinking, and then he will come to original think- ing ; for rhetoric, while it regulates thought, does not repress originality. 3. It opens the power of language. The use of language is a fit study for the preacher, whose duty it is to interpret the meaning and force of the words chosen by the Holy Spirit to communicate truth. The Preacher ^^ sought to find out acceptable words." Language 208 PREACHING. is thought's instrument. By it we not only communicate light, but life, to other minds. Through language, soul acts on soul, A preacher should understand the hidden powers of language ; and here, perhaps, is one of the failures of the modern pulpit. The old preachers, especially the old English divines, were men of vast learning, who knew and felt the force of language, and such preachers as Bunyan and Flavel, who were not scholars, yet had attained to ex- traordinary force and purity of idiomatic English. The sermons of Bishop Andrewes, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, are wonderful for their nervous Saxon English. Rhetoric comprises the whole field of linguistic and lit- erary criticism — the rich field of language, of the mighty power of words as the instrument of thought ; and the most skilful and powerful use of language can be acquired only through the study of this wide and varied field. 4. It increases the ability of the speaker to carry convic- tion to other minds. Whately makes a just observation when he says that true rhetoric is not "aw art of producing conviction, but it is the art of doing so." It is finding out, not the best, but the only way by which conviction must be produced. It is, in Whately's language, ^'investigating the causes of the success of all who do produce conviction in ivriting and speaking J'^ ^ 5. It prevents the preacher'' s usefulness from being de- stroyed by little things. Preachers of genuine zeal and good abilities are often hindered in their usefulness by some insignificant thing, of which the simplest rhetorical culture would make them aware. Inaptness or inversion of style, a grotesque or awk- ward delivery, an unfortunate gesture, a nasal twang, a dry- ness or dulness in the treatment of vital themes, — some little thing, which could be remedied, will keep a good and perhaps able man tied like a slave to the wheel all his life. ' Whately's Rhetoric, Intro., § 4. § 19. USES AND SOURCES OF RHETORIC. 209 Let US now consider some of the sources of rhetoric. They are threefold : Nature, Good Models, and Books. 1. Nature. The preacher may learn from a child the first principles of the laws of rhetoric; e. g., directness. A little child, in making his wants known, and in carrying his point, will use the most direct method. He will express his wish in the fewest words. He will employ the strong- est argument or motive which he is capable of employing, and which (how often it happens !) is strong enough to carry his point. Where there is a pressure on the mind of the humblest and rudest person, there is often a vivid force in his way of expressing himself, which is eloquent. A poor woman who has five minutes allowed her at your door will make her case stand in the strongest light ; for she will say nothing unessential, or will leave nothing unsaid ; she will arrange her story (her oration) in a way fitted to produce instant conviction, arouse pity, and will gain her end. Nature is to be studied in men. The words and argu- ments of men engaged in the common business of life, if they have less abstruse depth, have often more practical weight and point than those of the most highly educated men, in whose minds the varied and abstract relations of a given truth habitually present themselves. The expressions of such men have a rough, powerful rhetoric. General Sheridan's famous speech at the fight of Winchester was a thousand times more effective than all the fine-turned sentences that were ever elaborated. President Lincoln's address at Gettysburg is a noble example of the eloquent condensation of thought and sentiment there may be in brief and simple language. The man who is always living in books, and upon dead men's ideas, should strive to catch something of this homely, vivid force of living men's every- day words and thoughts. Above all, he should study his own nature, as a source of rhetorical knowledge and power. He should carefully watch his own mind, and observe how he is affected by the arguments of others, and by what kind 18* 210 PREACHING. of ariruments ; what are the motives which move him most deeply and reach him most quickly ; what forms of expres- sion are most striking, and what most pathetic ; he should ask himself how, when, and why he is most moved by the speaking of others, and what kind of speakers do most move him. 2. Good models. Living models are best, because they come nearest to nature. Some preachers frequent the courts, to study the most direct modes of persuasive rea- soning ; yet their best models are preachers. By a study of true models we tend imperceptibly to grow like them ; as, if one should gaze half an hour every day upon the Apollo Belvedere, he would show it in the carriage of his head, and the new dignity which would be breathed into his whole mien. But in studying models, it is only the general residt that should be aimed at, and not the minute, literal copy. " Turpe etiam illud est, contention esse id con- sequi quod imiteris." ^ Every one should jealously guard his individuality, and should diligently strive to retain his natural style, that good thing, that native force or facility which belongs to him, only corrected of its faults, and en- riched by good examples. No orator or preacher, let him be the greatest, is indeed a perfect model for our imitation, or combines in himself all excellences ; neither is any great orator or speaker, as Quintilian has truly said, imitable in those things — his genius, invention, force, facility — which especially make him great; for those things are inborn, individual, spiritual, and escape the power of all imitation. One should not only read the sermons of the best preach- ers, but study them, analyze them, sentence by sentence and word by word, searching patiently, laboriouslj^ deter- minedly, to come at their sources of power. It is a good plan to take a condensed writer like Bishop Butler, and, after reading a page two or three times, to rewrite it in our own language, and carefully note the differences in the two ' Quintilian's Inst., Lib. X., De Imitatione, § 19. USES AND SOURCES OF RHETORIC. 211 modes of expressing the same ideas. Thus we should ex- periment and experiment, till we catch something of the condensed energy of one, the perspicuity of another, the fire of another. And, not confining ourselves to the study of the best writers and speakers in our own profession, we may extend our critical reading to the historian, the poet, the orators of antiquity, and to all the fields of literature. The study of Shakspeare is a spring of endlessly fruitful suggestion in the art of composition. A young preacher might always have on hand some author, and especially religious author, of first-rate excellence, not only as regards matter, but style ; for the formation of a clear, forcible style is a severe process ; and as no man can learn to paint with- out a continual use of the brush, so no man can learn to write and speak well without a continual use of the pen. 3. Books. We have anticipated this source of rhetorical instruction and suggestion under the last head ; but we refer now more particularly to books upon the special art of rhet- oric and homiletics. There are four works among ancient authors that may be considered to form the head sources of the rhetorical art : Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetic, Cicero De Oratore, Quintilian^s Institutes, Horace^s Ars Poetica. The principles of eloquence and style, drawn originally from nature, and illustrated by the best examples of Greek and Roman orator}^ are reduced by these writers, for the first time, and one might say for all time, to a science. Aristotle, highly condensed and obscurely elementary, plants the seeds which in Cicero and Quintilian bear ripe fruits ; in fact, all that has been since taught on the subject of elo- quence is but a reproduction or development of what those old authors say. The eloquence of the pulpit, however, presents a new field, which, though it draws from the com- mon principle of rhetoric, has laws of its own that are de- rived from a higher source than human thought or wisdom. In addition to works on homiletics in various languages, there are especially the sermons of great preachers, which 212 PREACHING. represent the diflferent types and epochs of prenching, in various languages, which form in themselves an ample field of homiletical literature and study. In addition to those of modern, or comparatively modern, times, there are the sermons of the ancient preachers of the Greek and Latin churches — the discourses of Chrysostomy Basil, Gregory of JSfazianzen, Gregory of JVyssa, and Cyril among the Greeks, and of Ambrose and Augustine among the Latins. Five hundred and ninety-four sermons of Augustine are extant ; and through their ancient garb of the Latin lan- guage, the fire and living soul of the true preacher of Christ still glow. Whatever there is in philosophy and literature which has to do with the orator's power may be studied to advan- tage : but above all, let the young preacher strive to gain a thorough homiletical training, not trusting entirely to books or to the teacher, but availing himself of every suggestion, from every source, to improve himself in the art of preach- ing. And after all, the greatest source of rhetorical power and rhetorical training is speaking. Practice in preaching is the best way to make the good preacher. He who would hit the mark must shoot at the mark. He who would move men by preaching must preach so as to move them. He who would overcome the difficulties of preaching must meet them in the presence of living men, in the act of speaking, on the field where difficulties present themselves. § 20. Use of Reasoning to the Preacher, ^ So far as reasoning comes under the department of rhet- oric (and Whately, we have seen, makes rhetoric to consist mainly of the art of reasoning, or to be identical with it) ; and inasmuch as logic, in the present enlarged conception of the term, is held to be the science of the laws of thought, and includes in it all the forms and methods of thinking, the true idea of our mental conceptions and judgments, § 20. USE OF REASONING TO THE PREACHER. 213 and the principles of right reasoning ; it becomes essential to the preacher to consider this, or at least to be stimulated to the careful study of this manly science. We would aim only to indicate the importance of this study to the preacher, as a legitimate source of power. Coleridge's definition of reaso7i is useful and ennobling to the preacher, who has to deal with those truths which are comprehended through the exercise of the highest faculties. " Reason is the power hy which we are enabled to draw from particular and contingent appearances universal and neces- sary conclusions.'''' ^ As further explained, reason is the prime source of neces- sary and universal ideas — ideas which are above the phe- nomenal world of sense ; it is, in fine, the faculty that deals with pure ideas, and it appeals to itself alone, to its own intuitions and judgments, as the substance and ground of ideas. It is thus, according to Coleridge, that faculty in man which rises above the sphere of the mere intellect judg- ing by sense, or the logical understanding, and enables him to arrive at absolute truths. Taking care not to let this transcendental definition of reason usurp the place of that higher teaching or inward communication of the Holy Spirit, by which alone we can spiritually, and thus truly, comprehend divine truth, we do indeed perceive that there is in man a higher nature, that transcends the mere logical intellect. It is a foculty which judges d priori, which is capable of grasping absolute ideas, and which, to a certain extent, possesses intuitive insight. In the world of faith, and in the discussion of Christian truth, this higher exercise of the reason is impor- tant, for Christianity is a rational religion ; that is, it cor- responds to those universal laws and principles of truth that raise themslves above change, that are common to rational intelligences, and that are fixed in the constitution 1 Coleridge's Works, Shedd's ed., vol. i., p. 251, et al. 214 PREACHING. of things. We should not be afraid of reason — that is, of this higher conception of reason — in the things of foith. If reason alone cannot arrive at divine truth, or truly com- prehend it, divine truth, nevertheless, speaks to the highest reason in man, and lets itself down, as far as it can, into its congenial and assimilated sphere. And as " the word," 0 Uyog, of which the preacher is the servant and min- ister, is, above all, the divine reason^ the preacher should know the place and functions of reason ; for he cannot keep divine truth confined in the arena of the mere understanding ; it will burst from human definitions and propositions ; it will not abide the test of mere word-argument ; it cannot be dis- covered by the syllogistic method. It may indeed be meth- odized and systematized, and thus more easily be grasped by the logical faculty ; but it belongs rather to the sphere of "rationalized intellect," in which, through the power of holy contemplation, in communion with the mind and spirit of God, the truth is clearly known. And the preacher should endeavor to evoke this higher faculty of reason in the hearer. He should strive to show that there is no real conflict between faith and reason, but that the truths of faith, which belong to a world above the natural and sensu- ous, appeal to that power in man which apprehends rational and universal truths — truths eternal as God's nature. Such reasoning, therefore, as this, which calls into exercise the highest nature of man, is the prerogative of the preacher of divine truth. This is his noble province, peculiar to him. And in all lower kinds of reasoning, as it is com- monly understood, in which the logical understanding may be chiefly employed, the preacher should never lose sight of the influence and the exercise of this higher power of the reason. We would now say a few words upon some of the uses of reasoning to the preacher, regarding reasoning here in the ordinary sense of the term, as the method of persuasion § 20. USE OF REASONING TO THE PREACHER. 215 by proof, or argument. Of these uses iu cultivating the reasoning faculties, the first we would mention is, — (1.) To give a Icnowledge of the 2)oivers and iiecessary laws of the mind in thought. Without some training iu the art of thinking, one could hardly presume to be a public teacher or speaker. The preacher should know how to think. He should know what thought is, as far as it can be known, both in its origin, in the cognitive faculties of intuition, perception, imagination, and in its evolution through the elaborative or discursive faculties. He should have some clear idea of the formation of distinct judg- ments, out of the region of consciousness. Then, hav- iug gained the materials of thought, he should know how to build upon them, by following out the laws of logical method, and step by step, through new identifications and comparisons of relations, he should arrive at higher and wider results. He should understand the laws of reasoning y by which, whether through the briefer method of inference, or the more complex one of syllogistic reasoning, certain products are reached. Thought, while free, yet has its laws, which are as invariable as the laws of the physical world. It is by walking in the narrow way, that, intellec- tually speaking, we come into the kingdom of truth. A man may have transient perceptions of truth, and brilliant, though vague intuitions ; but he can make little sure prog- ress in the investigation and discovery of truth, unless he is able from one clear judgment of the mind, or two distinct judgments, to evolve, by a movement of thought, a new though commonly related judgment ; and this is the simple process of reasoning. We cannot enter into the subject ; but, as preachers and reasoners, we should acquaint ourselves with the names and processes of the science of reasoning, for its very names and forms are intimately connected with its processes. We thus gain a clearer idea of the great laws of thought, and through thought we verify and build up truth. Using it as an instrument, we go forth into the fields of the 216 PREACHING. physical and spiritual world, and construct systems out of the materials they furnish. In this way alone we can in- telligently teach truth ; and the preacher is, above all, a teacher. We would add, under this head, a word as to the two simple and fundamental principles of all think- ing, and into which all true reasoning resolves itself, name- ly, rtna?ysz6' and s?/n^7iesz6'. (a.) Analysis. This process is that of a whole to a part. It reduces a truth to its elements, proving separately its diflferent terms and conclusions, and examining its groundwork and foundations. This is always an intensely interesting process to the human mind, and to the common mind. There will always be eager listeners to a preacher who takes a truth, even so repulsive a truth as that of human sinfulness, and anal3^zes it with power and skill, and who thus gradually leads the mind from the outward to the inward truth, from the abstract statement to the con- crete substance, and from the nature of sin itself to the nature of the human act of sin, and all that it involves and bears along with it. A preacher who has not disciplined his mind to this analyzing process is always liable to be tripped up by some strong-minded reasoner in his congregation. His proposition is declared to be an apparent, and not true, conclusion from his premises, or his argument totally fails to touch this or that objection which reaches down deeper still, {b.) Sytithesis. This process is that from a part to a whole. It divides off, or draws off, separately, that point of agreement in several objects which we can designate by some common term. Thus, gradually, some general foot, or general principle, which belongs in common to all these objects, or classes of objects, may be eliminated, and higher and higher levels of truth, more and more nearly approach- ing the nature of pure laws, or a jjrioi^i truths, may be arrived it. This is a great power in a preacher, and lifts him at once above the level of those men who can never rise out of a circle of conventional ideas, nor venture upon new and independent views of truth ; whose stock in trade con- § 20. USE OF REASONING TO THE PREACHER. 217 sists entirely of the conclusions of otlier minds. The mov- ing power of reasoning depends mainly upon this power of generalization, of rising from one conclusion to another, and bearing along the mind of the hearer in a living and commanding process of argumentation, in which truth is made to develop its grander forces and its wider circles of thought and proof. Nothing is more useful than this power of generalization to a preacher who derives his themes of instruction from the word of God ; who must, for the pur- poses of instruction, or in order to give unit}'^ to his instruc- tion, seek to devise out of various members and parts of a passage, one truth, one .main lesson, one clear proposition, which he is to illustrate and enforce. (2.) To develop truth in an orderly manner. Truth is orderly. Being the child of the supreme reason, truth must have an essential order, and certain unalterable proportions, which, if destroyed or disarranged, cease to have power. The gospel is a system of truth going out from a living centre, governed by one law of development, and wonderful in its adaptation to the human mind. It is bringing the infinite into the bounds of the finite. In order, therefore, that it may have its full influence and transforming power upon the mind, it should be made to stand before the mind in something of its original symmetry. The basis of all true preaching, or sermonizing, is this deeply-meditated and orderly development of Christian truth. The subject-matter of edifying and instructive preaching is the thorough dis- cussion of those great principles of truth in their real har- mony of proportions, which, taken together, form the body of Christian doctrine. This kind of thoughtful reasoning must constitute Avhat has been called ^' the spinal column" of every true sermon. Other things are adjuncts ; but here is the bone and substance of preaching. Compact, orderly discussion should occupy the main body of almost every discourse from the pulpit. "It is order," Vinet says, "which constitutes discourse. The difference between a common 19 218 PEEACHING. orator and an eloquent man is often nothing but a difference in respect to disposition." This ^Hiicidus ordo" this true method in discourse, is essential to the teacher of truth. Method aids us to arrive at the end at which we aim, by applying the principles of the true development of thought to the investigation and confirmation of truth. Tlie materi- als of truth, derived from the higher intuitions of reason, the phenomena of consciousness, the observations of the senses, and the evidence of testimony, especially that of the Scriptures, are organized, verified, and established, through the laws of methodical reasoning. Thus we do not compose vaguely, which is composing without thought. We do not snatch up slight impressions or suggestions, and discuss them without grasp or depth ; but by the applica- tion of true principles of definition, division, and reason- ing, we verify our knowledge of the Scriptures, arrange and dispose it in a clear method ; and we are thus able to teach it ; for " one does not really know a truth until he can teach it." While divine truth does not depend upon any process of reasoning, but upon direct revelation, and upon the teaching of God's spirit to the heart, yet by the tests and criteria of inductive reasoning, hypothesis, analogy, and the last analyses and relations of truth, its harmonies are brought out, its groundwork is laid bare, and it is presented to the mind in such a way that the reason bows, and the conscience is convicted. Great preachers have been great reasoners ; not, perhaps, all of them, in the scientific methods of strict logic, but in the clear development of the foundation prin- ciples of doctrine, and in that method of persuasion which the heart teaches to the true preacher. Jonathan Edwards reasoned so forcibly that his hearers thought God was speak- ing to them through him, as, indeed, he was ; for he grasped fundamental principles, and so entered into them, that while he himself was hidden, he shook the consciences of men by the pure power of truth. A greater than Edwards, or than § 20. USE or REASONING TO THE PREACHER. 219 Calvin, among human preachers, was the apostle Paul, who was, above all, a reasoner. "ZTe reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." He was, according to the pagan Louginus, a dialectician of the first order. He convinced the reason and carried the heart. He was not a dogmatic reasoner, or a mere logician and ""doctrinaire^^ but he appealed to received principles of reasoning, to argu- ments that had a universal applicability, and to eternal truths in the constitution of his hearers' minds. He did not ask them to believe anything which he did not show them to be right, and which, therefore, ought to be believed, and which he himself believed. How fundamental were the great themes of his preaching, reaching to those questions which enter into the nature of God and the divine origin of man — predestination and election, the corruption of human nature by sin, grace and the atonement, justification by faith and sauctification by the Holy Spirit, the building up of the soul in a holy life, and the spiritual kingdom of Christ ! This kind of doctrinal preaching, dealing with fun- damental truths, ribbed and clamped with manly argument, and filled with the breathings of the Spirit, and the warm afiections of the heart, is a kind of preaching which is power- ful, and which lasts. Argument forms the basis of interest with the popular mind, and it is the staple method of deal- ing with and influencing mind. Appeals to the feelings, and all kinds of " sensational preaching," soon wear out ; but plain, sensible, and comprehensive reasoning, without the pedantry of the logician, or the hardness of the metaphysi- cian, always has power with the great mass of common- sense, intelligent hearers. A sermon which has nothing of this element of thoughtful argumentation in it rarely makes an enduring impression, because it does not reach the depths of the subject, or the depths of the mind. It ruflies the top waves ; it does not go down into the springs of thought or motive. A preacher should be able to treat of the fundamental nature of moral evidence, and to reason in a 220 PREACHING. forcible manner upon the subject of moral truth as related to human responsibility. No amount of fine writing, daz- zling declamation, or even pathetic appeal, can atone for the absence of sound reasoning in a sermon. It need not, and should not, be technically theological, nor be continued wearisomely; but there can be little true eloquence without it. Truth, which is the converting agency, is not honored if it is not carefully developed, and if this thoughtful, orderly setting forth of truth do not form the basis of the sermon. This forms the positive element in preaching. (3.) To lodge truth firmly in men's minds. Reasoning is not mere philosophy, which is the manifestation of the essential nature of things. But true reasoning is rather the manifestation or exhibition of truth for the purpose of immediate persuasion and practical good. A true preacher's reasoning aims to lodge truth in men's minds. Even logic, truly defined, is the method of directing the intellectual powers in the investigation of truth, and its communication to other minds. The hist is as important as the first ; it is the essential thing in true reasoning. While the preacher, then, may philosophize in reasoning, he cannot remain in philosophy, but must bring the truth out into the sphere of human responsibility. He should not be satisfied with merely demonstrating truth, but he should seek, as far as human powers can do this, to apply it to the human mind according to the laws of the mind : for if these laws be observed in reasoning, the truth must be accepted, at least intellectually, and this is a great thing gained. The princi- ples of reasoning are the same in all minds. The process of producing conviction is the same, though there are im- mense differences in reasoning power. There is but one way by which the mind is convinced of the truth, and be- comes subjected to it. And divine truth itself is not to be taken out of this category, though influences of a super- natural nature are superadded, for the purpose of awaken- ing the dormant or dead energies of the mind. The Holv § 20. USE OF KEASONING TO THE PREACHER. 221 Spirit is not given because we have not all the rational power needed to be convinced by the truth, but it is added because we will not use the power and receive the truth. We should do our best to convince men of the truth, and leave it to a higher power to bring their minds into a condition in which the truth will find firm lodgment in them, and work its work upon them ; and the true reasoner will stand the best chance to do this. We may say that the burden of proof lies with the enemies of truth ; nevertheless, the preacher cannot ex- pect to reach men's minds, and permanently convince them, unless he sets truth before them in a clear manner. (4.) To expose and overcome error. Error is perverted or wrongly reasoned truth — truth out of its right relations. It is built on some process of false reasoning, and, having the appearance of truth, it has more power to deceive. It may arise from a fault in the form of thinking, and thus be self-deceiving — the most subtly powerful of all error. This false reasoning, however, may be sometimes far too deep for the ordinary mind to detect. The Christian heart may detect it, but it cannot be thoroughly overthrown until its fallacy is discovered and exposed. This can be done only by the disciplined reasoner. Gibbon, Hume, Strauss, have rarely met their match as acute dialecticians ; therefore their reasoning has continued to work mischief. Zealous but un- skilful men have attacked them, and been foiled, and the public faith has been weakened. It would seem to be proved that the fierce discussions upon Hume's fiimous argument on "miracles" might have been saved if some contemporary theologian had been able to point out in a clear way, which admitted of no gainsaying, the fallacy contained in Hume's argument — that its middle term refers really to but a part, whereas his conclusion is made to refer to a whole ^ — an instance of what is called in logic "illicit process.'^ In other words, Hume falsely makes some testimony, which is weak * Whately's Beasoning, Lesson IV,, § 4. 19* 222 PREACHING. and fallible, to stand for all testimony, which is not thus weak and fallible. The preacher should be boldly skilful to detect these fallacies of false reasoning. Many errors of the head might be put aside forever in a congregation, if the preacher understood the nature of true and false rea- soning. Admit the Romish premises, and you must come to the Romish conclusion ; admit the rationalistic premises, and you can land yourself in the depths of pantheism, and even atheism. When an error arises in a community, men honor a courageous assault made upon it by fair argument, rather than an attempt to put it down in a dogmatic, un- reasoning way ; it will thrive under this latter treatment. A preacher of Christ has, at some time, to buckle on the armor of controversy, and meet error in manful conflict. He must sometimes fight it out, as Paul tells Timothy to do in respect to the false teachers of Ephesus ; and by the clear ^^manifestation of the truth,^' he will commend himself and his cause to all. (5.) To enable him to emjploy the fit argument. We need not say that all arguments should not be used at all times. Before some audiences it would be better to employ the indirect argument than an argument where the conclusion is apparent. Dr. Emmons was famous for his " ratio ohli- qua^^^ which oftentimes was brought to bear with sudden and irresistible power. He is, however, not to be followed too closely in that, for that art, if commonly used, would seem to imply something like craft. In proving a certain proposition, or form of truth, the "a priori argument,^^ or the method of deductive reasoning from generals to par- ticulars, where certain generic truths are taken for the premises, and then we reason to individuals or particulars contained under them, may be the most forcible method. Reasoning upon the nature of God admits of the highest and most constant use of this kind of argument. Indeed, the preacher is called upon to use this argument almost continu- ally, from the fact that he preaches to interpret and enforce § 20. USE OF EEASONING TO THE PREACHER. 223 divine revelation, instead of being called upon, as the scien- tific man is, to arrive at new truth by the system of induc- tive reasoning. Sometimes it is best to reason to an announced conclu- sion, where demonstrative truth is impossible. This tenta- tive process, when conducted on true principles, and not carried into the extremes of theoretical reasoning, is often \ interesting and awakening ; it leads to original investigations and fresh views of divine truth. Oftentimes, on the other hand, without naming our proposition, it is the most effec- tive plan to reason downward toward an unannounced con- clusion, arriving at it as if led by the very force of truth, and not from any prearranged and controlling proposition. A strong argument is made by reasoning from the princi- ple of extension; as, for example, that of Young, in his Christ in History. He argues from the admitted focts of our Lord's life on earth, taking the most natural and lowest view of them —facts which present to men the simple man- hood of Jesus ; from these his argument rises and leads on to the irresistible conclusion that such words, such works, such facts, such a character, can be predicated only of a divine being, of one who in the constitution of his nature was one with God. The argument from contraries is some- times the only efficient argument; for the truth of some propositions can be established only by proving their oppo- sites to be untrue ; for of two opposites, both cannot be true, and if one be false, the other must be true. The argument from analogy is particularly useful to the preacher, but is, nevertheless, extremely difficult to handle with effect ; and one may easily overdo it, and injure his cause. A false analogy is very seductive and very injurious. Because, it is sometimes said, a cultivated garden always brings forth good fruits, therefore a cultivated mind always pro- duces good fruits, and education is thus the universal pan- acea of all evils — certainly a false conclusion. Analogy is often a strong argument, but it is not, and cannot be, a 224 PREACHING. wholly demonstrative argument ; even Bishop Butler's argu- ment is not claimed to be conclusive. It may be as strong in its moral impression as a demonstrative argument, and even stronger ; but it is, after all, greater in its negative than in its positive force. Employed in the more common meth- ods of illustrative reasoning, the argument of analogy is of exceeding value to the preacher in imparting a living force to his preaching; and that kind of reasoning makes the natural world an organ to play upon, and from it may be drawn harmonies and accords the most unexpected, power- ful, and delightful. The arguments, too, from relation., omission, experience, testimony/, probability, may be wielded with effect, if they are employed at the right time and in the right place. What is required in an argument is simply to present the truth in as strong and clear a light as one can, so as to give all possible satisfaction to every mind in the audience. We are required, therefore, to study the particular case before us, the nature of the truth to be established, the end to be gained, the quality of the audience, and to adapt the reason- ing to the circumstances of the theme and occasion, so that we may be " workmen that need not to he ashamed, ^^ (6.) To produce persuasion. We mean by this something over and above what has been said of developing truth and lodging it in the mind. We mean effecting a change in the mind and act of the hearer. We mean not merely to con- vince, not merely to move, but to move to act. Paul and the early preachers did not leave men quaking under the law, but led them to Christ : ^^ knowing the terrors of the law, we per- suade 7nen.*' This was old Latimer's way of preaching. He was earnest, as he said in his own words, " in casting down the people with the law, and with the threatenings of God for sin ; not forgetting to ridge them up again with the gospel and the promises of God's favor." ^ Persuasion, according to Whately, depends on the con- ' Graham on Preaching and Popular Education, p. 54. § 20. USE OF REASONING TO THE PREACHER. 225 viction of the understanding, the influencing of the will, and the moving of the feelings. Now, it is evident that no exhortation, nor brilliant writing, can do this, without, first of all, some clear exhibition of truth, which appeals to the reason, presents a motive to the will, and acts as an im- pulse to the feelings. Feeling does not move at the mere voice of command. It is jealous of authority — it refuses to be tampered with. The road to it is indirect, and often exceedingly circuitous. The persuasion which final- ly seizes upon and moves the whole being is no imme- diate result. When 'the Athenians started up and cried, " To arms ! " it was after one of Demosthenes' most exhaus- tive and labored efibrts of reasoning. The depths of the nature must be slowly aroused and heated, before the whole soul — so to speak — flows forth under persuasion. The understanding must hand its verdict to the will, and the will must communicate its impulse to the afiectious, and then the whole awakened mind yields itself freely to the truth, and says, "I believe and I will do." As has been said in regard to divine truth, the essential and peculiar, nature of divine truth should not be lost sight of — that it is in itself pure and simple, the converting instrumentality ; or rather that it is accompanied by the special jjower of the Holy Spirit. We can add nothing to the truth. " The laiv of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" All is dry light with- out God's living energy. That inner persuasion of truth which imparts new life to the nature, springs from above. We add some cautions to the preacher in the use of rea- soning, (a.) He should not rely luholly upon it for success. We have endeavored carefully to guard against this. The nature of the corrupted human heart and the nature of divine truth — in a word, the presence of sin and the need of a higher power — forbid this. The preacher of Christ is the agent of producing not only persuasion, but life. He is not only, by means of the truth, to bring men into a new 226 ' PREACHING. opinion, but into a new disposition. He must have God's help for this. Yet the truth is the instrument of this great work. An eminent American preacher has said that " min- isters should not always be talking about the truth — the truth. They should preach and think more of the life." We agree with the sentiment that was probably meant to be conveyed by that remark, yet there is a latent fallacy in it ; for divine truth differs from common truth inasmuch as it is itself potential with life: '^ My words, they are spirit and they are life." They are not the mere food of the intellect, they nourish the soul into everlasting life. We know of no way of producing new spiritual life, excepting through the bringing home of divine truth to men's minds and hearts, and, through their honest reception of it, into the currents of life. This further inward assimilating and life-giving process of the truth is hidden and mysterious to us ; 3'es, more so than the processes of our natural life ; but our dut}^ as preachers is plain : we should present and enforce the truth in the clearest, most powerful and most persuasive manner that we are clpable of. " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." That is invariably the divine method ; and it is beauti- fully consonant to the laws of the mind. We come to the conclusion, that reasoning, while it has a real value to the preacher, is insufficient for the highest practical results : these depend upon other factors. God, and the things of God, in their deepest and truest meanings, do not lie in the domain of reasoning; they are to be reached, if at all, through faith, feeling, obedience, love — often by not seek- ing to prove or define them. The preacher should, there- fore, beware of dogmatizing upon themes of a higher sphere, and should keep himself to the simple language of faith ; he should choose to be vague, rather than to attempt to confine infinite things in logical formulas. One may, indeed, sin as much through argumentative preaching, as through sensation- al preaching. The preacher should speak on heavenly themes § 20. USE or REASONING TO THE PREACHER. 