works he should read on the life of Christ. The bishop thought a moment and then said "I think you had better read first a little book written by a man named-Matthew." He paused and then went on. "And when you have read that you had better read another little book prepared by a man named— Mark." Another pause to give the student opportunity to recover from his surprise. Then the bishop continued. "And when you have read these, read another little book by a man named-Luke.” longer pause. "And finally," the bishop concluded, "when you have read these, there is another little book that you ought to read, written by a man named-John."

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With these incomparable pictures of Jesus to present to the world, in sermon, in incident, in story, in philosophy, in song,-where is the teacher or preacher who will ever despair of interesting men in the Bible? Given a deep insight into the meaning of the Gospels, with some degree of skill in handling the material, and men cannot fail to be fascinated by the wonderful fourfold story. For it is true, as Principal Fairbairn has said, that "it is impossible to touch Jesus without touching millions of hearts now living or yet to live."

XII

THE STRENGTH OF THE PULPIT

IT is fatally easy to meet the questions and problems that arise in connection with the task of preaching with Paul's consummate advice to Timothy-"Preach the Word!"

We may venture the assertion that the Apostle's counsel has been sometimes overworked; at least it has been frequently misapplied. That a sermon crowded with scriptural quotations and allusions, or a sermon characterized by the strictest textual fidelity, or even a sermon fulfilling the accepted idea of expository preaching-that any or all of these types exhaust the meaning of "preaching the Word" cannot be freely admitted. Within the limits of certain common and accepted meanings most preachers of the present day are preaching the Word. And yet the state of preaching at the present time awakens a feeling of anxiety. It may well be asked: "If the modern preacher is truly preaching the Word, why does not the pulpit grow in power? Why does it appear instead to be waning as a moral and intellectual force?"

Many answers have been invented to account for the phenomenon of declining pulpit-power. The natural changes of society, the absorptions and rivalries of other forces (especially such as are edu

cational), the prevailing scepticism of our age, the transition of the pulpit itself into a pervasive rather than a direct energy, and the note of uncertainty which has crept into the voice of the pulpit, all these have been alleged as active influences in producing an apparent diminution in the force of preaching. Nevertheless the fact stands that the "greatest danger confronting the Church of Christ in America to-day is a possible decadence of the pulpit,”* and the Church seems already at times, as Matthew Arnold said of Shelley, like "a beautiful and ineffectual angel, beating in the void her luminous wings in vain." With many new resources at hand, of education and training, of organization and method, it might be expected that the pulpit would develop new measures of power. It is indeed doubtful if the pulpit ever showed in general greater brilliancy than at the present time; preaching power is not lacking. Yet there is a missing note, an unfilled space in the arena of the modern preacher's task, which leaves him too often in the attitude of one "beating the air."

We are led to inquire therefore whether there may not be additional meanings in the injunction to "preach the Word," which have been too much neglected; new sources of pulpit-power which our age, more than any other, needs, and likewise has the capacity to enjoy. We must first briefly review the familiar sources of strength for the pulpit, and then try to set these in their proper relation with a biblical ministry.

*Rev. Charles E. Jefferson, D. D., in a late volume (1905).

The sources of strength for the pulpit are three:

Interest, Instruction, Inspiration.

We cannot but feel that the first of these, Interest, is often very carelessly dealt with in considering the work of the ministry. Much has been said of a learned ministry, an orthodox, an eloquent, a scriptural, ministry; very little has been said about an interesting ministry. Indeed to many the word seems to suggest too low a plane for the consideration of so sacred a calling. Yet it must be admitted that interest is the first word in education and the open sesame to the inner sanctuary of the mind. The most frequent criticism heard of preaching and preachers is "it is not interesting," "they do not interest me." A quick way of disposing of such criticisms is to say to the critic, "You ought to be interested." It is scarcely necessary to say that the modern world, with a hundred other sources of human interest close at hand, is not to be won by an ought. Charles Lamb replied quaintly to one who had charged him with aiming at wit, that such an aim "is at least as good as aiming at dulness." discriminating editorial in a prominent American publication, referring to the discontinuance of a certain well-known magazine, discusses the reason for its failure in a frank and instructive manner. ceased to be," declares the editor, "because it was not interesting." He continues his comment "The right of the uninteresting to live is as definitely assured by the constitution, not only of the United States, but of the existing order of things, as the

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right of the interesting: but there is nowhere any recognition of their right to live off the community. To be interesting is one of the highest functions of art in all forms." This naïve comment of the editor furnishes no little food for reflection on the matter of pulpit-power. The plain truth is that the pulpit, while not "aiming at dulness," has sometimes forgotten to be interesting. The world's complaint of dulness in the pulpit is by no means always a proof of a sinful heart. It may rather be an evidence of a natural craving of the heart for things that are vital, human, and interesting-a craving which refuses to content itself with dry husks thrust upon the soul with the plea of the sacredness of the ministry as their sanction. It is well to ask with great insistence, "May not that which is sacred rightly aim also to be interesting? Is it not in reality the highest kind of art-even of sacred art-to aim at producing a thrill of interest in the heart? And may not the minister in his pulpit count it worth his while, besides being scholarly, literary, eloquent, and orthodox, to be also-simply interesting?" We do not hesitate indeed to affirm that to be interesting should be among the primary aims of the preacher; all the more because the ministry more than most other occupations tends to dulness. The fact that it is meditative and didactic, that it involves of necessity much repetition, that it tends almost inevitably to run on "dead levels" and in "beaten tracks"presents to the preacher at once that which constitutes one of his chief problems-to keep alive, to sparkle with interest, to be fresh, vital, inspiring, helpful, and human. It is no railing accusation