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THE

BIBLICAL REPOSITORY

AND

CLASSICAL REVIEW.

THIRD SERIES, NO. XVI.—WHOLE NUMBER, LXXII:

OCTOBER, 1848.

ARTICLE I.

PULPIT ELOQUENCE AS AFFECTED BY DIVINE INFLUENCE.

By Rev. J. FEW SMITH, Prof. of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology, in the Theological Seminary, Auburn, N. Y.

ELOQUENCE has always held a high place in human estimation. The orator commands admiration." He wields a mighty power. It is a great thing to rule the minds and hearts of men; and this is his prerogative. It is his to stir up the deep waters of the soul; to summon every passion from its secret chamber, and arouse it to activity; to throw burning coals upon the conscience, and dart the lightning flashes of truth in upon the mind. And it is a noble sight to look upon, and it may well enkindle the loftiest ambition, to behold a man master of eloquence, swaying assembled thousands; fastening upon himself every eye in the vast assembly, looking through each eye, into the heart, throwing his own thoughts and feelings into their souls, convincing their reason, deciding their judgment, and carrying them as one man with himself. Eloquence has had such triumphs; and they are among the proudest that human intellect has ever achieved: and, therefore, it is a great and noble thing to be truly eloquent. It is a noble thing to be the defender of innocence; the asserter of justice; the advocate of truth: to convince men's understanding, and to persuade them to that which is right-and this is the province of Eloquence; for Eloquence, in its highest form, is speaking well in behalf of that which is right.

What is true of Eloquence in general, loses none of its force when applied to the particular department of Pulpit Eloquence. There, too, it is a noble power, commanding admiration; and there especially it is speaking well in behalf of that which is THIRD SERIES, VOL. IV. NO. 4.

1

right. But Pulpit Eloquence has a province peculiarly its own. It is distinguished by its object and its nature. Its object--the highest that can be contemplated by a believer in Christianityis to persuade men to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness:" to induce sinful men to enter that kingdom, and those who are therein to increase in conformity to its holy statutes. In its nature, it is an instrumentality rather than a directly efficient power. It does not produce its effect on men simply by its own energy, or by the direct influence of means which itself employs; but is dependent for success in the accomplishment of its desired end, upon another, and distinct, independent power. The Roman or the Grecian orator, the orator of the Forum, or of the assembly, acted directly upon the human beings before him. He relied upon himself, upon his skill and ability in the use of language, upon his acquaintance with human nature, and the particular facts before him, and upon his knowledge of the character and circumstances of those whom he was addressing; and not upon any extraneous and higher power. The Pulpit Orator, however, aiming at an object of transcendent worth, is conscious that that object is not to be obtained simply by his might, but by the effective operation of the Holy Spirit. This distinguishes his position from that of every other speaker. The work desired is to be accomplished by him as an instrument in the hand of the great, Almighty Spirit. And while that work is worthy to employ the noblest eloquence that ever thrilled the heart of man, and has enlisted the warm affections of Him who spake as never man spake, he is yet dependent for success on an independent Power.

Now, this great fact, which gives to the speaking of the Pulpit one of its chief characteristics, is made by some persons a ground of objection against the cultivation of Eloquence by those who are to preach the gospel; and causes others to deny even that there is such a thing as pulpit eloquence. Happily, both these classes are few in number: and the increased regard which is given to the study of Sacred Rhetoric, and of Elocution, in our Theological Seminaries, and the tributes that are paid to the pulpits of our land, afford, perhaps, a sufficient reply to these objections. It is not our present purpose, therefore, to defend, otherwise than incidentally, the study of Rhetoric and Oratory by those who are called to preach the gospel. Neither do we propose to dwell at length upon the nature and characteristics of Pulpit Eloquence, and the proper means for its cultivation. But fully admitting the great doctrine of dependence on the Holy Spirit-nay, insisting upon it, as the Christian preacher's ground of confidence and encouragement-we wish to offer some remarks on the influence of this doctrine on the Eloquence of the Pulpit or the Preaching of sacred Truth.

And our first remark is,

1. This doctrine should not cause the Christian preacher to relax at all his efforts to attain to the highest degree of Pulpit Eloquence, that is, to the best mode of Preaching.

It is a well established and universally admitted principle of Christian Philosophy, that dependence on Divine Providence does not diminish responsibility, nor neutralize individual agency. Man is endowed with abilities adapted to the performance of manifold exercises and duties. The possession of abilities implies the duty of using them. The promise of the Holy Spirit incites to their diligent use. The teaching of dependence for success on the will of the Spirit does not affect these deeplyseated original principles-principles inherent in man's nature, which no sophistry can eradicate, and fully admitted and prominently exhibited, in the sacred volume. I know not that it is necessary for me now to illustrate this familiar truth; for illustrations are constantly around us. "Promotion cometh neither from the East nor from the West, nor from the South, but God is the judge; He putteth down one, and setteth up another."" Yet the hand of the diligent maketh rich," and "the hand of the diligent shall bear rule." Our daily bread God gives us, and in Him we live and move and have our being; yet God has enacted the law, "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,”. and has bidden us to guard our lives from harm. He sendeth the early and the latter rain, and causeth the seed to produce a harvest; but, "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding, and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone-wall thereof was broken down." Universally, though we are dependent always, and for all things on God, we admit, and act upon, the principle that success is to be secured by exertion; eminence to be attained by diligence and energy. So the Holy Spirit is the efficient power in regeneration and sanctification. But we who are dependent on the Holy Spiritwho are the guilty and corrupted ones, and who are endowed with intellectual and moral faculties, no matter what their condition-we are to exercise contrition, and deny ourselves, and set our affection on heavenly objects, and grow in grace, and give all diligence to make our calling and election sure.

