The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-26
THE PULPIT OF TO-DAY.
1t Is No Less Powerful than in the Past.
Though the Demand Is Greater.

o. B.. rockingham, in February Atlantic.
The conditions of a powerful pulpit to-day are
essentially the same as formerly-deVotion, sin
cerity, open mindedness, trapslucency of soul.
The pulpit must contain consecrated men, who
live for the highest thought, the noblest life.
the purest sympathies; who are out of the world,
do not seek its prizes, do not court its applause;
who are not sectarians, not c~hurchmen, not
polemics-men who lay by their individuality,
their pride, their self-suficiency; who are no
hypOcrites or pretenders; who do not strut,
vapor, put on airs of superiority, or
practice Alterations Of any kind. but
who stand fairly on the border
line. where humanity blends with divinity-men
of glowing enthusiasm, of invincible hopeful
ness, of perfect goodwill, friends and servants
of mankind. Such are not rare, and they are
becoming less with every genera
ton. 1t will be generally allowed that the great
need in all communities and at all times is men
of this stamp. The culture of the moral nature
is still the chief concern. The prevalence of
knowledge renders compulsory a finer interpre-
tation Of nature, history, experience. We
depend on the pulpit to supply this per-
ennial demand. We depend on the
pulpit to furnish the conditions of it's
maintenance. The habit of fault-fndingb ecause
it does not satisfy them is an evidence of the ex-
pectation that exists yet in the world Of hinke
That people are disconnected, that they com
plain, that they stay away from church, may be
a good sign. The pulpit should be based on the
attribute of intellectual power. The occupant
of it should he held to a high standard 1t is
our duty to insist that the Sunday shall not be
wasted, given up to quacks, d~rivelers, buttons.
My quarrel with the community is that it is too
acquiescent; criticises too little; is too
easily satisfied; accepts mediocrity of learning,
talent, devotion; abuses too mildly; ridicules
too gently. The people who say the hardest
things are, unfortunately, people who do not be
gin with aspiration. Religious men are the first
to detect imposture. The pulpit can be trusted
to purge itself from intruders. A distinguished
preacher once said: when l wish TO throw
stones at the church windows, 1 shall go out
side" 1t was well remarked; for to throw stones
is a hostile and rather a lawless proceeding. 1t
is true, all the same, that the real improvement
of the pulpit comes from the inside,
earnest men, who see what the age and
the soul require. The correspondence between
John Ruskin and certain c%lergymen of the
Church of England, published two or three
years ago, throws much light on the prevailing
tendency toward Il more spiritual understanding
Of the pulpits Office; the short preface by DR..
Matteson, displaying admirably the temper of
the leading ecclesiastics. As, in the case of a
battle, the hard fighting is done by the ordinary
soldiery, whose disciplined valor carries the
day, so, in this warfare of religion, the ordi-
nary labor is performed by obscure men,
whose names are never spoken, and
whose consecrated lives attest their fidelity to
the highest interests of man. The officers bear
the brunt of the criticism, but they do not fill
the ranks.
The best and the worst has been said about the
pulpit, yet it is not probable that any agency
will ever take its place. Its very imperfections
and in the nature of things it cannot be all it
improvement. Other ministrations, honorable
and capable as they may be, do not propose to
themselves the same objects. of course cannot
produce the same results.