Part I: The Pastor In His Private Life

Chapter I
The Dignity of the Pastoral Office¹

No office filled by men can equal in dignity the office of the Christian Pastor. The Pastor’s office in real dignity and responsibility transcends the office, even of president, king, or emperor. Why?

First, Not because the pastor stands as priest between the people and God. The priestly idea of the pastor was early developed. Chrysostom, in his treatise “Concerning the Priesthood,” says, “This office has been ordained, not by a man, nor by an angel, nor by an archangel, nor by any created power, but by the Paraclete himself . . . And, therefore, should the priest, as standing in heavenly regions amid those higher intelligences, be as pure as they are.” In this passage, he is writing about the pastor. Neither Paul in the Pastoral Epistles, nor any other New Testament writer, ever hints at the pastor’s func- tion as being that of a Priesthood. The only Priesthood recognized by the New Testament is that of all Christians, (See 1 Peter 2:9; Rev 5:10. See also the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.) Not one line suggesting the Priesthood of the pastor can be found in any of these books.

[Augustus] Neander, Church History [Volume] 1, page 177, says, “Christianity allows no place to a tribe of priests ordained to direct other men, as under religious privilege, having exclusive charge to supply men’s needs in respect to God and divine things . . . All have the same High Priest and Mediator, through whom all, as reconciled and united to God, have themselves become a sacerdotal and spiritual race . . . Who might arrogate to himself what an inspired apostle durst not, to domineer over the faith of Christians?” And yet, in the Roman Church and the Anglican High Church, the priestly function is assumed by the ministry. Outside of these religious bodies the priestly function is not assumed by the pastor. The pastor, like all other Christians, is a priest in the sense, not of offering himself to atone for the sins of others but in the sense that he can offer himself, his property and service for the up uplifting of humanity and the bringing in of the Kingdom of God.

Second, Not because of lordly supremacy over the laity. Not even the apostles exercised dictatorial supremacy over the early churches. When the seven were to be appointed, the church, not the apostles, did it (See Acts 6). When circumcision was rending the forces of Christianity, the apostles did not settle it themselves, but the Antioch church appealed to the Jerusalem church, and the latter wrote a letter of agreement to the Antioch church. Papal, Cardinal and Primate offices have no New Testament origin. They arose in the progress of the early churches through the ambitions of men. This early development of offices in the church is contrary to Matthew 20:25, 26, “Ye know that the rulers Of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whoso- ever shall become great among you shall be your minister.” It also violates 1 Peter 5:3, “Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.”

Third, Because the pastoral office is a divinely instituted office. The apostles were constituted preachers, as well as apostles, by Christ himself. He no where calls apostles pastors, but the Holy Spirit, using apostles, instituted the pastoral office. It is remarkable that Christ himself did not institute the pastoral office. He left this to be done by the apostles who were led by the Spirit in the apostolic age. We know that James, the apostle, did become the first bishop or pastor of the church at Jerusalem, and Paul, led by the Spirit, had the churches to elect presbyters, or pastors. (See Acts 14:23). Paul speaks of the pastoral office in the Pastoral Epistles, especially in 1 Timothy, third chapter, and Titus 1:7, seq. So the pastorate had its origin in the apostolic days under direct leadership of the Holy Spirit, and so the institution is divine.

Fourth, the pastor himself, moreover, is a divinely called man. This is a generally accepted teaching among evangelical denominations. Why do we believe in the divine call of the preacher?

