ThomDSon 
 
 Demand for an 
 EdiJ.cated Ministry 
 
 
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 PRESENTED BY 
 
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 By the Rev, H, A. Thompson, A. M, 
 
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Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
 
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 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
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DEMAND FOR AN EDUCATED MINISTRY. 
 
 A.]Sr ADDRESS 
 
 DELITERED BEFORE THE 
 
 Students and Trustees of Western College, 
 
 WESTERX, IOWA, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 ANTsTXJAIL. COM:M:EI^OIGM:E2vrT, 
 
 BT 
 
 Rev. H. a. THOMPSON, A. M., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN OTTERBEIN UNIVERSITY, 
 
 WESTERVILLE, OHIO. 
 
 DAYTON, OHIO: 
 
 UNITED BRBTHREN PRINTING ESTABLISHMHNT. 
 1865. 
 
. x 
 
 •.y 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Young Gentlemen: 
 
 I speak to-night to those of you who trust, that in the 
 providence of God, you have been called to preach the Gospel 
 of Christ to a ruined world. A feartul responsibility is upon 
 him who attempts to teach the yonng, because in his hands 
 rests their present and eternal destiny. A still greater respon- 
 sibility rests upon him who is instrumental in forming and 
 molding the character of the embassador for Christ. In 
 benefitting him, he indirectly blesses hundreds of others. In 
 leading him astray, he ruins for time and eternity. Trusting 
 in the God of our spirits to teach you aright wherein I shall 
 fail, I shall present to you some considerations showing the 
 urgent demand, at the present time, for an Educated Ministry. 
 This subject should have the careful consideration of all 
 intelligent. Christian men, because in proper conclusions upon 
 it rest your own welfare and the success and prosperity of the 
 Church. 
 
 In approaching this subject, I am immediately met by an 
 oft-repeated objection which it might be well enough to dispose 
 of in the beginning. " Are not the Apostles said to have 
 been ignorant and unlearned men^ and were they not suc- 
 cessful ?" If we should confess this, for argument sake, and 
 infer that we, therefore, need the same class of men now, we 
 would show greater presumption than common sense or piety. 
 Acknowledging them to have perfectly suited the age in which 
 they lived, it does not at all follow that they would suit this 
 age. The world has not been stationary. In every depart- 
 
raent there has been progress. The position of afi'airs has 
 materially changed. New impulses have been at work. 
 New currents of thought have been formed. In short, a new 
 age is upon us, and we want men, in every respect suited to 
 this age. 
 
 They were " unlearned and commen people^^^ the original 
 tells us. None of them, perhaps, except Paul, had ever sat at 
 the feet of Gamaliel. They were not men who were accus- 
 tomed to administer the affairs of government, or to take part 
 in civil transactions, but they came from the common walks 
 of life. Were they ignorant men ? Some of them have writ- 
 ten books. Do not them books completely refute this asser- 
 tion ? It requires no skillful eye to see that they were men of 
 sterling good sense, prudent and intelligent. John's writings 
 show him to have been well acquainted with the schools of 
 Grecian Philosophy, and the knowledge he there obtained he 
 made subservient to Christian purposes. Luke was a physi- 
 cian. The remainder, by their writings and their action8,give 
 unmistakable evidence that they were men who understood 
 their great work and were titted for it. 
 
 Who calls them ignorant ? Rea^l the record. The rulers 
 and elders and scribes, with Ananias and Caiaphas, were 
 assembled together, and, having listened to the addresses of 
 these men, they perceived that they were unlettered. So they 
 may have been. Ignorant, as regards a knowledge of the tradi- 
 tions of the Sadducees, and Pharisees, in which consisted their 
 greatest amount of learning, but skilled in that knowledge 
 necessary to instruct and enlighten the heart. 
 
 These men were instructed for three long years by that best 
 of all teachers, Him, " who spake as never man spake." He 
 found them dull students, and had occasion to reprove them 
 for their tardiness in learning the great truths which he came 
 to teach. Almost wearied in his efforts he says to one, "Have 
 
I been so long time -with you, and yet hast thon not known 
 mo, Philip?" He resorted to the most simple illustrations, to 
 the afiairs of every day life with which they were supposed to 
 be familiar, in order the more thoroughly and effectually to 
 imbue their minds with a knowledge of the doctrines he came 
 to preach. After having labored faithfully to instruct them 
 in the things pertaining to Christianity, for fear they ma} not 
 fully understand his meaning, or may have some misconcep- 
 tions of the truth, he presses home upon their attention the 
 appropriate and pertinent question, " Have ye understood all 
 these things?" After he had given them line upon line, and 
 precept upon precept, for the space of three years, even then 
 they were not fitted for the great work. They must " tarry at 
 Jerusalem until indued with power from ou high." They 
 may interpose objections and be anxious to enter the field, 
 but the command was to wait, and wait they did. 
 
 "But," says one, "they were inspired." So their writings 
 testity. We liave no account that they were inspired in their 
 •rdinary administrations. Their powers may have been 
 strengthened and invigorated, yet we have no other evidence 
 thau that they were left to the ordinary and natural use of their 
 powers. If they were inspired and needed not to acquire 
 knowledge in the ordinary ways, does it therefore follow that 
 because we are not inspired, we should remain ignorant? So 
 much the stronger reason why we should use all the means at 
 our command, so as to bring ourselves nearer the position 
 occupied by the apostles. 
 
 Look at the effects of apostolic preaching. Good resulted. 
 Many were converted ; churches were established ; the people 
 of God were strengthened. Wherever they went the power of 
 the Most High accompanied tiiem, and that power was mani- 
 fested in the elevation of mankind. If ignorant men can go 
 forth now and accomplish the same great work ; can thus 
 
6 
 
 instruct and edify the church; can establish and build up 
 Christian associations ; can lay the foundation for good re- 
 sults to come ; can thus benefit their fellow men and promote 
 the good of their Master's cause ; if, in the midst of the evils 
 surrounding them, they can show themselves "wise as ser- 
 pents and harmless as doves," then let us as a church send 
 forth none but ignorant men. As long as they can not do this, 
 and as long as their influence is weakened and their people 
 perish for lack of knowledge, let ua not adduce the example 
 of the apostles in support of the proposition that God de- 
 mands ignorant men to stand upon the walls of Zion. 
 
 That Christ would appoint ignorant men to be his standard- 
 bearers, is utterly irreconcilable with the whole tenor of 
 Scripture and the whole course of his own life. That he did 
 do so, is contrary to all Jewish history. Perhaps there never 
 was a people so universally educated as the Jews. Many of 
 om* Savior's remarks indicate this. How often he asked them 
 " Have ye not read what Moses saith ? " " Have ye not read 
 in the Scriptures ? " evidently implying that the common peo- 
 ple (because he addressed them) could and did read the 
 writings of Moses and the prophets. We are told that when 
 Pilate placed over the head of the Redeemer at his crucifixion 
 the inscription in "letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew," 
 that " this title was read by many of the Jews." It was en- 
 joined upon the people to teach their children to read and 
 understand the ordinances which God had made known. 
 "The words which I command thee this day shall be in thy 
 heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, 
 and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house and 
 upon thy gates." 
 
 Under the Jewish dispensation, the Priests and Levites were 
 not illiterate men. The Levitical cities were places of learn- 
 ing. The clergy, judges, lawyers, physicians and teachers 
 
of the people came principally from the tribe of Levi. By the 
 law of Moses, this tribe had no inheritance in the division of 
 the land. It was chosen oat for the service of the sanctuary, 
 and ha<l to be supported by contributions from the whole 
 nation. From this trib3 came the priests, who had charge of the 
 tabernacle and the temple. They scattered tliemselves in dif- 
 ferent parts of the country, instructing their countrymen. They 
 were employed in writing and circulating the Scriptures, and 
 in explaining them to the people whenever they had an oppor- 
 tunity. They were to study the law diligently, and be ready to 
 answer inquiries, which were made by others, pertaining to 
 religion. 
 
 Scribes had a similar business ; they were, originally, men 
 ready with the pen, but the name came to denote simply a 
 learned man. And as learning among the Jews was confined 
 principally to the sacred book, the word came to denote one 
 who was skilled in the law of God ; one whose business it was 
 to procure copies of the Scriptures and explain their meaning. 
 Ezra is called " a ready scribe of the law of Moses. " They 
 were sometimes called doctors of the law and lawyers, because 
 they interpreted the law. They were consulted in all cases of 
 doubt or uncertainty about the truth of the Scriptures. 
 
 Such were the men appointed by God under the old Jewish 
 dispensation, to instruct the people in divine truth. Not 
 ignorant and untutored men, but scholars — the most learned 
 men of the nation. The people were intelligent, and needed 
 intelligent teachers. A whole tribe was set apart for the 
 purpose of educating and training themselves for their ap- 
 pointed work. Did any doubt rest upon the mind of any 
 one, these men were called in to interpret. They explained 
 and enforced the Scriptures in public and private. " No illit- 
 erate man or mechanic was allowed to speak in the synagogue 
 under any circumstances, but only the learned." — {^Jennings' 
 
Jew. Ant. B. 11.^ C. 2.) I can find no instance in Old Test- 
 ament history where God commanded ignorant and illiterate 
 men to stand before the people, and statedly declare his law 
 unto them. In all cases men thoroughly qualified were 
 chosen, or if not thus fitted, they underwent the necessary 
 training before they were sent forth upon their mission. Has 
 God changed his policy now ? 
 
