Richland beacon., 1872-09-07
Modern Preaching.

ton of a preacher of fifty years ago 10
modern pulpit. The dry and formal eS-
saws. the long hOmilies, the dogmatl>m
and controversy that then formed the SIa
pie of public religious teaching. would
be, to-day. altogether unsatisfactory III
the hearing, and umruittul III me result
Experience has proved that CHRISTIANS
are more rarely made by argl n1,ynt AL Az
dressed to the heart. The reliable and
satisfactory evidences of Christianity are
found less In the sacred records than i'll
its transformations e character and lis
inspirations of life. Trough a thousand
StralSScs and RenanS weI0 at work en-
d,ayoring to undermine the historical
basis of the Christian scheme. their efforts
would prove nugatOry when met by the
practical results of that scheme IN rcior!:!-
in" character, in substituting bcncNoiehc"
for seltishness "a the dominant motive Ill
human commerce. in sustaining the heart
ia trial. in comforting it in sickness. ana
supporting it in dissolution. With the
results OF Christianity before him ana III
him. the Christian may confidently 10 say
to all his enemies: IF lie can DO all
this. then lie better than all your truth.
tor your truth does not pretend Ia do it:
and if your lie is better in every possible
TtNult tndli NOul tlutii. tlI'ii
your truth is proved to be a lie, and your
lie is the truth The argument is not
ONLY fair but il is nanswerablc. and saves
Il world OF trouble. OF all ''short meth
DDS" with inidelity. this is the shortest.
II i like the argument of design in PROV
iug the existence of an intelligent first
cause. The man who ignores or denies il.
i, either incapable of reason or yiciouoly
pcrverSe.
SO the modern preacher breaches more
and argues less. He declares. promul-
yates, explains, advises. eXhort>, appeals.
He does more than this. Instead of re-,
"arding Christianity solely aS Il scheme
of belief and faith. and thus becoming the
narrow eXpOunder of a creed. he broad
ems into Il critic and cultiyator of human
motive and character. We do not assert
that modern preaching is entirely released
from its old narrOwne>S. There are still
too many who heat over the old broth. and
ladlc il out in the old way which they
learned in the seminary. This preach
ing of Jesus Christ is still to multitudcS
the preaching of scheme of religion.
the explanation of plan. the promulga-
ton of dogmata. But the g" men, except in
the most ignorant and unprogrr>S cont
munities. preach to empty walls. or con-
tcmptuouS audiences. The man who
breaches Christ tie most effectively and
acccptably, i'm these days, i he who tries
all motive and character and life ny The
divine standard, who applies the divine
life to the everyday life of the world, and
Whose grand cndeayOr is not So mucl, tO
save men as to make them worth saving.
He denOunccS wrong in public and pri-
vate life: he exposes and rcproyeS the
Il, of Z Ia,
motives of purity. SObriety, honesty. char
ity. and good neighborhood he shows
them 10 themselves. and then shows them
the mode by which they may correct
themselves. I'm all this he meets with
won 'erful acceptance. and. mott frequent
". in direct proportion to his faithful
ness. This, after all, is the kind of talk
men are willing to hear. even if it con-
demrs them. All truth relating To the
faults OF character and lite. il presented
in a Christian spirit. by Il man who as
sumes nothing for himself, and who never
loses sight of his own weakness and his
brotherhood with the erring masses whom
he addresses. is received gladly.
The world has come To the cOmprehcn-
sion of the fact that. after all that may be
/ said of dOgmatic Christianity. character i,
+ the final result at which its author aimed
The aim and end of Christianity is tC
hstk ea...s.'' sh,isy and iiaprihep.
/ IN tni> world and the world to come. Tho
/ Christianity which nariOws the Svmpa
thles OF man. and binds him To- his seat
which makes the Christian name of small
er significance TO him than the name OF
/ his party. which thinks more of soundneS,
of belief than sOundness of character. i.
/ the meanest kind of Christianity, and be-.
longs to the old and outgrOwn time. II
/ savOrs of schools and books and tradition
The human element i'm it predominant.
over the divine. The typical moder,
preacher minglcs with men. He goes into
the world OF businesS--into its cares. its
trials. its great temptations. its Overreach-
( lngS. its dangers and diSasters-and learns
the character and needs of the men he
meets there. He sits i'm the hu.nbIe
dwelling of the labOrOr. and reads the
wants of the humanity he iinis there. In
orkshopS, in social assemblies, in
schools. among men. women. and chill
dren. wherever they live. -s,r meet for labor
or for pleasure. his presence is familiar.
Human life is the book he reads prcpara-
tory to his pulpit labOrs. and without the
faithful reading of this book he has no
fitting preparation for his task. No mat
ter how much a preacher knows of the
divine life, if he has not an equal knowl-
edge of the human, his message will be n
barren one.
The great mistake of the modern preach
er is in not keeping up with the secular
thought OF his time. 1t is quite rs essen
tlal TO the preacher to know what men are
thinking about As what they are doing.
comparatively few preachers are at home
IN the current progress of science. and too
many OF ihCm look cOldly upon it. as upon
something necessarily inimical TO the sys-
tenn OF religion to which they have com
United their lives. They apparently for
get that their Indifference or opposition
wins only contempt for themselves and
their scheme. There are few laymen so
devoid Of common sense as to be unable
10 see that any scheme which j. afraid of
scientific truth-nay. any scheme which
does not gladly welcome every new realm
won to the grand domain of human
knOwledge-is unworthy of confidence.
An unrcasoning loyalty to old interpreta-
tions of revealed truth is a weakness of
FRO III III ttlt tIs
of nature undeniably disputes the God of
revelation. As the preacher interprets hun.
let him give up his Interpretation gladly.
and receive the correction as from the
mouth Of God himself. 1t is only in this
way that ne can maintain his hold upon
his age, and win homer to the religion he
tres TO serve. All truth is divine. and
the mode of utterance makes it neither
more so nor less. a man who denies a
truth spoken to him by the God of nature (
Is as truly and culpably an intidel as if he !
were to deny a plainly spoken truth of /