1. John, the Baptist, the preacher who introduced the Christian dispensation, had a divine mission. In John 1:6–7, we read, “There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for Witness that he might bear witness of the light and all might believe through him.” Surely John was a divinely called preacher.
2. The apostolic preachers were surely divinely called men, if Christ himself be the Son of God. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says to Peter and Andrew, John and James, “Come ye after me and I will make you fishers of men.” This is not the call to conversion, but the call to service, that is, the ministerial call extended to those apostolic men. Then, according to Mark 3:14, when they were constituted apostles, we read, “He appointed, (epoiesen, literally made), twelve, etc.” Then, in John 20:21 Jesus in a last charge to those apostolic men, said, “As the Father has sent me, even so send I you.” Surely these apostolic men were divinely called to preach the gospel of the kingdom.
3. Paul was divinely called to his aposteleship and preaching office. Acts 9:16; “But the Lord said unto him, go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel.” Thayer, in his lexicon of the New Testament Greek, says that the word translated chosen means, “The act of picking out choosing.” In Romans 1:1 Paul calls himself, “The servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.” In Galatians 1:15–16, “But when it was the good pleasure of God, he separated me even from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me that I might preach him among the Gentiles, etc.” In all these texts it is perfectly clear that Paul was divinely called to be an apostle, and preach the gospel. It is noticeable also that Paul’s call to preach the gospel came simultaneously with his call to the new life in Christ. That is, he was called to preach when he was called to be a Christian. This is not always the case with the preacher.
4. God called the prophets of the Old Testament dispensation. This is only corroborative, not original evidence. According to Exodus three, he called Moses to deliver his message to Pharaoh. According to Isaiah 6:8, seq., he called Isaiah to deliver his message to Judah. In Jeremiah one and Ezekiel, chapters one to three, we see that these greater prophets were called to deliver their message to the people. In the first chapter of Jonah, we see how the prophet Jonah was called to deliver God’s message to Nineveh. Has God changed his policy? Did he in the Old Testament dispensation call men to deliver his message, but now in the New Dispensation he has ceased to call men, but allows them to do as they please independently of his will? This is not rational. The only difference in the call of the old dispensation and the call of the new dispensation is in the externals which accompany the call. Then, God called immediately. Now, he calls mediately, that is, through the medium of the Holy Spirit. But is the call any less divine simply because it is a mediate call and not an immediate call?

Fifth, In the period following the ascension of Christ, it is said in Ephesians 4:11, seq., “And he gave some to be apostles, and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers, etc.” Here it is directly asserted that the ascended Christ gave the prophets, (corresponding to the modern term preacher), the pastor, etc., as officers in the church.

The Evidences of the Divine Call to the Ministry

1. A burning desire to serve the Lord by preaching his gospel. In 1 Timothy 3:1, Paul says, “If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” However repugnant preaching may first appear to the man in question, yet finally there is created by the Spirit in his heart a desire thus to serve the Lord, or else he is not divinely called.
2. An overwhelming conviction in one’s spirit produced by the Holy Spirit that he must preach. In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul says, “For necessity is laid upon me, for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.” Paul had this overwhelming conviction that it was a divine necessity for him to preach the gospel. When Richard Fuller, one of the most eloquent Baptist preachers of the South, was called to the ministry, a United States Senator from Washington visited him and expostulated with him about going into the ministry. After the Sena- tor had shown him all the political glories that might await the gifted Fuller, if he remained in the political world, Fuller responded, “If Christ has loved me so and given himself for me, how can I refuse to give myself to him as a minister since I feel that he has called me to this work ?”
3. The possession of, or the possibility of acquiring, those natural and spiritual qualities which are necessary for the performance of the office of preacher or pastor. It is hardly conceivable that God would call a man to the office of preacher or pastor unless he had some of the qualities necessary for the doing of the requisite work. However, he may call a man with no education and with small intellectual powers. And yet it follows that God conciously calls the man who, if he does not have these qualities properly cultivated, is willing to train himself and make himself as serviceable as possible in the ministry. Josiah Elliott of North Carolina could scarcely read and write when he was called to the ministry. No one who has known him has ever doubted but that God called him to be a preacher, but there was a burning desire in this man’s heart to improve all his powers and this he has done, as the years have gone by, so that now he is one of the most effective preachers and most successful pastor.
4. The conviction on the part of the church that God has laid his hand upon the man applying for license or ordination. Dr. [Francis] Wayland says, “If God calls a man (to preach), someone else besides the man himself will find it out.”

Sixth, The Pastoral Office also gathers dignity from the fact that it is the highest sphere of service on earth. As the spiritual is higher than the physical and intellectual, so the office of the pastor who deals with spiritual matters almost exclusively, is the highest office among men. Under God, the preacher is to make life, the higher spiritual life. First, he is to lead the soul to Christ and then develop the spiritual life of that soul up to his highest possibilities in this world. A soul made in the image of God is the greatest thing on earth. A life consecrated to the service of humanity and God is the next greatest thing on earth. The preacher’s absorbing business is to deal with both these greatest things: The leading of souls to Christ, and the cultivation of the highest spiritual living.

Chapter II
The Pastor’s Spiritual Life²

Shedd says, “The calling and profession of the clergyman demand eminent spirituality . . . The minister is the sacred man in society.” This hits the nail on the head, except we would not use the word “profession.” The minister’s office is not a profession.

There are four special reasons for demanding the highest spiritual life for the pastor:

First, the divineness and sacredness of his calling. As shown in the preceding chapter, this calling is direct from God through the Holy Spirit.

Second, The nature of his duties, which are pre-eminently in spiritual matters, demands the highest spiritual culture on the part of the pastor.

