The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-02-18


hat he had always been careful to take
proper exercise, to eat proper food, and
to take sufficient rest. making up on the
following day whatever rest he might
have been deprived of the night before.
III. The Minister'S Care of His Man
| uers.
I'VE have this treasure in earthen yes
| sels,' confessed Paul, and alasi the yes
sells that contain the treasure of an able
ministry are still often made of coarse
clay.
"A few years ago there was a minister
in the city of New York who had at
tanned far-spread fame. 1t was a great
shock to learn that this eminent man dis
| graced himself and his calling by using
ornamental vases in the draWing rooms
of his parishioners as spittoons. There
is an old fashioned little volume, Let
| tiers on Clerical Manner and Habits y
addressed to a student in the Theological
Seminary at Princeton, N. j., by Samuel
Miller, D. D. In it, among other eau
| tons, he assails vigorously the habit of
splitting on floors and carpets. That
seemed most archaic advice, until the
| practice of a minister of this very city
| showed that good DR.. Miller's book
needs to be kept in circulation.
The celebrated saying of old Bishop
Williams, of Wykenham, is largely true:
| Manners maketh man, for manners
| are an indication of fineness or coarse
ness of the spirit.
TT was said of our Lord that He was
the first true gentleman that ever
breathed.' Good manners are the line
| fruits of the golden rule. The custom OF
| good society is based upon some con-
| sideration of respect. either for ones
self or for Others, and a breach of good
| manners by a minister is a serious fault,
| and a marring of his ministry. The lack
of concern on the part of the poor and
| the -overconcern o N the part of the Jude
i'll become the man whose chief business
is to urge right and true living. In this
| respect the minister surely needs to have
| a care of himself, giving no offense in
anything, that the ministry be not blam-
ed"
intellectual culture.
There was a time when it was more
imperative for the preacher to be a stu
dent than today. 1t is not imperative that
he should be a genius; geniuses are few
and far between, and do not always
| wear well. But it is imperative that he
should give all diligence to that part of
his ministry which depends on his study
table. Unless he is a diligent student the
| proverbial deadIine will trip him without
allowing room for repentance. On the one
| hand threatens the temptation to trust to
the inspiration of the hour; to follow the
seductive example of some genius 60
| who says he does not study any more;
| on the other hand there is the possibility
| of his being so one-sided a student that
he is invisible during six days of the
| week and incomprehensible on the sew
enth.
ITO carry the respect of his hearers and
| parishioners, he must be a man of broad
general information. His people will not
trust him as a safe guide in religious
matters if he is unjust in his grammar,
false in his pronunciation, vicious in his
logic. They will not talk by his faith, if
his sight is not clear to observe justly the
days in which he lives; sociology and
philosophy and history and politics-at
least the science of government-art and
science, finance, hygienics, reform, labor,
education, he must be able to speak in
diligently of all these, and interest him
self in them, for these are part Of the
progress of the race for which he is Ia
boring, and all these must yield him
ribu to illustrate and enforce higher
teachings.
IAN no less than in former days, but
rather more, he needs to be a t~heologian.
Not to preach theological disquisitions,
but to nave "a solid foundation for the
faith and the works he shall commend.
| There are ministers who nave no theolo-
gy-no science of divinity; their keeping
is not classified and clear; it is Elusive
as a fog and as shapeless and as devoid
of weight. mere are others who are fol-
lowing a so-called new theology-nl-
tered, sugar-coated, palatable to the nat
ural taste, and warranted harmless to
the most sensitive stomach, free from
the bitterness of the atonement without
humiliation to the sinner, pleasantly
tinctured with the great obligations rest
ing upon the Almighty regarding the poor
beings he has made.
"Yet, for all that, the minds hat sys-
tematized the theology of the Church
were master minds. and the lasting work
has been constructive, not destructive. In
general there has been some one to offer
new theology; and to amend the faith
once delivered to the saints; and there has
been progress in the understanding of the
meaning of the revelation of God in His
Word, but every attempt to subvert that
meaning has fallen back in confusion as
the dashing of the spray falls back when
it beats upon a rock. To distinguish both
truth and error, and to recognize the old
errors in modern dress, the minister must
be a student of theology. Some men are
afraid of the word doctrine; the Bible is
not. 1t is used more than fifty times. In
the very text that might serve as a mot
to for this paper. Paul said to Timothy
Take heed to myself. and unto the doc
| trine; continue in them, for in doing this
thou shalt both save thyself and them
that hear thee God is the God of truth,
and His ministers must be men that
should teach the truth, hearty lovers of
the truth and hearty haters of error.
"But above all study of general know
ledge and of theological knowledge, the
minister must be a student of the Bible.
He surely ought to know, not merely
about the Book, but to know the Book.
He is not to deliver lectures on ethics,
or philosophy, or sociology. He is to
preach the Word, to declare it, to ex-
plain it, and to enforce it with every re-
source at his command.
Some young minister recently preached
on the Trinity. The of his dis
-z- 4lot C4d MO annoafn11C NJ