227 as a child, rather than as a geometrician. His reasoning, should it ever assume an entirely abstract form, separates himself and his theme from the living sympathies of his hearers. Preaching must reach the people, or it is vain, dead, worse than dead. (6.) He should not he a mei'e rea- soner. Reasoning is by no means all that a sermon needs. It should have literary attractiveness, spiritual insight, and above all', heart, love, life, faith, unction. Some kinds of sermons do not even admit of much close reasoning. And reasoning in sermons should not end in demonstration, but should be aimed at the conscience, will, and heartv Dr. Wayland, for example, had a logical mind, and used the logical method in preaching ; but his hearers thought little of the logic, because his sermons were practical, and were pointed directly to the heart and life. It is not always prac- ticable, nor always best, to make the direct appeal ; but no sermon should be left to stand merely as an argument, ex- citing respect or applause, and carrying conviction to the head ; but the hearers should perceive that the preacher cares nothing about the argument, as an argument, and that he is preaching to bring them to God and eternal life. The preacher should not leave himself, or the merit of his work, in the mind of the hearer, but Christ and his work, Christ and his love. His hearers will get accustomed to the most ter- rifying doctrines, if they see that the preacher, in his treat- ment of them, means nothing more than the display of his dialectic skill and partisan orthodoxy. This kind of preach- ing has been sometimes carried so far, that it has emptied churches and driven away the Spirit of God. Paul warned Timothy against this very thing, and bade him not dwell upon subjects " which minister questions, rather than godly edify- ing, which is in faith;'' and to preach, "not himself, but Christ Jesus the Lord." The preacher and his sermon are of comparatively little importance. They have accomplished their task, if, by God's grace, they bring men to the feet of Jesus. Has a sermon an amazingly rending power? Like a 228 PREACniNG. shell that has done its work, the most powerful sermon, the most faithful argument, after it has sped to its mark, is but worthless iron. We would desire, in closing this theme, to repeat the warning against too high expectations concerning the pro- ductive power of the logical method in the investigation of divine truth. Insight and simple consciousness, the exer- cise of the higher reason, above all, ftiith and obedience, are the chief productive elements in the discovery and in- culcation of truth. In religious things, the intuitions of the heart are better than the conclusions of the intellect. No man is converted by reasoning, but he is by love — the love of God as manifested in Christ. § 21. The Study of Language. Whatever may be our theory in regard to the origin of language, whether it be natural or divine, it is assuredly the divinely ordained and inevitable expression of that spirit in man which allies him to God. Man was originall}^ created with the capacity and instinct of language; i. e., with the organs of speech and the ability to use these organs to ex- press his thoughts ; and the effort to do this, or the process of doing it, was the origin of language. What the actual pro- cess of forming language was, must remain an unexplained problem ; but the two elements in the production of language were undoubtedly the power of thought and the power of ex- pression. Why certain sounds were applied to certain things, or objects, or ideas, we know not ; but we know that there must have been, before sound, the power of perception, obser- vation, classification ; and thus thought was, humanly speak- ing, the originating cause of language. Language is thought embodied in speech. Words are the signs and instruments of thought. And what is thought but the operation or action of the mind itself, in its endeavor to define and express its own conceptions? Thus language, as the expression of § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 229 thought, which is the essential result and accompaniment of mind, is really the true manifestation of the human mind. It is the great distinction of humanity, as being the way in which the mind, or the spirit, in man, makes itself known. As the word without the spirit is dead, so, per- haps, it may be said that the spirit without the word is dead also. Let us come at the root of language, and we find that it is spiritual; and this truth increases inexpressibly its value and power to us as preachers. It is true that lan- guage is not a perfect erpression of the spirit — how could it be ? " For any definition we can frame for the eye as the organ of sight, the statement that ' God sees,' is untrue, and we are only enabled to decide this by the grasp we possess of the idea enveloped in the words ' He that made the eye shall he not see?' Thus language, with all its power of ab- straction, is but concrete when compared with thought; and it is, perhaps, the privilege of advancing holiness, to be able to divest its thoughts more and more of the accretions, which are not wholly separable from them when clothed in human language." ^ Although language is thus, after all, an imper- fect exhibition of the soul, or thought of the soul, yet it is the most perfect of all modes of spiritual expression. It is more perfect than music, painting, or any of the expres- sive arts. These are, in some sort, language, and very ex- pressive language ; but the language which is contained in words fits the soul more closely, and is more subtile and vital than they. The " winged words " fly forth as on the breath of the soul. Other modes of expression are more material, indefinite, and obscure. Speech is thus, more than anything else, the soul made visible. Ben Jonson says, "Lan- guage must show a man; speak, that I may see thee! It springs out of the most retired and inmost parts of us, and is the image of the parent of it, the mind. No glass renders a man's form and likeness so true as his speech." Walter * Christian Remembrancer, April, 1860, p. 310. 20 230 PREACHING. Savage Landor says, "Language is a part of a man's char- acter." In fact, no two persons speak the same language, nor give precisely the same meaning to words. Every man's speech is, to a certain degree, peculiar and individual, beins: the imasre of his own soul, and of no one's else. He may try, perhaps, to hide his spirit iu his language, but it will, if he speaks much, show itself. If language has this spiritual source and power, it deserves the greatest attention, for subtile and profound forces are wrapped up in it, and deep influences also, for evil or for good. We may see at a glance that if there is this profound spiritual source of language, the spring should be kept pure for the sake of the language, which is its true result and manifestation. Professor Whitney, in opposition to Max Miiller and some of the German writers, regards language as a moral in- stead of a physical science ; and he looks upon it as con- nected more with the spiritual will than with the physical life. Without doubt, because it is thus so deeply associated with moral responsibility, and so nearly allied to the soul itself, the Saviour said, ^' For by thy ivords thou ahalt be jus- tified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned^' Also the apostle James said, ^'If any ma7i offend not in word, the same is a perfect man." We would, therefore, lay down the simple proposition, that for every conceivable reason, whether spiritual or prac- tical, the study of language is essential to the preacher, — (1.) That language may become the perfect instalment of thought. If language is thus vitally related to spirit, and, therefore, to thought, it becomes the preacher — whose duty is, to communicate the highest and most spiritual thought to others — to study the powers and adaptations of language. These are hidden and evasive. There is a law of life in language, ^vhich is exeedingly subtile, and which cannot be grasped by the unstudious or mechanical mind. This is, the acquisition of a profoundly disciplined perception. While the philological uses of a preacher's special study of Ian- § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 231 guage, for the independent interpretation of the Scriptures, and for all scholarly purposes, are apparent, it is not of this aspect of language that we would now particularly speak. The preacher should study language, — language itself, not languages, — in • order that it may become this spiritual manifestation or power; or, in other words, that it may become a facile and perfect instrument of thought. Such is the divine use of language. The word of God is the perfect instrument of the Spirit of God — ^Hhe sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." And this higher truth respecting the word, or speech of God, extends even to him who is the preacher of that word ; for he who preaches the word of God purely, wields ''the sivord of the Spirit." There is a spiritual influence, a pure power, that moves the soul and accompanies the language which springs from a soul striving to express divine truth in a way that shall honor it and wor- thily present it. And if the human preacher, proclaiming the truth purely, is thus permitted to wield the sword of the Spirit, how much more should his language become the sword of his own spirit ! The word should be born with the thought. Language should be the perfect instrument of the preacher's own mind, doing with equal facility the mightiest and most delicate acts of his will. Even as his thought is, even as his inmost soul is, so should his language be. The spiritual force of the man should go forth without apparent effort, or incongruity of his words. Men should not think of his language, how beautiful or how strong it is, but should see himself in his language, should see his spirit. To desig- nate a living writer and preacher, the language of Dr. Bush- nell is, we think, in a marked degree, the manifestation of his thought ; he seems to have brought his language to a wonderful accord with his inward self. His style might not be considered perfect, but it expresses himself, and it expresses what he wills. His mind wields speech as a strong, swift gymnast moves his limbs. Thought and word are one and indivisible — one act. He has made language 232 PREACHING. a study. He has appreciated its power, and sought for its living law. Everything he says, therefore, has a mean- ing, and is instinct with life. His use of words is at the same time exact and carelessly copious. It is not confined to what is called purity of style, but it has those higher qualities of power which require a wider and bolder sway over the realm of language. When he needs a strong word or phrase for his purpose, he digs it up like a rock out of the earth, and hurls it with all its ponderous weight. When, however, he wishes to express an abstract and philosophical idea, instead of simplifying it, and bringing it down to the level of the unphilosophical mind, he avails himself freely of learning and of accurate scientific terminology, knowing that there is an instinct in the appreciation of language even among common men, which is better than education. In a word, he lays hold of anything in the kingdom of lan- guage which serves his thought, which manifests most per- fectly the force and sagacity of his spirit. Another instance among modern preachers of this plastic and vital use of lan- guage, though not with the peculiar power of Dr. Bushnell in this one particular, is F. W. Robertson. It was said of a more ancient preacher still, — Apollos, — that he was "an eloquent man," referring, doubtless, to this power of expres- sion in language. The preacher's use of language should have all the naturalness of a common man's speech, and, at the same time, all the scholar's command of the higher and more hidden resources of language ; its exquisite adapta- tions to human thought. (2.) That he may have a mastery of words. The preach- er's use of language, we have said, should have all the natu- ralness of a common man's speech, and, at the same time, all the scholar's command of the wide resources of lanmiao^e. "A well-educated person in England seldom uses more than about three thousand or four thousand words in actual con- versation. Accurate thinkers and close reasoners, who avoid vague and general expressions, and wait till they find the § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 233 word that exactly fits their meaning, employ a larger stock ; and eloquent speakers may rise to a command of ten thou- sand. Shakspeare, who displayed a greater variety of ex- pression than probably any other writer in any language, produced all his plays with about fifteen thousand words. Milton's prose works are built up with eight thousand ; and the Old Testament says all that it has to say with five thou- sand six hundred and forty-two words." ^ How shall the preacher obtain this sway over the wide field of language — how shall he acquire this copious vocabulary — unless he makes language a special study — language itself — the powers, resources, and wealth of words? This is a broad realm ; one must conquer it, to use its revenues. He may have thought and learning, he may have a vivid conception of truth ; but unless he can express his thoughts, unless he can wield this instrument of the soul with freedom, he is a dumb prophet, he is an inarticulate soul, the word of God languishes imprisoned within him. One may deal too exclu- sively with the substance, and neglect too much the form, of truth, or the harmonious development of the substance and the form. The language, therefore, of some preachers, when they begin to attempt to communicate thought to other minds, is stifi", mechanical, unyielding. They are not mas- ters of expression.. The living power of words is not theirs. Their ideas freeze while they speak. The inward conception finds a totally inadequate medium of representation. There is no vital union between the thought and the word ; so that the style has either the appearance of not being one's own, or of being that of an uncultivated mind ; which impres- sion, in either case, may be entirely false. The young preacher should be warned of his deficiency in time, and he should set himself about correcting or supplying this great want in his education ; and unless he does this, he can hardly become a iiatui^al or original speaker ; for if a man wishes ' Mailer's Science of Language, p. 266. 20* 234 PREACHING. to have freshness and originality of style, he must mas- ter language, he must make words subservient to his will ; else he will express them in a formal style, which he has caught from others, he knows not how. He cannot be original unless he has a style of his own, as well as thoughts of his own. A man's style of writing or speak- ing may not be a good one, though it be his own ; but it certainly is not a good one unless it is his own, unless he has broken loose from the leading-strings of imitation, and has acquired a genuine, unconscious style of his own. He who has a style that is expressive of his own mind has a style which his own mind will look and work freely in, and he does not light in Saul's armor. (3.) That he mci]/, above all, be a master of his mother tongue. How can one become possessor of a natural, copi- ous, and flexible style,, which is the genuine investiture of his thought, until he thoroughly understands the genius and structure of the language in which he thinks ? As it is now satisfactorily proved that there can be no mixed language, though one language may contribute to another, how important that one should understand his own ! Yet it is a singular fact that most educated men study, all their lives, the dead languages, and neglect that language which is the only living one to them, and which must be learned in its own grammar, history, and literature. "The gen- eral and obvious distinction between the grammar of the English and the Continental tongues is, that whereas in the latter the relations of words are determined by their form, or by a traditional structure of period handed down from a more strictly inflectional phase of those languages, in English, on the other hand, those relations do not indi- cate, but are deduced from, the logical categories of the words which compose the period, and hence they must be demonstrated by a very diflTerent process from that which is appropriate for syntaxes depending on other principles. A truly philosophical system of English syntax cannot. § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 235 then, be built up by means of the Latin scaftblding which has served for the construction of all the Continental theo- ries of grammar, and with which alone the literary public is familiar, but must be conceived and executed on a wholly new and original plan." ^ Some of the purest and most idiomatic English writers in point of style have been men of one speech. Shakspeare's " small Latin and less Greek " is a familiar fact ; and in the same category may be reckoned Izaak Walton, Dean Swift (who neglected his regular academic studies, and applied himself mostly to the reading of poetry), John Bunyan, Goldsmith, to a certain extent, and De Foe, and, in modern times, Dr. Franklin, Cobbett, Erskine, Daniel Webster, Hugh Miller. These men, with one or two exceptions, knew little of the classics, or of any language other than their own ; and yet with what power they used their own ! What vigorous English some of our American editors em- ploy, who have had but a brief common school education ! The strength that these men have, as writers and speakers, came purely from the English tongue ; and this shows that there is an original power in our language which does not depend upon foreign learning. In order to acquire this thorough mastery of the English language, two sources of study are particularly valuable, viz., English literature and English philology. (a.) English literature. Nothing helps to make us facile and ready writers more than a rich course of reading in English literature. In this way we gain a coj)ious style, and a quick perception of the marvellous powers of words. Preachers are often exceedingly deficient in this kind of literary culture, and that is one of the causes of their stiff, barren style. Their English reading has been confined ex- clusively to professional authors, to theological works whose style, perhaps, is in the highest degree rigid, and devoid ' Marsh's English Language and its early Literature, Lect. I., p. 22. 236 PREACHING. of vital beauty. They do not enter the broad fields of English poetry, drama, history, humor, and fiction. A knowledge of English literature implies a universal range of authors, and excludes anything strictly technical or pro- fessional. It has relations to humanity generally, rather than to any particular department of it. And what language may compare with the English in this vital element, in this multiform character, in this wide scope of subjects that appeal to our common nature? It is not merely for the acquisition of new knowledge, but of mental self-culture, of spiritual enriching and invigoration, that ministers should make themselves widely acquainted with the treasures of English literature. "Mere philological or etymological learning cannot make up for this want of general literary cultivation and reading. Dictionary definitions, considered as a means of philological instruction, are as inferior to miscellaneous reading as a hortus siccus to a botanic gar- den. Words exert their living powers, and give utterance to sentiment and meaning, only in the organic combina- tions for which nature has adapted them, and not in the alphabetic single-file in which lexicographers post and drill them."' De Quincey says, "There is, first, the litera- ture of hnowledge, and, secondly, the literature of power. The function of the first is to teach ; the function of the second is to move." Apply this remark to English liter- ature, and what names of living power start up ! They show us that if we are to go to Greek and Latin, German and French, for our learning, we need not step out of the charmed circle of English literature for works that commu- nicate power, that reach the springs of motive and action, that educate character ; for there is a spiritual depth and penetration of the heart in English literature that is not to be found elsewhere. In Carlyle's words, "It is planted in man's heart." We should endeavor to read English literature upon some ' Marsh's Eng. Lang, and Early Lit., p. 442. § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 237 jplan; we should divide it into its great epochs, make our- selves acquainted with the representative authors of each epoch, and study the growth and changes of the language from its origin to the present time. But in order to obtain a thorough knowleds'e and real mastery of the English language, it is necessary to give some serious attention (b.) to English philology. This is the study of the structural character of the language, its his- torical changes, and its practical analysis. To do this one must go to the very roots of the language, to the Anglo- Saxon^ and observe the influence of the changes of form upon thought, and the introduction of new foreign elements that were grafted upon the old Germanic stock. There are three great sources or treasuries of the English language in a philological as well as a literary point of view ; and especially of its idiomatic Anglo-Saxon element, which every one who wishes to have a pure and vigorous English style should endeavor to make himself familiar with — the works of Chaucer, of Shaksjjeare, and of the English Bible. We mention them together chiefly in respect to their lan- guage. 1. Chaucer. The study of Chaucer forms, perhaps, our best introduction to the study of the Saxon element in our language ; for, although great changes had already taken place in his day, yet Chaucer is in one sense the creator of the English tongue ; he first moulded it into the forms of lit- erature. Whatever remained of the Saxon after the Norman- French had been ingrafted upon it, and in some respects had fatally supplanted or outgrown it, he used with free- dom and vigor. It forms still the staple of his language, and as his genius fixed the language in its forms of gram- mar and literature, the Saxon element did not, after him, yield to any extraneous influences. We may, indeed, set it down as an axiom capable of the fullest proof, that Chau- cer's grammatical use of the language did not materially differ from its present use. Most of the essential gram- 238 PREACHING. matical changes from the ancient Saxon had already taken place ; although Dr. Johnson pronounced it impossible to ascertain precisely when our speech ceased to be Saxon, and when it began to be genuine English. But the lan- guage of Chaucer is substantially our language : and the true conservative influence, or the radically assimilating and unifying principle, in our tongue, now, as it was in his day, is its Saxon element : that is the substratum which it is im- possible to disintegrate, and which has never given way to the influences of conquest ; it is therefore well worth our study. " Philosophy and science, and the arts of high civili- zation, find their utterance in the Latin words, or, if not in the Latin, in the Greek. One part of the language is not to be cultivated at the expense of the other ; the Saxon at the cost of the Latin, as little as the Latin at the cost of the Saxon." ^ But when a Latin and a Saxon word ofier them- selves for choice. Trench Avould have us take the Saxon. " But when we come to the words which indicate differ- ent states, emotions, passions, mental processes, — all, in short, that expresses the moral or intellectual man, — the Anglo-Saxon vocabulary is eminently affluent." ^ De Quin- cey says, " Pathos^ in situations w^iich are homel}'-, or at all connected with domestic affections, naturally moves in Saxon words. And why? Because the Saxon is the abo- riginal element — the basis, not the superstructure; con- sequently it comprehends all the ideas which are natural to the heart of man, and to the elementary situations of life." Whatever, then, we, as preachers, may draw from the Anglo- Saxon element of the language, we thereby gain in the vocabulary of the heart. One cannot move men to tears in the Johnsonian style ; and the preacher needs to learn this simple language of feeling. 2. Shakspeare. We cannot enter into the wide subject of the uses of the study of " the myriad-minded bard " to ' Trench's English, Past and Present, p. * Marsh's Eng. Lang, and Lit., p. 94. 34. § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 239 the preacher, as an aid in the knowledge of human nature, and as a guide to the depths of our moral being. Dr. Em- mons, the incarnation of the logical intellect, read Shak- speare as a help in his preaching, and in the study of the Human heart. The moral element lies at the basis of Shak- speare's greatness ; and it is this ethical and heart-searching quality, at the same time penetrating and genial, wonder- fully discerning, yet healing and loving all, that makes him the poet of universal humanity. Shakspeare paints man and develops character, not as other artists, by work- ing upon philosophical principles, so that this person or that person is the embodiment of a character; but he views man, as a whole, with blendings of good and evil, wisdom and folly, strength and weakness; swayed now by this motive and now by that ; capable of vast effort, but perishing before the moth ; a creature of heaven and earth ; a being of impulses, sympathies, attractions, as well as of rational judgments, and as diversified and unaccountable as the universe he lives in ; not exhausting any character, but letting him act fragmentarily, as he does in actual life, and as he does in the Bible, which book Shakspeare studied, and which is the only perfect transcript of man, because man's sjjirit is a great deep, and is supernatural and immortal. Ulrici, the German critic of Shakspeare, says that it is wonderful that a man who possessed such depths of passion and knowledge of sin, could have so controlled his life as to have been always, as he seems to have been, at least after his youthful period, respected and beloved. He says that his spirit, and his spiritual idea of God and man, was de- cidedly Protestant, contrary to the narrower judgment of Carlyle. Goethe says, " You would think, while reading his plays, that you stood before the enclosed awful books of fate, while the whirlwind of most impassioned life was howling through the leaves, and tossing them fiercely to and fro." But the study of Shakspeare in his use of language^ of 240 PREACHING. the English tongue, in what has been called "his matchless use of words," is what we would now specially notice. We find that the Saxon was also the substratum of his style. He is said to have sixty per cent, of native Saxon words, and the English Bible has about the same. Milton has less than thirty -three per cent. Shakspeare had, as before re- marked, a comparatively restricted vocabulary, not exceed- ing, it is said, fifteen thousand words. His afiiuence of language, according to Marsh, arises from his variety of combination, rather than his numerical abundance of words; he stood at the culmination of the strength and richness of the English tongue, after Spenser and many skilful writers since Chaucer's day had moulded and refined it ; and yet it had not lost its simple English character. The naturalness, sweetness, expression, and force of Shakspeare's language sprang from this source. But Shakspeare also knew how to use the resources of the classical words of the language, in order to give variety, subtilty, elegance, and a lofty majesty to his thought. Shakspeare proved that the Eng- lish language is the finest instrument of thought man ever had — capable of the most varied expression, whether it takes the form of precise thinking, or of the highest soar- ings of the imagination. There is a spiritual quality in the English which no other language possesses in an equal degree ; and this has always been its characteristic, for a language expresses the history and spirit of a race ; and in the English race, with all its grossness and earthliness, the moral and spiritual element has predominated. "It is in this inherited quality of moral revelation, which has been perpetuated and handed down from the tongue of the Gothic conquerors to its English first-born, that lies, in good part, the secret of Shakspeare's power of bodying forth so much of man's internal being, and clothing so many of his mysterious sympathies in living words." ^ We doubt whether so great a genius as Shakspeare, or even a greater, Marsh's Eng. Lang., &c., p. 94. § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 241 if we could conceive of such, could have written his dramas in the French language. And Shakspeare must have fully appreciated the moral richness and power of his mother tongue, to use it as he did ; for the opinion that prevailed so long, that Shakspeare was a poet of nature, without art, — born, not made, — while in one sense true, in another is not true. He was a transcendent genius, but he shows everywhere the artist ; though perhaps there never was an artist who wrought less on established rules. What is the secret of the wonderful freshness of Shak- speare's language, so that it is always new, always wet with the morning dew, when the works of other great authors grow obsolete ? This is a question worthy of our special study. The language of Shakspeare is so completely the expression of his mind that we think of the beauty of the thought, and are moved by the pathos or power of what is said, but we never think of the language itself, unless, indeed, we study it. This is the perfection of language ; this is to have the lan- guage one with the thought, the true expression of the spirit. In his language we look upon the real mind or spirit of Shakspeare, unconfused by the medium through which it is expressed. That, surely, is one of the great sources of his power. While thus a limpid expression of his thought, it by no means follows that all of Shakspeare's language has this achromatic character. It is sometimes obscure, dark, difficult to be understood ; but that springs from the depth of the thought, and not from the obscurity of the language. Here the language suits the thought, and is born with it. Shakspeare's style, contrary to the prevailing canon of literary taste at the present day, is highly metaphorical. Oftentimes his most profound and exquisite thinking utters itself in this way ; and although it may be called the lan- guage of poetry, yet it is a question whether the total dis- regard of the metaphorical style of thought — a style which springs from the closest relations of nature to the mind — is not a loss of vital power in style. 21 242 PREACHING. 3. The English Bible. It is wonderful how the English translators of the Bible struck the golden mean between the Latin and the original Saxon. "There was, indeed, something still deeper than love of sound and genuine English at work in our translators, whether they W'ere conscious of it or not, which hindered them from sending the Scriptures to their fellow-countrymen dressed out in a semi-Latin garb. The Reformation, which they were in this translation so mightily strengtheninf? and confirminij, was just a throwing off, on the part of the Teutonic nations, of that everlasting pupilage in which Rome would have held them ; an assertion, at length, that they were come to full age, and that not through her, but directly through Christ, they would address themselves unto God. The use of the Latin language as the language of worship, as the language in which the Scriptures might alone be read, had been the great badge of servitude, even as the Latin habits of thought and feeling which it promoted had been the great helps to the continuance of this servitude through long ages. It lay deep in the very nature ofr their course that the reformers should develop the Saxon, or essentially national, element in the language." ^ The King James version was completed and published in 1611. In the great religious controversies at and after that period, this version became the quoted authority, the stan- dard of appeal ; and thus it planted itself deep in the mind and heart of the people, so that not only in a spiritual, but linguistic point of view, it has exerted a more shaping influ- ence on our language than any other volume. If Chaucer was the harbinger, the English Bible was the finisher or perfecter, of the English language. It is not merely the colloquial language, nor merely the book language ; it is rather the popular religious language, or the choice phrase- ology of the best Christian minds of the nation. England had been Protestant for nearly a century when our English • Trench's English, Past and Present, p. 39. § 21. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 243 version was made, and Wycliffe's, Tyndale's, Matthews', Coverdale's, and Cranmer's translations had been in the hands of the people, the first of them from the fourteenth century. Our version was not a new one, but was founded upon those previous translations, with but slight changes of expression, so that it marks the growth and perfection of the language during its whole formative period. It looks far back, as well as far forward ; it stretches over the entire history of thc'-English language ; it embodies essentially the best speech of the English people during at least five cen- turies ; it is the most genuine English since the time when the English language became the real expression of English thought ; and it is a remarkable fact that the best usage of words at this moment is more nearly assimilated to the style of the English version of the Bible than it was a century or two centuries ago, showing that the English Bible exerts a constant attraction and conservative influence npon the lan- guage. We cannot get far away from it and still be English. It is, we think, not one of the least advantages of our pro- fession, even in a rhetorical point of view, that we are driven to the constant reading and study of the English Bible. It should exert a strong influence upon our style ; ought we not to study it continually, even for that purpose? Cole- ridge said, "Intense stud}^ of the Bible will keep any writer from being vulgar in point of style." It will also enrich and invigorate, for there is just that mingling of prose and poetry in the Bible which marks the highest and richest character in style. " We should take this silent warning from the pages of revelation, and combine in our literary cul- ture the same elements of the actual and the imaginative." ^ In addition to what has been said of the literary and philo- logical study of our language, we would remark that it should be studied as it is used among living 7nen. This we have before urged. As preachers, we are called upon to leave * Eeed's Eng. Lit., p. 75. 244 PREACHING. the lauguage of books, and to take up that of living men, purified of its debasements. We are to study the speech of intelligent men and women, as we hear it every day by the hearth, in the streets, and by the way. "Gram- maticasters seek the history of language in written, and especially in elegant, literature; but, except in the fleet- ing dialect of pedants, linguistic change and progress begin in oral speech ; and it is long before the pen takes up and records the forms and words which have become estab- lished in the living tongue. If you would know the pres- ent tendency of English, go, as Luther did, to the market and the workshop ; you will there hear new words and com- binations which orators and poets will adopt in a future gen- eration." ^ We are, if possible, to get hold of the spoken language. We should possess a medium of communication with the common heart. Augustine went so far, when preaching to the colonial inhabitants of Africa, as to speak their broken Latin to them. We should rid ourselves, as far as possible, of the language of books, while at the same time we retain the purifying and elevating influences of true scholarship. Old Roger Ascham's rule was "to speak like a common man, and think like a wise man." A preacher who cannot talk to the people so that they can understand him is stopped at the threshold of his ministry. In conclusion, let the preacher first have the truth, and then know how to express it. Let him not neglect the last, while acquiring the first. Let him fill his soul with the truth, and then seek to make it known to men. This can be done alone through language. Language makes the word "i^e jpreached word" the living word, which is able to save men's souls. ' Marsh's Eng. Lang, and Lit., p. 452. § 22. DELivERr. 245 § 22. Delivery. Some writers object to considering "elocution," or the delivery of a discourse, as a legitimate part of rhetoric, inasmuch as the mode of communicating thought or truth is not the essential thing in rhetoric, but rather the com- municating of thought itself. It is also held that elocu- tion is not a constituent part of rhetoric, because there are ways of communicating thought other than by the voice ; because we have a complete product of art when the thought is embodied in^^language ; and because, as a practical matter, in teaching the two, it is better to keep them apart. ^ But we think, nevertheless, that anything which enables us to communicate truth, and to communicate it effectivel}^, comes legitimately under the art of rhetoric. For aught we can see, elocution has just as much right to be considered a part of rhetoric as has style of composition ; for both contribute to the effective communication of truth. At all events, if elocution is not in the strictest sense an essential part of rhetoric, yet it has a close relation to it ; and if rhetoric be confined, as we have limited it in our definition, to the art of spohen public discourse, it has a vital relation to it. To preach for<;ibly calls out not only the intellectual ener- gies, the eloquence of the mind, but what Cicero calls "the eloquence of the body." And it is by no means a small thing, or a hastily-won accomplishment, to acquire the art of a good delivery. It requires great pains and study ; for it is not a merely mechanical art, but it calls in play the taste, the judgment, the moral and emotional nature, and the reasoning powers. Talma, the tragedian, used to say that thinldng was the great part of his art. It is, perhaps, one of the remoter consequences of the sinfulness of man, 1 Day's Art of Discourse, pp. 14, 15. 21* 246 PEEACHING. that it requires a process of art to get back to nature, and that the highest art is only, after all, to be natural. And there is a deeper idea still in the delivery of a sermon, as distinguished irom every other form of discourse, in its con- nection with sjjii'itual instrumentalities, and viewed as a medium of communicating divine truth. What was White- field's preaching, looked at as an instrument of the conver- sion of men, without his peculiar power of delivery? In such a delivery the Holy Spirit has the chief controlling influence ; the highest activities of the spiritual as well as intellectual life are engaged in it ; and the whole man is raised and transformed into an instrument of God's truth. W^hately is inclined to the view that the study of elocu- tion renders the speaker artificial; but preachers do not usually err from carrying the art of elocution to an undue extent, but err rather from a careless and unimpressive manner. Of course, exclusive attention should not be given to the delivery, and in the act of speaking, elocution should be forgotten ; but this is not saying that much may not bo done in private to produce an unconsciously noble delivery. The soldier forgets his drill in action, but his drill makes him a better soldier. The study of elocution has its good effects, too, upon the style. One will be more careful to adapt his style to the purposes of speech — to make it easy, strong, and flowing. W^hat, in many respects, could be a better spoken style for popular influence than Daniel Webster's ? and that was gained by speaking — by speaking to courts, to senates, to great audiences of human beings, for immediate effect and conviction. It was the fruit of his contact and contest with other minds on public occasions. His style became fitted to his delivery. The actual delivery of his thoughts im- proved and vitalized his style. And the benefits of a good delivery upon an audience are great ; by his look, tone, gesture, a speaker infuses himself into his hearers' minds, and makes them for the time think and feel as he does. § 22. DELIVERY. 