Third, The church expects him to lead others in piety and consecration. As water never rises above its source, so the spiritual life of the church usually never rises higher than that of the pastor. Perhaps a great church with eminently spiritual leaders in the pew might rise above the spiritual life of its pastor, but surely the rule is as we have stated above.

Fourth, the world judges the pastor rigorously and demands of him a very high grade or religious life. The pastor must strive to live so as to say with Paul, “Be ye followers of me” (1 Cor 11:1). Or again with Paul, “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you” (1 Thess 2:10). Oh, if all our pastors could say this, after they have spent a few years in their pastorate.

Some hints as to the means of producing and promoting this high spiritual life in the pastor:

First, He must study the Bible for food to his own soul. There are five ways in which we may study the Bible—Historically, as Literature, Theologically, Homiletically, and Devotionally. I would not minimize the first four methods. They are all essential for their distinct purposes. But above all the pastor must read his Bible devotionally, that he may get the Manna from heaven and the water from the rock to nourish his own soul and invigorate his own spiritual power. Luther once said, “An old woman who reads her Bible in the chimney corner knows more about God than do the great doc- tors of philosophy.” Now, this is no reflection on true philosophy, or theology, but it is simply a call for the devotional reading of the Bible, the kind which is done by the old woman who reads her Bible in the chimney corner. The Bible is the pastor’s message to the church and to the world, but, first of all, it must be God’s food to the pastor’s soul. Hence the importance of the pastor’s reading every day God’s word in a devotional frame of mind.

Second, The Pastor must be a man of prayer. The telegraph has brought Europe, Asia, Africa, and America close together. Every continent is close neighbor to every other continent on the globe by means of the telegraph. Prayer is God’s telegraph in the spiritual world, to bring men closer to Him- self and increase friendly fellowship between Earth and Heaven.

Jesus, the pastor’s model, was a man of prayer. He was praying while he was being baptized, (So Luke tells us), when on him descended the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. He was also praying when on the mount he was transfigured and from his face and raiment gleaned the glory of the Father. About twenty-five times the gospel writers mention our Lord in prayer. At all great crises, like the beginning of the evangelization of Galilee, the calling of the Twelve, the attempt of the populace to make him king, the struggle in Gethsemane, Jesus prayed. Yea, a few times he spent even whole nights on the mountain in prayer, or, arose early in the morning for a season of communion with the Father before beginning the strenuous duties of the day.

The twelve apostles were likewise men of prayer. In Acts 1:14, we are told of their continuing in prayer. It was at the close of their memorable ten days’ prayer meeting that Pentecost with the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit came. In Acts 6:4, the apostles said, “We will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministration of the Word.”

Paul also, with all his logic and learning, breathed the breath of prayer, and from his Epistles as well as from his life, flows the incense of prayer like fragrance from the roses. Luther said, If he had a very hard days’ work, he would spend the first three hours in prayer. Vinet expresses the power of prayer in the pastor’s life in one comprehensive sentence:

“Prayer is necessary to keep us at the proper point of vision, which is always escaping from us; to heal the wounds of self-love and of feeling; to re- new our courage; to anticipate the always threatening invasion of indolence, of levity, of dilatoriness, of spiritual or ecclesiastical pride of pulpit vanity, of professional jealousy.” If the pastor would keep himself above the special temptations which are daily and hourly thrust upon him in his position, he must be a man of prayer. Like the apostles, the modern preacher and pastor must “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Acts 2:42).

Third, the modern pastor must give some time to solitude and meditation. This is an age of steam and electricity. Almost everything is running on schedule time, and the modern pastor is sorely tempted in the rush of a busy pastorate to spend too much time before men and not enough before God.³ He mentions three special blessings received by the pastor who spends hours in solitude:

1. Self-Examination;
2. Gathering up and formulating the results of his experiences;
3. In consulting God as to his plans and deliberations

Fourth, The pastor must be the Holy Spirit’s man. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb, (See Luke 1:15). Jesus from his baptism, when on him rested the dove symbolical of the Spirit’s presence, was led by the Spirit, and had the Spirit of God upon him when he went into the synagogue at Nazareth to read and preach. (See Matt 4:1; Luke 3:16). Peter was full of the Holy Spirit when he preached on Pentecost that simple, yet matchless, sermon. (See Acts 3:4). Stephen, whose face shown like that of an angel, was “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 6:5). Paul, from his conversion, was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17).

