Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1855-11-08
Prosy Sermons = Deficient Preach
ing.

Under the above caption, the Fort WAYNE
Times, of late date, discusses at some
length upon state of existing facts which
has for some time elected considerable at
tentlon, and to which we alluded in an arti-
Gle a, which the editor of the Times was
mentioned complimentary, and for which
several Of the would be believed moral papers
of this State took us TO task in most un-
compromising manner; charging us with au-
dacity and infdelity-infidelty TO what they
might have added, had they beer honest, the
words and teachings, not of the Bible, but Of
man.
AS the Fort Wayne Times is Fusion pa
per, of the styictest sect, we will be excused,
at least by the demagogues who before as
sault0d us, for transferring portion of its
comments 10 our columns
After Introducing the Methodist Church,
the Times proceeds thus:
The house of worship used to be sought, not
only from religious devotion, and sense OF
right, but the outsider came in to have his
spiritual nature aroused, his soul warmed, and
his early notions of religion confirmed by the
eloquence and fervor of the neighborhood
preacher. But now, after conference Sits and
sends its agents to their respective focks, their
first second service is sought merely to see
the new preacher, perhaps his wife, and with
very few exceptions, the whole lapse into indif
ference, as the preacher pursues day after day
J his wonted formality. His Influence is lost
and his presence becomes almost Unacceptable.
to his audience. He is no longer a hear
/ preacher, and his greatest aim is not wha
amount of good he shall do, but with what un
scathing he shall come out of the parish, be
cause he is to be Judged by the tact he has ex
hibted in avoiding the errors of his predeces
sors, and by how he has avoided the biting ma
Lightly Of some gold plated commitment whc
!. is regarded as q pillar of the church, by 81
much as he has paid for its material erection
, or 10y what he pays the preacher, to wink a
his short comings, and commserate and excus'
them. The Methodist itineracy used TO be TIN
school for eloquence, self-denial ant efficiency
but no longer so. The stationed preacher ono
! was noted for his theological reading and hi
q thorough acquaintance with every string which
2 was an avenue TO the human heart, that h
G might touch them with power, and be gladden.
ed by their response but not so now. That DO
q sition is not apparently judged by the religion
character of either the preacher or people, bu
by whether he has adapteduess about him, {
sail with the current, leading toward Heaye
or not He measures his sermons not by tn
moral force there is in them, but by the sam
standard by which n man Judges a bull dog
by how long he can hold on, or horse, by hoy
long winded he is. He talks against time, an
excuses it, by the fact that stenographer
fool enough TO reportit, and no printer so imbG
cile as to enter it for copyright, and hence hi
= sermons are not preserved in print 10 come {
his own eye to perplex and harrass the
author.
The evil is not without its effects in til
Presbyterian Church, whose Seminaries do nc
educate SO many great men as they once did ,br
yet who can send more men into the ministr
to read instead Of to preach sermons, which, bu
for the fashion of a sister church, could be q
!. well performed by a clerk as by the appointe'
1t is u mistaken notion, that every coOt is fit f
g holy orders as he is ut for serving steak or r,
verse lifting on the end of a lever. The worl
= is full of reading, full of speculations on a
!. subjects, full Of newspapers and pamphlets
If and through which latter medium all the dot
trines ond vagaries and sciences and arts fin
a channel unseen, yet of fiuence most powerful
e leading into every family circle in the land IAN
n hence he who goes into the house of worship
4 always expect something equal To or better tina
: he has learned from outside influence; in othC
= words, he expects somahing Reic, and unless
does, or has old truths forced home on him wit
: power and eloquence, clad in words pregnau
q with meaning, full of simile and metaphor, S
y practical that they make him feel that he is III
2 very person--the subject Of the discourse, h
, sits Disguised at the tameness and stupidity
such speaker. and his natural reverence fc
y religion and its holy aims is destroyed. Th
= Church should understand fully that the out
u side world, is ahead of it in learning and in
, telligence, and knowing this should clc
Il vate the standard Of church learning an
Il church eloquence, and should go through il
t Summaries and nurseries OF learning, wller
{ young men are being educated for the niilistr
: and prune the dry branches from the health
ones and instead of trying TO make all preacher
. increase the modicum Of ability in the few VIII
u are to occupy tina, proud stand point in tn
religious world. With forcible and talen te
n pulpit, the dignity Of worship, and hence th
{ power of religion will be sustained, but with
b out it tEe very formulas of the church will b
: disgusting, ana all that is good aud great b
a judged accordingly.
There are in this country, at this time, peg
!, baps, more vacant churches than before in III
history Of the church in the United States. ant
those defects Of which we have spoken are tn
I cause thereof The evil is apparent. VIII
be correctedl