The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1910-11-25


~ discussion pre-supposes
6L that the preacher Is also
NSHV a student, which most as
suredly he must be II, as
a preacher he desires to make his
calling and election sure" There
perhaps was a time, in the his
tory Of the church, when the demands
made on the pulpit were as great as
they are today.
On accoun of the universal diffu-
sions of periodicals, magazines and
books both secular and religious, this
has become prominently a reading
age. and the preacher must be a read
keep up with the procession. We are
living in the veritable age Of reason
when men refuse to accept, with i'm
plicate faith, dogmatic teaching sim
ply because 1t proceeds from the
church but demand, and we think
Justly so, that men be able to give
a reason for the hope that Ia In
them" Therefore the preacher, to
gain and retain the confidence and
respect Of his parishioners, should
and must be a clear logical reasoner
and thinker. A thinker will not do.
The preacher must have brain ana
heart as we'll as mouth. We hear a
great deal today in religious circles
about the ministerial dead-line, what
to do with the old-that is. ~ifty-year-
old-preachers. etc.
Preacher Must Be Student.
Now 1t is our humble opinion that
no minister can cross the dead-line
as long as he remains a careful. faith
full student, for thus by keeping in
close sympathetic touch with the
brain and heart of the generation in
which he lives he is able to serve
that generation well by the grace Of
God" and then like one Of old sim
ply fall asleep" But any preacher
who ceases to be a student as we'll,
has already crossed the dead-line
whether he be fifty or twenty-five,
The fortunate thing about 1t is that
many such are dead and do not know
1t. II then, 1t is imperative that the
preacher be a student, he must have
something to study and this brings us
more directly to u subject. The
Preachers Library" Now we are free
to confess that we do not think thai
It Is indispensably necessary for {
preacher to know something Of God
Of man and of the things that com
In the thought and life of those whom
he Is called to serve. Neither Is
!, necessary that he have a large ant
expensive library. The cpitaph o
many a faithful, successful ministe
might be trut6fully wrEttAi thus; H
was the happy possessor of few AbcRs
and many babies. And while he might
have been successful without the
babies, we are not able to affirm. but
the few books he must have. The Il
brary that Is absolutely necessary for
the preacher to possess and thorough
ly and faithfully study. II he wish to
show himself approved Of God a
workman that needeth not to be
ashamed rightly dividing the word OF
truth, Is composed Of those sixty-six
books commonly called the Bible. To
this should invariably be added a good
concordance, Bible textbook and com
mentary. These things are essential
many others may be helpful and high
ly desirable.
For the nourishing of his own spir
itual life, in addition to the word, the
preacher should keep in constant
touch with the most cody men Of
this and preceding generations. And
we should feel disappointed If we die
not find In his library biographies
histories, books of sermons and ad
dresses as we'll as a few Of the many
devotional books being constantly is
sued from the press. We would also
expect to find in the progressive
preachers library some Of the leading
magazines and periodicals of the day
but not as we found on moving Into
certain parsonage scores If not hun
dreds Of good standard magazines II
, the garnet stored away IN origina
packages, showing that while they
!. had been received and. perhaps pait
for. they had not been read. A few
standard works Of fiction seem almos
indispensable to show the breaches
things and people as others see them
to sharpen his intellect, warm hi
heart. quicken his imaginations ant
!, aid his liver to act properly. 1t woul(
be almost impossible in this brief pa
per to say everything that might b.
said In reference to the preachers II
brary and it would also be unkind t.
, those who are anxious to have some
thing to say in the discussion that 1
to follow. So we close in the lar
guage of the immortal some body wit
malice toward one and with Chart,