St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1910-12-10

The Preacher s !,
Library

IMslI@ HE subject before me for
<1 discussion pre-supposes
Xd&X that the preacher is also
NWEK a student, which most as
suredly he must be II, as
a preacher he desires to make his
calling and election sure" There
perhaps never was time, in the his
tory of the church, when the demands
made on the pulpit were as great as
they are today.
On account of the universal diffu-
sions of periodicals, magazines and
books both secular and religious, this
has become re-eminently reading
age, and the preacher must be read
er if he desires to lead, or even tn
keep up with the procession. We are
living in the veritable age of reason
when men refuse to accept, with Inn
plicate faith, dogmatic teaching sim
ply because it proceeds from the
church but demand, and we think
justly so, that men be able to give
a reason for the hope that is 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 dc.
The preacher must have brain and
heart as. well as mouth. We hear
great deal today in religious circles
about the ministerial dead-line, what
to do with the old-that Is, f1fty-year-
old-preachers, etc.
Preacher Must Be Student.
Now it is our humble opinion that
no minister can cross the dead-lfne
as long as he remains 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 we'll by the grace OF
God" and then like one Of old sim
ply 'fall asleep" But any preacher
who ceases to be student as well,
has already crossed the dead-l1ne
whether he be fifty or twenty-five.
The fortunate thing about 1t is that
many such are dead and do not know
it. If then, it is imperative that the
preacher be a student, he must nave
something to study and this brings US
more directly to our subject, THE
Preachers Library" Now we are fsee
to confess that we do not think that
It is indispensably necessary for
preacher to know something of God,
of man and of the things that come
in the thought and life Of those whom
he is called to serve. Neither Is 1t
necessary that he have a large and
expensive library. The epitaph OF
MANY a faithful, successful minister
might be truthfully written thus: He
was the happy possessor Of few books
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 II
brary that Is absolutely necessary for
the preacher to possess and thorough
ly and faithfully study, If he wish to
show himself approved of God
workman that needeth not to be
ashamed rightly dividing the word OF
truth. IL composed of those sixty-six
books commonly called the Bible. To
this should invariably be added 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 godly' men OF
this and preceding generations. And
we should feel disappointed If we did
| not find in his library biographies
histories, books of sermons and ad
dresses as well as 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 8
certain parsonage scores II not hun
dreds Of good standard magazines In
the garnet stored away in Original
packages, showing that while they
had been received and, perhaps paid
for they had not been read. A few
standard works of fiction seem almost
| indispensable to show the preacher
things and people as others see them
to sharpen his intellect, warm his
heart, quicken his imaginations and
aid his liver to act properly. 1t would
be almost impossible in this brief pa
per to say everything that might be
said in reference to the preachers Ii
brary and it would also be unkind te
those who are anxious to have some
thing to say in the discussion that is
to follow. So we close in the Ian
guage of the immortal some body with
malice toward none and with charity
for all-Sabbath Reading.