Now it has pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The preaching of the gospel is the appointed instrumentality by which He produces the conversion of men. The Holy Spirit is the author of conversion; but we are taught that He produces conversion by means of the Truth. Faith owes its origin to this Divine Agent. But, "faith cometh

1 Ps. 75: 6, 7.

"Prov. 10: 4. 12: 24.

'Prov. 24: 30, 31.

by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," and "how shall they hear without a preacher ?"""Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth." This word of truth was then a preached word; and now, in order to affect the mind and heart, it must be presented to them. And we ask, is it a matter of indifference how the truth is presented? Ought not the best mode of presenting it to be constantly striven after? and is not this the cultivation of Pulpit Eloquence in the highest degree? The fact that, after all, the success of the effort depends upon God, can afford no apology for indolence, or indifference with regard to that effort. The law of our nature, the universal practice of men, the example of God, and His Word also, these teach us, that, when an end is set before us for our attainment, and means are put within our reach whereby we may attain unto it, we ought to make the best use of those means irrespectively of all considerations of dependence on another power. The peculiarity that attends the calling of the preacher of the gospel does not at all affect the general principle. The Grecian Orator

"whose resistless eloquence

Wielded at will that fierce democratic,

Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece,
To Macedon and Artaxerxes throne"-

addressed men of like capabilities and passions with those who listen to the Christian preacher. Minds, hearts are to be reached. Man is speaking to his fellow-man; and the simple fact that God giveth the increase can afford not the slightest reason why his lips should not drop the honey of persuasion, and every energy be strung to its highest pitch to pour forth burning words, to be eloquent for the truth. It is in the use of right means, in obedience to the true laws of our nature, that the efficient operation of the Holy Spirit may be expected. He who endeavors to employ his powers in the best manner, while yet humbly realizing his dependence on a higher power, alone has a right to expect suc cess. He who makes that dependence a plea for negligence or carelessness, has cause for shame and fear. It is a great absurdity to suppose that the cultivation of the power of presenting truth most effectually, is inconsistent with the most devout and humble looking unto God for aid. It is a great breach of charity to suppose that those who would attain to eloquence are fostering vanity and the love of display. It is a crime against reason not to admit that one form of presenting truth may be more effective than another. It is a breach of true reverence towards God to imagine that He would set forth any doctrine that would prevent our endeavoring to attain unto the best form of the presentation of truth. If any one will say that God needs not

2 1 Rom. 10: 14, 17.

Jas. 1: 18.

the device of human art or science for the accomplishment of His purposes; we admit this, but reply: that it is revealed as His gracious purpose to accomplish the work of bringing His people unto faith in Christ, by the preaching of the gospel by human lips; and further, God can, we believe, bless any and every effort of His servants in His cause. But does it not clearly appear to be in harmony with all that we know of His character and purposes, and modes of action, to suppose that those efforts which are best directed-that is directed with the wisest reference to known principles of human nature and revealed truth, He will be most likely to crown with abundant success? All husbandmen are alike dependent upon God for success in their employment. But his fields will produce most largely who is best acquainted with agriculture, best skilled in the use of means for the cultivation of the soil, and most diligent in the application of them. And the analogy is fair and convincing in its application to spiritual husbandry. It matters not that the dependence is in one case for physical blessings, and in the other for spiritual. The same God presides in both cases. Undoubtedly He has an equally well ordered, and carefully observed system of laws for spiritual things as for physical, though those laws may not be so well known to us. He is a God of order, always and essentially, and what we call anomalies, both in the physical and the spiritual world, we may rely upon it, are parts of His system, provided for from the beginning. If there be certain arrangements of arguments, certain forms of expression, certain tones of voice, certain modes of gesticulation, better adapted than others to convey Divine truth clearly, forcibly, affectingly to the heart-surely, God would have the speaker make use of these in preference to all others-surely, it is the use of them which He will be most likely to bless and make successful-surely, He would not have the grand truth of His sovereignty and our dependence in the least degree hinder our attainment and employment of them. Now the great object of the study and practice of Sacred Rhetoric and Pulpit Eloquence is the acquisition and use of those arrangements of arguments, those forms of expression, those tones of voice, those modes of gesticulation, which are best adapted to persuade men to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And what is there in this that should be at all retarded or obstructed by the doctrine of our dependence on the Holy Spirit? In a word, what shall hinder the most devout mind from selecting the best weapons, burnishing them most brightly, giving them the keenest edge, and using them most manfully in the conflict with God's great enemy?

I have already hinted that God has by His own example taught us, that He does not view it as a matter of indifference

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