Fifth, By contact with suffering with humanity. Every time a pastor helps a suffering fellowman, his spiritual life is quickened. The Christian life is solely the life of the Spirit, is begun by the Spirit, ( John 3:5; Titus 3:5), continues in the sphere of the Spirit on earth, and in eternity puts off the material and is clothed exclusively in the Spirit. The Spirit is the origin and the ultimatum of life. The Christian life is a spiritual life. Surely, then the pastor who leads in this Christian life must be the Holy Spirit’s man. He must be filled with the Spirit not only for the preparation and delivery of his sermons, but in all his study of the Bible, yea, even in his private life, he must be filled with the Spirit and guided by him.

Some results of a spiritual pastor’s life:

First, it exalts Christ and makes his religion an object of the world’s confidence. [Francis] Bacon in his Essays, says that one of the causes of skepticism was the “loose lives of priests.” Surely nothing is so effective in the production of skepticism as low spiritual living by pastors.

Second, The spiritual pastor means a growing church. Like priest, like people; like pastor, like people.

Third, a spiritual pastor will fill his church pews with people longing for Christ and eternal life. The greatest drawing power for modern churches is a big fire in the pulpit, kindled by the Holy Spirit in the heart and life of the pastor. Spurgeon, A. C. Dixon and Geo. W. Truett are examples of great spiritual pastors.

Fourth, the spiritual life of the pastor gives the gospel greater power. Spurgeon, on hearing the sainted Müller, exclaimed “Oh, it was such a soul feast for me! Why, said someone, was it a great sermon? No grandeur in it,” said Spurgeon. “It was the man, the man’s spiritual strength that moved and thrilled me.”

Chapter III
The Pastor and Physical Culture

There is no literature directly on this subject. None of the writers on Pastoral Theology treat this important subject. Preachers, though preeminently men who deal with souls and spiritual things, must not forget that they are physical, as well as spiritual, creatures. The care of the preacher’s body deserves his ceaseless attention and is worthy of due consideration in Pastoral Theology.

Why Should the Pastor Take Care of His Body?

First, Christ redeemed our bodies as well as our spirits, and so they are held by us as a trust for him who redeemed us. The Bible in only one passage speaks of the salvation of the soul. It usually speaks of the redemption and salvation of men, people. Galatians 4:4 says, “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law.” You see it is not to redeem the soul, but is to redeem “them,” body and soul. In Romans 8:23, he speaks of “waiting for the adoption, to-wit, the redemption of our bodies.” In 1 Corinthians 6:20, “Ye are bought with a price. Glorify God, therefore, in your body.” These texts are plain in the assertion that redemption applies to men’s bodies as well as to their souls.

Second, The pastor should take good care off his body, because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you.” As God led Solomon to prepare for devine habitation a temple of the best material and finest architecture, so the pastor should let God lead him in the making of as vigorous and splendid a body as possible in order that it may be the sacred temple of God through the Holy Spirit. The pastor must not abuse his body by sinful habits or obnoxious weeds or drugs. He should avoid morphine, laudanum, and even tobacco, as he would poisonous serpents beneath his feet.

Third, a sound body is essential to the best thinking. The body is not only the casket, but also the indispensable instrument of the soul while we are in the flesh. Cicero’s old saying, “A sound mind in a sound body,” is a good motto, even for a preacher so far as his mental and physical culture is concerned. Can a preacher with burning stomach, sluggish blood and deranged nerves do his best in “Thinking God’s thoughts after him?” A thousand times, no!

Fourth, A well-cultured body is a great advantage in spiritual living and spiritual usefulness. The Preacher is called, not to be a maker of clouds but a maker of sunshine. With a Strong healthy body, it is easier for him to emit sunshine and joy and cheerfulness and thus help others to be happier.

Some hints for promoting the pastor’s physical culture. Of course, we are not going to give specific prescriptions, but only some general suggestions.

First, pure air is a necessity. This is God’s free gift to all and the pastor should get his full share. He should keep his study thoroughly ventilated if he would think his best and live the longest. Especially should he take care that his bed room is supplied with pure air. Of particular importance is it that the pastor, when away from home, should look into the ventilation of his sleeping room. Often the preacher, when away from home is sent into some old, unoccupied room into which no fresh oxygen has been turned for weeks or even months. He should see to it at once that plenty of oxygen is turned into the room. The writer had a dear friend in the Seminary who contracted pneumonia and died, because he had sleep two nights, while filling an appointment, in a cold, damp room.

But above all out in the woods and fields is the best place to get the fullest draft of heavens pure air, and often the pastor should stroll out into nature’s temples to receive nature’s grace—pure air.

