Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-04-24
sIMpLIoIrY IN THE CABINET.


stand-in language of rare beauty, of
great force, but yet SO simple that
every thought he wished to convey was
made plain even to the most ignorant of
those who listened to him. His every
sentence was a sermon. There was no
attempt at ostentation or display of supe-
rior learning. Though when child he
successfully disputed with the learned
doctors in the temple SO that they mar
yelled that one so young should so ably
expound the will of God and put them to
shame, his public teachings were plain and
easily understood. The way of salvation
was made so apparent that none need err
therein. Those of his disciples who i'm
mediately succeeded to his ministry fol-
lowed IN his footsteps. They were all
simple men of humble parentage save
Paul, who was learned in the law, and a
master of rhetoric But even he spoke to
the churches in language BETTING their
condition, and adapted to their compre-
hension.
1t is different with the ministers nova
days. Their capacity is estimated by the
floridity of their rhetoric, and their abil-
ity to obscure their meaning beneath a
mass of senseless generalties. The most
fashionable clergymen of the generation
are those who have the least piety, but the
greatest flow of words-men who talk
learnedly upon abstruse points of dogma;
set up men Of straw, and with bludgeons
of forensic rhetoric proceed to knock
them down to the great delight of their
congregations. Half of their hearers do
not und erstand their arguments, and
many could not comprehend their ideas
without the aid of an unabridged diction-
airy. Perhaps it is for this reason they es-
TEEN them SO highly. At any rate it
looks to man up tree as if the average
church goer regards his PASTORS abilities
in exact proportion to his ability to make
himself incomprehendable. Pulpit elo-
quence is esteemed as of far more moment
than genuine piety and earnestness in the
cause of Christ. A person endowed with
the gift of CAB can always secure a
| fattering call, while his more sincere
co-workers in the church are obliged to
plo1 along like hod-carriers, with small
pay and little encouragement. This fact
will account in large measure for the
number of charlatans that are found IN
the ministry-men who crave personal
ACKNOWLEDGMENT rather than the good Of
the cause of religion-men who, without
the religion they profess are continually
bringing the church into disgrace.
Learning is a requisite for the ministry;
display of if on every occasion is out OF
taste and certainly derogatory to the pro-
gress of religion. A preacher when speak
ing to common people should adapt his
language to their comprehension, if he is
speaking before an audience of scholars,
he IS justified in flights of oratory. and
didactic discussion. Few seem to under
stand that eloquence and simplicity OF
| language can co-eXist. Yet the most
powerful preachers the world has ever
known have been those who have cnlti-
waited studied simplicity of speech.
| Spurgeon is a notable example. One
looks in vain in his sermon for the fowery
imagery and the deep erudition that are
supposed to be inseparable from the sue
cessful pulpit orator. His sentences are
plain, simple, forcible; and as one reads
or listens he becomes enchanted with
the mastery manner in which
the truth IS presented. The commonest
intelligence can understand all he says,
and the most cultivated can take delight
in the smooth symmetry that character
ICES his every u,te1anoe. H,Iulsn il
not to be found in his utterances; his
Figures of speech are all directly appli-
cable to the theme under discussion, and
all breathe spirit of the sincerest piety.
Swing is a man of a different stamp. His
language is choice, poetical, and very de-
lightful to listen to, but when you have
analysed it you find nothing for your
pains save few platitudes-a grain OF
two of wheat concealed in bushel of chat
"a flower garden without perfume; a
poem without sentiment.
| There are scores of ministers who
| preach able sermons, rich in literary
merit and even notably devout, and who
wonder that they produce so little effect.
The reason IS simple. They are not
adapted to the comprehension of the con-
| gregation. All men are not scholars who
can understand and derive benefit from a
scholarly sermon. The majority are men
who, while they are willing to receive re-
ligious instruction, can comprehend only
when it is presented in plain, unvarnlshed
style. They have enjoyed a common
school or business education. There are
few congregations before which minis
ter can afford to discuss the metaphysical
if they are sincerely deslrous of doing
good. Truth should be presented in such
a shape that he who runs may read; so
that the laboring man, the artisan and the
professional man may each understand
and appreciate it. The establishment of
elegant diction should be left for other
occasions. They are out of place IN the
average pulpit. What the people need is
the religion of the New Testament in a
form suitable for the common people.