 More than this, the Jews had special schools for the educa- 
 tion of their ministers. Says the learned Dr. Lightfoot : "It 
 has been the way of God to instruct his people by a studious 
 and learned ministry ever since he gave a written word to 
 instruct them. "Who were the standing ministry of Israel all 
 the time from the giving of the law till the captivity in 
 Babylon? Not prophets or inspired men. These were but 
 occasional teachers. They were the priests and Levites, who 
 became learned in the law by study. And for this end they 
 were distributed into forty-eight cities, as so many universi- 
 ties, where they studied law together.^ and from these were 
 sent out into the several synagogues to teach the people. " 
 The same author also says that " contributions were made 
 for the support of these students while they studied in the 
 universities, as well as afterward when they preached in the 
 synagogues. " Further on he says : " There were among the 
 Jews authorized individual teachers of great eminence, who 
 had divinity schools in which they expounded the law to their 
 scholars or disciples. Of these divinity schools, there is 
 frequent mention made among the Jewish writers, more espe- 
 cially of the schools oi Hillel and Shavimai.^'' Such a divin- 
 ity professor was Gamaliel, at whose feet the great apostle of 
 the gentiles received his education. 
 
 Yery early in Jewish history we read of the schools of tho 
 prophets. In one of them Samuel himself taught theology. 
 The most prominent of these schools were at Naioth.^ Bethel., 
 Qilgal and Jericho. A large number of students were in 
 
9 
 
 attendance upon these institutions. They were educated in 
 the knowledge of relifjion. and were under the supervision of 
 some prophet, who was generally inspired. Tiiey were thus 
 qualified to become public preachers, which was a part of the 
 business of prophets on Sabbath days and festivals. The 
 prophets whom God inspired.^ were generally chosen from 
 these schools. 
 
 In tlie formation and establishment of the church, God 
 took care that the messengers who declared his will to the 
 people, should on all occasions be fully competent for the 
 task. They underwent the necessary training until they were 
 workmen that needed not to be ashamed. These schools 
 received the Lord's approbation. He himself grew in wisdom 
 and stature, as did all the prophets. He came from the lower 
 class of people, but was not content to remain upon the same 
 level with thum. At the early ago of twelve, he astonished 
 his hearers by his knowledge; and when he commenced his 
 public work, all the treasures of knowledge abounded in his 
 intellectual nature. 
 
 1 proceed to notice the direct arguments in favor of an 
 Educated Ministry. 
 
 The very fact that the Scriptures have heen written in 
 what are noio called the dead languages^ seems to demand 
 this. The very Spirit that gave the a[)ostles utterance upon 
 the day of Pentecost, so that Romans, Jews, Farthians, Medes 
 and Cretans, and all that were assembled, couhl iicar and 
 understand them in their own language, could as easily have 
 given them the inspiration to multiply written translations of 
 the Bible, as do what he did. He did not do this. He has 
 given us the glowing imagery of the Old Testament couched 
 in the Hebrew language, and the pointed logic of the New, in 
 the Greek. It is true we havu excellent translations of these, 
 but they are only translations. It is the Hebrew and Greek 
 words that are inspired, and not our translations. The words 
 
10 
 
 are the very words of God, in which thoughts, like precious 
 gems of metal, are locked, requiring only the key of study 
 to open them. He who can not read these, has never seen the 
 inspired word ©f God as it really is; as it came from God 
 himself. He has not heard the oracle of the temple speak, 
 but merely some fallible mai^ like himself, standing at the 
 door repeating as well as he could, the utterance. He has 
 not seen the original portrait of God's will, as drawn by him- 
 self, as every teacher should. He has merely looked upon a 
 second-hand picture — a human copy of the portrait. The 
 very fact that God has designedly locked up his richest truths 
 in these dead languages, strongly indicates that he would 
 have the guides of his people study to " show themselves 
 approved, " and that he is not one who patronizes stupidity, 
 or encourages willful ignorance. 
 
 This leads to another thought : No man can properly 
 understand the word of God unless he is to some extent con- 
 versant with these languages. Every student knows that the 
 best translations at our command can not, do not give the 
 true meaning of the original. There are nice shades of 
 meaning, minute distinctions, that will throw light upon the 
 whole thought, and which a translation can not give. lu the 
 formation of the original word, its derivations and modifica- 
 tions, its history — because a nation's history is written in its 
 language — there is often embodied a world of meaning, vast 
 magazines of thought, which only the words themselves can 
 reveal. The skillful linguist sees all these things, and they 
 modify and correct all his impressions of truth. They suggest 
 to him new thoughts in the enunciation of that truth. We 
 have an excellent translation, and yet often the precise mean- 
 ing is not given ; at least not given so as to be free from 
 ambiguity. In the Hebrew especially, the emotional element 
 is necessary to a correct understanding, and yet it is almost 
 impossible to render this, and frequently in our version it has 
 
11 
 
 not been attempted. The emotion very often rests in some 
 little particle, some particular collocation of the words, and 
 very olten in the absence of the vpords themselves. The very 
 moment we attempt to put it into words, and make a distinct 
 logical statement, we lose all its power. We may use peri- 
 phrastic forms (even this we can not do unless linguists), 
 resort to various expedients, so as to approximate the mean- 
 ing, but even then we have lost the intensity. We may 
 dissect the body, see where the life was ; but, to a great 
 extent, the life itself, the all -animating power, is gone. Our 
 translation often fails to give us as much of that life as it 
 might do. In the present translation we read: '' From ever- 
 lasting unto everlasting thou art God ; " a simple statement. 
 In the original we read : " From everlasting unto everlasting 
 thou — oh, God ! " a sentence containing the same thought as the 
 other, and yet more effectually brought home to us through 
 the medium of the heavenly emotion accompanying it. "Thy 
 throne, oh, God ! is forever and ever." Throw out the inter- 
 polations, and you read : " Thy tisroue — oh God ! — forever and 
 ever." If the reader can put himself in the position of the 
 writer, he finds in the meaning of a particle, or the omission 
 of a word sometimes, an intensity of emotion which the 
 reader of the mere translation can never get. " The fool 
 hath said in his heart, there is no God." New read: ''The 
 fool says in his heart — no God. " How slight the change, 
 anil yet how great the ditTerence! In one case a simple 
 statement ; in the other, the poor fool talking to himself, 
 or musing, as the original strictly teaches, or rather the 
 foolish thoughts talking with each other. " God is not in 
 all his thougiits, " says the common version, implying that 
 he is in some. Says the Hebrew, "No God — all his 
 thoughts. " It is not a forgetful uess. The conceptions, ideas, 
 thoughts, and emotions, indeed his whole soul is Godless, 
 wholly atheistic. 
 
12 
 
 In the omission of words, sometimes we see this richness, 
 this depth of meaning. Says our translation, " Let it alone 
 this year, and if it bear fruit, well ; " now read the original, 
 "Let it alone this year, and if it bear fruit" — no answer 
 given, and yet more expressive than words could make it. 
 " Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, " says our 
 version. The Greek reads, " Do not be troubled or annoyed 
 about your life, " implying not that we should care nothing 
 about the affairs of this life, but that they should not be 
 allowed to trouble us. He who confers all other blessings, 
 will also grant these. " And John was baptizing at Enon, 
 near to Salem, because there was much water there, " says 
 our version. Therefore, argue our Baptist brethren, if he 
 needed much water, he must have desired to immerse the 
 people. Says the original, "Many Btvesmis^'' (polla iidaia), 
 many little streams or creeks, I'or which that country was 
 remarkable, and not one deep river. " But to sit on my right 
 hand or on my left hand is not mine to give, but it shall be 
 given to to them for whom it is prepared." Our translation 
 would imply that it did not rest in the hands of the Savior, 
 but that some other had the disposing of it. Tiiis is not the 
 true rendering. Says the Greek, " To sit, " (fee, "is not mine 
 to give, except to those for whom it is prepared. " If these 
 persons are those to wliom I have appointed this position, 
 then they shall have it. 
 
 These few selections out of a thou.sand are sufficient to con- 
 vince you that the minister who has access to the original 
 Scriptures holds in his hands a power which the reader of the 
 mere translation can never possess. He has access to a vast 
 treasury, which no one save the scholar can behold. 
 
