The Penn's Grove record., 1910-06-24
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. LYNN HAROLD HOUGH.
Theme: The Theologian's Task.

~ ALSOAC
gian's Supreme Task The text was
from ii. Corinthians 1875: bringing
every thought into captivity t. the
obedience of Christ" Mr.. Hough
said:
The theologian has a multitude of
tasks. His world has room for many
a Hercules. In its vast fields there is
a summons to infinite toll and there
is opportunity for high and varied
achievement. In his hand the theolo-
gian holds a 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 t~heologian 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 eye alert for the slightest shades
of meaning, he tolls with patience
through the years. He builds libra
ries and grows gray-whole genera
lions of him have grown sray-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-supposed in particu-
lar portions of the Scriptures, and so
rescuing buried documents from the
Hexateuch or discovering the I'M
known prophet of the Exile.
Sometimes he is a Biblical theolo-
gian in the more formal sense, study
ing the theological outlook of differ
emit periods, and scientifically setting
forth the teaching of the various au-
thors of the book. AT his summons
the prophets ono 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 th3
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 high righteousness and
tender love, engaged for generations
in the training of a people, great,
divinely guided history pointing more
and more clearly forward to a Coming
| One, who is to be at once its eXplana-
ton and it's goal. The ideas of the
various men who spoke to the nation,
the outlook of different periods, and
the way of looking at life and the
things of God which in a general way
! c~haracterizes the whole Old Tesla
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-
ton Deed. before which we hide cur
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 fame from His,
their words and work as redemptlve
begin their conquests in history.
Then, ere we close the pages OF the
book. a glimpse of the light never
seen on sea or land" from Jerusalem
i the golden. From all this pageant of
great figures and great deeds, with its
one supreme figure and one supreme
deed, the meaning is extracted so that
the teaching about life which N
| 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 10 see and appreciate the New
Testament point of view.
Sometimes the theolog ian is a his
torian tracing the life of the church
through the burden-laden years, or
| the movement of its thought as it has
ceaselessly grappled with the prob
lens of the faith. The ages become
articulate through his toll and the
pa.si comes before us, flung warm
from his pen.
There are great and necessary
tasks. and mastes minds have been
devoted to them. There are great
tasks and stepping stones to a higher
the supreme task of all.
There comes n great demand TO
the t~heologian. 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 Christ of the book-the faith Of
the book, must be Interpreted to the
life of now.
And this Interpretation is not to be
a placing of Christianity in some
mere section of life. Every thought
is to be brought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ. Christianity is
either the explanation of all life-the
key to it-or it is nothing. And to
show that
1.-THE acknowledgment of Ged in
Christ,
Accepted by Thy reaso solves for
Thee, all questions in the
earth and out of it"
to construct a vital, organic view of
life. dominated by the essentials of
Christianity, this is the superb work
to which the theologian is called.
We neeu to race the fact that the
world cannot permanently accept a
religion which is smaller than life.
To refuse like the distinguished Ger
man t~heologian, Albrecht Rltscnl, 10
relate Christian truth to scientific
truth. is to sign the death warrant of
the faith.
Does it seem an ambitious thing to
demand a Christ dominated and a
cross dominated universe? Any
thing less means that when the fog
has lifted from mems thoughts there
will be a Christless universe and a
hopeless universe. To take a meta
physically divine Christ, an atoning
death, an actual resurrection. a trim
ity of rich and perfect personal God
life, an actual salvation from actual
sin; a new life for men, a great nlti-
mate goal in Christ, and with these
to unlock every door in this universe
this is the supreme task of the the
ologian.
What Is to be his relation to men?
He is to be a student of all life and
of all literature. He listens-oh, so
eagerly!-to every voice of humanity.
He studies intently its deeds in order
10 understand what they all mean.