247 Robert Hall, it is said, had the art, not only of communi- cating what he said, but of communicating himself, to his audience. It was the whole man speaking. That is true eloquence. How man}'^ preachers have been intellectual men and weighty thinkers, who never could thus communi- cate themselves or their thoughts to other minds ! The delivery of a public discourse implies especially four things : Enunciation, Pronunciation, Emphasis, and Action. 1. Enunciation. This has regard to the fulness and per- fectness of vocal sound in speaking, and it includes the whole matter of the management and traininsf of the voice — a subject of no little importance to the preacher. There are few voices — particularly if they belong to men whom God has called to be the heralds of his truth — so faulty and so weak by nature that they may not be made, by a persevering and intelligent training, effective, and, it may be, powerful. It is well, therefore, to acquaint one's self thoroughly with the physiology of the organs of the voice, which are so delicate, complicated, and wonderful. If a musician should perfectly know his instrument, and should exercise care in preserving the vigor and purity of its tone, so that it may be ready to give forth the mightiest and the most delicate tones ; how much more should the speaker understand and guard his more exquisite instrument ! The first simple, common-sense axiom in regard to the voice is, that it depends for its strength and clearness upon a general sound state of health. A man in bad health will show it in his voice, in its feebleness or harshness ; for in ill health, the muscular system, u^dou which the voice depends, is relaxed ; and a man with a cracked voice is little better than a cracked bell or a cracked musical instrument. The preacher should strive to maintain a good, vigorous tone of health, for the purpose of maintaining a good vocal tone. He should regard his body^s an instrument in God's hands to proclaim his word ; it should be kept strong and pure, as 248 PREACHING. the medium of divine iuspiration and instruction. The "Baptist's" living in the free solitudes of nature, and feed- ing upon locusts and wild honey, ma}^ have had something to do in making the strong " voice " of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." A second plain axiom in regard to the voice is, that one should speak upon a full inhalation of air. The chest is the seat of vocal power. One should be careful, in speaking, that the reservoir of air in the chest is never exhausted ; he should take air in, as well as force it out ; and a clear, full, and, at the same time, delicate, enunciation comes from having air enough, and using all the air inhaled, " speak- ing with the whole of ourselves, and not merely with the throat and lips." Upon this full column of air in the chest the voice should ring freely in the head, as in the top of a dome, not confining it to the chest, but using the chest-voice only as a basis ; for it is a false rule not to employ the head (vocally) in speaking. It is the concavity of the mouth and head which gives the resonant and sonorous quality to the voice — a quality lamentably wanting in some of our Ameri- can speakers. Still another suggestion in regard to the voice and the enunciation is, that one should strive for a natural tone. " The voice is first to be formed. It is to be strengthened by an increased capacity of the lungs, and an acquired, strong, respiratory action. Its thorough discipline must be mas- tered, from the lightest whisper to the loudest shouting ; not with a view to actual use, but for securing a command over every degree of force and pliancy. Even in a few weeks a stentorian power can be imparted to a comparatively weak voice." ^ But, notwithstaudins: all that mav be done to discipline and train the voice, it should still be a natural voice ; for an artificial voice, let it be never so good, is less effective than a natural one ; it unpleasantly suggests some- thing artificial in the man or in his thoughts. Every person ' Frobisher's Voice and Action, p. 19. § 22. DELIVERY. 249 has his own natural pitch of voice, one that is nicely adapted to his mind and temperament. Let him not strive to change this divine arrangement, and take up another man's instru- ment. Let him speak with his own voice, and not with that of some other preacher or speaker, whom he has select- ed as a model. Above all, let him not speak like an old man while he is still a young man ; we wish to hear the fresh, high, varied tones of youth in the voice of a young man. Therefore, as we have before suggested, let not even head-tones be avoided, — the highest radical tones, — if one is only mindful to have a chest-tone as a basis. Let the voice play freely and naturally up and down, like a musical instrument. This is agreeable to hear, and it relieves the speaker. It is well to speak in the pitch that one would use in common conversation, only clearer and fuller; and yet some speakers assume a tone which is entirely unnat- ural— a declamatory tone, or a solemn tone, or a "holy tone ; " as if preaching was anything else than talking loud enough for a large audience to hear distinctly. "Placing himself, then, in the position of an authorized teacher, and theoretically speaking his own words, he must adopt a tone and manner correspondirig to his position. His tone must be his conversational tone, and his manner (reverential as to the Deity, colloquial as to the congregation) his natural manner, varied, indeed, according to the subject, but still so really his own that any listening friend would recognize him to be the speaker by his tone and manner alone." ^ Every public speaker should, as the least he can do, en- deavor to remedy or improve the imperfections of his own voice. If he has a feeble voice, let him strive to give it more fulness ; if he has a thick and guttural voice, let him aim at greater clearness and refinement of tone ; if he has a ' Gould's Good English, p. 181 (Clerical Elocution). "We would commend this brief essay on elocution as one of the best upon this subject. The author maintains that any intelligent speaker can, with thought and care, be a self- instructor in elocution. 250 PREACHING. raspiDg, harsh voice, let him endeavor to soften and sweeten it, to take off its wire-edge ; but with all this, let him accept the voice God has given him, and use it, and not another man's ; and, strange as it may sound, so many are the faults which one is apt to fall into by education, that it requires great study and labor to speak naturall3^ As a last suggestion, one should strive for a pure tone; for this, more than anything else, indicates the cultivated speaker. A pure tone is that which is free from all false tones. A false tone, as distinguished from a pure tone, arises from some imperfect respiration, or false carriage of the voice; as, for instance, ^pectoral tone, which comes from an imperfect use of the lungs. Those who have the misfortune to be consumptive, or those who have weak lungs, are apt to have the pectoral tone. Fuller and more vigorous respiration is needed for them. The voice, if pos- sible, should be lifted out of, or, at least, not be sufl'ered to lie buried in, the sepulchre of the chest, where it rumbles in hollow tones. A preacher should stand erect, so that all the organs of speech can have free play. He should not be a lecturer, but a preacher ; and it is here that the extempore speaker has an immense advantage. The whole apparatus of the vocal organs is to be employed in producing a clear, pure tone ; and a speaker should find out by practice, and by the criticism of friends, where his defect lies, or in what one imperfectly used organ ; and thus he may effectually cure a natural faultiness of voice, and, by persistent effort, bring up even a weak voice to great power and efficiency. We would add that clearness, rather than extreme loud- ness, is best suited for the pulpit-voice — that full, audi- ble, manly, even, flowing enunciation on which one can easily weave all characters and varieties of tone, from the most delicate to the most vehement. Quintilian finely re- marks, "That delivery is elegant which is supported by a voice that is easy, powerful, sweet, well sustained, clear, pure, that cuts the air and penetrates the ear; for there is § 22. DELIVEEY. 251 a kind of voice naturally qualified to make itself heard, not by its strength, but by a peculiar excellence of tone — a voice which is obedient to the will of the speaker, suscep- tible of every variety of sound and inflection that can be required, and possessed of all the notes of a inusical instru- ment: and to maintain it there should be streuo-th of lunsfs, and breath that can be steadily prolonged, and is not likely to sink under labor. Neither the lowest musical tone, nor the highest, is proper for oratory ; for the lowest, which is far from being clear, and is too full, can make no impres- sion on the minds of an audience ; and the highest, which is very sharp, rising above the natural pitch, is not suscep- tible of inflection from pronunciation, nor can it endure to be kept long on the stretch ; for the voice is like the strings of an instrument : the more relaxed it is, the graver and fuller its tone ; the more it is stretched, the more thin and sharp is its sound. Thus a voice in the lowest key wants force ; in the highest, is in danger of being cracked. We must therefore cultivate the middle tones, w^hich may be raised when we speak with vehemence, and lowered when we deliver ourselves with gentleness." ^ In reading the Scriptures^ the voice should, as a general rule, move upon a monotone, but without becoming monoto- nous ; it should rise and fall easily, according to the sense. There should be something of the same easy variety in the tone as there is in common conversation. Practice is re- quired in the proper use of cadence, and there are many sublime passages of Scripture, especially in the book of Revelation, which should be read with something of a swell in the voice ; so also should many of the poetical passages of the Old Testament. The prayer and the reading of the hymns require the preacher to vary his simple tone, in order to mark elevation of thought and feeling ; though this may be easily overdone, as in the case of the poet's divine, who ' Instit., B. XL, c. iii., s. 42. 252 • PEEACHING. " gives to prayer The adagio and andante it demands." The words " Give attention to reading " might be addressed in their most literal sense to the preacher ; for reading the Scriptures has been rightly called " a continuous commen- tary of the text." There is no instrument more capable of cultivation than the human voice ; no instrument that equals it in beauty, richness, scope, and power ; its thunder tones rouse and roll through the inmost depths of the conscience ; its flute- like notes fill the mind with harmonious visions of happiness and peace ; its pathos touches the springs of the heart, and makes wicked men feel like children, and weej) like chil- dren over their wrong-doings. The second element of delivery, Pronunciation, is simply to utter articulately, or to give, with clear precision, to every vocal element, whether vowel or consonant, its proper artic- ulate sound. This distinguishes an educated and refined, from a slovenly and uncultivated, pronunciation. Emjpliasis, when rightly given, is also a great beauty in speaking. It does not consist in mere loudness, but rather in an indescribable variety of tones and modulations. It is thought, for example, by some preachers, that it is absolutely necessary to pronounce terrible words in a ter- rible manner, in loud and startling tones of voice ; but it is generally more emphatic and solemnly impressive when the feeling of awe which such Avords should inspire leads us to sink the voice, though without softening or weaken- ing it. "Correct accent is indispensable to spirited, tasteful, and intelligent reading and speaking ; every accented word be- comes the seat of life in utterance. A feeble and inexpres- sive utterance kills the thoughts of the speaker." ^ The severest argument may be lighted up by a discrimi- * Vandenlioff 's Clerical Assistant. § 22. DELIVERY. 253 nating emphasis, just as a painter, when he has almost fin- ished his picture, puts in, here and there, what he calls the "lights ; " and so Nature, if one observes a landscape, always distributes her lights — not in masses, but in points. Whately decries the artificial study of emphasis. He says, " Fill your mind M'ith the matter ; be inspired by it ; be sincerely desirous of imparting it to your hearers ; and then your emphasis will take care of itself." That is good advice as far as it goes. But how many good and zealous ministers are very ineffective preachers ! It would seem to be better to fill one's mind with his sermon, and with the desire to impart the truth it contains, and then study it to know how this may best be done. There should be a study of emphasis if for no other reason than to avoid having too much emphasis, as is the case with some preachers, which makes a ranting style, that wearies both hearer and speaker ; for violence in elocution is not force. Action is natural to man in speaking. The child gestures when he talks, and it is well to observe the gestures of chil- dren, and to note their freedom, grace, and efiectiveness ; for well-timed and natural gesture adds greatly to the power of speech. There is, however, a difierence of opinion in regard to the propriety of much or little action, and of little or no action, in the pulpit. Audiences themselves difier here. Some speakers who enchain their audiences while standing stiff as poles — enchain them by their thoughts — would be considered dull preachers by other audiences, who like to see the dust fly from the cushion. There is an oaken desk shown at Eisenach, in Germany, which Luther broke with his fist in preaching. Notwithstanding this difference of opinion, there can be no doubt that some gesture, some timely and animated action, is good for the preacher. European and Oriental nations gesture constantly, both in conversation and public speaking ; and we have no doubt that Demosthenes and the 22 254 PREACHING. great orators of antiquity used much, and at times vehe- ment, gesture. The simple rule in gesture would seem to be, that while it should be free and natural, like a child's, it should not be carried to an excess ; that is worse than no action at all ; none at all is at least safe, if not eloquent. There should be, in fact, a certain thoughtful restraint in gesture, and just enough of art to avoid awkward, improper, and mis- placed action. Some men incline by temperament to a great deal of action in speaking : let them not wholly restrain it, for then they would be unnatural ; but let them be careful that the action be fit, and subordinate to the thought. Other men incline to little or no gesture : let them be careful not to become excessive in their stiff monotony. It is best, per- haps, for a young preacher to gesture as little as possible, until he gets used to preaching, and feels free to be him- self in the pulpit. Audiences are involuntarily on the watch to discover the evidences of art in the sermon, and in the style of delivery, of a young preacher. When they see the rhetorical education in him, he ceases to impress them with what he is saying. Audiences ought to be disappointed. here. There should be no mannerism of action to divert attention from the plain message of God Avhich the young preacher is delivering. All gestures should be free and flowing, not cramped and confined. There should be nothing small, fiistidious, and mincing in gesture, since the idea of man's greatness should be before us in the orator. Cicero commends, in oratory, " a bold and manly action of body, not learned from the theatre and the player, but from the camp, or even from the palaestra." ^ There is, indeed, much in the ancient idea of the "free elbow." Page, the artist, sagaciously remarks, that the superiority of ancient sculpture over modern con- sists chiefly in its bold angles ; and he gives as an illustra- ' De Oratore, B. III. § 22. DELIVERY. 255 tion the attitude of one of the sons of Niobe, stretching his widely-extended arms to heaven. Pulpits should be made to admit of this large and free action. They should be so made that nearly the whole of the preacher's form can be seen ; for true gesture is the speaking of the whole man, of all his limbs, and even of his feet ; and perhaps the good time will come when the pulpit, with a desk for notes, will be abolished altogether, and the preacher will stand up in his simple manhood, with nothing adventitious about him, and speak the word with naturalness, spontaneity, and free- dom, fresh from the heart. Minima auxilia ne spernamus. Nothing is too small, nothing too trilfling, which helps us to become better preach- ers. In the delivery of a discourse on so solemn a theme as that of divine truth, we should at least strive to avoid anything which will mar the effect of the sacred message — any inexcusable carelessness of speaking, awkwardness of manner, harshness of voice, flippancy of tone, or wearisorae- ness of monotony. The delivery should be natural, affection- ate, and free. It should have not only manly dignity and simplicity, but cheerful variety, and, above all, noble action, which may be the medium of the divine energy. To quote from an admirable essay of Dr. Skinner (Am. Pres. and Theol. Rev., January, 1865), "Action, which is more than knowledge, needs aids for itself. In elocutionary action, as well as in thinking and writing, the preacher, however quali- fied by self-culture, can attain to no degree of spirituality by merely natural effort. If the activity of a preacher in speaking — the eloquence of the body — be indeed spiritual, it is doubtless a higher exercise of the spiritual life than either of its other exercises in the business of preaching. It must needs be so, if it be answerable in all respects to the unique and mj^sterious exigencies of such a work as delivering appropriately the inspired word of God, as a vehicle and representative of the Holy Spirit. Apart from a very special operation of the Spirit himself, who is 256 PREACHING. sufficient for the just performance of this work? Spiritual things, expressing themselves fitly, in spiritual modulations of the voice, spiritual looks, spiritual attitudes, the super- natural exerting itself in and through these bodily signs of thought and feeling — think of one's having in himself a sufficiency for this ! The apostles, with all their gifts for other uses, had it not ; nay, even our Lord's spirituality of mind and knowledge, added to the perfectly natural use of the human powers, did not qualify him adequately for the business of dispensing the word, independently of the continued co-agency of the Spirit in this specific business ; even he delivered his discourses under the anointing and in the power of the Spirit of God." (Luke 4 : 18 ; 21 : 14.) As the result of this reasoning, the conclusion is drawn that " in all preliminary work in reference to actual delivery, the preacher must abide in communion with the Holy Spirit." § 23. To.ste in Preaching. Taste has been defined as ^HJiat faculty of the mind which enables it to perceive, with the aid of reason to judge of and ivith the help of imagination to enjoy ^ whatever is heautifid or sublime in the works of nature and art."" ^ It aims to establish correct principles of criticism in relation to the production of the beautiful in art. Preaching would be debased by calling it an jesthetical art ; yet sesthetical principles must more or less enter into it, so far as it may come under rhetorical rules. Quatremere De Quincey, in his work on the Fine Arts, places poetry at the head of the sesthetical arts, as being the purest product of the mental idea of beauty, and the far- thest removed from the material object : then comes music ; then painting ; then sculpture ; then architecture ; then the various mechanical and illustrative arts. We would, how- ever, be disposed to give to oratory the first place, so far as ' Quackenbos's Rhetoric, p. 170. § 23. TASTE IN PREACHING. 257 it is an aesthetic art, because it acts more immediately upon tlie soul ; because it is more free and spiritual than any other art ; and because it deals almost exclusively with pure ideas. Certainly, this is true of preaching. That oratory is an art there can be no doubt, for it is a system of means to an end, and of the most exquisite and intellectual kind; but it is not wholly an art, for the useful and practical predominate in it far more than the beautiful; and the beautiful itself, in oratory, is but relative, or what is fitted to increase the power and usefulness of oratory. It is, in fact, by the assistance which it renders, by the power which it lends to the efficiency of the oratorical art in its great ends, that the idea of the beautiful can enter at all into oratory.^ The preacher surely should not aim at the beautiful, so far as to make it his end ; but the principles of good taste, of true harmony and beauty, should be in his mind, so that all its productions should unconsciously take the highest form of true beauty. " WJiatsoever things are honesty whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report,^^ — these noble and beautiful forms of things he is called to think upon, and he dwells perpetually in their high communion and meditation. They are chiefly forms of mental and moral beauty with him. "All high ideas of beauty," says Ruskin, "depend probably on delicate perceptions of fit- ness, propriety, relation, &c., which are purely intellectual.''^ They are taken out of their sensible relations with the visi- ble world, and become ideal forms or types of beaut}'- in the mind, associated with sacred and eternal things, and with God himself. While, then, the preacher does not, and should not, aim chiefly at the beautiful in art, he still may come through the beautiful into the good ; and he more and more will find, as ' Bib. Sacra, vol. ii., p. 31. 22* 258 PREACHING. li'e^hters into the higher things of God, that the t6 xaX6p and the 70 (xyadop are one, that truth is beauty, and that a mighty power in preaching the gospel lies in its appeal to the uni- versal ajsthetic principle in the human heart. We would be willing to found this assertion upon no less an authority, though probably, to some, an unexpected one, than Jonathan Edwards, in the third chapter of his treatise on The Nature of True Virtue. Esthetics, looked upon as an art, or as a department of mental science, chiefly applies, according to the Kantian use of the term, to the form of thought which any beauti- ful object of nature or art assumes ; it does not refer pri- marily to the thought or character of the object to which it is applied. But real beauty resides ultimately in the idea; first of all in the absolute idea of beauty itself, which has its type in the divine creative mind ; thence it enters into the conception of the human mind ; and from that concep- tion a product of beauty is born, which is the outward expression of this ideal form. Beauty has been defined to be the union of the real and the ideal, or the ideal expressed in form.^ The question is, 31ai/ this cesthetical idea of for- mal heauty enter into so solejnn and practical a toork as a sermon, or jjreaching f We think it may, because, — (1.) Our affection for God is increased by the setting forth of his perfections and true loveliness. The philosophical ob- ject of love, even of the highest love, is beauty. A sermon about God has for one of its aims, to bring out the beauty of the divine nature, — the essential beauty of God, — not in its relations to us, but as it is in itself, in its own ineffa- ble loveliness, for our love and praise. But this may be considered a transcendental reason ; and, more practically, the idea of beauty may enter into a sermon, because, — (2.) Beauty renders truth more attractive. We cannot do • Bib. Sacra, July, 1859, p. 471. § 23. TASTE IN PEEACHING. 259 better here than to quote a passage from one of Schiller's essays on the Limits of Taste. "Certainly, beauty of inves- titure can promote intellectual convictions just as little as the elegant arrangement of a repast serves to satiate the guest, or the exterior polish of a man to decide his internal worth. But jUst as, on the other hand, the fine disposition of a table entices the appetite, and, on the other, a recommen- datory exterior generally awakens and excites attention to the man, so by an attractive exhibition of truth we are favorably inclined to open our soul to it; and the hin- derances in our disposition, which otherwise would have opposed the difficult prosecution of a long and rigorous chain of thought, are removed. The subject never gains by beauty of form, nor is the understanding assisted in its cognition by taste. The subject must recommend itself directly to the understanding through itself, while beauty of form addresses the imagination, and flatters it with a show of freedom." The last expression of Schiller's shows one true use of the resthetical principle as applied to oratory, and even to sacred oratory: it appeals agreeably and powerfully to the imagination, and thus makes way for the more favor- able hearing of the truth ; and even this advantage is not to be carelessly neglected by the preacher. (3.) The . aesthetical element has a place in the ser- mon because the Scriptures themselves admit of it. The Bible is full of the esthetic element ; the preaching of the prophets was a lively address to the imagination, by the presentation of the boldest and most beautiful symbolism ; the preaching of the apostle Paul abounds in appeals to this principle. What is finer than his figure of the Roman armor, carried out with such wonderful beauty of detail, and which at this day is exquisitely illustrated by the bas- reliefs of Trajan's Column at Rome ? The introduction to his discourse on the Areopagus is a splendid instance of the principle of adaptation, which is one of the qualities of 260 PREACHING. beauty. Paul had also a fine perception of the ajsthetic quality of "propriety" — one that borders closely on "adap- tation ; " he addressed the fit word to every audience ; he made use of Greek literature at Athens ; he reasoned from the Hebrew Scriptures and theology at Jerusalem, and in the Jewish synagogue ; he appealed to Roman law and opin- ions in addressing a Roman assembly. But to come to an infinitely higher example — there is in the words and discourses of our Lord that sense of moral beauty, which, though it is not to be named with mere intel- lectual beauty, and least of all with beauty which is the object of perception by the senses, nevertheless compre- hends the truest ideas of beauty of every kind. The Ser- mon on the Mount has a unity which is a foundation-quality of the beautiful. As the deep current of a great river bears everything along with it, so there runs through this dis- course one formative idea of the "kingdom of God," as that kingdom descends from heaven into this world, and shapes its new results in human nature, society, responsibility, and life ; and the development of this idea gives to the sermon the highest beauty of form, as well as the most profound depth of meaning — an objective and subjective beauty. Everything, indeed, that the Saviour said had a beauty which makes it attractive and immortal, and which gives it a divine significance, regarded simply as truth. There is also to be observed in the New Testament, and in the sayings and discourses of our Lord, a frequent use of the word xulog or t6 xulbv — the same word used by Plato and the Greek writers to signify "the beautiful," as distin- guished from "the true" and "the good." On the most beautiful of the Etruscan vases, of unknown antiquity, the word Kulbv is written, as if this expressed the perfection of the beautiful in art. We know that xuXbg bears the secon- dary moral meaning of "good," "true," "excellent," "wor- thy," as it is everywhere translated in the New Testament ; but does it always entirely lose its original and proper idea § 23. TASTE IN PEEACHING. 261 of " beautiful " ? In Matt. 26 : 10, where the woman anoints the Saviour's feet, he says, " Whi/ trouble ye the woman f for she hath wrought a good worh ujpon we" (e^yo*' yd^ v.alhv) . Was not this a beautiful as well as good work ? Matt. 5:16, " Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good iL'07'ks" (id y.aXa egya) — " your bcautiful works," in which the lustrous light of divine truth shines, and attracts men's eyes by its shining. The Lord called himself o notiiii)v xu).6; — " the good shepherd ; " but why not " the beauti- ful shepherd" — one in whose character, nature, and work there is a beautiful fitness, propriety, worthiness, to be our spiritual shepherd? A Nestorian convert is reported to have said to another Nestorian, "My brother, have you yet found Christ to be beautiful?" — as if he had said, " Does the beauty of the holiness and truth that are iu Jesus appear to you so clear that it draws out your affections, that it gives you sincere delight to contemplate it, and make it jour own ? " Christ is the harraonizer of the world of mind and matter ; he is mediator in the realms of truth and reason, as well as of faith; and by removing the deformity of sin from the world, he makes all things beautiful. But, (4.) The principle of beauty may come into the sermon because there is an absolute idea of beauty in the human mind. This rests at the bottom of all ideas and conceptions of taste, and is a divinely implanted principle of our nature. Plato was the first to enunciate this truth, that the idea of beauty was in the mind, and that its perception in other objects was but the reflection of the mind's ideas — there being no real beauty in matter considered by itself. This theory Plato develops fully in The Greater Hippias ; and all sesthetical theories which are worthy of being named since his day are but the applications and varieties of this Platonic assertion. Thus Diderot's theory was, that beauty is the application of the principle of relation in the mind ; that where the mind perceives certain true relations in objects, the sentiment of beauty is awakened. 3!3i PREACHING. Sir Joshua Reynolds' theory also reduces beauty to the principle of just proj)ortion, or moderation, which exists in the mind. Alison refers all the principles of beauty to the mental law of association; it is the waking up of agreeable trains of association by the beautiful object ; for example, a quiet landscape leads the mind to pleasing thoughts of comfort, of the blessings of peace, and of innocent, uncor- rupted human enjoyment. We do not mean to say, by this absolute idea of beauty existing in the mind, that there is a distinct aesthetic faculty or power in the mind, else there could not be such innumerable varieties of taste among dif- ferent people ; but what we mean is, that there is in every mind, even the most uncultivated (and, of course, incom- parably more in the cultivated), a certain idea or perception of beauty, which, when it is realized, produces pleasure. The rudest sailor takes pleasure in the beautiful proportions of a fine vessel. Now, if the intuitive perception of beauty had not first existed in the mind, how could it have been cultivated even in this one respect? The source of the beautiful, whether it is simple or complex, whether made up of a single, or of many, elements, exists in the mind itself; real beauty is the reflection of inward ideas and sen- sations called forth by outward objects. Of course this sense of beauty sprang from the mind's Original, and who is Plimself the ri xuXuv, as he is the to dtyuOdf ; for, as a modern writer says, "The summit of the beautiful is the true." All the works of God would appear beautiful, were we placed in the position of God, and could clearly see those principles of order, harmony, proportion, fit- ness, unity — that beautiful plan — upon which all is made. These hidden principles of beauty which God has impressed upon nature objectively, and subjectively upon the human mind, are for us to study, as far as they can be discovered. It is thought that a true advance has been made, especially by German writers on aesthetics, upon the Platonic idea, in this respect — that the objective should be joined to the § 23. TASTE IN PREACHING. 263 subjective, the real to the ideal, for the production of beauty ; that though beauty does not reside in the object itself, but rather iu the idea of the mind that perceives ;Jt, yet that this idea would not be sufficient to produce beauty, unless it formed itself upon, or discovered itself in, or expressed itself through, some real form. It must come out of its subjectivity to produce real beaut}^ as God himself did in Christ, iu order to produce a beautiful life ; it must take a form that corresponds to this idea in the ipaind, and, above all, in the divine mind. Beaut]/, therefore, to he jperfect, requires form as well as conception ; and there is the beauti- ful form in which every idea, or every pure truth, manifests itself. It does not manifest itself with the highest degree of perfection, unless it takes that particular form. There is, then, the fit, the beautiful form, awaiting every true idea ; and it is the business of the artist, or creator, to discover this. So far, then, as the orator or the preacher is an artist, this is his business — to discover the fit and beautiful form of his conception of truth, or of any given truth ; and this is right, because it is God's own way of working. Some rhetorical writers have expressed themselves clearly on this point. " Oratory must therefore, of necessity, express beauty, in order to its perfection. This cannot be said of the product of any mechanical art." ^ " Taste is nothing but the selec- tion of the befitting and the adapted, guided by ethical ideas. Its proper home, therefore, is within the sphere of eloquence. But eloquence, in respect to taste, must always difier from poetry, in that, iu the case of eloquence, the selection of the befitting and adapted is accompanied with the desigji of exciting afl'ection ; while taste in the poet, on the contrary, is a quality that works without any design in view, except the mere production of beauty."^ If, therefore, the principle of beauty enters into the higl^- est affection toward God, if it serves to render truth more ' Day's Khetoric, p. 21. * Theremin's Essay, p. 132. 264 PREACHING. attractive, if it is found' in the Scriptures, and if it exists absolutely in the human mind, and, therefore, of course, primarily iii the divine mind, it is a proper object (in its place) of attention and study to the preacher of divine truth. We have said that the principle of beauty could not be considered as forming by itself a separate faculty or depart- ment of the mind, but that rather it seems to depend upon, or to be the con#)ined result of, certain intuitive tastes, per- ceptions, laws, or principles of the mind, which are fitted to be called into exercise by whatever corresponds to them in outer objects, by whatever is calculated to draw them out, or give them expression. Still there is one faculty of the mind which does peculiarly preside over the whole field of the oesthetical, and that is, the imagination ^ whose use and place in preaching no one will deny. The imagination, according to Coleridge, is " that power of the finite mind which (^as far as possible) corresponds to the creative power in the infinite mind, and which strug- gles to idealize and unify all objects of perception.''^ This noble faculty, which idealizes and perfects, which combines many perceptions into one new and living whole, enters largely into all the jesthetic arts, and cannot be disre- garded by the preacher, any more than by the poet or painter. That is what gives one preacher's sermon a freshness, origi- nality, and beauty of form, which another preacher's ser- mon, of equal force of thought, entirely lacks. It is this that, more than anything else (rhetorically speaking) , takes tt sermon out of the commonplace, and makes it individual. It makes a new mental creation, though it may add nothing to the actual stock of knowledge which existed before. But it casts ideas into new forms — more beautiful and powerful forms. The preacher's imagination should be shown in this renew- ing power which is infused into all his productions, rather than in any peculiar use of startling metaphors, or of brilliant § 23. TASTE IN PREACHING. 265 flights of fancy ; but the greatest preachers since the apostle Paul's day have been distinguished for the presence of the imaginative faculty in a marked degree. Ohrysostom''s im- agination led him into the living iields of illustration, and his illustrations are as homely and vivid as when they were first spoken to the great congregations in Antioch and By- zantium. Augustine's imagination was an inward fire, that lighted up spiritual realms with a glow like that of his own African landscape. Luther's imagination made unseen things real — more real than the things of sight. Jeremy Taylor's imagination was truly imperial ; and one cannot open his pages without coming into the presence of new and resplendent forms of a fresh, opulent creation ; of a superabundance, indeed, of imagery, but so genuine, and the healthy product of such sound and substantial thought, that it resembles beautiful clusters of grapes, which we feed upon while we enjoy the beauty that is so varied and rich a growth of generous nature. John Howe's imagination entered into his most abstruse speculations, and now and then, as in his Living Temple, led him into noble and ex- tended imagery. Robert Hall's imagination sustained him through the most elevated reasoning upon moral themes. Edward Irving, who, with all his errors, was a great preacher, had an imagination at times Miltonic, and it was so regarded by his friend Coleridge. Whitefield's imagination was ex- tremely vivid, inflaming his whole language, and making it blaze with a meaning and fire which now seem dull, com- pared to the moment of delivery. Among our own great preachers, Jonathan Edwards manifested this faculty in a more undemonstrative and hidden way, not so much in his forms of language as in the power of pure speculation, of projecting or creating for himself an ideal world of theor3^ John Mason, too, was not wanting in this power which ani- mated his reasoning faculties. Lyman Beecher had a vigor- ous imagination, which made his method of speaking and argument quite original, and his preaching "logic on fire." 23 266 PKEACHING. There has been, heretofore, it may be, a too great curbing of the imagination in our New England style of preaching, and thus a loss of power ; for the imagination is the main- spring of invention in the orator or writer ; and when the imagination is once fired, all the other faculties of the mind are set in motion. But we would speak of the imagina- tion in this connection particularly, because it enables the preacher to produce the first and perhaps greatest result of the working of the sesthetical principle in a sermon, viz., unity of form. We would mention this, then, as the first essential principle of taste, viewed in relation to a discourse. (1.) Unity of form. It is thought that Augustine, in his Treatise on Beauty, which has been lost, made "the beauty of all objects to depend on their unity, or on the perception of the principle or design which fixed the rela- tions of the various parts, and presented them to the intel- lect or imagination as one harmonious whole." ^ Although this is a partial theory, yet it recognizes the chief property of every beautiful object of nature and true work of art. A range of mountains, an oak tree, the group of the Laocoon, the Transfiguration by Raphael, the interior of the Milan Cathedral, though each composed of many, even myriad, parts, yet make but one impression ; they give the idea of one creative mind by which they were formed. In the great- est poems, also, how extremely simple is the creative fiat which runs through them, and organizes their numberless details into one grand whole, as in the Iliad, the Prome- theus Vinctus, and the Paradise Lost I A child could tell the story of each almost in a breath. This unifying power in these great works, and in all true works of art, is doubtless that of the imagination, as Cole- ridge defines it. In works of thought and reflection, as in a sermon, the imagination seeks after complete representations of truth; ' Encyclop. Brit., Beauty. § 23. TASTE IN PREACHING. 