 Much other knowledge is necessar}'- to a proper under- 
 standing of the Scriptures, Every ago has its distinguishing 
 characteristics. The peculiar modes of thought, and all the 
 surrounding circumstances which give power to ideas in one 
 
13 
 
 age of the world, in another have lost their force. We must 
 place ourselves in tlic condition of the people, and see from 
 their stand-point, if we would understand as they did. We 
 must become familiar with oriental expressions and peculiar- 
 ities of thought, with eastern imagery, the structure of 
 Hebrew poetry, the manners and customs of the inhabitants, 
 their inner and public life, their various kinds of business, the 
 workings of their social, religious and political systems, the 
 great central truths which every-where stirred the nation, the 
 peculiarities of the country, its geography and the nature of 
 its scenery, with its influence upon the training of the people 
 and the production of their literature, the wealth and grand- 
 eur of its cities, its power for delensive and aggressive war, 
 the influence of other nations in controlling its life progress, 
 a knowledge of the history of other peoples with its bearing 
 upon the fulfillment of prophecy, the great part they respect- 
 ively acted in carrying out the designs of Deity; where tlie 
 particular books of Scripture were written, when and by 
 whom, the nature of the authors, age in which they lived, a 
 knowledge of the arts and sciences which the people then 
 possessed, a general history of tiie literature of the day the 
 aim of the writers, the class of persons for whom they wrote, 
 and the schools of philosophy then prevalent; how these 
 books have been preserved, and whether or not we have the 
 inspired Scriptures ; have there been any interpolations, or is 
 the copy correct? are the statements therein recorded mere 
 theories, or facts capable of being substantiated by testimony ? 
 a knowledge of the facts of history in their bearing upon the 
 interpretation of Scripture scenes ; the records of Egypt, and 
 the atony pillars of Assyria and Babylon; the teachings of 
 geology, as confirming the Mosaic account of creation ; the 
 facts of physiological science, as asserting the unitv of man • 
 of chemistry, as illustrating many passages of sacred Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
14 
 
 I need not enumerate. ISIot a fact in nature, not a page in 
 history, not a truth in mental and moral science, not a prin- 
 ciple in philosophy, scarcely a thought in all the vast range 
 of literature, art, or science, but may be made subservient to 
 the great work of unfolding the meaning of divine truth. 
 
 I argue the need of a thorough education, hi order to make 
 the minister a skillful teacher / " a workman that needeth not 
 to be asliaiiied." To this end every science may pay tribute, 
 and every field of tlionght afford material. His commission 
 commands him to " go teach all nations." It is not enough 
 that men have been converted ; they must be edified and 
 instructed ; must be trained and nurtured in religion. It is 
 not enough that an army be raised ; it must be disciplined 
 and led forth to battle. It is not enough that the farmer sows 
 his seed ; he must cultivate and train and prune until he 
 can gather the fnll sheaf into his barn. To instruct, was the 
 business of Christ himself. The minister must come in 
 contact with all classes of mind ; men of various shades of 
 opinion ; men of varitid intellectual culture and diversity of 
 talent. He must be prepared to meet the ignorant and the 
 intelligent ; to solve the doubts of one, and put to silence the 
 sophisms of the other. He must be all things to all men* 
 He must be a man of varied knowledge, of ripe thought, of 
 logical reasoning powers, and skillful in the doctrines and 
 interpretations of Scripture. 
 
 A fine example, showing to the minister the necessity for 
 having boundless resources of knowledge, is found in the 
 nainisterial life of the Savior. His aim was to instruct the 
 people, and every thought, every illustration from nature, 
 every fact of science, every truth in history that would avail 
 in the accomplishment of his purpose, was employed. What 
 beautiful simplicity and adaptability in all his teachings ! 
 How pertinent his thoughts, and how opportunely selected ! 
 
15 
 
 In his hands, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, the 
 lily of the valley, the sand of the sea-shore, the hair of the 
 head, the thirst of the widow, the unfruitful fig-tree, the cities 
 of the hill, all become instructive and impressive sermons. 
 Standing by Jacob's well, he represents true piety under the 
 image of " liviug water. " When he meets the fishermen, 
 he asks, " What man is there of you, whom if his son 
 ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?" After multi- 
 plying the loaves, having the minds of his hearers intent 
 upon the miracle, he tells them, '' I um the bread of life; he 
 that cometh unto me shall never hunger." When seed-time 
 approaches, he exclaims, " Say ye not four months, and then 
 cometh the harvest?" While teaching liis disciples, and 
 observing a city upon an adjoining hill, he tells them, "Ye are 
 a city set upon a hill that can not be hid. " While the sheep 
 are standing around the temple, ready to be sacrificed for the 
 feast of the Passover, he says, " 1 am tlie good shepherd, and 
 lay down my life for the sheep." Having partaken of the 
 wine, and made it a symbol of his blood, he tells them, " I 
 am the vine, ye are the branches. " 
 
 When on his way I'rom Capernaum to the lake, treading 
 among lilies, and with sparrows above liis head, he teaches 
 his disciples of a Providence who cares for them. At the 
 feast of the tabernacles, while the people were drawing water 
 out of the fountain of Siloam to pour upon the sacrifices, and 
 while they sing, " With joy shall ye draw water out of the 
 well of salvation," Jesus tells them, ''If any man thirst, 
 let him come to me and drink. " Immediately before giving 
 sight to the blind, he proclaims, " I am the light of the 
 world. " In seed-time he relates the parable of the man 
 "who went forth to sow. " In the spring, when the branches 
 put forth their leaves, he says, " Behold the fig-tree and all 
 the trees ; when they now shoot Ibrth, ye say and know of 
 yourselves that summer is nigh at hand ; so likewise ye, 
 
16 
 
 when ye see these things come to pass, know that the king- 
 dom of God is nigh at hand." 
 
 In his parables you see the same wisdom, the same happy 
 simplicity. In this method of instruction, practiced by all 
 nations, he excelled. You see him using the most simple cir- 
 cumstances in life to press home upon his hearers the thrilling 
 truths of the gospel. By the ten virgins, he teaches us the 
 necessity of a preparation for heaven ; the pearl of great 
 price, the exceeding value of Christ as offered to us in the 
 gospel ; the talents, the improvement of our time and all our 
 powers for our Master's use ; the house and kingdom divided 
 against themselves, the necessity of union ; the seed growing 
 secretly, the silent yet eflScient influence of divine truth ; the 
 blind leading the blind, the great danger of trusting to false 
 teachers ; the good Samaritan, the necessity of showing 
 mercy toward our neighbor ; the lost sheep, the love of God 
 in caring for sinful man. 
 
 All these subjects are happily chosen. The plan is wisely 
 unfolded. The narration is interesting, and the meaning 
 definite and clear. No story too simple, no allusion too mag- 
 nificent, no thought too grand, if it will but illustrate the 
 truth, and rivet it more firmly upon the minds of the hearers. 
 
 We have another example in Scripture, showing us how all 
 knowledge may be made useful in the exposition of truth; 
 the example of a man we would do well to imitate. 
 
 Ephestis was a prominent city of the East, renowned for its 
 learning and its idolatry. Here stood the wonder of the 
 world, the pride of Ionic WL-alth and Ionic architecture — the 
 temple of the great Ephesian Diana. Here flourished magic, 
 with all the tricks of Eastern jugglery. Thousands of traders 
 in talismans here lived and grew wealthy on the superstitions 
 of the foolish people. Here were . celebrated schools of 
 rhetoric, learning, and philosophy, that the Greeks were 
 
17 
 
 always accustomed to support wherever their language was 
 spoken ; schools which, if they did not aid materially in the 
 discoveiy of much new truth, at least promoted a certain 
 kind of intellectual culture. Here, too, the Jew, that home- 
 less one, who had a foothold but no resting-place upon 
 almost every soil, had built a synagogue. Here were Jews, 
 the disciples of John the Baptist, waiting patiently for that 
 great Deliverer whom he foretold to be near at hand. 
 
 Paul enters Ephesus. He had been here previous to this 
 time, but the visit was a transient one. He goes into the 
 synagogue, and preaches to his countrymen. Although a 
 Bervant of God and apostle to the gentiles, he has not re- 
 nounced his nationality. The gospel which he preaches is 
 but a consummation of that which Moses and the prophets 
 taught. How lull of rich suggestions ; what food foi* thought 
 in his conversations and discourses in the synagoo-ue for 
 the space of three months, while one after another of those 
 who had long been agitated by conflicting theories, and who 
 had long been wavering, now yield to his arguments and 
 
 with joy acknowledge Christ to be the Savior of the world 
 
 the Messiah that was to come. Parties are formed. A con- 
 troversy arises among them. A few adhere to the apostle 
 and these form the germ of a religious community. But 
 Paul was more catholic in his views ; more noble-hearted 
 .more liberal, perhaps, than any Jew that ever preceded him. 
 He looks bejond his own precincts and interest to oflfer the 
 .gospel to Grecian Asia. He wants to attack paganism in its 
 very stronghold. Here where Idolatry has raised her temples, 
 and laid the foundations deep, he will ply the most powerful 
 engines of his artillery. Here at the very confluence of 
 Egyptian, Grecian, Roman, and Oriental idolatries, he will 
 propagate truth that will overturn this great temple, drive the 
 idols to the moles and bats, and send the gospel of the 
 Redeemer throughout the land. He i^, oQt CQntBul)! i^il i h'^ 
 a 
 
18 
 
 can stand where he shall have power, with the great lever of 
 of the gospel, to move the world of superstition and degrada- 
 tion that surrounds him. 
 
