The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1879-02-13
[Examiner and Chrohicle.l
Wherein the Pulpit Fails.

Miss Anna Dickinson, in recent lee
ture in this city, made the somewhat
astonishing assertion that the stage as
teacher of morality was more powerful
than the platform, the press or even the
pulpit. An assertion SO wide of the
mark as this hardly needs i. word of
comment That the stage does some
times teach pure and elevated morality,
Is possible; but that it habitually or even
frequently does SO, no sober-minded per-
son who knows the facts will assert.
Why, it was only the other day that Ed
win Booth-the foremost actor of Ameri-
ca-declared over his own name that he
never permitted his wife and daughter to
attend a theater, without first taking
the precaution of personally ascertaining
the character of the play on the boards.
It's the first business of the drama to
amuse; should it fail to do this, it would
fail utterly The first object of the ora
tor, is to persuade. The mission of the
press is to inform. If any of these teach
morality, it is incidental, and subsidiary
to their main purpose, But the pulpit
has no other mission than to teach mans
duty to his fellows and to God. 1t was
divinely appointed to do just that, and
only that. To say that the inciden-
tai teaching of the stage is superior to
the direct teaching of the pulpit is to
bring charge against the Christian min
lstry that would be serious were it not SO
ridiculous. -
Nevertheless, it is true that the pulpit
Is not as effective as moral teacher as it
might and should be, and this fact lends
Miss Dickinson's s assertion the slight col
or OF truth that gives it currency. One
reason for its ineffectiveness is that the
preaching of the present day is not suffi-
GENTLY direct and fearless There are
mo such open and uncompromising de-
nunciations of specific evils as have dis
tinguished the pulpit in its times of
greatest influence. This makes the
preaehing'of today pleasing and "popu-
lar, but does it make it an effective
moral tonic2 Too many preachers are
governed, consciously or unconsciously,
by the principles laid down by Mr.. DO.
Phace in the Biglow Papers:
I'M willin' a man should go tollabIe strong
Agln wrong IN the abstract, for thet kind o.
Is alters unpopular an never gifts pitied,
Because it's a crime no one ever committed;
But he mustn't be hard on partickler SINS
ooz tnen neil be klck1n' the peoples own
To be effective as moral teacher, the
pulpit must be direct and searching in
presenting moral truth. There must be
more reasoning of righteousness, tenn
perance and judgment to come" and be-
did Felix before Paul
Then, too, the pulpit is often not
abreast of the times. In sense, morali-
ty and religion are always the same. But
each generation has its pet sins and fol-
lies, and its peculiar currents of skeptical
thought. This necessitates a different
presentation of the truth. Freshness of
thought and method are essential, there.
fore. 1t will not do to go on denouncing
the follies of past age, or bombarding
.citadels of skepticism that have long
since been abandoned. 1t is the evils
and perplexities of to-day that need to
be dealt with. Who are the successful
authors of the day2 Not men of pro-
found originality or great genius, but
men who have the faculty of telling the
reading public just what it needs or
wishes to know in striking way. The
successful preachers-successful in the
true sense of the word, we mean-are
those who can, in their own sphere, do
thesame thing To affect mems lives.
the preacher must novel their Wills to
move their wills, he must convince their
understandings; to do either, he must
interest them.
! Still another reason for the ineffective.
ness of the pulpit as teacher of morality
is found, too often, in the lack of sinceri
ty in the preacher. Not that he is con-
sciously insincere, but that he fails some
how to put heart enough into his work.
An actor who rises to eminence in his
profession, throws himself into it with
his whole soul. He is in dead earnest,
His life is dominated by an absorbing
passion for his art, and without such
passion there can be no great actor. So
there can be no great preacher except he
be dominated by like absorbing passion
for his work as a teacher of men. The
Roman poets rule for the stage holds
good for the pulpit: "If you wish me to
weep, you must first grieve YOURSELF
preacher must feel what he says, and let
his life show all men that he feels it.
There are many pulpits to which what
we have said does not apply-pulpits in
which mans duties are set forth with
directness and freshness that leaves
nothing to be desired, while the lives of
the preachers show that the messages
they deliver come from the deepest
depths of their hearts. If all puipits
were such, their power would be such
that no person, however reckless in as
sertion, could say that as teachers of mo-