It is also an excellent practice to take deep breathing exercise early every morning. This floods the entire system with pure oxygen and gives tone to the morning’s work.

Second, sleep is absolutely essential to good health. When you are asleep, all nature is resting, that is, nature is then building up the exhausted tissues of muscle, nerve, and brain. Sleep is the repair shop for the body, broken down by the toils of the day.

Three things about sleep:

1. Find out how much you need. Napoleon needed only five hours. Some great thinkers must have nine hours. The aver- age amount of sleep is seven or eight hours.
2. Do not sleep too much. Too much sleep makes the muscles soft and the brain sluggish.
3. Sleep regularly. As nearly as possible retire at the same hour every night and rise at the same time each morning. Of course there must be many exceptions to this rule in the great emergencies of life.

Third, good, sound nutritious food is essential to proper physical culture. In this day there is so much adulterated food on the market, we should be cautious in buying. We do not mean to prescribe any diet. Each man must select his own diet, that is, if he selects any at all. Usually it is wisest not to diet oneself. The preacher should not eat too much. Most people do. He should eat plenty of grains, eggs, fish, fruits especially. He should avoid excessive eating of cake, pies, custards, etc. Queen Victoria, when asked the secret of her longevity, replied, (as one of the reasons), “Because I eat the simplest food, etc.” What a lesson for pastors who are tempted by the good sisters to eat too much cake, custards, etc!

Fourth, exercise is essential.The preacher must exercise his body. Usually it is not best to do so. in baseball, or any public feats, but proper physical exercise is absolutely essential for profound, consecutive, and continuous thinking. He should exercise with the axe or saw, with the hoe or shovel in the garden, or among the flowers; or perhaps in running, walking, horseback riding, or maybe with dumb bells, Indian clubs, etc. At any rate, he should exercise the great muscles of the body. Scarcely anything stimulates thinking as the exercise of the great muscles of the body.

Fifth, be Contented. Every pastor should strive to be able to say with Paul, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Phil 4:11b) He Should be content with this field; content with his salary, etc. The contented spirit helps make the most cultured body. Physiology teaches that nothing eats one’s vitality like carrying anxiety. The preacher should be a man of great faith and out of this faith will grow the sweet spirit of contentedness. Of Course, the pastor should sympathize with all sufferers, but he must cast his own and others’ sufferings and cares upon the Lord, for he careth for the pastor, as well as for any other Christians.

Special hints:

First, the pastor should take special care of his voice. It is God’s instrument with which to speak his message to men, and it is the pastor’s indispensable tool. He should never talk after riding or walking a long distance, after preaching, lecturing, etc.

Second, the pastor should take special care of his lungs. Especially is this requisite if there have been any pulmonary diseases in his family for three or four generations back.

Third, he should not foolishly expose himself to contagious diseases. Of course, this does not mean that he should be slow to do his duty to all who are thus suffering. But surely God does not expect him foolishly to rush into the jaws of death by unwise exposure. Rev. U. L. Pritchard perished in Wilmington, N.C. by heedlessly exposing himself in the yellow fever plague in 1861. At the same time, the pastor must not be a coward when people are suffering and need him.

Fourth, He should be cautious in the sick room of any person suffering with any extreme malady. He should be as loving and as sympathetic as possible to the sufferer, but should not, if possible, breathe in the air breathed out by the sick person. It is possible to seat himself in such a portion of the room as to avoid this, without arousing suspicion among friends of the sick that he is afraid of disease.

Chapter IV
The Pastor and Intellectual Culture⁴

Intellectual culture is to the preacher what grinding is to the axe, or what tuning is to the piano. As the axe without grinding will cut, and the piano without tuning will make music; so the preacher can preach without intellectual culture. But without intellectual training, he cannot do his best any more than the piano will make the sweetest music without good tune.

Examples of Ministerial Intellectual Culture in the New Testament:

First, the apostles were well-trained by Jesus for three years. How great was the training these men received from him who taught as never man spake! How could they have received their three years’ course from Jesus without having their minds enlarged, their views ennobled, their ideas broadened? Surely they received much intellectual culture from Jesus as well as spiritual training, as he continually taught them from nature and life, from the Old Testament and His own Divine consciousness.

Second, Paul was among the best educated men of his day. He was a linguist, perhaps knowing three languages thoroughly, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. He was a rhetorician and logician, and was thoroughly trained by Gamaliel in Rabbinic lore. Possibly (though not so probably) he knew the classics, twice he quoted Greek authors, but this is not positive evidence that he was a thorough classic scholar.