2§3 even as Schiller defines the object of true literary composi- tion to be " to exhibit the universal in the particular." The orator or preacher should strive, through the force of his own miud, to give wholeness of form to the subject, causing it to stand out like a finished statue, apart from all others, ■with nothing to be added, and nothing to be taken away. But it is only when the creative imagination has brooded over a subject, has vitalized it with its own free spirit, and has wrought it together in the heart of its thought, that this beautiful result is produced. This was the power of D7\ Chalmers. Plis imagination, which was his prime intel- lectual faculty as a preacher, was usually employed in devel- oping, enhancing, and amplifying one idea, one truth of the divine word, so that it stood out at last in its majestic pro- portions to attract by its beauty or to overpower by its magnitude. His sermons are deep practical contempla- tions of truth flowing out from one central thought that opens into the divine word itself; they spread out and spread out, till each becomes, as it were, a lake, or a sea, on which the hearers' minds are lighted up and borne onward. This vital unity of form, and fresh original completeness, are particularly seen in the sermons of the late F. W. Rob- ertson. They attract by their inherent nobleness. In Dr. Bushnell's sermons we see an exhibition of this same clear, bold bodying forth of thought, this plastic power of the imagination, which the dry scientific intellect cannot reach. Will not an audience be impressed by the shortest living sermon of this kind more than by the most elaborate and dull scientific treatise that was ever preached? There must be thought, but it must be thought in a living form. No one wishes to see truth dissected, but truth alive. No one cares to see the disjecta membra of Osiris, but the living divinity. In Sydney Smith's witty words, "Is it a rule of . oratory to handle the most sublime truths in the driest (and most technical) manner ? Is sin to be taken from men as Eve was from Adam — by casting them into a deep sleep ? " 268 PREACHING. Another principal characteristic of the sesthetical element in preaching is, — (2.) Grace of movement, " Grace " is from gratus, free, or that which agrees with willingly, which is congruous, which moves in harmony. It consists of an harmonious arrange- ment of parts, so that all move easily. It is what Schiller calls "the play movement," as contrasted with the move- ment by rule. This unconstrained movement of the mind should run through the sermon. All traces of work and painful labor should be taken out of it. All stiff and unnatural juxtapositions of ideas or sentiments should be removed. The thought should flow freely, even if not rapidly. The audience, though aroused to active thought, should not be called upon to think tfte subject out de origine, laboriously, with the speaker. He should give them the results rather than the processes of his thought. There may be a world of hard labor bestowed upon the sermon — the more the better ; but this should not be displayed. The sweat of toil should be wiped from it. A free, animated, and even joyous movement should appear through it all. It may be solemn, but should not be heavy. All men love to be lured into this sense of perfect freedom in a discourse — to believe that all is natural and unforced. Even if they must per- ceive that a sermon is the fruit of great previous study, yet for the moment they would believe that it is the spontane- ous outpouring of the speaker's own soul. The preacher should strive to be an unbound man, not one forced to think and speak what another man thinks and speaks ; but all men should see that he is himself, that his thoughts are free, and spoken because they are his own. Then he will be grace- ful. Freedom is necessary to grace. The intellect creates method ; the imagination, unity ; but the heart, grace. Grace comes from inward sympathy. Grace, looked at in this sense, is not a weak quality in a speaker ; it is nothing less than power moving freely. Grace springs from that aroused and joyful energy of the mind which is one of its deepest § 23. TASTE IN PREACHING. 2G9 sources of power. When a speaker moves with this free and graceful energy, he carries his audience with him. We will mention but one other quality of good taste in preaching : — (3.) P7'opriety of thougJit and expression. We mean here a proper form, rather than substance, of thought. Propri- ety has been defined to be " a fine and true conformity to all relations which may surround an object." These may be relations of truth, time, place, circumstance, or whatso- ever is befitting the right treatment of the particular theme in hand. This quality of beauty would lead the preacher to fall into no error, (a.) in the choice of his subject; (&.) in the fitness of his arguments; (c.) in the perception of the true character of- the occasion; {d.) in the adapta- tions of thought and illustration to the intellectual and spirit- ual state of his audience. All truth is good, but one truth is fitter than another at a certain time. In the treatment of certain subjects there are sets of ideas congruous and totally incongruous to those subjects. In the treatment of texts, this principle of " propriety " is peculiarly needed ; a text which breathes the hope and joy of the gospel should not be made a sledge-hammer to crush the mind with the terrors of the law. The fine cultivation of this eesthetical principle of "propriety" is to be particularly seen in a preacher's illustrations, and in the moderation and control of the wayward and violent imagination. AVe might speak of many other important sesthetical prin- ciples which enter into oratory, and even sacred oratory, such as proportion, disposition, neatness, correctness, color, tone, light and shade, novelty, variety, sublimity, expression, and, above all, truth; but we cannot here go farther into this subject. Many of the principles of good taste in writ- ing and speaking will necessarily be noticed when we treat more particularly of Style. The best way to cultivate the aesthetic sense, or good taste, is by a constant study of nature. Goethe says that 23* 270 PREACHING. all any artist has to do is to study and imitate nature ; and though this remark liiay be too sweeping, — for nature itself is, in some sense, imperfect, and matter could not manifest to us the perfect idea of God, — yet from nature we draw those elementary principles of art which the human mind, made by God, is capable of improving upon, from the higher ideal within. Dr. Chalmers was a genuine lover of natural scenery; and the influence of the Scottish moun- tains and lakes, which were familiar to him, and revisited by him on every possible occasion, is perceptible in the noble- ness, and, sometimes, sublimity, of his style. ^ Calvin, on the contrary, seems to have caught little or nothing from the influence of the grander scenery about his home. The care- ful study of one or more of the fine arts, such as painting or architecture, especially the last, which is an accurate and scientific art, is also highly improving to the aesthetic sense. *^ Etenim omnes artes, quad ad humanitatem pertinent, hahent quoddam commune vinculum, et quasi cognitione quadam inter se continentur ." ^ A study of the best poets develops' and cultivates the aesthetic quality of the mind. Above all, let the heart be pure and joyful, and it will see beauty in all things. Ruskin says, "The sensation of beauty (that is, the highest beauty) is dependent on a pure, right, and open state of the heart." There is everlasting beauty in the works of God. In the meditation of his word and works we best reach the source of the beautiful. Do we not feel that in the perfect life of God, to which, if we are good, we tend, all that is incongruous and earthly, all that is not truly beautiful, will vanish away? ' Hanna's Life of Chalmers, vol. iv., p. 450. * Cicero, Pro Archia, I., 2. § 24. INVENTION. 271 SECOND DIVISION. INVENTION AND STYLE. § 24. Invention. Invention may be defiued to be tJie art of supjilying and methodizing the subject-matter of a discourse. Its primary idea is, to discover, bring together, or supply the requisite material of thought, from whatever source ; its subordinate idea, and one legitimately connected with it as far as the proper uses of rhetoric are concerned, is the right methodizing or arrangement of this material. We will consider, briefly, the sources of invention, and the qualities of the true subject. I. The sources of invention. (a.) Original poiver of thought. This belongs to the mind, as mind ; but it may be indefinitely increased through discipline and culture, since the more this original faculty of thougJit is trained, the stronger and richer it grows in invention, the greater its command of the sources and ma- terials of thought. There are, it is true, vast dififerences in native mental power and fertility, in the primitive depth of the mental soil ; but where there is native power of thought, a thorough and philosophical education serves to develop it, that it may bear more fruit of invention. Yinet says (Horailetics, p. 53), "But the most certain means of invention, as to the subject of discourse, is a truly philo- sophical culture."^ In sermon-writing the well-disciplined mind, the mind trained to think, has a confident vigor in discovering and handling a subject which the untrained mind cannot have. A thoughtful mind, well disciplined, will be continually quarrying out for itself new subject- ' See also Quintilian's Inst., c. xix. 272 PREACHING. matter, since thought itself is, after all, the main princi- ple and source of good writing. (5.) Acquired 'knowledge. Out of nothing, nothing can be invented. There must first be the material for thought to work upon, and from which to draw forth the subject- matter of discourse before the writer or orator has any function. That material is truth, as it lies in its elemental conditions in nature and the moral universe, rewarding the sincere seeker, but eluding the final analysis. No one but God can create simple or original truth ; yet man may lay hold of truth and use the truth while he cannot circumscribe or exhaust it. The broader the dominion of truth which the orator thus commands, the more of it he has actually made his own, the richer his sources of inven- tion, and the wider his power and influence.^ We do not like to see barrenness in any writer, but in writ- ing a sermon especially one should draw upon a full mind ; he should be able to look down upon a subject in all its parts and relations, and should feel that his great embar- rassment consists in coming at the specific theme of dis- course, in defining, selecting, and arranging his material, rather than in being, obliged to gather together matter enough to eke out a discourse. It is better not to attempt to write upon a subject than to write with a small and im- perfect knowledge of it, which sometimes one may be forced to do, although this is not the way to nourish a rich inven- tion. And this acquired knowledge, that is to be employed in invention, is not the gathering together of a crude, undi- gested mass of knowledge ; but it requires an act of the mind to possess itself of this knowledge, to assimilate truth to the nourishment of the thinking power, to make it fit for use. This requires reflection — that profound meditation upon divine truth, without which there can be no rich, ori- ginal preaching. It is not merely the preaching of truth, ' Quintilian's Inst., c. xxi. § 24. INVENTION. 273 but our own personal perception or apprehension of truth, the ripe fruitage of our own patient thinking upon truth, that is needed. The great source of the preacher's acquired knowledge is the icord of God; and he who studies this word daily, who digs in this field, who is constantly pursuing original inves- tigations in this still fresh and fruitful soil, will never be at a loss for subjects of sermons. It is well that there is beginning to be a call for biblical preaching; this will im- mensely increase the variety of the material of preaching and the supply of the inventive faculty. The last review, the last new work on theology, the last published volume of essays or sermons, while suggestive, cannot ajfford preach- ers their source of supply ; for all such materials are adven- titious ; they are not the spring, .but only a reservoir whose waters soon dry up. The older Puritan preachers dwelt continually in the word and spirit of God, and thus they were fresh and original, sometimes startlingly bold, but profound in a spiritual sense, even if labored and incorrect in form. They preached, it is true, scholasticall}' ; but in substance and spirit they drew their main material from the Scriptures. There is an evangelic life in what they say, which must have seemed, at the time, like a direct prophecy, or a speaking of God's spirit through their minds to men. (c.) The ^process of analysis and i^easoning. As medita- tion upon truth arouses the inventive fiiculty, the more logical power of definition, analysis, and comparison, grad- ually leads invention to settle down upon some definite result of thought, some distinct and comprehensive subject ; it conducts to the apprehension of those elements or prin- ciples of truth which lie behind all knowledge. Many preachers' minds are sufficiently fertile in subjects for ser- mons, but, lacking the habit of philosophic thinking, the cul- tivated analytic power, they fail to look the subject through, or to come at the real subject, at all. They are thus led 274 PREACHING. also to superficiality in the treatment of subjects, and are rich only in the mere discovery of novel themes. II. The qualities of the true subject. (a.) It should possess unity of subject and object. We have spoken already of unity of form in an aesthetic point of view ; but the very matter and essence of a discourse should be one. This forms its life ; and a discourse can have, like a man, but one life, not two or more. We natu- rally say, " The subject of this discourse is so and so." If we should say, " The subjects of this discourse are so and so," would our hearers expect to be persuaded or impelled to any particular duty? A sermon, above all, should have but one foundation theme, though capable, it may be, of many different aspects and divisions ; for a sermon is not a mere work of art ; it is infinitely more : it is a practical work directed to a moral end, calculated to act impressively upon the will and affections of the hearer; it should have, there- fore, but one subject, and should aim at one impression, or it loses its moral power. The sermon may sometimes treat of complex truths ; but these should be comprehended in some broader truth, and all the thoughts should be bound together into one syn- thetic whole. The discourse delivered by the preacher has something to accomplish ; it is directed to a certain end ; it is to carry a certain point ; it has an earnest mission ; it does not talk about truth, but it preaches the truth which is fitted to convert men's souls ; therefore there should be not only unity of subject — unity in the very substance of the thought, — but unity of object, unity of aim. There may be a wide subject, but there should be a narrower object toward which it is directed and is made to converge. According to Vinet, in order to have unity in a sermon, it must be reducible to a doctrinal proposition, which is readi- ly transformed into a practical proposition ; and every ser- mon, even an expository one, should partake more or less § 24. INVENTION. 275 of this unity of subject and object, this oneness of sub- tance and aim. It is true that the sermons of Augustine, and of the early fathers of the church, seem to go upon the principle of imparting as much truth as possible at the time, without any marked attempt at unity, and this was better suited to an earlier and less exactly thoughtful age ; but, as a general principle, at all times and under all circum- stances, the laws of the mind teach us that we cannot, in speaking for the purpose of persuasion, attain to any object, or accomplish any definite end, unless we keep that object in view and steadily pursue it. We should not only, there- fore, have a theme, but we should clearly apprehend it in all its bearings, so that while following it out, while discussing subordinate and related subjects, while pursuing definite and individual methods of treatment, we should not for- get either the one main subject or the one main object of our discourse ; and these two, in a certain sense, should be one. (b.) It should be one's own. The term "invention" presupposes this : for to invent, one must, in a sense, originate. Whatever one produces should be the genuine product of his own thinking — not that he may not receive help from other sources, but his intellectual products should be the honest fruit of his own brain. This is the happiness and reward of literary labor, and it loses its stimulus and pleasurable excitement where there is not this conscious- ness of independent, and, in a true sense, original invention ; and if this is true of any species of literary composition or public discourse, it is true of the sermon. Let us ask in what icai/ true originality is violated. We would say neg- atively— not in using old truths ; for no one can make a new truth. Even the discovery of a new truth seems to be reserved for the few minds on which epochs turn, though, indeed, there is no monopoly here. The truths of the Bible, above all other truths, are common property to all preachers and men. Again, not in using old arguments or j^roofs. The 276 PREACHING. old arguments are generally the best ; they are the results of the best thinking of the best minds ; they have become the property of all. The interests of truth itself demand that it should not lose the support of the best arguments, the old and well-tried proofs, and lean upon weaker proofs merely because they are new. Yet again, not in tahing subjects that have been preached upon by others. One should not be fastidious in this. The most important subjects will be those most preached upon. And there are cer- tain subjects, which not to preach upon would be a clear failure of duty ; and, obviously, no one has an exclusive right of property in the truths and subjects of the Bible. There are some peculiarly original forms in which even homiletical subjects have been stated, which it would be absurd and wrong for a preacher to repeat, inasmuch as they are not his own. Thus Dr. Bushuell's sermon upon " Every man's life a plan of God," upon the text in Isaiah 45: 5, "/ Jiave girded thee, though thou hast not hnoivn we," is stamped, in the very subject of it, with an original ownership. True originality of invention may be violated, positively, by employing the thoughts, words, and method of another, without, in some icay, giving due credit for it. The viola- tion consists not in using another's thoughts, or those which bear the unmistakable stamp of ownership, but in not can- didly acknowledging their source. One must use the re- sult of others' thinking to a certain extent, for he cannot think all things de origine, and he is the heir of ages of thought ; he may sometimes even unconsciously emplo}^ ideas and trains of thought which belong peculiarly to another mind, whose source he has forgotten, and which he uses unwittingly as his own; there may be striking coinci- dences in his own thinking and that of another man's ; but consciously to set forth as his o.wn the thoughts, words, and inventions of another, which have not confessedly become common property, and which belong of right to one man, § 24. INVENTION. 277 and to give that impression to others — this is a clear violation of original invention, and of the first principles of morality. In what^ then, may originality of invention he said to con- sist 9 It consists, in the first place, in enunciating truth which is the subject of our oxen mental perception and con- viction. It is not preaching truth because it is held and believed b}'' others. Old truth must be made new, or must receive a renewed form, by passing through the heat and pressure of our own minds. It must be assimilated into the very body and essence of our own thought. It must be ours, just as much ours as it was the apostle Paul's or Pascal's. We must ourselves preach that we do know, and testify that we have seen and believed. If we speak of thoughts, or ideas, in contradistinction from truths, we see at once that there are many ideas that have sprung up in original minds, that are jieculiar to these minds, and that bear the lineaments of their orio;in. These cannot be- run through our own minds, and come out with a new stamp of our own upon them : they must be left as they are ; and if used by us, their authorship should be ac- knowledged. Individual thoughts and ideas about a truth, and new aspects of it discovered by different minds, are different from the truth itself, which belongs to all minds. Again, it consists in treating a subject independently, or in using arguments, proofs, and methods, which are the re- sult of our own thinking and investigation. We may some- times take old arguments, but we do not take an argu- ment because it is old, or because another has used it; but because we think it is sound, and because we have come upon it in our own thinking, and know its value. We occupy no other man's precise point of view. We use an argument because our own judgment approves of it ; be- cause, even if we have not invented it, we have at least felt its power and our need of it. This principle applies particularly to the plans of sermons. The plan of a ser- mon is so connected with our whole process of thought 24 278 PREACHING. upon a subject, it is in fact so truly the reproduction of that process of thought, and is in every way so individual and vital, that for one preacher to use bodily the plan of another man as his own, without making it known, is inexcusable. Therefore, all books which purport to be aids in forming plans of sermons, are moral nuisances, and should be thoroughly condemned. They are the excuses of indolence. This is not saying that a preacher may not legitimately and honestly derive suggestions and helps from others in forming his plan of a sermon, even from those perhaps, who have written upon the same theme, although that is always a hazardous thing, and one should avoid reading another ser- mon upon the same subject before writing his own. Still again, originality consists in inventing subjects that are really new. Truth is so large, and, indeed, limitless in its range, that one may still bean inventor. He can discover new forms of truth, and make new combinations of forms that have never before existed ; and that is a wonderful gain in preaching. There is such a plodding on in fiimiliar ruts of thought, that something really new has all the effect of suddenly turning into a by-road in the woods, that refreshes and awakes the mind ; for nothing so delights the mind, even the mind of the uncultivated, as a new view of truth- Freshness of thought is not a mere weak or dazzling novelty. Vinet has some pregnant remarks upon this point. " There is, then," he says, "legitimate novelty — a novelty even of subjects — not of doctrines, but of themes. By this means, art, which is an affair of humanity, renovates itself; the gospel is unchangeable, but it is divine. In order to attain the novelty of which we speak, genius is not necessary, and the preacher has only to open his eyes and observe. Let him not confine himself to a general and abstract idea of man, but let him study the men who are before him, and to whom he speaks. If he will but take this pains, he will be new. The study is a difficult one, requiring constant attention — § 24. INVENTION. 279 one in which zeal will sustain and direct him, but from which he is not to be excused." Lastly, originality of invention consists in e^ivploying one's own language and style. Who can be in any sense original who does not give the impress and superscription of his individual style to his production? Who can doubt the originality of the writing of Chalmers, or of Eobert South? Good or bad, true or false, it was their own. In concluding this point, w^e would say, that two great and legitimate sources of originality to the preacher are original exegesis of the Scriptures, and the bringing of one's own experience and observation of life to bear in the treatment of spiritual truth. (c.) It must be, in the case of the preacher. Christian truth. This is required, if for no other reason, for the sake of those whom he addresses. They are to be won to God by means of Christian truth, and they can be won in no other way. Christ, as the way of eternal life, must be in the truth that reall}'^ converts the soul. As far as the hearers are con- cerned, there is no room for violating this rule. Whatever does not partake essentially of the nature of Christian truth is not the true subject of the preacher's instructions. The .preacher, besides this, is also positively commissioned and commanded to preach Christian truth, summed u]3 in the brief sentence, " Christ and him crucified." This, it is true, comprehends a vast sweep of truth, as may be illustrated in the preaching of Paul, in which Christ formed the subject- matter — all beginning and ending in Christ. Yet how broad, doctrinally and ethically, was the range of Paul's preaching ! It goes to the ordering of our entire human life below, and rises into the sublime mysteries of the life which is to come. What, then, let us ask more particu- larly, is meant by Christian trutM 1. It is that truth which may be assimilated into Christian- ity. In one sense, all truth may become part of Christianity ; but whatever of truth can be just as well treated of and 280 PREACHmG. discussed, if Ciiristianity were not, or were out of the way, could not properly be called Christian truth. Christianity could hardly, for example, assimilate to itself such a truth as the science of botany, so as to make it an exclusive subject for the pulpit, although botany may be used most happily in the way of illustration, and even of direct teaching, when- ever the natural works of God are treated of; for the prin- ciples of botany, as far as the science is concerned, could be just as well treated of by a heathen as a Christian, and by a natural philosopher as a Christian preacher ; therefore it is more proper for the scientific lecture than for the pulpit. 2. It is that truth which tends to edify. Whatever is addressed exclusively to the intellect, or the feelings, or the imagination, or the prudential nature, and does not afford nutriment to the spiritual nature, cannot form the true subject-matter of preaching. There must be the bread of life for the soul to feed upon — a fragment of that eter- nal truth revealed by God's Spirit to the soul. It must be the genuine word of God. Truths, therefore, which end in this earthly sphere of things, Avhich are purely intellectual, scientific, or social truths, should be but iucidentallj^ treated of in the pulpit. It is good to apply Christian truth to worldly affairs, and to inculcate wise maxims in regard to the daily business and pursuits of life ; but to preach an entire sermon upon " business thrift," without a higher aim or a deeper moral intent, would be an inexcusable secu- larization of the pulpit. In like manner scientific sub- jects which do not nourish the moral or spiritual nature, even if they have a true relation to the general good and enlightenment of men, were better discussed in their own proper places and methods. "In iuterpreting the soul, and in revealing God,, Jesus aimed at more than simpl}' commu- nicating new and ennobling knowledge to the world. What humanity needed was, not merely to understand God ; it needed still more to learn how the soul might be restored § 24. INVENTION. 281 to God, and how God might dwell in the soul."^ The pul- pit may be, at times, scientific in its treatment of the higher truth, but it should not sell itself to scientific form ; and even theological scientific discussion may become barren and wholly out of place in the pulpit. While it is true that subjects which treat of the means of true social progress may very properly be introduced into the Christian pul- pit, yet subjects which end altogether in questions relating to the principles, arts, and laws of general civilization, in which man in general is discussed and not man in particular, — these should not, ordinarily, form its exclusive themes; such themes are better reserved for the lecture than the ser- mon. A subject, in fine, which has not, or cannot possibly be made to have, a decidedly spiritual and Christian bearing, which does not radically influence character, which does not prepare the way for Christ to come in the soul, and which does not concern tire interests of his eternal kingdom should not be made a complete and separate subject for the pulpit. Every sermon need not enunciate Christian dogma, but every sermon should breathe the spirit of the gospel, and bear its message of peace to the soul. It should come under that new system of truth, that higher manifestation of the divine in the human, which has Christ for its spiritual centre. It should not be preaching purely to the reason, or to the logical facultj^ or to the sesthetical faculty ; but Christ should speak in it to man's spirit, impelling to duty, repentance, and a holy life. Christian truth, which should be thus the subject of our preaching, may be viewed more specifically still, as consist- ing of three parts : Christian doctrine, Christian morality , and Christian expe^nence. 1. Christian doctrine. Here we find the main subject- matter, or the real staple of preaching. This doctrine is simply the teaching or truth of God which is necessary for ' Young's Christ in History, p. 144. 24* 282 PREACHING. the nourishing of the soul. But even this Christian doc- trine, as we have said, when treated in a scientific man- ner, may become the mere nutriment of the intellect, and not of t\ie soul. While, therefore, there should be enough of theological discussion in a sermon to present the subject clearly, to remove its difficulties, to develop it in an or- derly manner; yet, after all, the discussion of truth is not the end of the sermon, which is to awake, edify, renew the soul. As a general rule, broad synthetical views of truth are the best. Paul, though a born dialectician, will be found, when thoroughly studied, to present doctrinal truth in an almost totally unscientific, and oftentimes even illogi- cal form ; for while he preached doctrine, it was rather in the living forms and teachings of the Spirit of God, than in those systematic methods which we commonly associate with the idea of "doctrine" — good for the treatise, but not good for the pulpit. * Dr. Alexander thus remarks on this point: "lam im- pressed with the importance of choosing great subjects for sermons, such as creation, the deluge, the atonement, the last things. A man should begin early to grapple with great subjects. An athlete (2 Tim. 2 : 5) gains might only by great exertions. So that a man does not overstrain his powers, the more he wrestles the better; but he must wrestle, not merely take a great subject, and dream over it, and play with it." We should agree generally with this suggestion ; but still we would find the great subject in the text itself, or in some portion of the divine word, rather than to find a text for the subject, even if it be of a doctrinal character. The " great subjects " that Dr. Alexander speaks of will come more readily through concentrated thought upon some definite passage of God's word than through the choice of a great subject, commonly so called. It is better, for example, to find the doctrine of the atonement, as it lies originally and naturally, in the Epistle to the Komans, and be filled and in- § 24. INVENTION. 283 spired by the study of this whole Epistle, than to deliberate- ly write a sermon on the abstract and theological doctrine of the "atonement," and preach upon it in the ordinary formal mode of discussion. " In our anxiety to set forth a sound code of truth, we have been directing men, for example, to the naked formula of justification, rather than to Him by whom we are saved, and who all the day long stretches out his arms to receive the returning sinner. We have been teaching men, perhaps, to trust to a system^ instead of repo- sing on a personal Saviour."^ The most profitable form of preaching is that Avhich, drawn fresh from scriptural sources, unites the doctrinal and the practical, and recog- nizes the fact that the end of Christian doctrine is to teach men how to live a good and holy life. Controversial preaching of Christian doctrine is rarely profitable. It may be sometimes needful ; but, generally speaking, the setting forth of the true doctrine is the best way to refute doctrinal error ; for a minister of the gospel is not called to be a heresy-hunter ; but he should, by God's aid, make such a blaze of light about him that falsehood cannot live in it. Preaching upon Christian evidences is generally consid- ered to be useful ; yet, after all, is not the best evidence of Christianity the manifestation of the truth in the love of it? The defensive side of truth should certainly not be dwelt upon too long in a pulpit which should speak with assurance and authority. Why should there be a timidly apologetic tone forever going forth from our Christian pulpits, as if the Bible were an unknown book that needs to be alwaj^s prov- ing its divine authority ? or as if it had not been attested by ages of lio^ht? or as if the books and words of men, of the great thinkers of past and present times, brought to- gether, could equal in creative power and brightness one ray of the sun of God's word? or as if Christ were an • Oxenden's Treatise, p. 109. 284 PREACHENG. obscure personage still traversing the hills of Judea in peasant guise, and not having where to lay his head? If Christianity has not proved itself by this time to be true, it will never prove itself to be so ; and therefore we would have preachers take higher ground, and prove the truth of Christianity by setting it forth more faithfully and compre- hensively. They may be assured that this is their one duty, and that Christianity is able to take care of its own evidences. We do not say by this that the preacher should not study the Christian evidences, and that it is not good for him to establish these in his mind, and to bring them into his preach- ing and pastoral instruction, for confirmation in the truth ; but we do say that to preach too much on the evidences will make people finally begin to doubt and to question. It is better to preach Christ, and trust to the gospel to prove itself. In pretty much the same category we would place preaching upon natural theology. Vinet considers that, under the Christian system, there is no such thing, properly speaking, as natural religion. He thinks that Christianity takes up, completes, and transforms natural truths, so that they become Christian truths. Undoubt- edly, no Christian preacher should treat of natural religion excepting from a Christian point of view; he should not descend to the former level of uninspired truth ; he should show, rather, that Christianity is the natural religion, or that it has in perfection all that nature may have in its ele- ments, and something infinitely more. Christianity can reason down upon natural religion better than natural reli- gion can reason up to Christianity; for while nature, as the creation of God, and thus, in one sense, the manifestation of Grod, may not be neglected, yet the Christian minister should not lose sight of his higher Cliristian vantage ground, and preach natural religion or natural theology. In fine, the great permanent theme of Christian doctrinal preaching is, that fact of human redemj)tion, in all its wide-spread ramif cations and relations^ which was wrought out through § 24. INVENTION. 285 the incarnation, life, atoning death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How many congregatious languish under the preach- ing of eloquent divines, because they are not simply and earnestly taught the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, wherein are the beginnings of all spiritual life ; for Christ alone is the life, whatever else there is of knowledge, elo- quence, or philosophy. 2. Christian morality. Christ himself made one chief element of his preaching to consist in the right interpreta- tion of the moral law — the law of duty and life ; and here is to be one of the reforms of the pulpit — that it should be more practical, leading to ''charity out of a pure heart;'' that it should deal with the whole of life in a Christian point of view — with man's personal relations as son, husband, father, friend, neighbor, citizen, business man, and member of the human brotherhood. "We want a Christianity that is Christian across counters, over dinner-tables, behind the neio-hbor's back as in his face. We want a Christianity that we can find in the temperance of the meal, in moderation of dress, in respect for authority, in amiability at home, in veracity and simplicity in mixed society. We want fewer gossiping, slandering, gluttonous, peevish, conceited, bigoted Christians. To make them eflfectual, all our public religious measures, institutions, benevolent agencies, missions, need to be managed on a high-toned, scrupulous, and unquestion- able scale of honor, without evasion or partisanship, or over- much of the serpent's cunning. The hand that gives away the Bible must be unspotted from the world. The money that sends the missionary to the heathen must be honestly earned. In short, both the arms of the church — justice and mercy — must be stretched out, working for man, strength- ening the brethren, or else your faith is vain, and ye are yet in your sins." ^ Dr. Chalmers was eminently a preacher of practical mo- rality. " He set his face against every form of evil, both * Dr. F. D. Huntington. 