 That little band of disciples, as they came together for 
 worship and fraternal communion, could give him no such a 
 position. He burns with a holy ambition to dare and do for 
 his Master. This desired position he found, through the kind 
 providence of God, in one of the schools of Grecian Philos- 
 ophy with which that city could not fail, to be supplied. In 
 these schools there was a professed inquiry after truth, and 
 accordingly a freedom of debate and discussion was allowed, 
 which gave abundant advantages. A man of letters, skilled 
 in the wisdom of the Greeks and the knowledge of the 
 Scriptures, he availed himself of the kindness of one of these 
 teachers. He participated in these discussions. Says the 
 historian Luke, he was " found disputing daily in the school 
 of one Tyrannus; and this he continued for the space of two 
 years. " Here was the offer, and he accepted. No better 
 opportunity for preaching to the gentile population, in fact 
 the entire population of city aud country, could have been 
 found, than the one which now presented itself. He flung 
 himself into the midst of the struggle, and with a brawny 
 arm at his command, dealt mighty blows for his Master's 
 cause. A learned man ; gifted with all the acquisitions of 
 the schools, and a knowledge of the arts aud sciences ; with 
 unsurpassed eloquence and logic at his command ; every 
 literary and scientific argument must be brought into service, 
 to do battle for the truth. Day after day he debated in that 
 literarj' institution for the space of two years ; and so success- 
 ful was he in diffusing light among the inhabitants of that 
 city, as well as of the surrounding country, that Luke tells us, 
 " All they who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord 
 Jesus, both Jew and Greek. " The light which he was daily 
 putting forth in the school of Tyrannus had its effect upon 
 
19 
 
 other minds, men of high intellect, and was borne by them 
 into other parts of the country. Darkness was being scat- 
 tered as by a visitation from on high. Not only was the 
 effect seen upon those who directly felt its power, but it was 
 noticed in the great change of public sentiment. The estab- 
 lished idolatry was beginning to lose its hold upon the minds 
 of the people, so that the branches of trade which depended 
 upon their support, were materially affected. A glorious 
 tribute is paid to the labors of this apostle by the craftsmen, 
 who complained that " not alone in Ephesus, but almost 
 throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned 
 away much people, saying that there be no gods which are 
 made with hands. " — Acts, xix,, 26, 
 
 After such a noble record, made by the sacred penman,. of 
 the great value of learning in upholding and diffusing the 
 truth, let no man attempt to denounce these twin sisters, 
 Religion and Learning ; above all things, let that man never 
 be a minister of the everlasting gospel. 
 
 Tliere are texts which no minister can explain and enforce 
 without at least a partial knowledge of the sciences. How 
 can he rightly divide the word of truth and edity his hearers- 
 and receive the approbation of his God in discussing such. 
 texts as the following : " Who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and 
 Pleiades, and the chambers of the South ; " " Seek Him that 
 maketh the Seven Stars and Orion ? " How can he adequately 
 appreciate the Psalmist's teaching, " The heavens declare the 
 glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork, " if 
 he be ignorant of the the first principles of astronomical 
 science ? When he has been instructed in Botany, he can 
 properly "consider the lilies of the field, " Having . learned. 
 Geology, then can he better enforce the truth, that " in the 
 beginning God created the heavens and the earth," and 
 utterly silence the cavils of infidxility, that would deprive ua 
 of a God, and make our world " a mighty maze and all 
 
20 
 
 without a plan. " With a knowledge of the first principles 
 of Physiology, and the history of medical science, he can 
 make even infidels bear testimony to the truth that " God 
 hath of one blood made all the nations of men to dwell 
 upon the face of the earth." How often have the words, 
 " If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him 
 drink ; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his 
 head, " been quoted to show how refined a feeling of revenge 
 may be obtained by returning good for evil ! How forcible 
 the reference when Chemistry tells us that that this is "a 
 beautiful metaphor taken from the observance of the ancient 
 practice of smelting ores with carbonaceous fuel, and meaning 
 to subdue an enemy by kindness as metals are melted and 
 reduced by fire." With a knowledge of the principles and 
 laws governing the evaporation of fluids, how scientifically 
 correct the text, " All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea 
 is not full ; unto the place from whence the rivers come, 
 thither do they return again. " If he has examined the 
 science of Meteorology, and made himself familiar with the 
 laws by which the system of winds is governed, as far as they 
 have been discovered by our ablest philosophers, how much 
 better fitted to explain the text, " The wind goeth toward the 
 south, and turneth about unto the north ; it whirleth about 
 contiiiually, and the wind returneth again according to his 
 circuits. " 
 
 When he speaks of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah 
 he has the testimony of an officer of our own navy (Lieu- 
 tenant Lynch), who labored faithfully, and succeeded in 
 demonstrating the truthfulness of the Scripture statement con- 
 cerning the destruction of these cities. Layard has disen- 
 tombed from Nineveh the strongest corroborations of its past 
 history, and has found upon the sculptured marble, testimony 
 confirming the account of the miracle said in the Scriptures 
 • to have been performed in the case of the prophet Jonah. 
 
21 
 
 If he would learn the lessons, he could learn and communi- 
 cate the knowledge that is embodied in the prophecies of 
 Scripture and their fulfillment ; if he would open up the vast 
 treasures of information contained therein, and instruct the 
 people so that they may be ready to give an answer for 
 the faith that is in them, how extensive and how varied 
 should be his acquirements. What lessons of God's care and 
 protection, as well as withering efi'ects of his wrath, maj 
 be learned in the past and present history of the Jewish 
 nation, of Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Media, 
 Egypt, Assyria, Idumea, Arabia, Tyre, Edom, and the lives 
 of Cyrus and Sennacherib, with the thousand other cases 
 of prophecy mentioned in holy writ ? Every thing bearing 
 upon the fulfillment of these prophecies needs to be exam- 
 ined. The records of history must be searched, and the 
 accounts of intelligent travelers who have visited these 
 renowned lauds of the East, and who have been compelled, 
 often unwillingly, to bear testimony to the truth of Scripture 
 history, must be studied. Productions throwing light upon 
 the present condition of nations ; the revelations of a Raw- 
 linson or a Layard; the discoveries of our most indefatigable 
 pioneers; the records of monuments illustrating Scripture 
 scenes and substantiating Scripture assertions, — all form a 
 part of the minister's furniture, if he would show himself a 
 workman of God. 
 
 An interesting example, showing the great value of a 
 knowledge of sacred and profane history in understanding 
 many passages of revelation, and thus indirectly confirming 
 the truth of holy writ, is found in the thirty-ninth chapter 
 and first verse of Isaiah. "At that time Mcrodacli-baladan, 
 the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a pres- 
 ent to Ilezekiah, " &c. In regard to this statement of the 
 prophet, no little difiiculty has been felt by commentators, 
 and it is only lately that the difficulty has been removed, and 
 
^2 
 
 in such a way as to furnish a striking demonstration of the 
 minute accuracy of the sacred narrative. 
 
 The diflSculty arose, first, because this king of Babylon is 
 nowhere else mentioned in sacred history ; second, the king- 
 dom of Assyria was yet flourishing, and Babylon was one of 
 its dependencies. — (2d Kings xvii., 24; 2d Chron. xxxiii., 
 11). These examples prove that at the time of Hezekiah, 
 Babylon was dependent on the Assyrian king. Who, then, 
 was this Merodach-baladan, king of Babylou ? If he was 
 •simply governor of the city, how could he send an embassy 
 to the Jewish sovereign, then at war with his lord ? Until 
 lately, Scripture interpreters could give no satisfactory reply. 
 
 "In this darkness of doubt," says Dr. Wiseman, "we 
 must have continued, and the apparent contradiction of this 
 text to other passages would have remained inexplicable, had 
 not the progress of modern oriental study brought to light a 
 document of most remarkable antiquity. This is notliing less 
 than a fragment of Berosus, preserved in the chronicle of 
 "Eusebius. This interesting fragment informs us that after 
 Sennacherib's brother had governed Babylon, as Assyrian 
 viceroy, Acises unjustly possessed himself of the supreme 
 •command. After thirty days he was nmrdered by Merodach- 
 baladan, who usurped the sovereignty for six months, when 
 he was in turn killed, and was succeeded by Elibus, But 
 after three years, Sennacherib collected an array, gave the 
 usurper battle, conquered and took him prisoner. Having 
 once more reduced Babylon to his obedience, he left his son 
 Assordan, the Esorhaddan of Scripture, as governor of the 
 city."— (Sci. (& Rev. p. 369.) 
 
 No man can have a proper conception of himself., of God^ 
 or of the great theme of redemption., and of course can not 
 teach others^ unless he he a man of knowledge. The ignorant 
 man looks upon the heavens above him with ''a brute uncon- 
 scious gaze, " not thinking of any aim in their creation, save 
 
23 
 
 his own pleasure and gratification. The man of science, with 
 the aid of the telescope, converts those twinkling orbs "that 
 shine like diadems on the brow of nigiit, " into so many vast 
 and majestic spheres, infinitely superior to our little globe, 
 perhaps peopled by millions of intelligent beings; observes 
 with what regularity and precision they perform all their 
 accustomed movements; ever moving, yet never conflicting; 
 revolving side by side with their sister planets in love and 
 harmony; subject to innumerable perturbations, yet never 
 rebelling or spreading discord, — what an idea must such an 
 one have of the greatness, love, power, and wisdom of that 
 Being who made all these things, and how fitted to sympa- 
 thize with the Psalmist in his outgushings, "Great and 
 marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; in wisdom 
 hast thou made them all ? " 
 
 When he goes forth into the vast field of nature, and 
 attempts to explore her mysteries ; observes the great law of 
 gravitation, like the law of love in religion, evea' drawing and 
 binding the parts together; examines the means for the pro- 
 duction and reproduction of plants ; beholds their growth, 
 decay, and reappearance in other and varied forms ; is 
 delighted with the gorgeous colors of the painted flower ; sees 
 the rich abundance that God has every-where thrown around 
 us, as well as the wise and beneficent laws for the expanding 
 and controlling of the powers ot" created objects, — in all these 
 things does he truly read of <God. 
 