Third, Timothy and Titus seemed to have been trained men before assuming their duties as preachers of the gospel. Apollos, also, was a great scholar, a logician, and mighty in the scriptures.

Why Should the Preacher be Educated?

First, he has the greatest calling on earth. If the civil engineer, the painter, the teacher, etc., must prepare for the discharge of the duties of their calling, should not the preacher, whose calling is divine and whose duties are in the sphere of the spiritual, be also well prepared intellectually?

Second, He has the greatest book to expound. If doctors must be trained in the knowledge and application of physics and chemistry, anatomy and physiology, the science of medicine, surgery, etc.; and the lawyers to know constitutional and statutory law, why should not the preacher be trained to know and interpret and preach the Bible, the production of fifteen centuries and forty human writers, yet the Word and Work of God?

Third, the pastor has the greatest problems to solve—social, ecclesiastical, ministerial, theological, homiletical, literary, historical, political, etc. It is said that a certain preacher at an association some years ago said, “I thank God that preachers don’t have to know nothing to preach.” Ah! If it is true that the preacher has all these problems to meet and must help to seek a solution for them, does he not need to be thoroughly trained and well-equipped intellectually?

[Fourth, this is an age of progress. The general diffusion of knowledge necessitates an educated ministry.]⁵

Where Should the Preacher Get his Intellectual Culture?

First, in the high school or academy. This means, of course, if he has prepared himself for the high school or academy. Now, let us say once for all that education does not make a preacher, any more than tuning makes the piano. But tuning does help the piano make the best music. So with the right kind of intellectual training the preacher will be helped to give the world the beet preaching.

Second, the preacher, if possible, should take a college or university course. The pyramids have stood for forty centuries. Why? Because they are built on broad and solid foundations and taper as they rise. So, if the preachers work is to stand through the coming centuries he must lay broad and deep his foundations. [Charles] Wagner in the Simple Life says, “Even the most rapid and certain successes are always the outcome of patient preparation.” This is eminently true of preachers.

Third, then he should take, if possible, a complete Seminary course. There is no better place for a young preacher to learn to study the Book of Books than in a seminary where godly men, specialists in particular branches, give young ministers the benefit of their patient research and costly experiences.

If a preacher can take only one course, should he take the college course or the seminary course? We answer, by all means let him first take the college course, if he possibly can.

First, because, if he takes the college course, he will then be prepared to take the seminary course at home, if he cannot go to the seminary. Spurgeon did this. Our own eminent Geo. W. Truett has done the same.

Second, the preacher who takes the college course can get the most out of the seminary course. The student who has not taken the college, or university, course cannot, other things being equal, get one-third as much out of the same seminary course, as the well-equipped university student.

Third, it is very likely that the ministerial student who finishes his college, or university, course will then go to the seminary. This is eminently true in this present time when there are such excellent seminary advantages offered to our young preachers, and when the need of higher intellectual training is so forcibly pressed upon their attention.

The Presbyterians have carried ministerial education to an extreme. The Baptists have carried ministerial ignorance to an extreme. Our preachers strike a golden mean. It is surely possible for a preacher to combine a warm heart and a trained head, a consecrated spirit and a cultivated intellect. Disraeli once said, “Eloquence is a child of knowledge. When a mind is full, like a wholesome river, it is clear.” How applicable this is to the preacher. If he would be really eloquent, there must be knowledge as the base. The preacher who knows things and under God knows that he know is like the wholesome river, clear. Thus and thus only can he pour forth strains of real eloquence to a dying world.

Chapter V
The Pastor in His Study⁶

The best pastor will always be a student. To graduate from a university or seminary does not mean that the preacher has “learned it all.” He has simply learned how to study and when he settles, in a pastorate, he should be a lifelong student. For the undergraduate, it is still more urgent that he be a student.

Why Should the Pastor be a Student?

First, because of the Book he has to proclaim to men. The Bible is God’s revelation to man as to His attributes, purposes, and plans, as to man’s relation to God by the Fall and his recovery from the Fall through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus. How sublime the theme! What man has ever mastered its contents of grace and philosophy!

Second, he should study to “hold his own.” The pastor who does not study is like an old razor, never honed or strapped. He soon loses his edge and every time he preaches he “pulls,” and hurts the people by his poor thoughts, miserable diction, and illogical arrangement of sermon materials.