286 PREACHING. in the pulpit and out of it. He particularly pressed upon country people thorough honesty and uprightness, and the practice of the law of love by abstaining from all malice and evil speaking. The ostentation of flaming orthodoxy, or talk of religious experience which was not borne out by the life, was the object of his thorough abhorrence." When he i^reached his commercial sermons in Glasgow, business men would leave the church with expressions of violent hostility, but they would be present when he preached the succeeding discourse. To tell these men of influence and high social standing that their city was given up to the idol- atry of money, and that where the love of money is, the love of God could not be — to show them how even busi- ness integrity might coexist with a corrupt heart, and that this fair show of virtue might spring from pure selfishness — required no common courage. Christian morality should not be confounded with natural virtue, for morality may be treated in a false way in the pulpit, by disconnecting it from the life-springs of Christian faith. " Morals can seldom gain living energy without the impulsive force derived from spirituals. Plato and Cicero may indeed talk of the surpassing beauty of virtue ; nor do we doubt that a man's own self-respect may make him choose to die, rather than live degraded in his own eyes by devi- ating from his ideal of right conduct. Let old stoicism be confessed to be noble and honorable ; yet it makes the mind too exclusively reflexive, and engenders pride and self-con- fidence. Virtue is an abstraction, a set of wise rules, — not a person, — and cannot call out affection, as an exterior to the soul does. On the contrary, God is a person ; and the love of him is of all affections far the most energetic in excitinsr us to realize our highest idea of moral excellence, and in clearing the moral sight. Other things being equal (a con- dition not to be forgotten) , a spiritual man will hold a higher and purer morality than a mere moralist. Not only does duty manifest itself to him as an ever-expanding principle. § 24. INVENTION. 287 but, since a larger part of duty becomes pleasant and easy when performed under the stimulus of love, the will is ena- bled to concentrate itself more in that which remains diffi- cult, and greater power of performance is attained. Hence, 'what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,' is fulfilled in those 'who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.' " ^ Moral duty may be treated by the preacher philosophi- cally, or rationally, or prudentially, and yet not vitally, as touched by the Christian principle, which concerns itself with the inner rule of right, and the mind's choice to do right or wrong. The virtue of temperance may be thus made a stoical, or political, or hygienic virtue, and be vio- lently torn out of the circle of Christian virtues and of that Christian character which is moulded freely by the great law of righteousness and love. There is also the interesting field of the application of Christian morality to questions of government, citizenship, and politics. De Tocqueville says, "It appears to me that morality is divisible into two portions, both equally impor- tant in the eyes of God, but which his ministers do not teach with equal energy. One respects private life — the duties of mankind, a father, children, husbands and wives; the other respects public life — the duties of every citizen to his country and to the portion of the human race to which he specially belongs. Am I mistaken in thinking that our clergy care much about the first branch of morality, and little about the second ? " As to the question of preaching upon politics, it is true that human politics, in the ordinary sense of the term, should not form the theme of the preacher of eternal truth ; but a higher idea of the subject of politics viewed as the application of Christian ethics to human afiairs and government, as the life-principle of the state — this is a difierent thing ; and here it comes fairly under De Tocque- ville's second division of public morality. Upon this sub- ' F. W. Newman, The Soul, p. 124. 288 PEEACIIING. ject the preacher is conscientiously bound, under proper limitatioDS, and according to the proportions of truth, to bestow his thought and give his instructions. And he is the more bound to do so when those instructions are pecu- liarly needed, when public opinion has gone wrong, when there is a decided and dangerous perversion of right prin- ciples in relation to civil matters, when men and the state have become oppressive and unjust, and when liberty is imperilled. Then the preacher should stand up boldly, and proclaim the right, even as did John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul. This is not only the preacher's privilege, but his duty ; he would be basely derelict in duty not to do so. As an American, he would be false to the history and ex- ample of a Puritan pulpit, which, in the Old World and the New, has ever upheld the cause of freedom. And yet that is not advocating political preaching, of which, it may be, there has been too much in the past. Dr. South was what we should call a "political preacher," even as, doubtless, many who opposed him were "political preachers;" for men like South fought for their party in the pulpit, and with all kinds of weapons ; and their minds were evidently more ardently engaged in these partisan conflicts than in the great ends of preaching the gospel. To speak more particularly of questions of moral reform^ while these should enter into, yet even these should not form the main substance and material of, true preaching ; for the preacher should be seen to have the deeper mind to delight to make Christ all in all ; and he should speak on these subjects of moral reform as Christ's messenger, as expressing his pure and loving will ; for Christian morality is, after all, nothing but the carrying out and the universal application of the law of love. "This is the particular vice of preachers. They are set to teach people the right way, and, of course, they have to assert the wrong way ; and unless a preacher is careful to study the effect of these things on his mind, he will come into that state in which he § 24. INVENTION. 289 lashes and lashes and lashes with his tongue those that go astray; and, if he gives his attention to public affairs, he will be a volcano belching out fires of indignation against evil, so that the whole impression that he leaves on the minds of those who hear him is one of gigantic fault-finding. A minister before a congregation may preach against sin till he has set every man to sinning ; for the way to make men better is not to hold up evil for criticism, but to show forth the attractiveness of good."^ There is a noticeable difference between being a Christian reformer and a Chris- tian preacher, and the Christian preacher should be both ; but he should be a preacher distinctively and primarily. " By the time a man has been a reformer ten or fifteen years, he is apt to be a fault-finding man. It is not always so. God be thanked that there have been such men as Clarkson and Wilberforce — men that took the devil by the throat, and caught nothing of his sulphur and fire ; men that with all gentleness, and sweetness, and meekness, and forbear- ance, and Christian love, rebuked the most gigantic evil of their day and nation. But the temptation of those that go forth reforming sin is to become bitter, and censorious, and fault-finding." 2 Let a minister be, first of all, a preacher of Christian truth, and then he will, of necessity, be a re- former ; let him look well to the positive side of truth — to the establishment of truth — and from this position let him attack the institutions of sin. In this way he will preserve his balance, and not become denunciatory, or lose the blessed charity of the gospel for human sins. With the conditions and limitations thus laid down, the gospel is to be applied freely, boldly, searchingly, to all relations of human life and society. Few American preachers have done this with more power than Dr. Channing, though iu doctrinal views we entirely differ from him ; but to him belongs the credit of ^ Eev. Henry Ward Beecher in the Independent, 1860. * Rev. H, W. Beecher. 25 290 PREACHING. nobly and freely applying in his preaching the principles of Christian ethics to matters of social, governmental, and public reform ; and his sermons, in this respect, are still a model, not only in eloquent thought, but in the large sym- pathy which the}^ manifest for the moral condition and pros- pects of the whole human family. While thus advocating strongly the preaching of moral reform under the conditions that have been laid down, we would guard against any encouragement of that kind of minute police system of moral-reform preaching which pries into other men's business, which hectors and dragoons them into duty, and which labors to mend every little social abuse, error, and evil in the community, in this public way ; but, on the contrary, we would advocate the idea that the truth itself should be faithfully, patiently, lovingly, fearlessly preached, and it will, in due time, correct those lesser faults and abuses. 3. Ghridian experience. We need not dwell upon this. Here is an opportunity for meditative and richly subjective preaching. One may follow here the windings of the water of the river of life, that hidden life of God in an individual experience of divine truth, which, taken out of the revealed word, forms the present, working, transforming power of the life of Christ in the soul of each believer. Need there be any lack of subject-matter in such a wide field as that which has been glanced over ? Need invention pause for a moment in discovering new, inspiring, and ex- haustless themes for the pulpit? In what has been said on invention, we have endeavored to show that while the vagaries, unlicensed luxuriance, and unbounded secularization of pulpit themes and of preaching should be much restricted, yet that the field of preaching might really be greatly enlarged, and rendered at the same time more profound and effective. It would be both more human and more divine. It would be more truly Christian preaching, — springing from the divine word, and saturated § 25. STYLE. 291 with the new spirit of Christ, — not merely moral, scien- tific, philosophical, or sentimental. All life, all nature, all human relations, would be thrown open to the transforming power of Christ; the pulpit would be unbound, and respon- sible for its utterances to God alone ; yet it would be de- voted simply to the divine will, and to the glory of God in the saving of souls. Rhetorically speaking, invention, more than anything else, shows the true artist ; thus, rhetorically speaking, invention shows the true orator. Cicero makes much of invention in his De Oratore ; and, highl}'' as he regards the importance of style, he thinks that what an orator has to say, or the methodized subject-matter of discourse, is of far more im- portance. He divides oratory into five parts: "To invent what you have to say, to arrange what you have invented, to clothe it in proper language, then to commit it to mem- ory, and at last to deliver it with due action and elocution." ^ If Cicero placed invention first, in regard to the mere ora- tor, how much more important is it to the preacher of divine truth ! § 25. Style, "Style" is a complex term, and, therefore, definitions of style differ, and some of them are quite incomplete ; for example, Webster's definition, that style is "the manner of writing with regard to language, or the choice and arrange- ment of words." That, however, it must be said, coincides with the ancient definition of style, which was, "the proper selection and arrangement of words," or, what amounted to the same thing, "elocution." Webster's definition, founded upon this ancient one, comprehends what we would mean by ^' diction. ^^ Professor H. N. Day's definition of style is, "That part of rhetoric which treats of the expression of thougJit in lan- guage." Here the important idea of "thought" is added » De Oratore, B. XI., p. 104. 292 ' PREACHING. to that of "language," or of "diction." Vinet goes fartlier still. He says, "Diction is not the whole man, while the whole man is the style ; " or, in the familiar phrase of Buf- fon, "The style is the man." Evidently, then, style is not merely the language, nor is it merely the verbal expression of thought ; but it is the ex- pression of the man himself through language. We would, therefore, prefer the following, as, i3erhaps, a more general and comprehensive definition : Style is the expression in language of the thought, qualities, and spirit of the man [himself. From this it would follow that a man who does not ex- press himself — his individual thought and character — in his language has no "style," properly speaking; for it is not every piece of composition that has a "style," any more than every building. Style is sometimes disparaged, and all eflfort to improve it is scouted ; but to write clearly assists one to think clearly, since the effort to express one's self in the best way is itself a noble mental discipline. Cicero says that " writing is the most excellent modeller and teacher of oratory, and that men by speaking badly are sure of becoming bad speakers." ^ Style, according to the definition we have given, is com- posed of two elements : first, of something independent of the man himself, and common to all men, viz., language; and, secondly, of something which depends entirely upon the man himself, and his relations to those things which influence his style; in other words, there are certain properties of style which are essential, and which chiefly relate to lan- guage ; and there are other properties, which are originated, or, at least, colored, by the individual thought and niind of the writer, and by all his relations to other minds whom he addresses. These have been called the invariable and the related properties of style. I. The invariable properties of style. These are proper- ' De Oratore, B. VII. § 25. STYLE. 293 ties which enter, and must enter, into all good writing and speaking — into all true style ; and surely, here one may profitably spend as much study as he can find time and op- portunity to spend. He can always be perfecting himself in this respect. This part of style is an art to be acquired like any other art ; for it relates more to the external and mechanical dexterity of the writer or speaker than to his Inward thought and genius, which is created, rather than acquired ; and yet even this more external character of style also depends largely upon the natural capacities and fitness of the mind. This part of style may all be comprised under the single idea of language. Let us, then, consider language in relation to a discourse, or, according to our original definition of rhetoric, in rela- tion to the spoken address. We have already remarked upon the general theme of the Study of Language ; we would now look at language more especially in its relations to the best style of public discourse — in a word, of preaching. This theme can be divided into the oral and the grammat- ical properties of language. 1. Oral properties of language. All language is originally intended to be spoken ; it is, properly, speech. Even if written, and not spoken, the right principles of articulate sound must be preserved, and must still continue to govern it ; for speech is the ultimate test of language, and it cannot possibly be the best lan- guage unless the judgment of the ear is satisfied. A sen- tence which is not fitted to be read aloud is not really good languacfe. The oral properties of language are commonly divided into euphony and harmony. («.) Euphony. Euphony, in its relation to style, has regard solely to the effect of sound upon the ear, or, more definitely, of the sound of words upon the ear. ^ It applies chiefly, though not altogether, to single words. Euphony, 25* 294 PREACHING. according to Vinet, is "the combination of agreeable, and the exclusion of disagreeable, sounds in language." Euphony may be preserved, — (1.) By avoiding words and sentences which cause harsh sounds. These are generally learned and compound words, hard to be pronounced, and mostly of Latin, Greek, and foreign origin. Dr. Chalmers' writings contain many such words. His phrases and sentences are often difficult to be read aloud, and harsh to the ear, because they bring so many consonants closely together ; these are all striving for utter- ance at once ; the organs of speech labor to do their part, and this labor destroys the smoothness and pleasantness of the sounds they produce. One should seek, as a general rule of euphony, for short, radical, easily-spoken words, although many longer Latin words, and those derived from the Italian and French, are exceedingly euphonious. A familiar exam- ple of difficult combinations in a sentence from Scripture is the following: "After the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee." (2.) By avoiding words and sentences which contain a succession of unaccented syllables; such words, for example, as "meteorological," " desultoriness." (3.) By avoiding long sentences in lohich new and varied ideas are introduced. The sound will be disagreeably affect- ed by this ; for while the mind is employed in taking in the whole meaning of every part of the sentence, the voice strains and struggles along after it, and thus necessarily grows harsh. One should always give himself time to breathe ; the country and the world may be perishing, but the orator, in order to continue to speak with effect, must take breath. Periods, therefore, should not be too far apart. We would not condemn long sentences. If well balanced and well composed, the}' add greatly to the solidity of a composition ; but in relation to euphony of style, of which we now especially speak, if the sentence is long, it should be carefully adapted for speaking, clearly divided and skil- § 25. STYLE. 295 fully arranged, so as not to embarrass articulation in the delivery. (b.) Harmony. Harmony goes farther than euphony, and has regard to sound in its relation to thought. It is not merely phonetic ; it is not merely the production of a somid agreeable to the ear, or the avoidance of a harsh and dis- agi-eeable sound ; but it has to do with the rhythmic fiow of thought, and is something more deeply emotional and mental. Original thought usually creates harmony. It does so because it seeks for unity of expression. It arouses that feeling which makes the soul and its powers chord to- gether in one note, and is the true source of harmony. Per- haps we should have said, instead of original thought, a true feeling of the soul, one that is deeper even than thought, or that is the spring of thought : this produces harmony of language. The words of Ruth to Naomi are an harmoni- ous expression of the profoundest feeling : ^^And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest I loill go, and where thou lodg- est I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." Now, what is harmony but a real concord or agreement of parts? And here is a bringing of the soul of Ruth, by a deep purpose of feeling, into agreement with the soul of Naomi; there is true harmony between them. I# is notice- able how, through the whole passage, the "thee " and "me" are continually brought into one. It was a perfect surren- der of the soul, having nothing left in it of unsubdued, incongruous, or rebellious feeling ; and this inward action of the soul uttered itself in harmonious language, like an accord of music. Harmony of soul thus makes harmony of style, as the expression of devotional feeling, which is the chording of the human with the divine soul, and with the soul of all that is divine in the universe. Harmony of 29.6 PREACHING. style aids the expression of thought. It flows forth with a rhythmical flow. It is a subtile but deep grace of style, of which the Scriptures are full ; as, for example, the seventy- third and one hundred and seventh Psalms, our Lord's invi- tation to the weary, and the last chapter of the book of Revelation, and many other passages of profound and ma- jestic harmony. Prose, it is true, cannot be sung, like poetry, in numbers, but it may, equally with poetry, have something of this rhythmic character, this harmonious flow. Harmony does not arise so much from single words as from a succession of words, or from a sufficient number to express the thought. We quote upon this subject a few sentences from Cicero : "Nor is there a single quality, out of many, that more dis- tinguishes a true orator from an unskilful and ignorant speaker than that he who is unpractised pours forth all he can, without discrimination, and measures out the periods of his speech, not with art, but by the power of his breath ; but the orator clothes his thoughts in such a manner as to comprise them in a flow of numbers, at once confined to measure, yet free from restraint; for, after restricting it to proper modulation and structure, he gives it an ease and freedom by a variety in the flow, so that the words are neither bound by strict laws, as those of verse, nor yet have such a degree of liberty as to wander without control. There is nothing so pliant, nothiug so flexible, nothing which will so easily follow whithersoever you incline to lead it, as language; according, therefore, as we ourselves are grave, or subtile, or hold a middle course between both, so the form of our language follows the nature of our thoughts, and is changed and varied to suit every method by which we delight the ear or move the passions of mankind." ^ These remarks of Cicero show the close study and atten- tion which the ancients gave to this department of orator}^ ; ' De Oratore, B. III., s. xliv. § 25. STYLE. 297 they thought that there was in prose a harmony of numbers almost like that in poetry ; that " the musical management of the voice and the harmonious structure of words should be transferred, as far as the strictness of prose would admit, from poetry to oratory." It must be confessed that the ancients were far more ex- quisite observers than the moderns of the finer powers and application of art, which is, in fact, but a deeper nature. This idea of harmony of style should not, however, be suffered to degenerate into an attempt at making music, or musical sentences. This in a sermon would be intolerable. Yet harmony of style may coexist with strength and en- ergy. Perhaps there is no writer in whose prose style will be found more varied and majestic harmonies, which flow from the thought even more than from the words, than Milton ; and certainly there is no stronger, more masculine writer. This, too, may be also said of Lord Bacon's style, and that of Robert Hall. In regard to preaching, there is often a rhythmical move- ment in the sermon, springing chiefly from the thought, which is both pleasing and powerful, and carries on the mind of the hearer by a strong, resistless flow. Care in little things, choice of words, arrangement of sentences, smoothing of transitions, attention to accents, lengthening or abbreviating phrases, may, indeed, aid in harmony ; but still, true harmony in style comes usually, as we have said, from deeper sources. 2. Gra7nmatical properties of language. This is what De Quincey calls the " mechanology of style." If one great end of education — certainly of classical edu- cation— is to speak and write well, to speak and write our own language with purity, we should make ourselves accurately acquainted with the grammar of our own lan- guage ; for many of the worst faults of style arise from grammatical incorrectness. Qiiintilian declares that the orator should by no means look down on the elements of 298 PREACHING. grammar as a small matter, for unless a good foundation in oratory is laid in grammar, the superstructure will surely fall.' " Was Cicero," he says, "the less of an orator because he was most attentive to the study of grammar, and because, as appears from his letters, he was a rigid exacter, on all occasions, of correct lanornaofe?" In the Life of Prescott, the historian, we read, that when he was a young man, he made, once for all, the English gram- mar his particular study, and gave his whole time and energy to it; and this may explain, in part, the purity of his Eng- lish style, which Hallam declared to be perfect. For the preacher, good idiomatic English, as may be seen in so pow- erful a preacher as John Buuyan, is a greater conquest than the knowledge of Greek or German. We have before, in another connection, said that one should be able to analyze every sentence he writes, word by word. He should be able, more particularly, to tell the character and derivation of every substantive word, of what it is the subject or the object, its opposition with another, or its independence by address, exclamation, pleonasm, ellipsis ; to tell the quality and name of each adjective, and whether it is used as belonging to something else, or substantively ; to describe every pronoun, and what it refers to and is connected with ; to characterize and inflect every verb, and show clearly, if a finite verb, what it agrees with, or, if an infinitive, what it has for its sul)ject, or, if a participial, what it belongs to, and in the whole sen- tence what its use is, and what it depends upon ; to show what every adverb modifies ; what every preposition governs and marks the relation of, and what every conjunction and connec- tive coordinates or subordinates ; in fact, to parse the whole sentence, whether simple or complex, and to be able to give both its etymology and syntax. This is really no easy task ; but how else can a man know for himself if he writes cor- rectly. One should therefore attend to, — (a.) Grammatical a7ialysis, so far as to be able to detect > Instit., B. I., c. 4. § 25. STYLE. 299 common errors in construction. Many of these might profit- ably be mentioned ; but we will not enter into these, which form so portentous an array ; we will refer the student to any good English grammar. These grammatical errors relate chiefly to the improper use of verbal cases and tenses ; the use or omission of the article ; the use or omission of the negative ; the employment of useless intensives, to which American writers greatly tend ; the mixing of the numbers and cases of pronouns. ( " The management of pro- nouns," says Mr. Moon, "is the test of a scholar's mastery over language " ) ; the improper or superfluous use of prep- ositions ; the awkward use of conjunctives ; the false use of and the use of false adverbs ; the wrong agreement of words in sentences ; the improper collocation of words ; the making of weak and loose sentences through the too o^reat separation of their connected parts, or what Dr. Campbell calls " a constructive ambiguity ; " the use of sentences whose members are imperfect. There may be, it is true, an over- precision of style, which is almost as bad as carelessness ; but the present tendency is not in that direction ; and what we, as preachers, should aim at, is correct, plain, idiomatic English. One should also attend to, — {b.) Particular words and phrases which are common violations of grammatical correctness, or, at least, of elegant usage. It is well for a preacher to keep a list of these, to which he is continually adding ; and that will serve him as a reminder, as well as an aid, in his endeavor after grammati- cal correctness of style. II. The related properties of style. These are something -more than language in the abstract, and comprehend all those relations to the mind and condition, both of the speaker and hearer, which affect style. They refer to style in the concrete, to the style of the individual who is speaking, and also of his speaking upon a certain subject, for a certain object, and to a certain class of hearers. The speaker's individuality and personality are now infused into the style, and color it. 300 PREACHING. 1 . TJiose qualities luhich depend upon the speaker himself^ having relation chiefly to his own thought. These are appropriate thought, consecutive thought, and individuality of style or thought. {a.) Appropriate thought. There should be in every true discourse not only thought, but thought appropriate to the subject and the occasion. One who attempts to write or speak for the public should not write or speak nlerely for the sake of doing so, without an express aim or purpose. The beauty of the style of the ancient classic writers is, according to John Stuart Mill, that it is so highly signifi- cant ; that there are no words or phrases which are meaning- less ; that there is little writing, apparently, for the mere sake of writing ; but all has some genuine meaning, some definite, if not always true, sense. This realness of style makes the chief strength and beauty of classical writings. Whatcly, on the contrary, seems to give something like this advice — that one should learn facility in mere word-making, without (as far as rhetoric is concerned) caring so much for the thought. But such advice should be received with cau- tion, for it indicates, we think, an inadequate conception of the theory of rhetoric. Substantial and appropriate thought is the foundation of every true discourse. Demos- thenes never dared to appeal to the feelings of his audience, or to urge them to any policy or action, without first pre- senting a solid argument for his views. The body of his orations is composed of substantial reasoning ; the laying down of principles and facts ; appealing to sound sense, and appropriate to the subject and occasion. Such a process has not only a value in developing the subject itself, but it idso develops the man ; it shows the treasures of his mind and thought. This serves to create confidence in the correct- ness of his conclusions. And when the conclusion is urged upon the heart and conscience of the audience, they are prepared for it. The force of the speaker's thought has moulded their thought into an image of his own. No facil- § 25. STYLE. 301 ity of speech, no word-making, can ever supply the place of substantial and appropriate thought. Eloquence, in its widest sense, is, first, subjectively, the native power of thought, and, objectively, the art of using this so that it shall attain a certain worthy and definite end. Appropriate thought is, above all, reasonable thought. A speaker should have some real truth to communicate, and should do it in words that convey some real thought to the mind. This is sometimes called " significance " in style. ^ It is hardly need- ful to dwell upon the point that in a sermon there should be nothing contrary to good sense. Reasonable thinking is an essential quality of a sermon. This does not admit of any- thing nonsensical, puerile, frivolous, merely marvellous, or vainly pedantic. It does not admit of spending the precious hour of preaching in trifles or insignificant discussions. There may be much that is plain and commonplace in a sermon ; much that has been said before ; much that does not demand a great amount of thought to invent or to assent to; much, even, that is " goodish " rather than good; and yet the reasonable quality of the sermon need not be de- stroyed or compromised ; the bread, if not the finest of the wheat, is still nourishing food to many minds ; but this is not saying, that, under any circumstances, what is absolute- ly unsound or nonsensical can be allowed. All things must come to the test of common sense, which is the sense that everywhere prevails, and is established among sound-minded men. (5.) Consecutive thought. There should not only be thought, and appropriate thought, but orderly thought — a ra- tional succession of ideas — the avoidance of scattering frag- mentary and disconnected thoughts. Whatever has any pre- tence to a regular discourse demands, at least, that quality ; and this is not denying that there may be, at times, bold and apparently unconnected thoughts, left standing by themselves, ' Day's Art of Discourse, p. 276. 26 302 PREACHING. not nicely fitted into the frame of the discourse, and giving energy and picturesqueness to style, breaking up dull mo- notony. But there should be, nevertheless, either a natural or a logical progress of ideas — one sentence making addition to another, one paragraph being developed from the thought or statement contained in the preceding paragraph, one division forming an advance to the next. There should be a movement in the discourse, or it should be thought in motion, increasing in volume like a river, every word, sentence, paragraph, division, preparing for "vvhat follows, and all forming a united, living current of thouirht. Short, broken sentences : lone: and circuitous parentheses, where the idea, or another than the main idea, is carried off into numberless ramifications ; practical thoughts interspersed too freely in pure argumentation ; inconsequential and casual remarks, — these break the on- ward current, which should not for a moment stagnate, and which should move, even if it moves slowly. A spoken dis- course is not like a scientific disquisition, which may be a deep pool of contemplation, rather than a fluent stream of thought ; but a sermon should introduce thoughts in their natural sequence, and should move on to some definite end. Care should be taken in a sermon to bind it together, not only by consecutiveness of thought, but by every mechani- cal help afforded by the connections of the language and the structure of sentences. It is not well to employ very short sentences, or a very sententious style ;^ they are more fitted to the neat moral essay than the sacred discourse that lays before us the inexhaustible riches of divine truth. (c.) Individuality of thought and style. We have spoken of this in another connection. It is that quality in which the man appears in a style that is perfectly natural to him. It is a noble quality. It is refreshing to hear a man's own ideas spoken in his own way. The efl'ect produced is always ' Day's Art of Discourse, p. 281. § 25. STYLE. 303 greater when there is a sense of personal address, springing from the speaker's own mind and feelings, rather than from the thought and impulse of another mind. We do not wish to hear Chalmers from any but Chalmers. We wish to feel that we are taken into the confidence of the speaker, and that we are listening to the actnal ntterances of his heart. We may be dazzled by the artificial speaker, but he cannot move us as that man can, who, with a higher earnestness of purpose, shoAvs us himself, opens to us his confidence, utters thoughts which he has wrought by the toil of his own mind. One may increase his individuality of style, 1. By aiming at independent thought. He may not aim at originalit}^, but he should aim at saying what he truly thinks. We call Thomas Fuller an original writer, but his originality does not consist in his saying things in an odd way, but in his strong, independent thinking. The very subject of the thought is his own, as well as the language in which it is expressed. There is no mistaking the characteristic indi- viduality of his style. A fresh thought of one's own, even if he is not what is called a man of genius, is worth ten of another's, to give him power as a speaker. One may increase his individuality of style, 2. By employing the more direct jJersonal address — by not talking to the world, or men in general, but to men before him. It is one man talking to {^nother, and not discoursing about indifferent things. Let there be never so profound a course of thought in a sermon, yet the audience should be made to feel that it is addressed to them — to each of them. Small things sometimes aid this. Luther liked " thees andthous" in a sermon. The use of the pronoun "you" may give the sermon all the point needed. The individual- izing, sometimes, of a member of the audience as "my brother" does this. A sudden grasp laid upon some par- ticular conscience, an allusion to some recent and real event, some common affliction or bereavement, something which brings the thought into the present, — this helps individu-^ 304 PREACHING. ality of style. Of course this directness of address should not be overdone, for personalities in the pulpit are out- rao-eous. But one need not be too much afraid of hurtino: people's feelings by a friendly and manly directness of address ; for the habit of applying nnpleasant truth to our neighbors, instead of to ourselves, is of familiar occurrence. A preacher becomes more individual in style who has an A individual in view ; for this necessarily narrows and shapes I his thought, and gives it a personal directness. Even the eye, the linger, the whole manner, should aid in lending life and point to speech. Modern sermons lack point, and hence individuality of style. The essay style scrupulously avoids directness ; and in the essay style this is a great beauty. One may increase his individuality of style, 3. By preaching specific truth. Generalities may arouse the mind, but particulars search the heart. A single apt fact is more forcible than the most eloquent deduction. Where thus specifically preached, the truth acquires an edge ; it becomes indeed like "any two-edged stvord, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marroiv, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the hearty 2. Those related qualities of style which have more par- ticular reference to their effect upon the hearer or the audi- ence addressed. This second department of the relative properties of style, which has reference to its effect upon the mind addressed, and which is objective in its character, has been differently classified by different writers upon rhetoric. Thus Quin- tilian says that all language has three kinds of excellence — to be correct, perspicuous, elegant.^ Whately sums up these objective qualities of style under the heads of perspicuity, energy, and elegance; Professor H. N. Day considers them to be comprised in the properties of clearness, energy, and beauty ; Vinet has a wider classification into the qualities ' Instit., B. I., c. T., 1. § 25. STYLE, 305 of perspicuity, purity, propriety, precision, rapidity, pro- portion, order, popularity, familiarity, nobleness, gravity, &c. Evidently, some of these last-mentioned kinds 9iean the same thing in a greater or less degree of development ; and all of them, perhaps, might be combined in the two simple qualities of strength and beauty. We would make a somewhat wider classification than that of Whately, though less extended than that of Vinet ; and we would treat especially of the qualities of Purity^ Pro- ^priety. Precision, Perspicuity , Energy , Elegance. In regard to those fundamental properties of style, which, by the consent of ages, is fitted to instruct and sway the minds of men, as nothing is good in any of its qualities which is impure, or which in its nature has aught positively false or corrupt, we therefore begin with purity of style. 1. Purity. As in morals "first pure," so in matters of the intellect, of taste, and of style, it is first pure, then strong, clear, elegant, or whatever is fit. Purity of style is that quality which does not violate any of the true jprincijples of language , in respect offonn, con- struction, or meaning. Purity, and the other qualities of style which we shall mention, belong, it is true, in some sense, to those invaria- ble qualities which relate chiefly to language ; but they have also intimate relations to the audience addressed, and the efiect upon them. An Athenian audience, we are told, could detect, and would hiss, a wrong accent, a mispronun- ciation, or a barbarism. A preacher who violates purity of style may, in like manner, in these modern days, lose power with intelligent and educated hearers, and, more or less, with all. The preacher of the pure truth of Christianity should aim at a pure style ; and this remark might even be extended to the general truth or purity of the subject- 26* 306 PREACHING. matter discussed — that the great laws of true thinking, and of truth, should not be violated. But more precisely viewed, purity of style forbids, (a.) The introduction of new u-ords into the language. Augustus Csesar declared himself unable to introduce a new word into the Latin lan- guage. It is an immense assumption to coin a word ; but few can do this. A discoverer may invent a new word for his discovery ; a master in any science may coin a word, when the progress of science demands it ; writers of estab- lished eminence may sometimes modestly propose new words, merely by way of suggestion. New words made by com- pounding old ones form also a violation of this principle. Our language has not the fatal facility of the German in creating compound words. (b.) Introduction of foreign words. There is a great danger in introducing German words and idioms into our preaching and theological lit- erature. The careful use of English words and English idioms is one of the first qualities of purity. Americans, as a nation, are peculiarly imitative and assimilative ; we take all elements of nationality into our wide civilization ; there should be, therefore, while we are an English-speaking nation, a stricter watch kept against the corruption of the lansuaire from these foreio^n sources. The habit of intro- ducing French words and phrases by half-educated people is a weakness that should be resisted. There is a pithy passage which we will quote from the writings of a very old English author of the time of Edward VI. (Sir John Cheke), which is interesting from the fact that this author himself in his day exerted considerable influence in prevent- ing the inroad of foreign words into the language, when the current was strong that way ; and it also shows how early a jealousy was awakened for the preservation of the purity of our tongue. He says, "Among other lessons, this should first be learned, that we never afi'ect any strange inkhorn terms, but to speak as is commonly received ; neither seek- ing to be overfine, nor yet living over careless ; using our § 25. STYLE. 