 In the bowels of the rock-ribbed earth, he reads upon the 
 stones the teachings of Deity. He sees the vast population 
 that inhabited the eartli years before man ever set foot upon 
 the soil. He learns lessons of power, of providence, of wis- 
 dom, recorded, as with pen of iron, upon the flinty rock. He 
 finds the stones of the field in league with the Bible, both 
 teaching the same fact, — God, the Creator of the heavens and 
 the earth. 
 
24 
 
 When he examines the mechanism of hia own system ; 
 the materials of its composition, and the part each organ is 
 designed to perform' ; the fine adaptation of means to ends 
 which every- where manifests itself ; the wise and wonderful 
 laws by which the limbs perform their functions, and the 
 nerves act their part; how the heart accomplishes its vast 
 work of purification, collecting and distributing, as from one 
 huge reservoir, the life-giving current through the whole 
 system; the wonderful construction of the brain, and its 
 oflBce as the organ of the mind; the mysterious process of 
 growth and decay which is continually going on; the various 
 ends to which this complicated machine may be applied, — 
 when he examines all these relations, may he not, will he not 
 exclaim with the l^salmist, "1 am fearfully and wonderfully 
 made?" 
 
 If he opens the page of history, reads the records of the 
 past, and examines God's dealings with other nations, he will 
 see all things under the control of some superintending Power 
 who is overruling and guiding the same. He will see nation 
 after nation rebelling against God, going farther and farther 
 away from his counsels, condemned to be destroyed by others, 
 and these in their turn destined, for a similar reason, to meet 
 the same fate. He will see other peoples who trust in God 
 and obey his precepts, gifted with the light of truth while all 
 around is immersed in a worse than Egyptian darkness. As 
 long as they heeded the teaching of a Divine Ruler, they 
 were preserved from the power of internal faction and 
 external foes, which had destroyed other nations. They grew 
 up in wisdom and piety. Their rulers were men of integrity 
 and uprightness. He will see wicked kings who were guilty 
 of leading the people into idolatry, stricken from their 
 thrones, and their mighty empires, which had terrified nations 
 and astonished the world by their grandeur and magnificence, 
 crushed to earth. Amid the din of battle, the rise and fall of 
 
25 
 
 empires, the crushing of kings, and the upbuilding of king- 
 doms, he sees the church preserved, and the gospel of the 
 Redeemer still safe. If not in tlie temple of the crowned 
 monarch, it is found in the dwelling of tlie humble servant of 
 Jehovah. If he thus carefully studies the history of by-gone 
 ages, will he not more fully understand the truth that ''happy 
 is that people whose God is the Lord ?" 
 
 Will not a man instructed in all these various departments 
 of thought, have grander conceptions of God, of man, of 
 time and eternity, of heaven and hell, of life and death, of all 
 those main pillars in the temple of Ciiristianity, than he who 
 has scarcely been beyond the limits of English Grammar? 
 Will not the mind of a Thomas Dick, Chalmers, Robert Hall, 
 Luther, Melancthon, or Jonathan Edwards have nobler views 
 of God, more enlarged ideas of Christianity, of God's infinity 
 and goodness, than the man who has read the word of God, 
 deprived oi all these helps ? With their minds burdened 
 with such views of the Deity, with all their powers strung to 
 the highest tension, thoroughly alive to the greatness and 
 grandeur of the subjects with which they liave to deal, the 
 interests of time and eternity, of God and man pressing home 
 upon their hearts, would they not be better fitted for the great 
 work of teaching the people, than deprived of such training? 
 
 Aptness to teach implies qualifications, and these demand 
 extensive scientific attainments ; at least more than an ordi- 
 nary acquaintance with the vast domain of science. In 
 keeping with this view, I quote the pertinent remarks of the 
 late Dr. Alexander of Princeton : " Indeed, to speak the 
 truth, there is scarcely any science or branch of knowledge 
 which may not be made subservient to theology. Natural 
 history, chemistry, and geology have sometimes been of im- 
 portant service in assisting the biblical student to solve 
 diflficulties contained in Scripture; or in enabling him to repel 
 the assaults of atlversaries which were made under cover of 
 
26 
 
 these sciences. A general acquaintance with the whole circle 
 of science is of more consequence to the theologian than at 
 first sight appears. Not to mention the intimate connection 
 which exists between all parts of truth, in consequence of 
 which important light may be collected from the remotest 
 quarters, it may be observed that the state of learning in the 
 world requires the advocates of the Bible to attend to many 
 things which may not in themselves be absolutely necessary. 
 He must be able to maintain his standing as a man of learn- 
 ing. He must be able to converse on the various topics of 
 learning with other literary men, otherwise due respect will 
 not be paid to him, and his sacred office may suffer contempt, 
 in consequence of his appearing to be ignorant of what it is 
 expected all learned men should be acquainted with. " 
 
 He must defend the truth. Every minister, like Paul, " is 
 set for the defense of the gospel. " Pie must be able not only 
 ''to exhort, but convince the gainsayers." The armies of 
 infidelity have planted their batteries, and are ready and 
 waiting to hurl their leveled artillery at the fortress of Chris- 
 tianity, and woe be to that officer who is found wanting. 
 Their sentinels are on the alert, and every avenue must be 
 carefully guarded. We have nothing to fear unless we under- 
 rate the enemy, and allow ourselves to become the victims of 
 a careless indifference. When wide awake to the contest, 
 and knowing the strength of the enemy, the church has 
 always sent forth her champions who have struck terror to the 
 hearts of her foes, demolished their strongholds, and brought 
 lasting honor to the cause of truth. We still find some who 
 love darkness rather than light; whose whole aim is to 
 weaken the strength of the Christian ; throw doubt on the 
 evidences of his faith; cut the cords that bind him to his 
 God ; banish true piety from the laud, and make of this 
 moral world a "waste, howling wilderness. " The church has 
 challenged her enemies to the contest, and her leaders, trust- 
 
27 
 
 ing^ in the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, have done battle 
 for the truth, and have conquered. From the days of Por- 
 phyry and Celsus unto the present, slie has been able to 
 withstand all opposition. Science, falsely so called, has been 
 arrayed against her, but true science has faithfully repelled 
 the dart. In the early history of the church, when infidelity 
 and error were running rampant ; when Arianism, Socinian- 
 ism, Sabellianism, Nestorianism, and a thousand other errors 
 had flooded the church, there were still some champions, who, 
 as one mighty breastwork, planted themselves on the defens- 
 ive, and rolled back the fearful tide of sin. On through 
 every century, when there was danger, there were defenders. 
 
 A Watson is always found to fling back into his teeth the 
 ribaldry of a Tom Paine, or the falsehoods of a Voltaire. 
 The sophisms of Hume have met more than their match in 
 the logic of a Campbell. When the court was thronged with 
 literary infidels ; when the minds of the learned were verging 
 toward irreligion ; when moral gloom appeared to have 
 settled upon tlie land, then Bishop Butler arose, and with a 
 logic unsurpassed since the days of the apostles, with the 
 very weapons of his opponents, hurled blows upon them from 
 which they have not yet recovered. Cudworth, Boyle, Stil- 
 lingfleet, Newton, Leslie, Clark, Leland, Warburton, Watson, 
 Chalmers, Robert Hall, Edwards, Paley, with a host of others 
 of later date, McCosh, Rodgers, Baclianan, Hengstenberg, 
 Walker, Alexander, Hodge, Kirwan, and others of kindred 
 reputation, are names of which the church may justly feel 
 proud; names that the world will not willingly let die; 
 names that are interwoven with the existence of the Christian 
 church. 
 
