The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-01
THE PREAoHER AND HIS PLACE.
Lecture By Rev. Dr. Greer of New York, in
 the Divinity School.

| Lecture By Rev. Dr. Greer Of New Hork, in
 the Divinity School.
 Rev. Dr. Greer, rector of St. Bar l tholomew's church of New York city, | delivered the first lecture in the Lyman Beeoher lecture course at Marquand chapel yesterday afternoon at 5 o'clock. His subject was "The Pastor and His | Place" In his remarks he spoke of the great extent of the subject. The work of the minister deals with all things in all spheres; there is no be- | ginning to it nor end. It is a great question to know where, when and how well the young minister shall start.
 There will be limitations to his work of a self-imposed nature in the the Y- | logical world.
 How can the new knowledge in the | theological world be reconciled to the old knowledge while students in other | departments of knowledge are free to express their views free. This is not strictly so with the student in the l ology.
 He then spoke of the preacher and
 
 | theology. Knowledge of theology is | progressive. In itself 1t is constant, but the knowledge of it varies. There may possibly come time when we may say we know all about things, but there never can be a time when we shall know Christ in His fulness. Christ is more than man. He is bound- less and therefore we cannot put Him within bounds.
 The Kingdom of God is always open and beyond us. We cannot shut it up; if we do we make it no longer the Kingdom of God. Men cannot shut out the truth of God, but it will more and more reveal itself to men. Fact is fact and will remain fact, but the interpretation of a fact varies with the age. Each age finds something new in the great fact of Jesus Christ and thus it will be to the end of time.
 Our observations are but fragmentary while God is infinite. If our various doctrines may not be such as every man can honestly and fully subscribe to, what shall he do?
 He should in that case seek to find the symbols for which the doctrines stand and find whether or not he fully understands the doctrine and the pur- pose for which it was framed. Faulty though these articles may be- let us consider their purpose and endorse the purposes for which they were framed, and not some recent form of it. We should endorse the good done through monasticism and other movements which did good in their day. They were good for the particular time and purpose for which they were organ ized, but 1t is not necessary to bring them into the foreground now. Diff 6ereht ages and emergencies to be met, require different methods and means of defence. This is true in the theological field and hence the doctrinal symbol should not be looked upon as an obstacle to present or future prog ress.
 Thepte are two ideas every man should keep in mind:
 (D He will not lightly throw off the past.
 @ He will not be lavishly bound to 1 it, but grow out into the future and | apprehend things both new and old.
 When the climate stops seeking for | truth, it begins to die. But the church | is bound to grow with it's ever in- | creaS1ng interpretation of Jesus Christ. |
 The finest words of man cannot fully | interpret and express the life of a com | mon man, much less the life of the | Divine One, which is portrayed in the | Gospel page and that, too, in human | language But for practical purposes | we must have definitions, ct cetera. of the Christ and his teachings. Hence | we should accept these contributions which have come down to us; but | these contributions can never take the place of the personal contact and knowledge of Jesus Christ, which comes to every man. The theme then, of the minister, is an inexhaustible one-Jesus Christ.
 The second lecture by Dr. Greer will be delivered at 3:15 o'clock this after noon at the same place.