307 speech as most men do, and ordering our wits as the fewest have doen. Some seek so far for outlandish English that they forget altogether their mother language. And I dare swear this : if some of their mothers were alive, they Avere not able to tell what they say ; and yet these fine English clerks will say they speak their mother tongue, if a man should charge them with counterfeiting the king's English. Some far journied gentlemen, at their return home, like as they love to go in foreign apparel, so they will ponder their talk with over-sea language. He that cometh lately out of France will talk French-English, and never blush at the matter. Another chops in with English Italianated, and applieth the Italian phrase to our English speaking. The unlearned, or foolish-fantastical that smells but of learning (such fellows as have seen learned men in their day), will so Latin their tongues that the simple cannot but wonder at their talk, and think surely they speak by some revelation. I know them that think rhetoric to stand wholly upon dark words ; and he that can catch an inkhorn term by the tail, him they account to be a fine Englishman and a good rheto- rician." (c.) Introduction of obsolete words. The constant use of the Bible by ministers may sometimes lead to the use of archaisms. (^d.) Introduction of cant words. A homely, common word is often effective ; but a decidedly cant expression — of religious cant the worst of all — can- not be defended. It attracts only a low class of minds, for impurities of style are allied to impurities of thought ; and we prefer to see coarseness anywhere rather than in the min- ister of Christ. The use of profane words, though employed only as illustrations or quotations, is to be avoided ; and there may be too much made even of the excellent idea that the language of the pulpit should be plain and common language ; it should certainly be plain, but not too familiar, not low. People go to church expecting something a little higher, in point of carefulness and dignity of expression, than slipshod, every-day speech. Sacred themes demand 308 PREACHING. elevated language. What little life or power is momentarily secured by the use of low words or phrases soon passes away ; while of other things more is lost than gained, (e.) Intro- duction of solecisms ; e. g., Jonathan Edwards' peculiar philo- sophical use of the word " necessity " has occasioned vast perplexity in theological science. (/".) Introduction of words or thoughts which violate manly simplicity. The giving way to loose images, or a too luxuriant fancy, or an overwrought and unnatural intensity of expression, destroys purity of style. This fault may be indicated, rather than fully described. We should strive for purity of style, because a pure lan- guage associates us with our English ancestors, and with Chatham, Milton, Hampden, Spenser, Bacon, Shakspeare, Chaucer, Wycliffe, and, above all, with the English Bible ; and it associates us, also, with the great statesmen, poets, writers, and preachers who speak the English language now. It contributes, likewise, to the permanence of a man's use- fulness, especially of a minister's, who would speak through his pen. If a man has not a pure style of writing, his thoughts, however excellent, will not float his style ; for purity of style is the beginning and indispensable accom- paniment of every other literary excellence ; it is essential to precision, elegance, vigor. And the care to preserve purity of style is the great safeguard to the constant ten- dency to debasement in language. In our country, where there is no acknowledged standard of language, where there is great difference of custom, variety of races, and an unre- strained freedom of expression, it should be particularly borne in mind by ministers that they, as educated men, are the guardians of the purity of our tongue, and that there is a moral responsibility connected with their being so. Purity of style may be preserved, — (1.) By care to avoid at all times the use of loose, super- fluous, and idle expressions. Above all, this should be observed in common conversation. Conversation is a fine § 25. STYLE. 309 art. One should study it. It is a great means of influence to a minister. To be free and spoutaneous in conversation, and at the same time to speak pure English, and to retain the best form of expression, is a noble accomplishment. Some ministers wield a greater influence by their conversa- tion than by their preaching ; for they are some other per- sons in preaching, but in conversation they are themselves. While, then, avoiding pedantry and stifi' precision, let one strive to use the purest and most select English in all that he says. Let him make sparing use of contractions. Let him not allow a low or slang word to slip out ; for the ex- pressions one is accustomed to use in conversation will surely show themselves in the pulpit, especially in extemporaneous discourse. A refined man is shown in his conversation more quickly than in any other way. Burnet, in the History of his own Times, says of Leighton, "In a free and frequent conversation with him for twenty-two years I never heard him utter an idle word, or a Avord that had not a direct ten- dency to edification." (2.) By close familiaritywith a few of the p\irest English authors. Let one study the style of Herbert's prose, of Goldsmith^ De Foe, Izaak Walton, Thomas Hooker, Robert SoutJiey, Wordswoi'th, Washington Irving, and William Prescott; and the reverse is also true, viz., a cautious read- ing (so far as regards their style) of authors of doubtful purity, such as Carlyle and Coleridge's prose. (3.) By the study of English lexicogra])hy . Of a good dictionary one might say, "Turn it day and night." (4. ) By the use of rhetorical criticism, not only of others, but of one's own. One should never use a doubtful word without examination ; let him try himself more unsparingly than any one else. If one would not wish to wear a dirty, ragged, and unbecoming coat in the public street, why should he not take pains to make his words fit his thoughts neatly, and set them off fairly, so that his mind may make its best appearance in public ? 310 PREACHING. (5.) By the critical study of ancient classic models. We must go to the Greek for form, as we do to the Latin for dignity of style. Were there room, we would quote on this point the whole of a remarkable letter of Lord Brougham to Zachary Macaulay, giving him advice in regard to the rhetorical training of his son, Thomas Babington, bearing date, "Newcastle, March 10, 1823;" but we must content ourselves with a few ol" the closing paragraphs : " If he would be a great orator, he must go at once to the foun- tain head, and be familiar with every one of the great ora- tions of Demosthenes. I take for granted that he knows those of Cicero by heart ; they are very beautiful, but not very useful, except, perhaps, the Pro Milone, Pro Ligario, and one or two more ; but the Greek must positively be the model; and merely reading it, as boys do, to know the lan- guage, won't do at all ; he must enter into the spirit of each speech, thoroughly know the positions of the parties, follow each turn of the argument, and make the absolutely perfect and most chaste and severe composition familiar to his mind. His taste will improve every time he reads and repeats to himself (for he should have the fine passages by heart) , and he will learn how much may be done by a skilful use of a few words, and a rigorous rejection of all superfluities. In this view I hold a familiar knowledge of Dante to be next to Demosthenes. It is in vain to say that imitations of these models won't do for our times. First, I do not coun- sel any imitation, but only an imbibing of the same spirit. Secondly, I know. from experience that nothing is half so successful in these times (bad though they be) as what has been formed on the Greek models. I use a very poor in- stance in giving my own experience ; but I do assure you that, both in courts of law and Parliament, and even to mobs, I have never made so much play (to use a very mod- ern phrase) as when I was almost translating from the Greek. I composed the peroration of my speech for the queen, in the Lords, after reading and repeating Demos- § 25. STYLE. 311 thenes for three or four weeks ; and I composed it twenty times over, at least; and it certainly succeeded, in a very extraordinary degree, and far above any merits of its own. This leads me to remark that though speaking, with writing beforehand, is very well until the habit of easy speech is acquired, yet after that he can never write too much ; this is quite clear. It is laborious, no doubt, and it is more difficult, beyond comparison, than speaking off-hand ; but it is necessary to perfect oratory, and, at any rate, it is necessary to acquire the habit of correct diction. But I go farther, and say, even to the end of a man's life he must prepare, word for word, most of his finer passages. Now, would he be a great orator, or no ? In other words, would he have almost absolute power of doing good to mankind, in a free country, or no? So he wills this, he must follow these rules." 2. Propriety. This is so nearly related to purity on the one hand, and to precision on the other, that we need not dwell upon it. Propriety is the emjployment of words accord- ing to the best usage, in a becoming way, and not in some false and unusual manner. Dean Swift's definition of style is one chiefly of this quality of propriety, viz., "the right words in the right places." Bruj'ere, quoted by Vinet, says, "Among all the different expressions which may ren- der one and the same thought, only one is good ; we do not always fkll in with it in speaking or in writing. It never- theless exists, and every other except that is feeble ; and a man of mind, who wishes to be understood, can be satisfied only with that." ^ The just expression is the forcible one ; it is the expression that exactly fits the idea, whereas no other expression does exactly suit the idea. An impropri- ety of style is committed, not only when good English words, or words proper enough in themselves, do not make good sense, because they are employed out of place, or in ' Homiletics, p. 378. 312 PREACHING. t some unusual manner ; but even when they are used loosely, carelessly, confusedly, and, as has been said, so as to leave some gap between the expression and the thought. Some- times the strikingly improper use of a single word or phrase destroys much of the force of a good sermon. The best writers are distinguished for their thoughtful yet easy pro- priety of language, their aptness or fitness of expression. Their thought and language are identical. You feel, in read- ing or hearing them, that the idea makes just its proper impression ; that they do not strike wide of the mark, but hit the centre. 3. Precision. Precision in style, as applied to the lan- guage of a discourse, is that quality by which the writer's idea is exactly expressed — no more and no less : as applied to the subject of a discourse, it is that quality which pre- vents one from saying anything superfluous, or not saying enough entirely to convey the idea. Propriety is fitness of language ; precision is exactness of language. Precision requires that the thought be accurately expressed ; that it be completely brought out, but without unnecessary words, without slovenliness of expression. It is an important qual- ity in giving strength and rapid movement to style. It may be violated, — (a.) By a want of nice perception in the essential differ- ences of words. As there are a great many words nearly similar, but not the same, the precise writer is shown by his clearly marking those shades of diflference ; as in the terms "atonement" and "redemption," "regeneration" and "con- version," "mercy" and "grace," "charity" and "benevo- lence," "soul" and "spirit," "immortality" and "eternal life." (6.) By a deficiency of words. We may use too few as well as too many words for precision ; and this is an especial source of obscurity in writers who use a condensed style. We must sometimes repeat words, to be accurate. The omis- sion of words needed to complete a sentence is a common § 25. STYLE. 313 fault, the writers thinking that their meaning is sufficiently clear; as, "His was the tongue to speak, his the arm." "Precision" means "cutting around," or "cutting before" — "making accurate limits;" and while it tends to concise- ness, it is still not precisely conciseness, which is rather "cutting short," or " cutting off." "Conciseness," says Vinet, " is distinguished by an economy of words greater than the object of precision requires ; for precision only suppresses what is decidedly superfluous, and would spare the mind a fatigue, that which springs from the necessity which an author puts upon us of condensing the thought, or reducing it to a few elements. Conciseness, stopping short of what is necessary to complete expression, is not designed, doubt- less, to fatigue the mind, but it gives it labor, and thus it enters into the category of those procedures or figures of which we have before spoken. It is an ellipsis, not of words, but of thoughts. Taking it as a figure, or, at least, as a particular force of style, it can hardly constitute the form of an entire composition, especially that of a sermon. It is too apt to produce obscurity ; it approaches to affecta- tion and the epigrammatic style. It is often but the false semblance of precision, and nothing is easier than to have at the same time much conciseness and very little precision ; for it is possible to be at the same time parsimonious and prodigal, and, with all this affectation of strictness, to leave only vague ideas in the mind of the reader or hearer." * (c. ) By a verbal diffuseness. Precision is also sometimes lost in too great expansion, as well as condensation, of style. Where too many words are used, when the texture of the style wants fibre, when it is loose and diffuse, the lan- guage is no longer an instrument of expressing accurate thought. Writers who have an easy command of words, a native facility of expression, are greatly tempted to accu- mulate words about the thought, so as to hide or overload ' Homiletics, p. 382. 27 314 PREACHING. it. Even so brilliant a writer as De Quincey errs iu this way. Such a style is especially faulty in a sermon. What may be called a learned diffuseness, entering wearisomely into the exposition of what may be, after all, secondary matters, — is particularly out of place in a discourse that is to operate directly pn the conscience and the will. Pre- cision of style is especially opposed to needless repetitions, pleonasms, and expressions that add nothing to the thought. There may be, at times, a certain rhetorical redundancy which is the genuine expression of eloquent feeling, a heap- ing up of epithets in the warmth of onward discourse, which looks like careless profusion ; but there should not be pro- lixity. An idea should not lose itself in a vague sea of words. There cannot be much expansion in earnest ora- tory ; it must sweep on to the end. Perhaps there is no one thing in which young writers, and we may say preach- ers, so often fail as in condensation. (cZ.) By disregarding the distinction between the literal and the figurative use of ivords. The accurate use of religious and theological terms which are founded upon figures of speech, and of the metaphorical etymology of important words, such as "righteousness," "depravity," "virtue," "holiness," &c., would be desirable; and gen- erally the figurative language of Scripture should be used with accuracy. This language has a meaning, and often a more intense meaning than literal language can express ; and it may be so profoundly true that common language breaks down with the weicrht of the thought or the truth to be conveyed, and it seeks the figurative form, the wings of the imagination, to bear it up. Nevertheless, figurative language, even if it occurs in Scripture, should not be used as if it were the language of prosaic literaluess, or cold, logical statement. (e.) By want of precision of thought. This is, doubtless, the chief source of want of precision of style. Vague ex- pression often gets the credit of profound thought; but § 25. STYLE. 315 more often it is vague because the thinking is not accurate nor profound. There is a great temptation for a writer or speaker to express a half idea before he has thought it through, or detached it cleanly from all other ideas. Loose thinking and loose writing go together. Let us now look at some of the benefits of precision of style. It conduces to the vigor of our mental habits ; it promotes cleanness and clearness of thought ; every idea is thoughtfully separated from every other idea ; nothing ex- traneous is left clinging to it ; the style acquires almost the force and condensation of proverbs. We see this sometimes in Coleridge, notwithstanding |his marked faults of style in other respects. "Men should be weighed, not counted." "The most deceitful are the most suspectful." Such pre- cise, weighty phrases now and then occur between his long and obscure sentences, like lumps of shining gold. There is nothing that the popular mind so delights in as in this quality of precision, for it sees in the speaker a power which it does not itself possess. Precision, too, marks the difference between a true and a spurious style. A true style has genuine ideas, and expresses them so that they cannot be misunderstood ; whereas a mock style has no true ideas, and makes up the deficiency in vague and grandiloquent phrases. In religious discourse this is par- ticularly hurtful. Better have the simplest and most com- mon thoughts, clearly expressed, than what Carlyle calls "phosphorescent punk and nothingness." Precision is pecu- liarly the style of science, but it need not for that reason be a learned, nor, above all, a pedantic, style. The means of acquiring precision of style are, briefly, (1.) Think precisely. Bishop Butler, in the preface to his Sermons, says, " Confusion and perplexity are, in writing, indeed without excuse, because any one may, if he pleases, know whether he understands or sees through what he is about ; and it is unpardonable in a man to lay his thoughts before others when he is conscious' that he himself does not 316 PBEACHING. know whereabouts he is, or how the matter before hhn stands. It is coming abroad in disorder, which he ought to be dissatisfied to find himself in at home.-' Before writing, one should know exactly what he intends to say. (2.) Think on abstruse subjects. Now and then the metal of the mind should be tried on the most difficult themes ; and one should not always choose easy themes, or treat any theme easily. (^3.) Make use of precise language in ordinary conversation and writing. We may experience a sense of great poverty of language at first ; but language is a special study, and the constant use of a good book of synonymes may aid us. (4.) Study the style of Bishop Hall, Lord Jeffrey, Arch- bishop Whately, and, in many respects, Robert South, who used language accurately, and made close discriminations, except when in a passion. Precision of style should not degenerate into stifi'ness or pedantry, and thus spoil the ease and flow of nature. Harms, quoted by Tholuck, says, "Let the preacher speak negligently and incorrectly." It is better to do even that than to lose all life and freedom in an over-fastidious atten- tion to precise correctness of language ; so that, perhaps, what Cicero calls " a diligent negligence " — one which unites correctness with freedom — will best describe the true style. 4. Perspicuity. This is " something which can be looked through" like glass ; it is that quality which enables the hearer to comprehend at once, to see through, the idea intended to be conveyed. Its opposite is obscureness. It is considered by Vinet to be the first quality of style — an opinion founded on the words of Quintilian, ^^JSTobis prima sit virtus perspi- cuitas." Perspicuity may be violated, — (1.) In relation to the idea itself. It may not be a true, a rational idea, although at first sight seeming to be one ; or it may be a true idea obscurely exj)ressed ; or it may be a truly profound idea, difficult to be expressed and compre- § 25. STYLE. 317 bended, from its real depth. It has been pronounced the greatest effort of genius to make abstract ideas plain. The preacher should not strive to be so plain as to become m- sipid ; and there is often obscurity in the truth itself, for mystery is a source of power. A stream may be very clear and very shallow. Thus it is that the preacher of the infi- nite truths of the gospel cannot always make himself under- stood by every one in his congregation, though that cer- tainly should be his aim. He should study his congregation in that respect, and should strive to put himself in the place of his hearer. His style should be "just high enough to raise his audience, and just low enough to reach them." (2.) In relation to the language in which the idea ts con- veyed. This refers especially to the distinction between figurative and literal language, the neglect of which, as has been suggested in another relation, is one of the most fruit- ful sources of obscurity. True imagery, discreetly em- ployed, may be made the means of clearness of style, for the imagination is an illumining power, and the ability to use appropriate imagery in the pulpit is often the ability to flash light into the obscurest depths of a theme. It is the imaginSion playing in upon the argument, or the imagina- tion" coming with her torch to help the reason in the search for truth ; °but the imagination may, through a confusion of images, destroy perspicuity. It breaks, as it were, the mirror at which we look, into many fragments, giving back only confusing reflections. The means of attaining perspicuity of style are, — (a.) A careful attention to the use of single words. 1. Connectives. The words which form the mechanical structure of a sentence should be short, plain words. The proper use of adverbs and pronouns, in relation to the words they agree with, is to be carefully attended to ; for little words contribute more to perspicuity than the larger ; they are, as it were, the pins and joints which bind 27* 318 PREACHING. a sentence together, or on which it turns and moves. Here care should be bestowed. 2. Words with a plurality of meanings. These should be nsed only in such connections as to exclude all but the meaning intended.^ Such words as "assumption," "broad," "sense," "turn," "well," "flat," "ravel," "mean," "particular," "scale," and hundreds of others that might be mentioned, which have two or more senses, should be so used as to avoid ambiguous meanings. In like manner the same word should not be nsed at a short interval of separation in diSerent senses. And, as coming nnder the same general principle, words should be used in their most common and best-understood senses. Here the principle of propriety or fitness in the use of language aids perspicuity. (b.) Attention to the relations of qualifying phrases to each other. When carelessly collocated, or too widely sep- arated, the most absurd meanings are oftentimes produced. (c.) The avoiding, as much as possible, of the extremes of ellipsis and parenthesis. All involved sentences, though not all long sentences, are to be avoided, if we would seek perspicuity. (cZ.) Care not to change the construction of the sentence too abruptly, so as to lose sight of the subject or the object. This is a frequent cause of ambiguity. Especially in making comparisons and antitheses, one should avoid the use of dis- similar constructions in setting forth agreements and differ- ences.^ A well-balanced comparison conduces to perspicu- ity of style. (e.) Attention to the harmonious construction of sen- tences. (See remarks of Bulwer Lytton, in his Caxtonia, Essay Vni., on "Rhythm in Prose, as conducive to Pre- cision and Clearness.") (y. ) The avoiding of too learned and scientific phrase- ology. Were every sermon a concio ad clerum, this might ' Bain's Ehetoric. * Idem. § 25. STYLE. 319 be a merit of style, because it would be addressed to an audience that could understand it; it would be to them perspicuous ; but the preacher who talks too much of "moral necessity," "cognitive faculties," "volition," "objective" and "subjective," and the like, does not preach like Him who, even in his parables, wherein he purposely hid the truth from the unspiritual, used simple language. We should indeed be thought lunatics, should we preach like the open- ing sentence of Dr. Thomas Browne's Essay on Christian Morals : " Tread softly and circumspectly in this funambu- latory track and narrow path of goodness ; pursue virtue virtuously ; leaven not good actions, nor render virtues dis- putable. Stain not fair acts with foul intentions ; maim not uprightness by halting concomitances, nor circumstantially deprave substantial goodness." The writings of Hume, Dr. Emmons, and ArchhisJiop Whately are good models of perspicuity ; and of a certain beautiful lucidness of style, of what the French call dartS, which the imagination makes by bodying forth its ideas m forms that shine in noonday light, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Prog- ress is an eminent illustration. 5. Energy. This is sometimes called "strength," some- times "force," sometimes "effect," sometimes "nerve," and sometimes "vividness" of style; but the old Aristotelian word ^Eviq-i^a exprcsscs it best. It is, without doubt, the most important quality of style, without which all the others are of little account. If the preacher of God's salvation shows no energy in his speech, he had better hold the plough or stand behind the counter all his life. Energy is that quality which gives a sense of power m the speaker and in the truth which he speaks, and thus forces attention to the subject in hand, and stmnps it upon the mind of the hearer. The great source of energy of style is energy of feeling and energy of thought. Strong thought makes a strong style. Energy is, above all, a subjective quality. 320 PREACHING. It is the product of a vigorous and well-trained mind. And the state of the mind at the time of writing is an important consideration — the interest felt in the subject, the vivid conception of the theme, and the strength of purpose and of aim. As we have said, strong thought will make a strong style. A trumpet blast cannot come out of a reed, even though, as Pascal says, it is "a reed that thinks." There must be the energy of soul before energy of expres- sion. Yet, although there must be this original force of mind for great energy of style, there are certain legitimate rhetorical helps to the production of that great and noble quality. The means of attaining energy of style may be divided into two: 1. The fit use of words. 2. The figurative use of tvords. 1. The fit use of ivords. Generally speaking, this is an observance of all the other properties of language and style which have been mentioned, fusing them together by the heat and power of a strong purpose ; but, more defini- tively, it consists of three particulars — the hindi number, and arrangement of words in sentences. ( 1 . ) Kind or choice of words. (a.) The use of short Saxon words. The energy of Car- lyle's style arises chiefly from his use of rugged Saxon words, some of them so old as to be new. Macaulay also often exemplifies this : " You must dig deep if you would build high." Herbert Spencer, in his Essay on Style, has some interesting remarks on the use of Saxon words, as economizing strength and time, thus adding force, or, as his expression is, "economizing the recipient's attention." In fact, the great source of povver in style, according to Spen- cer, is economy of words. (Essays, pp. 12-15.) (p.) The use of specific instead of generic words. The latter may be often necessary, but the former give vivid- ness. Dr. Campbell says, "The more general the terms are, the picture is fainter ; the more special they are, the § 25. STYLE. 321 brighter." "Konie fell" is more forcible than "The Roraau empire came to an end." "The beauty that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome," might be generalized and weakened. The use of specific instead of abstract words saves the hearer the delay of thinking what the abstract term signifies, and thus conduces to rapidity and energy of impression. As a general maxim of style, therefore, concrete words are better than abstract. (c.) The use of words whose sound corresponds to their sense, thus giving a more vivid force, and helpiag the hearer to catch the thought through the sense as well as through the reason. (d.) The use of common and natural, instead of techni- cal, words. The theological style contains stereotyped words and phrases which diminish energy and promote dulness, because they sound too familiar to some persons and too abstruse to others. Religious ideas, ideas clothed in fi'esh, simple, and natural words, seem like new truth, and have great power and attraction for the popular mind. Any sug- gestion of the artificial indicates weakness. Thus too much antithesis tends to produce a cold style. You hear the first statement, which is put into an antithetic fo^m, and you wait in a critical state of mind to hear the corresponding sentence. It is a purely intellectual process. Macaulay's style may dazzle the mind, but it does not often touch the heart ; for men are jealous of the appearance of art. (2.) The number of words. It is a general principle that brevity gives strength. "/S'i gravis, brevis." The utmost conciseness consistent with clearness promotes energy. Too many connectives, exple- tives, and qualificatives weaken style ; those are better fitted for a descriptive than an oratorical style. "The orator," says Quintilian, " cannot use goldsmith's scales." ^ ' See a suggestive passage in Sir E. Bulwer Lytton's Caxtonia, p. 94, on the proper style for the orator, in contradistinction from that of the writer or essayist. The remarks will apply with increased force to the pulpit orator. 322 PREACHING. To have, or to seem to have, a fine command of language — "a flow of words" — is the temptation of young writers ; but after a thought is once suflSciently expressed, everything added weakens the sentence, though there may be a little more of diffuseness allowed in oral than in written language. Conciseness is viohited by all tautological and circumlocu- tory phrases. Sentences should be recast, until those enfee- bling redundancies disappear. And the same may be said in regard to thoughts. " In the choice of competent ideas, or in the choice of expressions, the aim must be to convey the greatest amount of thoughts with the smallest quantity of words." ^ (3.) The arrangement of words. This is an important point in respect of energy of style. The Greek and Latin languages, through the variety of their inflections, are remarkable for the energy attained by the simple arrangement of words in sentences. That is often a key to their significance. The forcible arrangement of a sentence is promoted, — («.) By a regard to the preservation of its unity. How- ever manifold the form of the parts, there should be no doubt, from. the clear arrangement of the sentence, what is the main idea, what is the unifying thought. That is not to be broken up; for "nothing broken," it has been well said, "can be projected with the force of a whole body." (6.) By the periodic structure of the sentence. A peri- odic structure is one in which the important thought or word of the sentence is reserved for its close. It is opposed to a loose construction, in which the sentence ends in a straggling way, or with one or more dependent clauses. Whately's definition of a periodic sentence is, "A period is a complex sentence in which the meaning remains suspended till the whole is finished." The idea is, that the sentence should end with a blow which clinches the whole, and binds it forcibly together. That is conducive, also, to the clear > Herbert Spencer's Essays, p. 35. § 25. STYLE. 323 and forcible delivery of a sentence, leaving nothing frag- mentary, nothing to be gathered up by the voice ; it is, in homely phrase, pulling up with little or no decrease of mo- mentum. Sometimes a sentence may be made to have a periodic structure by simply reversing the order of its clauses. As a general rule, the weakest words and clauses should come in the middle, the strongest at the begin- ning, but, above all, at the close. The general statement should precede the particular, the less striking that which is more so, the less concentrated and intense that which is more so. On this subject of the arrangement of words in a sentence, and of thoughts in style, see Herbert Spencer's Essay, p. 16. (c.) By the use of a direct mode of expression. In a direct style, the adjective comes before the substantive, the predicate before the subject, the qualificative before the qualified part of the sentence. Oratory should go straight to the point. It demands the avoidance of a form of sen- tence where the mind is held long in suspense. It is better to break up the thought into short sentences, and to ap- proach the meaning by a series of approximations. Where there is, however, in one sentence, a great number of pre- liminaries to be attended to before the main subject or idea is arrived at, or when the sentence is quite complex, one should judiciously mingle the two, bringing in the main idea before the close of the sentence, but yet after the mention of several preliminaries. This is mingling the direct and indirect styles. In oratory, one should not fetigue attention, or strain the mind of the hearer to too great an effort to catch the meaning of the speaker. The thought and the expression should be as near together and as direct as possible ; for oratory does not allow tediously circuitous phrases, but is bold, direct, impetuous, massive, brief. (cZ.) By a judicious use of antithesis. Tacitus among the ancients, and Macaulay among modern writers, are mas- 324 PREACHING. ters of antithesis. The antithetical arrangement of a sen- tence gives a more vivid view of the subjects contrasted. It shows difierent sides, and they reflect light on one an- other. The relaxed attention in regard to one side of the antithesis gives the mind renewed power to view and appre- ciate the other side.* There may be an affected antithesis, which, with all its brilliancy, soon palls, as in most of the modern French writers. In fact, variety in writing, alter- nations of light and shade, new combinations of words, contrasted ideas, the picturesque and bold breaking up of sentences, and all means of averting dulness and monot- ony, increase the force of style. Surprise is an element of strength as well as beauty. (e.) By the use of the climax. Sentences should not decrease in strength, although sometimes a long paragraph may have a softening or a letting down toward the close ; but in a categorical succession, the strongest word and the strongest thought should come last. Yet sometimes a primi- tive force is added to an old word that has lost its original value, by using it climactically ; as in a sentence of Daniel Webster's address on Washington : " He was a great, a good, a resjpectable man." Nature itself dictates the climax ; the storm gradually rises to its full strength. Cicero among the ancients, liobert Hall among the moderns, make a fine use of the climax. By too frequent and uniform a use of the climax, however, the style loses power ; and it is only at considerable intervals that the fullest effect of the climax can be realized. 2. By the imaginative or uncommon use of ivords. We have discussed the fit use of words ; we will now glance at the imaginative use of words, for the promotion of strength of style. The use of figurative language, we have seen, may often increase perspicuity ; its judicious use may even in a greater degree promote energy of style, by taking ' Vinet's Homiletics, p. 390. § 25. STYLE. 325 words and thoughts out of their common, plain, and logical forms, and holding them up in the living aspects which the imagination imparts to them. The imagination is awaked by feeling. Its presence, therefore, when natural and free, implies a certain living energy ; it fills words with a new sense. Imaginative energy of language, rhetorically con- sidered, may express itself, — (1.) In' the trope. A trope is when there is some unmis- takable resemblance between the thing and what it signifies ; as " sword " for " war." There is no mistaking the essential identity of the two. Resemblance is, indeed, the general principle which runs through and governs all figurative lan- guage. The trope is the simplest kind of figure. Many single words, thus used tropically at first, have lost their figurative sense, and thereby their first energy; but such tropical words as " firmament," " imagination," " melancholy," "express," "detect," "bridles" (as a verb), "fine-spun," "rivet" (as a verb), "insult" (to leap on a fallen foe), were very forcible at first. Words may be also used figu- ratively in a less direct and simple sense, as in sj'necdoche and metonymy, by which often great eflfectiveness is pro- duced. They help to give a rapid, picturesque, distinct impression, bringing in the eye, the sense, to aid the under- standing, and thus economizing time. (2.) In the metapho7\ A metaphor is where there is a resemblance or similarity in some relation rather than prop-, erty, which presents to the mind something analogous be- tween the object signified and that which is expressed ; as in the common phrase, "a mountain wave." Whately prefers, as a general rule, the use of the metaphor to that of the "simile" in oratory, because it has greater brevity, and, moreover; it permits the hearer to make out the resemblance for himself, Avhich is pleasing, and, at the same time, it aids rapidity. His words are, " All men are more gratified at catching the resemblance for themselves than in having it pointed out to them." If tliis is true, the metaphor should 28 326 PREACHING. not be too dark or obscure, and it should be something natu- rally and immediately suggested. (3.) In the simile, allegory, personification, &c. The simile, unlike the metaphor, makes the object represented the principal thing for the time being ; it makes it stand out in its full proportions ; it draws the resemblance out into all its minute details of analogy or identity. It is a more elabo- rate figure than the metaphor, and it is needed when the com- parison is one that necessarily has many parts, and cannot, therefore, be immediately suggested to the mind. As to the order in which the language of metaphor and simile should be introduced for the highest effect, these figures should gen- erally precede the thing illustrated by them.