 Infidelity still reigns, and champions for the truth are 
 wanted. Foes are at work without, attempting to destroy our 
 holy Christianity. They have changed their tactics, but are 
 as treacherous and warlike as ever. Having: left the vautasre 
 
28 
 
 ground which metaphysics seemed to give them, they have 
 planted themselves on the domain of science, to be in their 
 turn dislodged from these fortifications, and driven from every 
 covert. Physiology in infidel hands, is employed to disprove 
 the unity of man. Geology is asked to tell a tale that shall 
 contradict the Mosaic account of creation. Astronomy is 
 bribed to testify that there has been no creation, but that the 
 stars, with all the retinue of heaven, are but emanations from 
 the great I AM. The records of Egypt and the sculptured 
 tablets of Nineveh have been arrayed in battle against the 
 chronology of Scripture. Natural science has been made to 
 contradict the truth of a creation from nothing, and has 
 accounted for all things by the theory of spontaneous gener- 
 ation, effects being produced by bodies coming in contact, 
 subject to certain conditions and restrictions. A personal 
 God has been denied, and the beauty and grandeur every- 
 where around us, manifesting to the Christian some bountiful 
 Benefactor, are but part and parcel of the universal God, the 
 To Pan of the Greeks. A Providence has been cast aside, 
 and all things reduced to the control of natural laws, which 
 are guided and controlled by nothing, and that these work out 
 our happiness and misery. German rationalism, rather ^r-ra• 
 tionalism, is busy, and would reduce every thing to mere reason; 
 would strip the Bible of its divinity, and give us no more, if 
 indeed as much, than the bald skeleton of truth. Every-where 
 we see the opponents of the truth planting themselves for 
 another attack. From the citadel of natural science they hope 
 to cast their engines of destruction. Skillful in maneuvering, 
 they must be met by men qualified to dislodge them from 
 their position. You, and I, and others must see to it that the 
 cause of our Master receives no injury. How shall we accom- 
 plish this herculean task unless prepared to give battle with 
 their own weapons? To do this successfully, the weapons 
 they brandish must be made the subject of special study. 
 
29 
 
 The vigorous words of the lamented Hugh Miller are per- 
 tinent to this subject. Speaking of the study of the sciences, 
 he says: "Judging from the preparations made in their 
 colleges and halls, men do not now seem sufficiently aware 
 — though the low thunder of every railway, and the snort of 
 every steam engine, and the wliistle of the wind amid the 
 wires of every electric telegraph seem to publish the fact — 
 that it is in the department of physics, not metapiiysics, that 
 the greater minds of the age are engaged ; that the Lockes, 
 Humes, Kants, Berkeleys, Dugald Stewarts, and Thomas 
 Browns belong to the past; and tiiat tiie philosophers of the 
 present time, tall enough to be seen all the world over, are 
 the Humboldts, the Aragos, the Agassizes, the Liebigs, the 
 Owens, the Ilerschels, the Bucklands, and the Brewsters. 
 The Cuviers, the Iluttons, the Cavendishes, and the Watts, 
 with their successors, the practical philosophers of the present 
 age, men whose achievements in physical science we find 
 marked on the surface of the country in characters which might 
 be read from the moon, are not adequately represented (in our 
 colleges). It would, perhajis, be more correct to say that they 
 are not represented at all, and the clergy as a class suifer 
 themselves to linger far in the rear of an intelligent laity, a 
 full age behind the requirements of the time. Let them not 
 shut their eyes to the danger which is obviously coming. 
 Tlie battle of the evidences will have as certainly to be fought 
 on the field of pky steal science, as it was contested in the last 
 age on that of metaphysics. " 
 
 This brood of infidels is prolific. The men of Athens were 
 accustomed to banish from their city the solitary skeptic who 
 appeared among them. We have thrown down the gauntlet 
 and challenged them to the contest, and it behooves us to 
 prepare well for the struggle. We still have a Kant, a 
 Compte with whom we must contenoi. Lamarck, Spinoza, 
 Hegel, Strauss, and Schellirig must be met. Carlyle yet 
 
30 
 
 writes. The sugar-coated skepticism of Holmes is doing its 
 work upon the literary minds of the age. " Vestiges, " 
 " Cosmos, " and the " Constitution of Man " are read and 
 believed by many. Owen and his school are re-hashed to us 
 in a new form almost every year. Mackey tells us of the 
 " Progress of Intellect, " and Professor Newman gives us his 
 " Phases of Faith. " Emerson and Parker speak to us of the 
 " Infinite, " the " Over-soul. " D'Holbach treats us to cold 
 materialism, while Harriet Martineau administers lessons on 
 duty. 
 
 Our land is flooded with infidelity and infidel publications. 
 The church must meet them and crusii them. Hitherto she 
 has proved herself to be more than a match for all her 
 opponents. Shall she still retain that superiority, and show 
 that she is equal to the contest, or sluggishly sit down while 
 the enemy sows tares within her borders i The answer rests 
 with you and with me. To wliom shall the church, in her 
 extremity, look for leaders if not to her ministers; and woe be 
 to the church when she sends forth ignorant and untutored 
 men to give battle to the powers of scientific infidelity. A 
 Ball's Blufi* or Manassas shall be the fate of the church when 
 to unskillful hands she commits her destiny in the hour of 
 trial. Difficulties in science and philosophy must be met. 
 Scripture must be reconciled with science ; passages of holy 
 writ, with each other. By sound argument the church must 
 meet and vanquish all opposition ; must make the Bible, and 
 reason, and revelation teach the same doctrine ; must build 
 around her possessions fortifications that the weapons of skep- 
 ticism shall not be able to harm. 
 
 What saith the Scriptui'es f After all, these must be our 
 guide. I have already referred to the example of the apostles, 
 as afibrding no argument in favor of an ignorant ministry. 
 I have shown that in the Jewish dispensation learned men 
 were set apart for the service of the sanctuary. When God 
 
31 
 
 communed with men, he did so through intelligent mediums. 
 He did not change that policy when the Christian dispensa- 
 tion was inaugurated. Almost the last message communi- 
 cated by the great Apostle to Timothy was, "the things which 
 thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same 
 commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to instruct 
 others also. " How shall thuy teticii unless qualified, and how 
 qualify themselves unless by diligent, patient study ? The 
 same apostle writing to Tilus, a youthful minister, exhorted 
 him "to hold fast the faithful word as he had been taught" — 
 b}' Paul himself, and not by inspiration — that he '"may be 
 able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince the gaiu- 
 sayers. " How shall he do this without a knowledge of the 
 objections of his opponents, and the best metliod of refuting 
 them ? He also gives a reason for this : " For there are many 
 unruly, and vain talkers, and deceivers, specially they of the 
 circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped ; who subvert 
 whole houses, teaching things which they ought not. " It is 
 the business of the minister to stop their mouths ; and how 
 shall he accomplish this work if his talk be as vain as their 
 own. " But speak thou the things which become sound doc- 
 trine, " How can he do this unless he first ascertain what 
 Bound doctrine demands? "Not giving heed to Jewish fables 
 and commandments of men that turn from the truth. " He 
 must know what these are, so as to warn his flock against 
 their evil tendency. '' In doctrine showing uncorruptness, 
 gravity, sincerity, soundness of speech, that can not be con- 
 demned. " Can an ignorant man exhibit the soundness that 
 the apostle demands ? '' Let no man despise tiiee. " So 
 preacii and conduct yourself that no injury shall result to the 
 cause of your Master from your teaching or your conduct. 
 Paul informs Timothy of some who "desired to be teachers of 
 the law, understanding neither what they say, nor whereof 
 they affirm," and exhorts him to teach the law in all its 
 
38 
 
 purity, and not as others have done. He makes known to 
 him the requisite qualifications. That he should not be a 
 novice, but instructed in his work. Prophecies had been 
 foretold to the intent that in the last days many should 
 depart from the faith, and should teach false doctrines. He is 
 authorized to put his brethren in remembrance of these 
 things, and for so doing would be commended. But how 
 teach his members, if he understood them not himself. In 
 order to do this, he is commanded, " Till I come give atten- 
 tion to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine ; neglect not the 
 gift that is in thee; meditate on these things; give thyself 
 wholly to them, that thy profit may appear unto all ; take 
 heed unto thyself and thy doctrine ; continue in them, for in 
 doing thus thou shalt save thyself and them that hear thee." 
 If we must but open our mouths and the Spirit will fill them, 
 as some wiseacres attempt to teach, why was Paul guilty of 
 the consummate blunder of recommending reading and medi- 
 tation to the youthful Timothy ? '^ Keep that which is com- 
 mitted to tliy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings and 
 oppositions of science, falsely so called. " The way to do 
 this was first to ascertain the nature of those scientific contra- 
 dictions, if there were any. " Hold fast to the form of sound 
 words which thou has heard of me. " " Study to show 
 thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. " Study the 
 word and works of Deity. Quality yourself for the arduous 
 duties awaiting you, so that the church shall not be ashamed 
 of your ministrations ; and do all this that you may rightly 
 divide and enforce the word of truth. Could stronger lan- 
 guage be employed ? " All Scripture is given by inspiration 
 of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be 
 thoroughly furnished unto all good works. " The minister, 
 therefore, must be mighty in the Scriptures before he is 
 
33 
 
 properly fitted for his business. "When thou comest, bring 
 ■witlj thee tiie books, and especially the parchments. " Paul, 
 witli all his Icjiowledge, found it necessary to consult books, 
 aiul may even have had his written sermons. "I am set for 
 the defense of the gospel." How defend it when you have no 
 knowledge of the enemy, and are not qualified to repel his 
 assaults ? " Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to 
 the saints." Shall we not accomplish more if we go forth 
 with a quiver full of arrows, than if we attempt to cope 
 single IiandeiH Paul boasted that lie had not "shunned to 
 declare unto them the whole counsel of God." Can a man 
 do this when he is almost totally ignorant of a part of that 
 counsel ? " And he gave pastors and teachers, for the 
 perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
 edifying the body of Cin-ist. " How can a minister instruct 
 and cdily his people unless his knowledge be superior "to 
 theirs; and how can this be, in this enlightened age of the 
 world, unless he be an intelligent man? "Everj'^ scribe 
 which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto 
 a man that is an householder, who bringeth forth out of his 
 treasures things new and old." But how can he do this 
 if there be nothing in his treasury save the old, and that in 
 homeo])athic doses? We are told that "Ezra caused the 
 people to understand the reading." So must the minister 
 and how can lie unless he first understand it himself? 
 The Scriptures every-where approve, yea, demand an intel- 
 ligent n)inistry. The greatest wonder is, how any man who 
 had carefully read them, should conclude that God chose iwno- 
 rant and illiterate men as the embassadors of his kingdom. 
 
