The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1910-06-23
THE PULPIT.
a SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. LYNN HAROLD HoUGH.
Theme: The Theologian's Task.

BROOKLYN, \. Yin the Summer
field M. E. Church Sunday morning
the pastor. the Rev. Lynn Harold
Hough. preached on "The Theolo-
gian's Supreme Task" The text was
from III. Corinthians 1875: bringing
every thought into captivity to the
obedience Of Christ" Mr.. Hough
said:
The theologian has a multitude OF
tasks. His world has room for many
a HfIaules. In its vast fields there is
SUI mons to infinite toll and there
Is opportunity for high and varied
achievement. In his hand the theolo-
g1an holds book which he is to mas
ter and to interpret. This is no SIM
pie achievement. The work enlarges
and divides itself until this book be-
comes the creator of vocations.
Sometimes the theolog gian is a stu
dent of detail. With the microscope
OF his scholarship he applies himself
to the mastery of the words weaving
across the pages of the book Moth
ing about their life or history is too
small TO claim his attention For this
work he needs large resources In
the Old Testament field, all the Semi
tic languages have aid to give him.
In the New all Greek literature may
be laid under tribute. A grammarian
with eve alert for the slightest shades
of meaning, he tolls with patience
through the years. He builds libra
ries and grows gray-whole genera
tions Of him have grown gray-in ac-
complishing this task.
Sometimes the theologian is a stu
dent of the problem of authorship,
weighing the evidence of useof words.
OF point Of view, and the historical
background pre-supDosed in particu-
lar portions of the Scriptures. and so
rescuing buried documents from the
Hexateuch or discovering the un-
known prophet Of the Exile.
Sometimes he is a Biblical theolo-
gian in the more formal sense. study
ing the theological outlook Of differ
ent periods, and scientifically setting
forth the teaching of the various au-
thors Of the book. AT his summons
the prophets once more walk before
us: Amos, with his passion for right
eousness; Hosea, the prophet of the
suffering love Of God: Isaiah. stalwart
statesman prophet in the nations cri-
sis; jeremiah, against whose bent
bare life the awful blasts beat in
fury, and the sunrise prophet of the
Exile, with face aglow with light and
heart athrob with His great message
Of vicarious suffering; these. with all
the other figures of that wonderful
Old Testament life, and out OF it all
God. with His hirh righteousness and
tender love, enga sed for generations
lp the training OF a people-a great,
divinely guided history pointing more
and more clearly forward to a Coming
One, who is to be at once it's eyplana-
tion and its goal. The ideas of the
,hN -
the outlook of different periods. and
the way of looking at life and the
things Of God which in a general way
characterizes the whole Old Testa-
ment time, the Biblical theologian
makes clear to us.
Then at last the New Testament
life-the majestic figure of the Spot
less One, with the winsomeness of
brother humanity, and the awesome-
ness of the divine-the great Redemp-
tion Deed, before which we hide our
faces-a deed in which infinite love,
Infinite woe, infinite righteousness
and infinite hope speak forever to the
world. Following Christ, the men
with lives struck into flame from His,
their words and work as redemptive
begin their conquests in history
Then, ere We close the pages of the
seen on sea or land" from Jerusalem
she golden. From all this pageant of
great figures and great deeds, with it's
one supreme figure and one supreme
deed, the meaning is extracted so that
the teaching about life which comes
from Jesus and which is given by the
various New Testament authors. is
set Systematically before us, and at
last continued in such fashion that we
come to see and appreciate the New
Testament point Of view
Sometimes the theologian is a his
torian tracing the life of the church
through the burden-laden years. or
the movement Of it's thoueht as it has
ceaselessly grappled with the prob
lens Of the faith. The ages become
articulate through his toll and the
past comes before rs, flung warm
from his pen.
There are great and necessary
tasks. and master minds have been
devoted to them. There are great
tasks and stepping stones to a higher
the supreme task of all
There comes one great demand to
the theologian. When the wonder of
the book shines out and the power Of
its teachings is felt-as the past be-
comes real-then the present stands
waiting. This past must be poured
into the life Of to-day. The book
the "h"'"t 80 A. hook-the faith of
the interpreted to the
life ...
A .H ..' tation Is not to be
a p - 'istianity in some
mer' So :. Every thought
Is to u- N. .r... TO captivity to the
obet :. Christianity is
aifh. - Of