Third, the people are becoming cultured all the time and will not tolerate the preacher who does not know something to tell them. A Presbyterian, when asked why he went to the Baptist church in a certain town, replied, “Because the Baptist preacher tells me something I don’t know.” A good pastor, enthusiastic as a soul winner and lovable as a man, had to leave his church after a pastorate of less than two years. Why? A leading member said to me, “There was nothing in his sermons.”

Fourth, the pastor must study to keep abreast of the times. Human nature is the same in all ages the world over, but the ages are not the same. Each age has its own characteristics and problems. The wise pastor must keep up or be left behind in the onward march of enlightenment.

Furnishing the Study

First, the pastor should make his study cozy and cheery. It is his workshop. It should be not elaborate and splendid, but modestly attractive in its furniture and paintings.

Second, he must acquire a good library. Books are the preacher’s tools. He must have them if he is to do the best work, as the carpenter must have certain tools if he builds a good and beautiful house. Young pastors should procure their libraries gradually. They should never have too many new books on the shelf unread. They should buy as they need and can read the books. If they should have a great library of profound books unread and unknown, they could make a false impression, that they are learned, when they are not.

Regularity of Study

First, have a time to study. System conduces to success in a preacher’s study as well as in a general’s army. Study is often hard, and we do not feel like studying, but having a fixed time would put us at it and then the pleasure of it would come.

Second, the morning is the best time to study. From five or six till ten in the morning is the most suitable time to study:

1. Because the mind is fresh and vigorous from sleep.
2. The stomach is rested.
3. These hours are least likely to bring disturbances from call- ers, etc.

At night after the afternoon’s mingling with the people the pastor can put in two or three hours of good study.

Third, the preacher should not spend the whole morning on one subject. The mind does its best on any subject in two or three hours. He should vary his study so as to rest his mind and get the best results.

What Should the Preacher Study?

First, study the Bible. This is the pastor’s necessary text book.

1. He should study it in the original Hebrew and Greek, if he can; especially should every preacher try to learn New Testament Greek. Many shades of thought are never seen except in the Greek text.
2. Study the Bible book by book and author ay author.
3. Study it by doctrines: Sin, Justification, Regeneration, the Holy Spirit, Missions, etc.
4. Study it as God’s message to men.

Second, study Theology. Every pastor should have one or all of the fol- lowing books of theology: [A. H.] Strong, [E. H.] Johnson, [ J. P.] Boyce, [Adam] Clarke, [Bernhard] Weiss, Stephens, etc.

Third, study Church History. This recounts the doctrines, the crises, the heresies, and the heroes, connected with the development of Christianity. It will give the pastor the key to modern crises, heresies, etc.

Fourth, study Philosophy, especially the systems of thought and ethics promulgated by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and Zeno, in ancient times; of Bacon, Descartes, Locke, Hegel, and Kant in modern times. The church and the world demand more thought in the pulpit. Preachers must be thinkers and to study philosophy will develop thinking.

Fifth, study Civil and Political History. The hand of God is in the events of history. Victor Hugo said, “It was not the coming of Blucher to reinforce Wellington that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo; it was God.” The Old Testament Prophets, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc., were students of the political history Babylon, of Syria, Egypt, Moab, Edom, Tyre, etc., and spoke their thrilling messages from God in harmony with human history. So the modern preacher can see God at work in the British conquest of the Boer’s, the Japanese triumph over Russia and the recent establishment of Republics in Mexico and China. History gave Spurgeon and Talmage vivid illustrations to drive home to men’s consciences the promises of God.

Sixth, study the Natural Sciences. True scientific study is the search for truth in God’s world. Such books as Asa Gray’s Science and Religion; [Henry] Calderwood’s Science and Religion; [Henry] Drummond’s Natural Law in the Spiritual World, prove that truth is truth whether found in Nature, or in the Bible, or in conscience, and that there is no conflict between Nature and Revealed Truth, because God is the Author of both. The preacher must be cautious as to wild theories of science, like universal evolution to account for all life and all development. Yet many eminent savants have been and are believers in God and Religion, namely, Cuvier, Agassiz, Le Connte, Dawson, Gray, Drummond, Sir Oliver Lodge, etc.

Seventh, study the world’s best poetry, especially Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and Browning. These are works of cre- ative mind. Such poetry touches the secret parings of the soul and bears us up to the regions of imagination and real thought. Homer and Virgil deal with Greek and Roman religion. Dante and Milton have Bible themes. Shakespeare has 551 quotations from the Bible. It will also be helpful to the pastor to study Tennyson, Robert Browning, Mrs. Browning, Burns, Longfellow and Bryant.