 The Fathers understood Christ as demanding an educated 
 ministry, and for this purpose seminaries were established for 
 the instruction of students in theology. At a very earlr 
 period there was a seminary of high reputation in the city of 
 Alexandria, in which candidates for the ministry were trained 
 
34 
 
 np together under the ablest instructors ; seminaries in which 
 sucli men as Pantaenus, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Origen 
 taught with eminent success. Eusebius and Jerome tell us 
 that this seminary had existed and enjoyed a succession of 
 able ministers from the time of Mark the Evangelist. Poly- 
 carp, a disciple of John the Apostle, we are told in 
 ecclesiastical history, established a seminary at Smyrna. 
 John himself founded one at Ephesus. Writers on Chris- 
 tian Antiquities teach us that at a very early period seminaries 
 of a similar kind were found at Kome, Cesarea, Antioch, and 
 other places, all of which accomplished a good work, and were 
 thought essential to the honor and prosperity of the church. 
 
 Of course this action in the direction of learning met with 
 some opposition. Says the historian Mosheim, "It must not 
 be supposed that the Christian church was full of literary, 
 wise, and scientific men. For there was no law as yet to 
 prevent the ignorant and illiterate from entering the sacred 
 oflBce, and it appears from explicit testimony that many of 
 both the bishops and presbyters were entirely destitute of 
 science and learning. Besides, the party was both numerous 
 and powerful, who considered learning as injurious, and even 
 destructive to true piety. " The existence of such schools 
 shows how the leading minds of the age felt the necessity of 
 an able ministry. Had such a ministry continued, the church 
 would never have sunk to the depths of wretchedness which 
 she experienced during the darkness of the middle ages. 
 
 Even at that early day, immediately after the establishment 
 of Christianity, the presence of the Holy Spirit did not super- 
 sede the necessity of extensive knowledge, and thorough 
 training in the embassador for Christ. Nor does he do so 
 now. " The gods help those who help themselves." 
 
 What does history teach us of the mutual relation existing 
 between learning and Christianity? The corruptions of 
 Christianity, by which the simple apostolic ministry became 
 
a mediatoiy priesthood ; and this priesthood built up into a 
 mighty hierarchy ; repentance was perverted into penance, 
 and God's free gift of pardon was changed into the absohition 
 of the priest, sold for money ; the simple and touching 
 sacrifice of Christ into idolatrous mummeries ; the whole 
 system of corruption which finally culminated in the Catholic 
 Church, — all these were uot the result of learning, but of 
 ignorance. They grew out of the enthusiasm of perhaps 
 honest, yet ignorant and misguided men. They grew to 
 maturity, and culminated in an age when an unreading laity 
 was led and instructed by an ignorant priesthood, who could 
 not write their own sermons. With such a ministry, no 
 wonder that a night of darkness settled upon the church. 
 Like priest, like people, Christianity was lost sight of amid 
 the darkness of a superstitious and ignorant age. But as 
 soon as universities were founded, marts of intellectual com- 
 merce sprang up ; metropolitan centers of discussion and 
 inquiry were established. Then any man could have seen 
 that a giant was born ; an influence about to be exerted which 
 would one day shake thai; mighty fabric, and scatter its 
 foolish dogmas to the four winds. The Schoolmen came upon 
 the stage. In these medieval schools, there was hewn 
 and shaped together, with curious cutting and carving, that 
 system of scholastic theology, of which much of the contro- 
 versy of our day is but a reproduction. They did not elicit 
 much new truth that was valuable, but they sharpened their 
 powers for the work before them. Thought was stimulated, 
 and a yearning for unknown truth created, which might 
 serve to introduce the era of intellectual light that soon came. 
 As God from time to time raised up mighty champions, 
 who shot like bolts of livid lightning across the vast expanse 
 of mental gloom, who were they ; what were they ; and 
 where were they found? Who, in the fourteenth century, 
 aroused all England with his manly eloquence and vindicated 
 
36 
 
 Scripture, in tones heard all over Europe? It was Wickliffe, 
 trained in Oxford College, and crowned with academic honors. 
 In that University of Oxford, he found a fit position and fit 
 enginery for his attack upon the strongholds of superstition. 
 In the next century who were the witnesses for Christ, before 
 whom pontiff and emperor trembled, and the Council of Con- 
 stance condemned to the flames ? Go into their cells. Stand 
 by the fires built for tliem in the meadow by the liver-side. 
 Listen to their testimony in prison and in flame. See their 
 ashes mingled with the running waters ! Who are they ? 
 Where were they trained ? They are scholars — learned men. 
 In the University of Prague they lifted up their voices for 
 Christ, and from that university John Huss, and his com- 
 panion Jerome, came to seal their testimony with their lives. 
 Another century introduced the Reformation . Who accom- 
 plished that? "Doctor Martin Luther," as the Germans 
 call him, was a finished scholar. His name is inseparable 
 from the University of Wittenberg. The first gun fired in 
 that struggle, M^as the nailing of Luther's theses for discussion, 
 according to the scholastic forms of debate. The reformers 
 were the learned men of their day. The age of thu lieforma- 
 tion was the revival of learning. Look at iiistory, and you 
 will be compelled to confess that learning produced the 
 Eeformation. Why deny its power for good now ? 
 
 Says Professor Tyler, in his excellent little work on ''Prayer 
 for Colleges," " The reformers — those before the Keformation, 
 as well as the reformers usually so-called — Wicklifie, and 
 Huss, and Eeuchlin, and Erasmus, Luther, and Melancthon, 
 and Bucer, and Calvin, and Tyndale, and Bilney, and 
 Latimer, and Knox were men trained in the universities, and 
 thus pu|ared by the providence, as well as the grace of God, 
 for the work which they were destined to accomplish. It was 
 while they were students in the university that new light 
 dawned upon Uic-ir souls, and the Greek Testament^ accom- 
 
37 
 
 panied in several instances by the Latin translation of 
 Erasmus, was, to most of them, tlie source from whence the 
 new liglit shone. The larger part of them were afterward 
 professors in the universities, and from these fortresses of 
 learning and influence thev hurled their missiles at the 
 corruptions of tlie papal church ; from these centers of illu- 
 mination tliey scattered light over the dark nations. Th» 
 Universities of Prague and Wittenherg^ of Basle^ and 
 Lausanne^ of Oxford and Camhridge^ of Strashurg and St. 
 Andrezcs, wer-e the hirth-places of the Rcforviation.'''' 
 
 Kext came the conflict of Puritanism with hierarchy. 
 Whence cume rurltauism ? Where armed for the struggle? 
 By the Cam and the Isis it gathered strength to battle with 
 the storm. These universities of learning yielded their fruit, 
 which still remains for the healing of nations. Next came 
 the great Methodist a.wakening which stirred the English 
 people, and is still telliiig happily upon the destiny of the 
 world. Wliere was Methodism born? In an Oxford College 
 where a little company of scholars who believed that religion 
 did not consist in dry formalities, but in the soul's experience, 
 were wunt to meet. Wesley and Whitefield were there. 
 There was found the power that was to shake Great Britain, 
 and spread beyond the oceau. 
 
 Samuel J. Mills, imbued with a zeal for God's cause, and 
 burning with a desire for the conversion of the heathen world, 
 collecting a few of his companions, went out into a field near 
 to Williams College to pray for those who sit in darkness. 
 Ere they lelt the '' haystack, " around whose base tliey had 
 assembled, they pledged themselves not to rest until some 
 aiovemt-nt should be set on foot, that would carry the gospel 
 beyond the sea. This college student, with his associates, 
 gave birth to the great American Missionary movement.. 
 The flame they kindled has been kept alive upon that and 
 other altars. American missionaries have not only been 
 
 3* 
 
38 
 
 learned men, but with few exceptions, have consecrated them- 
 selves to tiie noble work while engaged in college studies. 
 
 Time will not allow me to accumulate references. History 
 is full of them. They all show that when a great work is to 
 be performed, when a mighty impetus is to be communicated 
 to the sluggish movements of the church, a learned man is 
 called into the field to accomplish the mission. The founder 
 of the church with which most of us stand connected — I 
 mean William Ottekbein — was a finished scholar, read in 
 Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Divinity. Could I write tlie 
 influence of learning and learned men in furthering the 
 interests of Christianity, and the untold good they have 
 accomplished, 1 would simply write the history of tlie Chris- 
 tian church. On the other hand, when leai-jiing aixl religion 
 have been separated, and made to travel their pathways 
 alone ; when religion has discarded the abundance of aid 
 which science has been willing to grant, the clergy are illiter- 
 ate and blind, the laity go astray, and error and superstition 
 like a dark pall, settle down upon the church. Let us read 
 history to profit. 
 