^ The figure should come before the introduction of the idea which is set forth by it. By its light first kindled, the object is thus brought out more vividly, which is the almost invariable order in the Scriptures, in the figurative language of Prov- erbs, the elaborate types and illustrations of the prophecies, and, above all, in the parables of our Lord, "^s the cold of snow in the tiine of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him; for he refresheth the soul of his master." How much this would lose, if the order were reversed, to read, "A faithful messenger refresheth the soul of his master, as the cold of snow in the time of harvest " ! In the order of the last sentence, the attention becomes partly interested in the thought itself of the refreshment of a faithful 'mes- senger to the soul ; but it is a duller attention or interest than if the thought should come after the striking simile or metaphor that has just awakened an interest in it. But we cannot dwell upon these familiar rhetorical dis- tinctions, or upon the novel uses which imagination makes of language ; suflice it that the imagination throws new life into language ; it brings distant objects face to face ; it searches out hidden resemblances ; it makes the past and ' Herbert Spencer'l Essays, p. 32. § 25. STYLE. 327 the future stand before the mind as a present reality. Dr. Chalmers' imagination was shown not so much in the use of figures as in this general vivification of his style. In his illustrations he made use of the simile rather than the metaphor, and his illustrations were generally drawn from nature, or the natural sciences. There is a noble and ex- tended simile given in Hauua's Life of Chalmers, vol. iii., p. 299. The simile, also, at the close of the sermon, "On the expulsive Power of a new Affection," is very beautiful. The entire absence of all figurative energy of style is a marked defect. The imagination clothes the dry bones of thought with flesh and blood. It is one great source of invention, and of that freshness which is so great a beauty, arid which generally makes the difference between the dry and the interesting speaker. "The Protestant pulpit has too much neglected imagery in style ; it has been iconoclas- tic in this, as in everything. It has not, attempted a flowery style, the most contemptible of all ; it has tried to set forth thought, which is not superfluous for any, but is, above all, useful to the least instructed. But images of speech fasten the idea in the memory by a golden nail. These must not be confounded with the loose and fallacious analogies of cer- tain preachers who make a reason of a comparison." ^ The imagination should supply an inward refining, purifying, organizing, spiritualizing light and heat, rather than be sufiered to break out into too many startling figures of speech. The style of Demosthenes had little of the figura- tive, but much of this idealizing power of the imagination. Above all, in speaking, the figurative use of language should not degenerate into the poetical style of writing. Robert Hall said, "I am tormented with the desire of preaching better than I can. I like to see a pretty child or pretty flower, but in a sermon prettiness is out of place. To my ear it would be anything but commendation, should it be ' Histoire de la Predication parmi les Eeformes, p. 121. 328 PREACHING. said to me, 'You have given a pretty sermon.' If I were upon trial for my life, and ray advocate should amuse the jury with his tropes and figures, burying his argument be- neath a profusion of the flowers of rhetoric, I would say to him, 'Tut, man, you care more for your vanity than for my hanging. Put yourself in my place ; speak in view of the gallows, and you will tell your story plainly and earnestly.' I have no objection to a lady's winding a sword with ribbons and studding it with roses when she presents it to her lover ; but in the day of battle he will tear away the ornaments, and use the naked edge to the enemy." If one does use figures, let them be, 1. One's own, and fresh. 2. JSfot far-fetched. 3. Common, but not trite or vulgar. 4. Strong, chaste, manly, natural, not fine and elaborate; they should not be drawn from anything artifi- cial, like dress or upholstery.^ 5. Suited to the nature of the subject. 6. One. figure to one subject, and not the mix- ture of two or more figures in the same sentence, or very near together. Nature and the natural sciences afibrd the richest field for illustrations. It would be indeed desirable to have more /of the fresh influences of nature in our arid sermons, more of the breath of blossoming clover fields, more of the rus- ; tling of autumn corn, more of cheery, blessed sunshine, of / singing of birds, even of the dash of the stormy sea, lifting up its hoarse anthem. This would be, we believe, true praise to Christ, by and through whom all these glorious things were made, and who, when he walked the earth, • communed with God in nature as well as in spirit. As a general rule, young writers and preachers need not be urged to the use of figurative language, but rather, per- haps, restrained from it ; yet it is better to be in exuber- ance in a young writer than to be absent altogether ; for it may be trained into an element of strength. ' Quintilian's Instit., B. VIII., c. 3, s. 5. § 25. STYLE. 329 A word might be said upon pathos, which is a true though mild form of energy of style, and which is partly the product of the imagination, and partly of the feelings, and without which a sermon is often powerless. Modern preaching — hiofhlv intellectual and brilliant — too often lacks tenderness ; and perhaps it is true that " a high civilization supersedes the more primitive emotions." Pathos springs from tender feeling, or from a suggestion that awakes tender feeling. It is produced by bringing up objects that excite our com- passion, pity, love — that touch the springs of feeling. The theorj^ of a modern essayist is an interesting one — that some touch of the past which imagination brings up is always needed for pathos ; some comparison between former happiness and present pain. The office of pathos is cer- tainly to overpower the degrading sense of petty personal cares and of present momentary annoyances, with the blend- ing of thoughts of greater power and depth. Something of the irrevocable — of loss which cannot be restored — enters into all pathos, and sets the sorrows and vexations of the hour at their right level ; and even a slight severance, if it be forever, — when it is said of a little rivulet, "No more by thee my steps shall be, Forever and forever," — that is enough for pathos. The smallest act performed for the last time awakes the pathetic sense. ^ Pathos, whether treating of the past or the present, is a sudden and timely utterance, which gives vent to the feelings, and a relief to sad thoughts ; and tears, if they spring from an inner foun- tain, sometimes refresh and do good to a hardened heart. This power can be cultivated in the preacher only by keep- ing his own heart open, his sympathies warm and free ; by not suffering the emotional part of his nature to be frozen up by the keen, cold breath of the intellect, or by the hard ' Essays on Social Subjects, from Saturday Review. 28* 330 PREACHING. realities of life. Scotch preachers, rugged as their style often is, are pathetic preachers, because their hearts are warm. Pathos always speaks in simple language — the language of nature and of children ; a natural metaphor, a homely illustration, a story related in the plainest Avay, is enough often to touch the deep spring of feeling in the heart. The greatest natures have generally the most power of pathos. Luther's illustration of faith by the little bird singing on the spray, under the great arch of heaven, Avith- out care, because his heavenly Father feedeth him, is but a reproduction of the affecting beauty of our Saviour's own words. The pathetic may not be often drawn upon, cer- tainly not in one sermon, or there is thus a waste of feeling, and a greater difficulty in its reproduction ; and it hardly need be added, the attempt at pathos, -where it is not genu- ine, is ever a failure, and deserves to be. In concluding these comments upon energy of style, we would say, that after the best rules have been given, there is something deeper still in the man himself; and energy is no factitious acquirement, but is the result of the action of all the powers of the nature set in motion by what Dr. Brown would call that tI deQf.i6v — that "fiery particle" — that original energy of soul which is beyond and beneath all. Pericles, chiefly from this quality, was called "the Olympian." His general style is described by critics as harsh and abrupt, "seeming like one who dealt thunderbolts from the clouds." Thucydides says of him, "He controlled the multitude with an independent spirit, and was not led by them so much as himself led them; for he did not say anything to humor them, but was able, by the strength of his character, to con- tradict them, even at the risk of their displeasure. When- ever, for instance, he perceived them unreasonable, or inso- lently confident, by his language he would dash them down to alarm ; and, on the other hand, when they were unrea- sonably alarmed, he would raise them again to confidence." Thus his force was in himself, rather than in what he said. § 25. STYLE. 331 His celebrated "funeral oration" is, however, from the nature of the theme, more free from this abruptness than his other addresses to the people, and has more of order and unity. Energy in a speaker comes from a strong will, acting on a strong intellect, when both of them are moved by a strong emotion. "No man can be a great preacher without great feeling." ^ All comes at last to this : — "Gefahlistalles.'"* It is said of John "Wesley, a man of iron self-control ; of calm, even cold, temperament ; that sometimes, in preach- ing, his heart was mightily stirred, and then the myriads before him felt a power that bowed them. He says of him- self, on one occasion, "In the midst of a mob I called for a chair ; the sounds were hushed, and all was calm and still ; my heart was filled with love, my eyes with tears, and my mouth with arguments. They were amazed, they were ashamed, they were melted down, they devoured every word."^ But how is this profound spiritual emotion excited ? We answer, by some real belief, some strong and all-absorbing realization of the object under discussion, and which makes it a living truth to the mind. Therefore, for one to be au energetic preacher, he must be a man of strong faith — of faith which fills him and moves him more than any present object of mind or sense. Confidence in the truth awakens energy, passion, imagination, all the great forces of the soul. The love of Christ, the intense realization of the truth of the cross, of the work of redeeming love which Christ wrought by his sufierings and death for the world, and the need which every man has of this salvation of the cross, gave Paul his energy. That constrained him to speak and to act. Zeal for the righteousness of God, and wrath against those who pervert the truth, inspired Luther with energy, ' Alexander on Preaching, p. 32. ^ Faust. ^ Stevens, History of Methodism, v. ii., p. 383. 332 PREACHING. "Luther used to assign a veiy characteristic and unique cause for the effectiveness of his sermons and writing. I have no better work, he said, than anger (^zorn) and zeal ; for if I wish to compose, or write, or pray, or preach well, I must be angry (zornig). Then all the blood in my veins is stirred, my understanding is sharpened, and all dismal thoughts and temptations are dissipated. No doubt a noble moral indignation this, against all meanness and evil. But even what we usually call temper often gives great energy. Swift's rage was malignant; Luther's, noble. Something personal — even literary egotism, as in Gibbon, or some individuality, as in Hawthorne — promotes energy of style. "^ Baxter said he preached as " a dying man to dying men ; " but there was probably no sign of dying or failing strength in such preaching. It was full of life and power. He was possessed by the truth, and that made him powerful. What a preacher South would have been if he had had the spirituality and Christ-like earnestness of Baxter ! Sau- rin was a preacher of great energy of style. He abounds in interrogations, in passionate address, in bold and fiery passages that seem to flame out of his heart. Dr. Beecher's style was a noble example of energy ; this is illustrated in his famous temperance sermons. After all that has been said, let it not be supposed that any mere rhetorical art can produce real energy of style — above all, in the preacher. To hold the truth, as the truth holds us, in entire and all-absorbing mastery — this alone will make us strong preachers. Earnestness is the soul of eloquence. He who feels makes others feel. The man who so loves freedom that he is willing to give his life for it, is the man to speak for the cause of freedom with power. He casts rhetoricians behind his back. The preacher who is filled with the sense of the eternal truths which he preaches, so that they are as real to him as his life, and infinitely more ^ London Spectator, October 26. § 25. STYLE. 333 important — he is the man to reason of righteousness and judgment to come. He who, though not seeing, yet believes in the unseen Christ, who loves him more than any other object — he is the one to speak of the love of Christ, so that the rocky heart shall melt. Faith, then, is the chief source of energy in the Christian preacher. He who speaks because he believes, will not deal in weak arguments or flowers of rhetoric. He has something more earnest than that. The great want of modern preaching is not want of knowledge, but want of Jire.^ John Bunyan said, "It pleased me nothing to see people drink in opinions, if they seemed ignorant of Jesus Christ and the worth of their own salvation." ^ That feeling fired his preaching, and gave it its intense individualizing and awakening power. 6. Elegance. Elegance of style is that quality hy which thought i» expressed in a way that appeals to good taste. We have spoken of it incidentally under the head of the principle of Taste in Preaching. It seeks to realize the ideal of beauty, and its chief elements are propriety, right sentiment, and grace. It does not altogether lie in the language, but in the thought ; for it is the expression of a refined mind. Ele- gance is not inconsistent with energy of style, since the beauty of the works of nature often adds to, instead of taking from, their powers. It is a common remark that there is almost as much beautj^ as grandeur in Niagara. True elegance is dispensing with all that weakens style, with all false ornament, and everything contrary to good taste. Demosthenes' style was at once elegant and strong. The sources of elegance of style, and means of its attain- ment, are, — (1.) Fineness of p^erxeption. This, of course, is, for the 1 Alexander on Preaching. '' Philip's Life, p. 257. 334 PREACHING. most part, a native gift, but may be greatly developed and improved by culture. Such a delicate perception uncon- sciously avoids all thoughts and expressions that offend good taste. The highest degree of elegance comes from the severest mental culture. (2.) A careful avoiding of false ornament. It is an altogether false idea that elegance consists in ornament ; it may sometimes consist in avoiding it. It is, more truly speaking, ornament of the right kind and in the right place — the assemblage or union of things that harmonize. A Corinthian capital looks misplaced on a Doric column. " Whatever is improper cannot embellish." ^ Ornament "which is inexpressive and overloaded, which does not help, but encumbers, the thought, takes from elegance ; for no ornament is good which is not in some way useful. The ornamental drapery of nature, even to the smallest leaf, serves some genuine purpose. We meet in nature with no senseless or useless things. Everything contributes to some vital object. So, in style, ornament is not an end, but a means : it imparts force to this truth ; it brings that subject more into the light ; it softens the severity of that line of argumentation ; it clothes the nakedness of that bare fact. It is itself intended to suggest thought and to aid thought, not merely to attract and amuse, and by no means to take the place of more solid qualities of style. The elaborate work and ornament on a cannon may be admitted to relieve the stern character of the instrument ; but in war, the best ornament is to have the piece well polished and in good condition to send the ball. In any ornament we may employ, let us ask ourselves. Does this increase the effect of my sermon ? Does it aid the thought ? If not, reject it. There is no such curse to a writer as the desire oi fine writing. It clings to one worse than the robe of Nessus, and it must be given up at any sacrifice. And, lastly, in relation to ornament, let it always be remembered that there must ' Quintilian's Institutes, B. VIII., c. iii. § 25. STYLE. 335 be strensrth in order to sustain ornament ; there must be the brazen column to bear the carved work and adornment upon it. (3.) A careful choice of Jit words. (4.) Precise thinking. Precision is a great help to ele- gance of style, which delights in shai-jDly-cut and clearly- detined lines. There may be a certain sublimity in vague thqught, but elegance requires clear and distinct thought. (5.) Methodical arrangement. Of this faculty of method a modern writer |hus speaks: "The more we examine the higher orders of intellect, whether devoted to science, to art, or even to action, the more clearly we shall observe the presence of a faculty common to all such orders of intellect, because essential to completion in each — a faculty which seems so far intuitive or innate (ingeninm) , that, though study and practice perfect it, they do not suffice to bestow the faculty of grouping into order and symmetrical form ideas in themselves scattered and dissimilar. This is the faculty of method ; and though every one who possesses it is not necessarily a great man, j^et every great man must jjossess it in a very superior degree, whether he be a poet, a philosopher, a statesman, a general ; for every great man exhibits the talent of organization or construction, whether it be manifested in a poem, a philosophical system, a policy, or a strategy. And without method there is no organiza- tion or construction. But in art, method is less perceptible than in science, and, in familiar language, usually receives some other name. Nevertheless, we include the meaning when we speak of the composition of a pictuie, the arrange- ment of an oration, the plan of a poem. Art employs method for the symmetrical formation of beauty, as science employs it for logical exposition of truth ; but the mechan- ical process is, in the last, ever kept visibly distinct, while in the first it escapes from sight amid the shows of color and the curves of grace." ^ ' Caxtonia, p. 306. 336 PREACHING. (6.) Harmonious arrangement. The sentences should be such as flow easily from the tongue — such as are eupho- nious. The ear must aid the st^le. (7.) TJie study of beauty in nature and art. There is a caution to be observed in striving after ele- gance of style. Vinet remarks, in his Homiletics (p. 470), " The preacher, in order to be elegant, must have recourse to practice ; and another and much greater efibrt will be necessary not to appear so. Elegance which announces itself, elegance which shows itself, is unskilful and unhappy ; but chaste elegance is appropriate to the pulpit." Whately also has an admirable remark on this point (Rhetoric, Style, chap, iii., part iii.) : "The safest rule is, never, during the act of composition, to study elegance, or thkik about it at all. Let an author study the best models, mark their beau- ties of style, and dwell upon them, that he may insensibly catch the habit of expressing himself with elegance ; and when he has completed any composition, he may revise it, and cautiously alter any passage that is awkward and harsh, as well as those that are feeble and obscure ; but let him never, while tvriting, think of any beauties of style, but content himself with such as may occur spontaneousl3\ He should carefully study persjpicuity as he goes along ; he may also, though more cautiously, aim in like manner at energy; but if he is endeavoring after elegance, he will hardly fail to betray the endeavor ; and in proportion as he does this, he will be so far from giving pleasure to good judges that he will offend more than by the rudest simplicity." In these classifications of style which have been under discussion, we have spoken of each at the time as valuable ; but they are features of one style, variations of one chord ; for all the good qualities of style should appear in a man's speaking — all varieties of the thoughtful, the euphonious, the pure, the precise, the perspicuous, the energetic, the § 25. STYLE. 337 elegant, the plain, the direct, the profound — even as his needs and his feelings are. It is just this noble variety, this mastery of all the chords, which shows the true orator. The orator should indeed know all things ; but the preacher should have a wisdom from above. 29 THE PASTORAL OFFICE. (339) PART FIRST. THE PASTORAL OFFICE IN ITSELF CONSIDERED. § 26. The Pastoral Office founded in Mature. Pastoral Theology, technically speaking, is a branch of Practical Theology, and it includes all that the other branches do not teach, or all that remains to be taught in the education of the Christian minister. In other words, it strictly includes only tliose methods of pastoral labor and instruction which are employed outside of the study and of the pulpit. It has reference to all extra-pulpit ways and means-, all practical efforts and agencies, of extending the Christian faith, and of benefitting the souls of men. We shall, however, take a more comprehensive view than that of pastoral theology, and shall follow in part Vinet's plan, although differing from it in many important particulars ; indeed, while we would not have the presumption to attempt to make up Vinet's deficiencies, yet we would endeavor to adapt him, in many practical respects, to the w^ants and requirements of our American ministry ; for, in a country like ours, where the Christian faith has its freest and fullest development, and the separation of church and state is a real, not theoretical, reform, the Christian ministry has already taken on among us ia fairer and larger type than it has ever yet assumed, or can assume, amid the repressive influences of the Old World civilization. 29 * (311) 342 PASTORAL. OFFICE. Our method will be, from the discussion of the pastoral office itself, and its foundations in nature and Scripture, or the absolute view of the subject, to pass on to the actual embodiment of the office in the fit personal instrument ; and from that, to discuss the pastor's general relations to society and the world around him ; and from that, to come to his more special, profound, and enduring work in the cjire of souls, in the realm of spirit, and in the extension of Christ^s eternal kingdom. In treating of the natural foundations of the pastoral office, we would lay down the principle, — 1. That it is an axiom of true philosophy that "God makes his first and fundamental revelation in the constitu- tion of our own minds ; " that there is an innate faculty of thought and a moral consciousness in man, to which God appeals, by awakening in him the feeling of religious obli- gation and the desire of religious knowledge : for to know truth, and the highest truth, — that of God, — is the deepest want of the mind. There is, therefore, we reason, an a priori element in man's mind, ivJiich makes religious senti- ments and religious institutions fit and natural to him. No institution, we may safely affirm, which has continued for centuries, and which is of a universal character, and which, above all, is an institution divinely intended to continue to the end of time, can be without a foundation in nature ; there must be some universal natural want which it supplies, or some essential truth which it stands for ; there must be the subjective groundwork in the human heart, and in human nature, of the outward fact in society. 2. We would, then, affirm that there is this root, or basis, in nature itself, of the pastoral office; and we would en- deavor to prove this chiefly by four arguments : — (1.) As every universal want of liumanity, where there is a capacity to supply this want, creates an office, in like manner the most universal want of man — that of religion § 26. PASTORAL OFFICE FOUNDED IN NATURE. 343 — creates the office of religious instructor ; or perhaps, more strictly, we should say, is the iuevitablo occasion for the creation of this office. Thus the necessity of public order and safety, and of the limitation of individual liberty for the common good, originates the office of civil government. Some kind of government, more or less elaborate, exists in all communities, even the most degraded ; while in nations of more advanced civilization, certain men are devoted to the function of framing and administering the laws ; and the more exclusively they are devoted to this office, the better rulers they are. In the judicial department of gov- ernment, especially, we are apt to think men cannot be too rigorously occupied with their high calling. The more im- portant the government, and the vaster the interests at stake, the more entirely should rulers be absorbed in the duties of their office. As another illustration of this gen- eral principle, the natural demand for knowledge, and the capacity of the human mind to investigate and enjoy scien- tific truth, necessitate the existence of a class of public educators. The office of educator is a universal one. In the semi-civilized East, one may see Arab children sitting in a circle, under the shadow of some old Egyptian temple, undergoing instruction from a native pedagogue who does not know that the world goes round the sun ; but here is the exclusive and universal office of educator, as truly as if the man had been an instructor in natural science in any European university. These analogies might be multiplied. The world thus presents the spectacle of certain recognized and fixed offices among men, which have sprung from the general wants of humanity and the constitution of the mind ; and with how much greater force does this principle apply to the office of the Christian ministry, which is not to supply a changing but a fixed necessity, not a temporal but an eter- nal want ! The underlying idea of religion, which is our need of God, and union with God, exists, even if obscured, in all minds, enlightened and heathen, and is more wide- 344 PASTOEAL OFFICE. spread and profound than any other. Sin only deepens it ; superstition and idolatry only bring it out in a more intense prominence ; and thus we find in this natural religious in- stinct the universal demand for the existence of a class of men who, by the gravity of their lives, and their intelli- gence, are supposed to be capable of holding more intimate communion with God, of giving expression to divine truth, and of instructing the people in religion. But this is not mere hypothesis, as we shall see in arguments that follow. (2.) A.S no true societi/, or community, can exist luitltout 1. officers, 2. rules, 3. members, so the religious element cannot develop itself into an organized form in society loith- out creating its regidar officers as well as members. As the political element in society naturally crystallizes into a regu- larly constituted state, with its officers, laws, and citizen- ship, so the religious principle in society must do the same by the working of the same principle. This is Whately's argument, and may be found carried out fully in his King- dom of Christ, Essay II. Whenever, therefore, the reli- gious element works at all (and there is no portion of humanity in which it does not do so, truly or falsely), it must take on some kind of organized life ; and this organ- ized life, in order to exist and operate, must have its regu- lar officers, or ministers, as well as its rules and members. (3.) Wherever man is, or has been found, something essen- tially corresponding to the office of the Christian jMSior, or jpermanent religious teacher, has, in fact, been also found to exist. We find the priestly office existing in the child- hood of the race, and in the earliest nations — not to instance it among the Hebrew people, because the Hebrew priestly office might be considered as having been positively insti- tuted, but among nations of a corresponding antiquity — the Chaldean, Egyptian, Persian, and Greek. These ancient priests and prophets were teachers of divine things, if false teachers ; and we have reason to think that the more enlight- ened Egyptian priesthood really possessed some faint con- § 26. PASTORAL OFFICE FOUNDED IN NATURE. 345 ceptions of higher truth conceroing the unity of God's nature, which constituted their mysteries. The sacerdotal class of heathen antiquity also presided over the sacrificial rites ; and here we find another root in nature for the minis- terial office, since the idea of sacrifice is a natural and uni- versal idea of humanity, springing from the perturbation and want which sin occasions. This same profound idea of sacrifice is what the Christian ministry, in purer spiritual symbols, and in its true significance, chiefly waits upon and sets forth. Even the Druidic priest of our own English ancestors, dealing in human sacrifices, may have had dis- torted glimpses of the spirituality of God ; for no idols are found at Stonehenge, or generally throughout the land of the old Celtic culius. At the present day, all existing nations have also their regular religious officers and teachers. Even in Central Africa, the blood-besmeared " fetich-priest," de- scribed by Dr. Livingstone, corresponds (as a putrefying body does with a living one) to the true religious leader and instructor; and, as a general rule, even these cunning and bloody men are supposed to be the dupes of their deceit- ful arts, and to believe in their own ferocious religions. But we need not confine the argument to heathens and savages, for all men, even the most highly civilized and educated, will have, and do have, their religious instructors, whether true or false ; for the need is in man to seek for an expres- sion of the great thoughts of the soul and of divine truths. It is, therefore, true that in the most cultivated sceptical circles a few minds guide and rule the rest, as " living ora- cles," from which there is no dissent. They are the chosen ministers of spiritual things, called to this perilous position by preeminent intellectual gifts, and they have large and devoted flocks of immortal souls. (4.) There is sometlting in the nature and gifts of certain men, instinctively recognized by the j)eople, which constitutes them pastors — noifiivag hmv. Hero-worship, though often indiscriminating and blasphemously exaggerated, and degen- 346 PASTORAL OFFICE. erating, in fact, into a kind of devil-worsliip of force, has a germ of truth in it ; for it is the method of God, fight against it as we may, that some minds are made to be lead- ers, and the history of the world is, in a great measure, the popular development and assimilation of the thoughts of such minds, that are acted upon by higher influences ; for such minds are more susceptible to such impulses ; they form centres or depositories of that supernatural energy which is imparted and carried out in great popular move- ments, reformations, and changes. In the reliijious world Nature herself may, in some sense, be said to consecrate certain men for the office of spiritual rulers and guides — such as Luther, Wycliffe, John Robinson, John Wesley, and, in a still higher sense, Moses, Samuel, Ezra, Elias, John the Baptist, and the apostle Paul. Such men needed no crook to show that they were shepherds of the people ; the people recognized them, and willingly followed them, and could not help doing so. Nature points out the true pastor of the people by certain indisputable signs : first of all, by the spirit of self-sacrifice, the willingness to lay down his life for the sheep ; also by the power of sympa- thy, which few men manifest in any large degree ; and yet again, by a kingly love of truth and moral earnestness. Such qualities, bespeaking a natural fitness for the pastoral office, show that some men are marked by nature and chosen by God to be the religious instructors of their fellow-men ; and "one man," says Chrysostom, "inspired with holy zeal, sufficeth to amend an entii-e people."^ There may be, it is true, objections raised to the view •which we have endeavored to establish : — 1. The levelling tendencies of the age, or of coming ages, will do away with the ministerial office. Thus Vinet says that Herder thought that the ministerial office would at ^ Neander's Life of Chrysostom, Eng. ed., p. 119'. § 26. PASTORAL OrriCE FOUNDED IN NATURE. 347 some time be done away ; but it Avas from a very diJfferent reason.^ Herder's idea was, that in the growing and greater general light of the advancing kingdom of truth, the office of truth-bearer, or light-giver, would be gradually absorbed and lost ; but that this cannot be so, and also that the level- ling tendencies of the age cannot do away with the ministry, may be inferred from three reasons: («.) As man is bo7'n ignorant, with no innate knowledge of God, though with an intellectual and moral constitution exquisitely fitted to receive this truth, he must continue to have instruction in divine truth, (b.) As man is a siiiful being, and will continue to be so, he must continue to have guides to holi- ness, (c.) And to advance a step beyond nature, and take in, also, an idea of revealed truth, or of the gospel, so long as the present economy of nature and grace remains unchanged, and man continues to be a being icJio needs to be saved by the redemjption of Christ, no man, to the end of time, can be brought back to God and saved Avithout the instrumentality, directly or indirectly, of divine truth upon his heart. 2. Among the truly enlightened and good there is no longer any need of the minister, who is needed only for the igno- rant, dark-minded, and wicked; but every good man's own heart is his temple, and his own conscience his minister. The objector here altogether loses sight of the great fact that man is a social being, and bound up with a race in the same nat- ural and spiritual economy ; that his perfection, or his high- est perfection, is in union with the perfection of common humanity, and that no man can individually possess the perfect truth ; he needs the aid and wisdom of his fellow- man to whom may be granted more light in spiritual things. That is the natural way appointed for man to come to the truth, and to widen his own sphere of truth, through the help and sympathy of his fellow-man — the truth thus glan- 1 Pastoral Theology, p. 41. 348 PASTOEAL OFFICE. cing from mind to mind, or being concentrated, like mag- netic centres, in some chosen minds. In short, no man can secede from the race, or from the church ; he must be willing to sit down at a common table, and feed upon a common bread of life. ^''One Lord, one faith, one haptism, one God and Father of all, rvho is above all, and through all, and in you all," is a truth of nature as well as of reve- lation. We therefore hold that the office of the religious minister will never give way to the encroachments or changes of time ; and that men may level the hills, but they cannot build railroads to heaven ; that the pastoral office is as much a natural institution in the moral and spiritual world as a mountain which supplies the plains with moisture and streams is in the physical world ; that human nature responds to the divine command, ^"Separate me Barnabas and Said for the work unto which I have called them; " that as all men have recognized the divine office in the past, they will continue to do so in the future ; and it is well, in these times of growing irreverence for positive institutions, and of the increased importance which is given to natural insti- tutions and intuitions, that pastors should show to their people the natural foundations of the pastoral office, and make them see that if they have not the true religious teacher — the "ministry of the word" of God — they will inevitably have the folse religious teacher — the ministry of the word of man. But we have higher and surer ground even than this to stand upon. § 27. Divine Institution of Pastoral Office. "Whatever is necessitated or established by nature is, in a true sense, a divine institution ; but God has also put a special stamp of positive divine institution upon the office of the Christian pastor. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to found a kingdom of truth ; and after his brief ministerial life and § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 349 testifying death he was to develop and extend in the minds of men the truth he came to establish. He planted the germ, by his own human life and death, which was to be nourished through his spiritual presence in the world, after he had left it in the body. The special means, he taught us, by which his spirit was to operate, was through the free and affectionate agency of human instrumentalities instructed by his spirit in all truth. In this way the church was to be saved from idolatry, from the superstitious worship of the human person of Christ, and from the worship of any one impersonated form of truth, rather than the spiritual wor- ship of God ; for the truth was to be taught in many ways, and through the medium of various independent minds, that, taken together, represent the common wants and char- acteristics of the race. The Lord chose, to be the imme- diate depositaries of the truth, certain men out of the mul- titudes who were attracted by his teachings — men of strong spiritual susceptibilities, though of humble origin, and of the greatest contrasts of natural gifts and dispositions — a little representative world. ^ The Lord kept these ever near him ; he ate, walked, and lived with them ; he moulded them into the image of his will ; he prepared them for their work by impressing upon them his own spirit, by train- ing them to his methods of teaching truth, by making them, in a word, Christ-like ; for the apostles were the first Chris- tian ministers^ taught by Christ himself. In some respects, therefore, they are the models for all Christian ministers, while in other respects they stand alone and unapproach- able. The apostles, according to the Saviour's command, ' Mosheim thinks that the twelve apostles had reference to the twelve tribes of Israel; that the name itself is Jewish, and was applied to the offi- cials or legates of the high priest, who were despatched on missions of im- portance, they thus signifying that Christ claimed to be the true high priest of the nation and of men. The number twelve, however, as composing a jury, and its use in other relations, would seem to indicate that the apostles were intended to represent the popular mind, the " world," in a religious point of view. 30 350 PASTORAL OFFICE. continued in Jerusalem for quite a long period — Lech- ler says for twentj-five years, though other commentators narrow this time down to twelve years. The apostles, at all events, remained in Jerusalem long enough completely to organize the Christian church, and to establish it in all its simple but divine Avays, ordinances, and doctrines, preaching and performing the duties of pastors, as would appear from Acts 2 : 42. The church in Jerusalem very soon grew to the number of five thousand, and doubtless continued to increase rapidly ; though, suffering persecu- tion, it was impossible that it should continue to remain one congregation. It was, undoubtedly, soon broken up into different congregations, or parishes, which had teachers and presbyters of the apostles' appointment ; but the whole body was still presided over by the apostles. This primi- tive idea of different church organizations, with different pastors, but forming one church, founded upon the apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, as it was seen in. this primitive Jerusalem apostolic church, is a beau- tiful conception of the Christian church, which was then fully realized, and which carried out the truth that will finally be recognized and reestablished, that ^^ there is one body and one Sjpirit." Let us, then, examine this name or function of ^^ ajiostle,''^ as being the first historic instance of the divine office of the Christian ministry which was posi- tively founded by Christ himself; and let us see wherein it differs from and agrees with the present office of Christian pastor. Vinet says it is " the soul that gives the name ; " and this name of "apostle," as well as other names of the ministerial office, originally expressed some distinct idea, and sprang from some real necessity. An6ajolog. This is derived from d.noaTiUb), "to send ofi"'* or "send forth." In classic Greek, unouToloi is applied to " a commander of a fleet ready to sail ; " its prime idea is that of a messenger fully prepared, fitted, charged, to go § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 351 on some definite commission, such as the legate or ambassa- dor of a government. This idea of definite "commission" is shown in Gal. 2:8. The historic application or significance of this term in Scripture doubtless has reference to the act of the Saviour when he sent forth the twelve (Mark 16 : 15) with the charge, "(?o ye into all the ivoi-ld, and preach the gospel to every creature." The apostles were specially fitted and commis- sioned by Christ to bear his message, and testify of him to the world. They could do this, because they had seen, known, and been instructed by him. They were his per- sonal and credible witnesses (Luke 24 : 46-48) : "'And said unto them. Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; and ye are witnesses of these things." They were not only eye- witnesses, but heart-witnesses, by having known and loved Christ, so that they could say (1 John 1 : 2, 3), "jPor the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also might have fellow- ship with us; and truly our felloiv ship is with the Father and with his /Son Jesus Christ." They proclaimed Christ from love, from the deep appre- hension of their whole being, as Christ said to them, a short time before his death (John 15 : 15, 16), "Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of rtiy Father, I have made known unto you. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should r&main; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." As Christ's friends, they had been brought into fellowship with Christ, 352 PASTORAL OFFICE. and had looked not only on his face, but on his soul ; one of them, at least, Had not only leaned upon his breast, but had imbibed his spirit. Christ's spiritual personality was formed within them ; in John's Gospel, especially, we have the divine life as it is only manifested to the soul in com- munion with the Redeemer; and John's "Christology" — profound, vitalizing, containing the hidden germ of " eter- nal life" — remains still the deepest revelation of God to any human mind.^ They were thus superior to all gain- saying on the subject of Christ and his truth, for they knew whereof they affirmed, and testified that they had seen. The words just quoted above from John 15 were not spoken to Judas, neither was the commission to go forth and preach the gospel spoken to him. His character should be studied by every minister ; for he may also have had some native susceptibility to love what was lovable, and he may have loved Chrjst at first sight with impulsive aflfec- tion ; but the world was strong in him, and the power of Christ's love was not able to draw him into this higher spiritual fellowship with the Saviour; he was at heart worldly ; the root of supreme selfishness was not cut up in him, and he followed Christ not for his Lord's sake, but for his own. The example of Judas, one of the twelve first Christian ministers, is a peculiar admonition to ministers that the service of Christ, and daily contact with the high- est truth, are not enough in themselves to secure fidelity to the Master. But let us look at the more specific application of the term "apostle." Without entering into the controversies respecting James and Jude, and other mooted points, the name &n6ajolog is strictly applied but to the tivelve apostles, or, more specifically, to the eleven^ sent forth by Christ to testify of him whom they had personally seen and known. These are what Paul calls (2 Cor. 11 : 5) oi inegXiav dcnoaioloi; ' Hagenbach's Hist, of Doctrines, v. i., § 18. § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTOEAL OFFICE. 353 and ill Acts 1 : 26, oi SySexa d7i6aTo).oi. In this sense, of course, there were no successors of the apostles ; but we find the name d^nuarolog applied also to I^aul by himself; and we believe he used it in its original application. He calls him- self (1 Cor. 1 : 1) xX7]jbg anoaroXog — one specially called, or commissioned, by Christ; and in Eph. 1 : 1, (xndaTolo; "ii^aov XQiaiov didi Oelrifiaiog Oeov — One to whom Chi'ist had specially revealed himself (at his conversion, at least), and had indi- cated his will to him as truly and literally as to the original apostles — 1 Cor. 15 : 8 : ^^ And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." He had a claim, which he strenuously maintained, to be called an original apostle, though it is a puerile supposition that Paul was chosen by Christ to fill Judas's place, instead of Matthias, who was chosen simply by the apostles. As to Matthias, he was chosen after special prayer to Christ, and, without doubt, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit ; he also, of course, had seen the Lord. But the term " apostle " is applied, iu two other instances, to others than the eleven. In Acts 14 : 4 and 14, Barnabas and Paul are called "apostles;" but here, it is probable, the greater contains the less. As Bar- nabas was appointed the helper of Paul, he naturally shines in his light ; and Barnabas himself, moreover, had seen the Lord, so that even in the original sense he had a certain right to be called an " apostle ; " and both were solemnly set apart by the elders of the church of Antioch, under the special command of the Holy Ghost (Acts 13 : 2). The remaining instance is iu Romans 16 : 7, where An- dronicus and Junia are called apostles, or, at least, this pas- sage may be so interpreted. If so, the word is either used in a secondary sense, as "messengers" or "servants" of Christ ; or these persons had really acquired the right to the name from the fact that they too had seen the Lord ; for it is said of them, o1 y.ul ngu hfiov yeyovaaiv iv Xqiarw. That, undoubtedly, has reference to those of whom Paul speaks in 1 Cor. 15 : 6 : ^' And he was seen of above five hundred 30* 354 PASTORAL OFFICE. at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this jJresent, but some are fallen asleep." The term "apostle," therefore, we think, is never, in its primary sense, specifically applied to any but those who had seen Christ, or who could thus personally testify of him and of his resurrection. This sim- ple fact would seem to be decisive m regard to the theory of the apostolical succession, which is disposed of so con- clusively by Whatel}^ in his Kingdom of Christ (Essay II., p. 182) ; and surely, when we have the positive statements of such learned churchmen as Archbishop Whately, and of Bishop Stillingfleet, who declared that " this succession is as muddy as the Tiber itself," and of Bishop Hoadly, who says, "It hath not pleased God, in his providence, to keep up any proof of the least probability, or moral possibility, of a regular, uninterrupted succession ; but there is a great appearance, and, humanly speaking, a certainty, to the con- trary, that the succession hath often been interrupted," — we need not enter into further reasoning upon that point. " Irresrularities throusfh such a Ions: stretch of time could o o o not have been prevented without a miracle ; and, as a mat- ter of fact, there are many such recorded." ^ The fallacy of the theory is in making the succession indi- vidual, instead of general. The fact of a body of Christian ministers' continuously existing from the time of the apos- tles to the present day, or of the church's always having and recognizing its own ministers, who, in an important sense, derive their succession from the apostles by possess- ing their spirit and teaching the truth they taught, — this is an undeniable and valuable fact; but that any one minister of this series, let him be called "bishop," or simple "pas- tor," has had an unbroken descent, by successive ordina- tions, from the apostles, — this is too great an assertion ; it cannot possibly be sustained. And this is all — this assump- tion— that there is in the claim of the apostolical succession. While, therefore, we cannot hold to any such sacramental ' Whately. § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 355 virtue imparted by the laying on of human hands, we still believe in a general and moral, though not individual, and, as it were, physical, succession of Christ's ministers from the apostles. We believe that every true minister's com- mission to preach is drawn from Christ himself, not from his apostles. The intrinsic apostolic office, therefore, was an extraordi- nary one, and ceased with the apostles; which we believe is true from these simple reasons: 1. Because the "apostle" was one who had personally seen Christ and his works, and thus could bear direct testimony of him. 2. Because he had received a direct personal commission from Christ. 3. Be- cause he had received supernatural gifts, viz., the gift of inspiration and the gift of working miracles. 4. Because the apostles were overseers and planters of the universal church, they exercised a general care and oversight of the churches; in a word, "the government of the churches was vested in the apostles, not individually, but collectively."^ 5. Because, historically, although there were extraordinary appointments ordered by the Holy Ghost, as the appoint- ment of Paul and Barnabas, we hear of no new apostle's being regularly chosen after the death of James the elder (Acts 12: 1). But though the name and office of " apostle " were thus extraordinar}^ and incommunicable, yet the apostles formed the type of the Christian ministry, as we may see from three or four reasons : 1. The work of the Christian minis- try now is essentially the same as that of the apostles ; viz., to testify of "the truth as it is in Jesus" to all men. 2. Its call is essentially the same, for every true minister receives a real, if not manifestly personal, call from Christ himself, and is a minister 8iu delr^^miog Qeov. 3. The instructions the apostles received from Christ apply in spirit, if not in letter, to ministers now. The "sermon on the mount" has been * Coleman's Primitive Church, p. 150. 356 PASTORAL OFFICE. called Christ's "ordination sermon," although Neander thinks it was not actually addressed exclusively to the apostles ; yet it was doubtless primarily addressed to them. The discourse of our Lord in Matthew 10, respecting the disci- ples in their relations to the world, and his conversations in John, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th chapters, are precious testaments to ministers of the gospel. 4. The lives of the apostles were meant to be " ensamples " of Christian minis- ters' lives ; and the best human model of the Christian min- ister is the apostle Paul. The differences in the ages being so great, the apostles, of course, in many things — in their dress, mode of living, and even outward forms of speech and jDreaching — cannot now be followed entirely; but as it is contrary to the spirit of Christianity to erect exclusive orders, or to take men out of the pale of human sympathy and imitation, therefore we believe that apostles are our pastoral models in all respects, excepting where they were plainly endowed with supernatural gifts. The apostles indi- vidually assumed no special authority, but they exemplified the humility of their faith by addressing other Christians as "brethren," and by recognizing the full rights of individual Christians, and of the churches in ecclesiastical matters. Christ left the apostles to ordain and regulate the minis- try, even as he left them to plant and organize the church ; and we judge from this that questions about the form and order of the ministry are really secondary questions ; there was to be a ministry to preach the truth and to serve the church, but historical events were permitted to shape and mould the outward form of this ministry. f There is a comprehensive passage in Ephesians 4: 11, where the divine foundation of the church is treated of, and the different New Testament appellations of the Christian ministry are given, each of which has a foundation in some truth or duty connected with the original institution of the ministry, and this may introduce us to a brief discussion § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 357 of other ministerial titles ; and gathering these all up, and pressing out their juices, we may see the full richness of the pastoral office, as instituted by Christ. This passage from Ephesians will be our text : ^^And he gave some apos- tles, and so?7ie prophets, and some evangelists, and some pas- tors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" riQotpr^irjg. This title, occurring next after andajoXog, is thus invariably assigned to the second place. It was also an extraordinary title in that which was peculiar to it. It arose from a necessity of the times. In the Gentile churches newly created from the heathen world, as Christian teachers were rare, new converts seem to have been inspired by an immediate inspiration of God to teach divine truth, and in some cases, as that spoken of in Acts 11 : 28, to foretell events; although Olshausen, on 1 Cor. 14: 1, asserts that "the work of the 'prophet' in the apostolic church was the awakening power necessary for the extension of the infant church, and therefore was held in high respect." It is prob- able that the Old Testament " prophet " was more peculiarly a revealer of future things, and the New Testament "proph- et " was one inspired to an extraordinary insight of spiritual things already revealed. It was an opening of truth to the mind, a flash of light from above, impelling one to speak, asinl Cor. 14: 29-31. As this gift of prophecy was a great and enviable gift, so it would be coveted by many ; and false prophets arose even in the apostles' day. But there were certain signs or evi- dences, indicated by the apostles, to detect false prophets. This peculiar x<^Qiaixa ngocpipeiag did not probably survive what might properly be called the apostolic age, though it might have lingered somewhat longer ; for when the churches became established, young men were regularly set apart and instructed for the ministry. Yet even as there are points of resemblance between the 358 PASTORAL OFFICE. apostolic office and that of the mmister now, aucl, as the schoohnen said, "the whole is contained in every part, and V. V. ; " so, in some sense, the office of " prophet," as belong- ing to the ministry as a whole, remains in the church, and has its partial gift represented now ; for the " prophets " were preachers of Christ. They were extraordinarily en- dowed to teach divine truth in times of ignorance and dark- ness ; and, in like manner, there have been, in the whole history of the church, peculiar, if not supernatural, illumi- nations of individual minds, to teach divine truth, to mani- fest the way of life in times of unusual deadness and gloom. Prophetic minds, rising up in lapsed epochs of the church, have not only brought great native powers to bear upon truth, but in those shaping influences which have gone forth from them, and in new unfoldings of truth, there seem to have been special illuminations of the Holy Spirit granted them, as teachers of the word. They have been centres of spiritual awakening ; and often men of simple lives in the church, with no pretension to learning, have a power im- parted to them almost like that of the old "prophet," and this in the very mode of exhortation of the primitive church, for the original "prophets" were probably uneducated men. John Bunyan is an example of such a modern " prophet " in the church. His Avork was peculiarly an awalcening work ; he said that his preaching " began with sinners," and was chiefly addressed to the impenitent conscience, to doing that arousing work of which he had himself so deep an expe- rience as a sinner. His " Jerusalem Sermon " is, from be- ginning to end, a trumpet-blast exhortation to the sleeping conscience. These words of Bunyan have always seemed to have in them something of the spirit of the inspired times of the primitive Christian church : " I will not now speak all that I Jcnoio in this matter, yet my experience hath more interest in that text of Scripture, Gal. 1 : 11, 12, than many amongst men are aware: '/ certify unto you^ my hrethreUy that the gospel which is preached of me is not after 7nan, § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 359 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.'"^ Every true minister has these periods of special power and light in speaking the word ; but this parallelism should j not be pressed too far. In this connection, and under this head of "prophet," we might mention other offices of the Christian ministry, or, more properly, xaqia^aiu (for none of these were permanent offices) , which were also of an extraordinary character. Some of them are enumerated in 1 Cor. 12 : 28, ''And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps in government, diversities of tongues." Leaving, then, the text from Ephesians for a moment, we will take up this passage, and will look first at the name Jvvixfieig — lit. "powers," trans, "after that miracles" — the abstract for the concrete. The same office, or gift, is referred to in the tenth verse — alia) Se ivegy/ifiaza dwdficotv — "to another, working of miracles." It seems as if God, in his resolve that his "word" should take root and prevail, ( imparted to common men, not to apostles only, miraculous powers ; and this is no more unreasonable or impossible than that Christ himself should confirm his words by signs following, i. e., miracles. He extended his miraculous powers to his church, for that church must and should pre- vail. The Eoman church claims the continuance of super- natural and even miraculous gifts in the ministry. We should like to discuss this interesting point, did it not lead too far astray ; we would merely refer to Neander's Life of Christ, pp. 128, 129, as stating the character of a true mira- cle in so philosophical a manner as to go far, in itself, toward the clearing up of this question.^ The early testimony of Chrysostom is valuable. At the beginning of his XXIXth * Philip's Life of Bunyan. 2 See, also, Olshausen, Comm. Matt. 1 : 8. 360 PASTORAL OFFICE. Homily upon First of Corinthians he says, the miraculous gifts are " no more." The simple reason he gives for this is, that the circumstances of the times were changed. When men were converted out of rank heathenism, in order that they might know the truth, and teach it to others, and con- firm it by their works, they were straightway endowed with supernatural powers ; and they had to be possessed of these powers to contend with the pretended miraculous powers of the heathen soothsayers. So long as Christianity had to encounter the reign of devils on earth, Chrysostom says, its miraculous gifts were continued. Olshausen's opinion is, that miraculous gifts lasted, although gradually diminish- ing, until the foundation of the church had been completed ^ — perhaps until the end of the third century, when Chris- tianity broke down the power of heathendom. The first planting and propagation of the word required miraculous power; it was, as it were, a complete revolutiouiziug of nature ; but, when once planted, the truth is able to win its own way, and to make men free. XuQlofiara I/jutiwv — "gifts of healing," — and ytV?; ylojaoGif — '' diversities of tongues." These belong to the same class of supernatural powers, which may have extended to raising the dead. Chrysostom thinks that the "gift of tongues " was the most useful and largely bestowed of the miraculous gifts, and, at the same time, it became the greatest cause of divisions.^ Whether we look upon it as an ability to speak new and unacquired languages, or to speak in an unknown tongue, as by an immediate revela- tion, it seemed to be a distinguished gift, and one highly coveted. The Romish church claim the gift in the first sense as still residing in their church, and they assert that St. Francis Xavier possessed it ; but, if we mistake not, he did not claim it for himself. Yet, in some modified sense, 1 Commentary on Matt. 8:1. " Homily XXIX. § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 361 we might say, especially in relation to the missionary opera- tions of the church, that both of these gifts are even now needful. This subject of miraculous ministerial gifts brings before us, 1. The wonderful spiritual resurrection at the period of the introduction of Christianity, when powers of light strove against powers of darkness, and holy oracles and tongues contended against unholy oracles ; when the whole spiritual world, good and evil, was moved to its profoundest depths, and revealed itself by a direct projection of its powers upon the outward world. 2. The gross darkness into which the world had sunk at the coming of Christ, when it reached its lowest point of ungodliness. Evil had come to its utmost power in the world, and Christ appeared in the fulness of time ; there was an utter need of the manifestation of God. 3. The worth which God puts upon the truth of Christ ; that it must be pushed forward into the world, even if it overrides the laws of nature. This should make ministers feel the worth of the gospel they preach, and the interest God has in its triumph. We have found, in the passage from Corinthians on which we have been commenting, and also in the tenth verse of the same chapter, that, in order of rank or place, ^^mi- raculous gifts" are mentioned after the simple office of ^Headier" with the single exception of the extraordinary office of "apostle," which combined both. In fact, in both of these passages from Ephesians and Corinthians, there are set before us the " gifts " rather than the " offices " of the ministry. The office of " teacher " or " pastor " — neither the highest nor the lowest in the series — would seem, from other sources of proof, to be the one which remains as the regular office of the ministry. Of the nine ^^ charismata " this one alone is left, and absorbs the rest ; the more awful and supernatural light of " apostle " and " prophet " has faded ; the more dazzling flash of " miracles " has ceased ; and there has been left the plain, simple, ordinary, but no 31 362 PASTORAL OFFICE. less divinely instituted, office of the Christian "pastor," shining, like the light of day, serenely in the church. Before, however, taking up the title of "pastor," and other more ordinary titles, we would say a single word more upon the remaining title mentioned in the passage from Corinthians. ^PTdrnpeig, xviSeQvriosig — lit. "hclps," "govcrnors." This, probably, was also an extraordinary office, or gift, and refers to men of special influence, social standing, and weight of character, who were taken into temporary power to aid the apostles and early pastors in ruling the church during its formative, unsettled period. These " helps in government" were not, probably, the same as those referred to in other places as "having the government over the church" — such as "elders," "bishops," &c. ; but they were temporary rulers and leading men, throwing their control- ling weight of authority and influence into the early strug- gles of the church, against the anarchy, evil, and disorderly influences around and within. They were like the seniores plehis in the African church of the fourth and fifth cen- turies, who "were not clerg3^men, but civil personages, and other prominent members of the congregation." ^ We now return to the original passage in Ephesians. In the place next after "prophets," we have "evangelists." EiayyeXiaxrig. This title is fouud three times in the Scrip- tures— in Acts 21 : 8, where Philip the deacon is also called an "evangelist ; " in 2 Tim. 4:5, when Timothy is exhorted " to do the work of an evangelist ; " and in the passage we are now commenting upon — Eph. 4: 11. This title evi- dently refers to those sent forth by the apostles, and en- dowed with their authority, to publish the "evangel," or "glad tidings" of the kingdom of God, and to ordain ' Schaflf's History of Christian Church, v. ii., p. 258. § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 363 officers and teachers of the infant churches ; they were in some sense superior to the ordinary " pastor," they caught light from the "apostles," and they formed, also, we think, an extraordinary office belonging to the needs of that early period ; being, as it were, a kind of extension of the apos- tolic office, doing that publishing and planting work, that breaking of new ground, which was the apostles' peculiar business ; it was a multiplication of the apostles, since they could not be everywhere. If any, therefore, deserve to be considered as successors of the apostles, it was the first "evangelists." The svayyihov itself was a 7ieiv thing, as the word shows ; and the " evangelists " were the first heralds of this good news ; their work was almost wholly a mis- sionary work. They blew the trumpet to announce the coming of the organized host. But when Christianity was once planted, and some permanent growth in knowledge y and faith was attained, the office of the "evangelist" ceased ; and it did not continue to be part and parcel of the regular ( working system of the established Christian church. Ne- ander says (Planting and Training, p. 94), "According to the original Christian phraseology, the term could only denote one whose calling it was to publish the doctrine of salvation to men, and thereby to lay the foundation of the Christian church ; on the contrary, the pastor or teacher presupposed faith in the doctrine of salvation, and a church already founded, and employed himself in the further train- ing in Christian knowledge." The oldest commentators generally agree that the office of " evangelist " belonged to the period of inaugurating Chris- tianity, and passed away as a special office with that period. Some of the apostles themselves did the work of " evan- gelists," such as Paul, whose life was one series of mission- ary tours ; but there were other " evangelists " besides the apostles ; and it is a noteworthy fact that long after Timo- thy was made a "bishop," — if he were ever made one, — he is .exhorted by Paul to " do the work of an evangelist y" 364 PASTORAL omcE. as if his dignity as " bishop " was not, at least, superior to that of "evangelist ;" indeed, Timothy and Titus were more properly " evangelists " than " bishops," for they made the "bishops," or "pastors," as the apostles did. Although this was an extraordinary oiEce, and although it confuses our idea of the ministry to consider it as still a regular office of the church, yet the "evangelist" element still exists in the Christian church and ministry. The ever iiew proclamation of the gospel to the heathen world requires this work ; indeed. Dr. Anderson, whose authority is of weight in this question, is, if we mistake not, strenuous upon the point that this office is a regular office of the church ; perhaps it is a regular work, rather than office. It represents the aggressive spirit of Christianity in its assaults upon the power of darkness at home and abroad. The gospel, as a new thing, must still be proclaimed to vast masses of ignorant and heathen minds. A custom has grown up with the exigencies of the mis- sionary spirit recently developed in the church, and which has been greatly increased by the needs that the war gave rise to, for the churches to ordain " evangelists," " mission- aries," and " pastors at large." This custom is, however, opposed to strict congregational usage, which forbids the ordaining of a minister excepting as connected with and resulting from the call of a particular church (Punchard, Cong. Die, pp. 170-278; Upham, Kat. Dis., pp. 86-94). Still, it has been done more or less of late; the process is, that the church of which the "evangelist" or "mis- sionary " who is to be appointed is a member, or any other church that consents, issues letters-missive ; and his ordi- nation by a council thus called entitles him to gather a church among heathen people, or in uuchristianized dis- tricts, or in the army, to administer the sacraments, and to enter upon all the rights and duties of pastors. This right of ordination is claimed to be founded upon Acts 13 : 23, or the scriptural institution of "evangelist." There is an inter- esting passage in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History (B. III., § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTOKAL OFFICE. 365 c. 37) , which throws some light upon this subject, aucl gives us his idea of this office, or work. He is speaking of one Quadratus, in the reign of Trajan, toward the close of the first century. He calls hira, and others like him, "evangelists," and says of them, "For many of the disci- ples at that time, animated with a more ardent love of the divine word, had first fulfilled the Saviour's precept by dis- tributing their substance to the needy ; afterward leaving their country, they performed the office of ' evangelists ' to those who had not yet learned the faith, whilst, with a noble ambition to proclaim Christ, they also delivered to them the books of the holy Gospels. After laying the founda- tions of faith in foreign parts, as the particular object of their mission, and after appointing others as shepherds of the flocks, and committing to these the care of those that had been recently introduced, they went again to other regions and nations, with the grace and cooperation of God. The Holy Ghost also still wrought many wonders through them, so that, as soon as the gospel was heard, men volun- tarily, in crowds, and eagerly, embraced the true faith with their whole minds." We see here that the work of the " evangelist " continued ; but it was spoken of by Eusebius as something which belonged to the apostolic epoch of the propagating and planting of the church. If, therefore, we use the term or employ the office now, we think that it should be wholly in this sense of a missionary work, of going into new parts, and proclaiming new tidings. The modern sense, held by some, of "evangelists," as con- stituting a separate office of the itinerant preacher, is not at gfll contained in the ancient idea of " evangelist ; " and it is, we think, an unnecessary creation, as highly as we value the labors of many honored revival -preachers.^ Such ' The decision of the council in Richmond, Vt., declarative of the evils of ordaining "evangelists" as "preachers at large," and "stated supplies," is generally upheld by the best ecclesiastical writers, and by most congrega- tional churches. 31* 366 PASTORAL OFFICE. quasi " pastors " tend to increase the inefficiency of the reg- ular pastoral office, and to destroy its ancient scriptural foundations. It does not, therefore, seem to be advisable to regard the " evangelist " as any separate office or work distinct from that of the " pastor ; " but that one should be ordained as a regular minister, and then set apart, if neces- sary, as Paul and Barnabas were, to the separate work of evangelization in some particularly needy and destitute field. Of course, necessity overrides the best rules ; and ■there may be cases where ministers, like the Methodist "local preachers," are set apart without any special church, or even a special field, over which they are placed ; but such cases are practically rare, and in such cases the pastoral work — the care of Christ's church — is generally the future and final aim ; for even the foreign or home missionary, who goes forth into a new field as an " evangelist," expects to gather a church and become its pastor. The revival of this " extraordinary office," as another reg- ular ministerial title and office at the present day, is, we think, unnecessary ; it introduces confusion ; and many have thereby crept into the ministry, who were in no way fit for it. It is better to adhere to some general principle in this matter. Tovi 81 noi^hug xai didaanc&lovg — "and somc pastors and teachers." These titles are joined together as if signifying nearly the same thing. The " xai" here is evidently not a disjunctive expressing dissimilarity, but a simple connec- tive of similar things. The sentence runs along mentioning different things, such as " apostles," " evangelists," &c., and then says, " pastors and teachers," joining these together in one breath, as if they were identical ; and the absence of the article before diSaaxdlovg confirms it. This is the interpretation of Augustine and Jerome, Erasmus and Bengel, and of such modern commentators as Riickert, Harless, Turner, and Alford, who consider the two as § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTORAL OFFICE. 367 synonj'mous terms. Whatever distinction there is probably amounts to this — that in the name of "pastor" is contained somethinof more of the " administrative "' idea ; in that of "teacher," more of the purely" didactic." The fact that this is the only instance of the use of ■no>.n'f[v as applied strictly to the ministerial office in the church, strengthens the idea that it is essentially the same as bibuav-uloQ. Both of these titles pre- suppose a church already established, a faith already received. They signify the ordinary ministry of the regularly organized church, after the extraordinary planting work of "apostles" and " evangelists " was accomplished ; they permanently oc- cupy the field ; the churches were left in the hands of the " pastors and teachers ; " and these two are really one minis- try, which wx now call "the pastoral office." But let us look at this title of "pastor" more carefully. TJoif^rjv. This beautiful title of the ministerial office is derived from noi^iaivw, "to feed a flock." It is, above all, an affectionate title, expressive of the genuine spirit of Christ, who is "the good Shepherd," i. e., "the true Shepherd." It recalls the good, kind, even tender relations of the true pastor to his people ; his love for their souls ; his spiritual, even rather than official, relations to them. The earliest representation of the Saviour in Christian art, is that of the shepherd bearing a lamb upon his shoulders. The word is first found in the Old Testament, where it is frequently applied, as in the 23d Psalm, to God, as if he were the true "pastor," who did all things essential for the care, nourish- ment, and salvation of his people. The idea of noiuriv is, (1.) Feeding — he who nourishes, or instructs souls in divine truth. (2.) Love or sympathy. We can have little idea of the relation between the shepherd and the sheep in East- ern countries ; they know his voice, and follow him as by a cord fastened in their deepest instincts. The true shep- herd is he who thus lives always with his sheep, and loves them. He is no " hireling," doing his work for pay, but 368 PASTORAL OFFICE. from love. When a pastor has this sympathy with and for his people, he teaches the truth in its power, and sets forth the Christian graces in their beauty. (3.) Self- sacrifice. The Eastern shepherd is sometimes called upon to risk his life, and even lay it down, for his sheep ; the self-sacrificing love of Christ for men, is represented in this relationship. (4.) Watching , jjrotecting , guiding, rul- ing. Thus Homer calls the king " jto/^jjV Xuihv" It implies some genuine authority to guide and rule : in the case of the minister it does not imj^ly ruling or presiding over by the mere force of ecclesiastical ordination, or even of supe- rior knowledge, but by a moral and spiritual right, as be- longing to him who is regularly appointed to dispense God's word and guide in spiritual things. We esteem this authority of the Christian pastor to be essentially of a moral nature, or as the legitimate influence of an appointed teacher of truth, who holds a divinely insti- tuted oflice, and who is himself a Christ-like man. He who does his pastoral duty faithfully will have power and authori- ty enough ; and if he desires more, this would seem to show the working in him of the ambitious principle. The Congre- gational idea of limiting the pastoral office to a single local church, is well adapted to repress the natural desire of man to aim after a wide and universal authority in the church. But still, we find that the very term noiiM-fiv, which is applied to Christ himself as head of the church, is applied to his minis- ter; it would seem, therefore, at least, to imply the highest authority, of whatever kind it may be, which exists in any officer of the church.^ ^id&axalog. Ncauder thinks that this name might have been applied to any member of the church peculiarly gifted to teach, whether minister or not.^ It may be true, as has been before hinted, that these names did not all originally ' Coleman's Primitive Christianity, p. 135. ® Planting and Training, ch. i., p. 36. § 27. DIVINE INSTITUTION OF PASTOEAL OFFICE. 369 indicate separate ofBces, but rather distinctive gifts, when these gifts were more needed than they are now. And, indeed, all the oflSces mentioned in the apostolic church sprang immediately from the body of the church itself, being developed naturally from the peculiar exigen- cies of that extraordinary period ; as did, for instance, the office of "deacon." The man who was best suited for a par- ticular service, whatever it might be, was chosen from the whole number of Christian believers ; and yet, before the apostolic age was finished, there was a regularly established ministry. This term SiduoxdXog generally denoted the ministry of what Neander calls " the internal guidance of the word ; " or, as it is written in 1 Tim. 5 : 17, who " labored in word and doctrine." It contains, as does nomfiv, the essential idea of the Christian ministry, which is eminently a " ministry of the word ; " and it is employed in no such connection as to destroy the identity between it and noi/w^v as this is set forth in Eph. 4: 11. The " teacher," according to Neander, was he who was especially intrusted with the Uyog yvwaecog, the reflective and didactic quality — the "pastor" with the Uyog aocpUxg, the pru- dential and administrative quality ; ^ but these may be both united in one ministry. This calm and noble " teaching " office is essential in the Christian church, and is especially useful for edification ; and it is sometimes lost sight of in the idea of the necessity of continual religious excitement to build up the church. Let us now take up the two or three other principal re- maining names, or titles, applied to the Christian ministry in the New Testament, which occur where there is evidence of an organization of the apostolic church more formal and permanent than is found in the earliest New Testament records. Planting and Training, ch. v., p. 89. 370 PASTORAL OFFICE. rfQfaSvTfQog. This title was simply the transferring of the name of the presiding officer, or minister, of the Jewish synagogue to the presiding officer of the Christian church assembly, built upon the model of the synagogue worship. The chief idea of nQea^vTs