 Thix age emphatieaUy demands an educated ininisiry. In 
 some respects it has no parallel. See the subtiic infidelity 
 which is every-where prevalent; approaching us s^x"^ often in 
 the guise of truth ; containing, as did the Lidian's story, two 
 truths to one lie; truth so skilll'ully interwoven witii falseliood 
 as to deceive the very elect; infusing itself into every system 
 and every creed ; plying every means in its power for the 
 accomplishment of its neiarious designs. How is the man of 
 God to meet this? How recognize and refute it when he does 
 meet it? IN ever before has such subtilty been manifested, 
 ai,d never before have skilllul men been in so great demand. 
 Kow is the time s})oken of by the prophet— now is his pre- 
 diction verified: "The time will come when they will not endure 
 Bound doctrine, but after their own lusts they will lieap to 
 
39 
 
 tlieniselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn 
 away their ears from the truth, and shall be tnrneil unto 
 fables. " 
 
 This ago is independent in thought — is inquisitive. Man- 
 kind now, more than ever, refuse to be satisfied with an ipse 
 dixit. Men have been priest-led That time has passed, 
 and the strings are broken. Now they want information, 
 but desire to form tlieir own conclusions. The thunders 
 of the Inquisition no longer compel them to think as 
 tlie church thinks. This spirit pervades all the departments 
 of life, of literature, of morals. Fulsome bombast, high- 
 sounding phrases, vehement declamation, huge '''•scsqitipedalia 
 ver'ha^'' will no longer avail. By the serious, religion is 
 thought too important a matter to be trilled with ; by the 
 trifling, empty declamation is turned into foolishness. But 
 cue way to meet this spirit, — qualiiV your teaciiers. 
 
 This is a thinking age. Never was man so wakeful as 
 noM-. lie is not content to remain where his father was, but 
 is ever seeking new truths; prying into new difficulties. He 
 is not satisfied with the surface, but must probe deeper. He is 
 fiercely iconoclastic. Nothing too holy, nothing too sacred to 
 escape his scrutiny. Books and ])apers are every-where prev- 
 alent. All men read, and he who reads thinks. ''Beware " 
 says an able New England writer, " when God lets loose a 
 thinker upon this planet. Then all things are at work. There 
 is not a princii)le in science but its flank may be turned 
 to-mi>rrow. There is not any literary reputation, not the 
 so-called eternal names of fame, that may not be revised and 
 condemned. Tlie very hopes of man, the thoughts of his 
 heart, the religion of nations, the manners and morals of 
 mankind are all at tlie mercy of a new generali/.atiou. " 
 Never before were so many thinkers let loose. 
 
 All these matters must be considered by the man w^ho 
 as[>ire8 to be a teacher in sacred things. To properly fill this 
 
40 
 
 position, the brightest qualifications are not too bright; the 
 most brilliant talents none too brilliant; the most pro- 
 found scholarsiiip none too profound ; the most varied powers 
 none too quick or various. Such a man is properly qualified 
 " to rightly divide the word of truth. " 
 
 Time passes, and I must be brief. The subject is inex- 
 haustible. In its contemplation, thoughts crowd thick and 
 fast upon the mind. I can not now speak of the great need 
 of a scientific education to the missionary, who is not only 
 required to preach the gospel, but often the civil and ecclesi- 
 astical interests of the people rest in his hands, and he must 
 devote a portion of his time to these if he would establish a 
 permanent church. lie must be able to teach science as well 
 as religion, because the religious systems of the heathen are 
 built upon a scientific foundation, and if you destroy these 
 pillars, the edifice must tall. " Thus the Hindoo religion can 
 not stand without Hindoo astronomy and cosmogony. Science 
 undermines the pillars of heathenism, and frightens ita 
 votaries from its tottering walls. " I can barely refer to the 
 fact that most of our colleges have been established by min- 
 isters ; that the larger portion of the professors are drawn 
 rom the ranks of the clergy; that they to a great extent form 
 and control the educational sentiment of a people, and 
 hereby hohl iu their hands a mighty power for the accom- 
 plishment of good, which it were worse than madness to cast 
 aside; that the people of this age are a reading people, and 
 denuind the proper class of books and periodicals ; that new 
 books of theology are to be written ; newspapers are to be 
 edited; tracts to be jirepared for distribution among the 
 people ; quarterly reviews to be conducted ; that tacts in 
 science and history are being made known, and must be 
 applied to the elucidation of Scripture texts; that different 
 passages must be examined in the light of present scientific 
 attainments. Some must undertake the work, and who so 
 
41 
 
 likely to be called to the task as the students of our colleges? 
 That the work of the minister is a laborious one, affording 
 little time for study, and that his preparation must be made 
 before he enters upon tlie cares and duties of apastor's life ; that 
 ignorance usually weakens the minister's power for good, and 
 is the source of incalculable evils, productive of all forms of 
 error, as the history of the church will abundantly testify ; 
 that a })astor's influence, as a general rule, other things being 
 equal, has always been in proportion to his learning, — all 
 these would afford interesting topics for discussion. 
 
 I have omitted to answer several objections which are often 
 m'ged against this position. I have done so because they did 
 not seem to me very important. If the view I have presented 
 be correct, there can be no insurmountable objections. 
 
 It may ap])ear to some of you that I have erected a high 
 standard. No higher than the Bible and reason demand. 
 Both alike ask that the minister of God be tlioroiigJily fur- 
 nished. "While contending for such quailifications in the men 
 who now enter the ministry, I do not mean to say that a man 
 can do no good and should not preach unless he is a finished 
 scholar. Tiie ciuirch is full of men, who deprived of all the 
 advantages which we enjoy, with but the rudiments of 
 learning, yet having a heart burning with a zeal for their 
 fellow-men, have counted nothing dear to them that they 
 miirht win souls to Christ. There may be before me to-nio-ht 
 men who have nobly battled for the truth; men, "the latchets 
 of wiiose shoes I am unworthy to uidoose ; " men, who amid 
 toils, and dangers, and afflictions, have lived for Christ, and 
 labored to bring their erring brethren back to the bosom of 
 their father, God. Their labors have-been blessed, and many 
 are the stars that shall shine in their crowns of rejoicing. 
 Far be it from me to detract one iota from the honor which 
 they have richly deserved. For well do I know the mighty 
 work tliey have accomplished, and the labors they have put 
 
42 
 
 forth for the welfare of the church. Like the widow, they 
 have given every thing, and that God who sees all things, 
 will reward them for their actions. But to 3'ou, young 
 gentlemen, living in this age of the world when so much is 
 demanded of the ministry, if you neglect the means of 
 improvement now afforded ; if you weaken the influence you 
 could and should possess, and thereby injure the cause of 
 your Master, and be instrumental in the destruction of your 
 fellow-men, you will be deserving of blame, and the great 
 God will not hold you guiltless. Our fathers have almost 
 finished their work. They will soon hear the message, 
 "Come up higher." Upon you and upon me rests the welfare 
 of Zion. The eternal destinies of mankind are in our hands. 
 Shall we shoulder the responsibility, and quit us like men? 
 or shall we become foolish triflers in the great work ? The 
 character of the ministry, and the consequent standing of the 
 next age, rest upon the young men who are now preparing to 
 enter the sacred office. Away with the idea that God calls 
 triflers into the church. That while a thorough qualification 
 is necessary for the business pertaining to this life, the 
 grossest ignorance will not exclude one from entering the 
 office of the ministry ! We want a higher standard / want 
 no man commissioned to preach the gospel who is totally 
 unfitted for the work. I urge upon you to magnify the ofiice, 
 and fit yourselves for properly discharging all its duties. 
 *' Study to show yourselves approved of God ; workmen that 
 need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 
 Gentlemen, it may be that I address you for the last time. 
 Indulge me a moment longer. I know not how many of you 
 will go forth as embassadoi's for Christ. I know that thou- 
 Bands are wanted. ''The harvest is indeed plenteous, but the 
 laborers are few. " From almost every land there is a call 
 for the bread of life. India has opened wide her gates. 
 Japan, long closed against them, now demands religious 
 
43 
 
 teachers. The sunny plains of Africa are ready for the white 
 man. From every continent, from every island, from every 
 nook and corner of the habitable earth comes the pleading 
 cry, "Come over and help us." Do you hear the call? 
 Will you heed it? Witliin the last few months our own 
 *' Barbary States " have been opened to men who are not 
 afraid to preach a pure gospel. Never was there such a 
 demand for an able ministry. Appreciate your position. 
 Awake to the responsibilities resting upon you. Go forth to 
 the contest "thoroughly furnished,'' and then "quit your- 
 selves like men." Go forth witii a double portion of the 
 Spirit's influence resting upon you. And whether called to 
 labor in your native land, or summoned to preach the gospel 
 beyond the sea ; whether you shall lead a quiet, peaceful life, 
 or like the devoted missionary, be compelled to seal your testi- 
 mony with your blood, I urge, I entreat, I implore you, in 
 the words of the lamented Tyng, "Stand up for Jesus." 
 When you have finished your work, and have been summoned 
 higher, may it be written of eacii of you, 
 
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