Eight, read the best fiction: that of Scott, Dickens, George Eliot, and other standard authors, but not trashy emotional novels. It is refreshing to the pastor, tired with elaborate themes of theology and problems of church administration, to take a joyous excursion with a standard novelist. B. H. Carroll finds rest and profit in reading first class novels.

Ninth, study biographies of great and good men. Above all study the life of Christ, according to [Alfred] Edersheim, [Samuel] Andrews, [Cunningham] Geikie, [William] Hanna, [Frederic W.] Farrar, [W.] Sanday. Also study the life of Paul who could say, “To me to live is Christ,” (Phil 1:21) and who was the exponent and expounder of world-wide Christianity and the human writer of about one-third of the New Testament. The best lives of Paul are [W. J.] Conybeare and [ J. S.] Howsons, [George] Gilberts, [ James] Iverach, [ James] Stalker, [D. H.] Taylor. It is profitable also to read Fox’s Martyrs and Plutarch Lives. The later fed the flame of Napoleon’s ambitions to rival Alexander and Caesar. Study the lives of great statesmen like Webster, Washington, Gladstone; of great generals, Napoleon, Frederick the Great, Grant, Lee; of great preachers, Johathan Edwards, Robert Hall, John Wesley, [ John] Broadus, Phillips Brooks, [Henry] Beecher, F. W. Robbertson, Spurgeon, etc., of great missionaries, Carey, Judson, Yates, Livingston, Morrison, Moffat.

Tenth, study men, Queen Elizabeth knew human nature so well that she scarcely ever made a mistake in selecting counsellors and courtiers. This was true of Lincoln and contributes to his success. The pastor must study his men and women—read their dispositions, aptitudes, etc. This is essential to the making of a great preacher and the growing of a great church. Spurgeon and John Wesley illustrate knowledge of men in organizing forces for the kingdom.

Eleventh, study current periodical literature, secular, religious, and if possible, one scientific journal. Keep up with the events in the political, scientific, and religious world. Read only a few papers, and magazines, but the best. Twelfth, study nature, the vales, the woods, the mountains and the plains. The pastor, like Jesus, should study the birds and the lilies, fishes and sheep, wheat and tares, clouds and sunshine, in order that he may forcefully preach to men the kingdom of heaven.

Chapter VI
The Pastor and Marriage⁷

Marriage is a question confronting every unmarried preacher, and the way he settles this question helps largely to make or mar his usefulness and power.

Should a Pastor be a Married Man?

There are two general answers to this question.

First, the Catholics hold to the celibacy of their clergy.

Second, the Protestants, not so rigidly but generally, advocate the marriage of their ministry.

The Bible Teaching on This Question

First, The Teaching of Jesus and His Apostles. In Matthew 19:12, Jesus speaks of some who “make themselves eunuchs” for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. This was a Rabbinic way of saying that some would abstain from marriage in order to advance the kingdom.⁸ Notice, however, that Jesus did not command the apostles to remain unmarried or to marry for the kingdom’s sake. Peter, we know, was married, Mark 1:30. In 1 Corinthians 9:5, Paul intimates that, not only Cephas, but the “other apostles and brothers of the Lord led about wives.”

Second, Paul’s teaching. In 1 Timothy 3:2, he says, the bishop should be the “husband of one wife.” This may mean three things:

1. That a second marriage is forbidden even if the first wife is dead, Van Ooeterzee, Huther, Alford, Ellicott, Wordsworth, Fausset, etc., hold this view. It is also held in the Greek and Oriental churches.
2. That polygamy is prohibited. That is, the pastor must not have two living wives; must not divorce one on unbiblical grounds and marry another while the former lives. This view is held by Chrysostom, Jerome, Calvin, Henry, Scott, Fairbairn, etc.
3. That the pastor must be a married man, but must have only one wife at a time. The language cannot be pressed to this meaning dogmatically, and yet as Harvey says, “The pastor in the apostolic churches was usually a married man.” As Dr. Huther says, “There is at the bottom a presupposition that it is better for a bishop to be married than to be unmarried.” 1 Timothy 3:4 speaks of “ruling his house and children,” and Titus 1:6 speaks of the “bishops wife and children.” So Paul, although saying so much in 1 Corinthians, chapter seven, against marriage because of persecutions and sufferings then threatening the Corinthian church, in writing directly to young preachers, took it for granted, if he did not command, that they should be married men. Indeed Eusebius, Church History 3, 30, quotes Clement of Alexandria as saying, “Paul does not demur in a certain epistle (1 Cor 9:5) to mention his own wife, whom he did not take about with him in order to expedite his ministry better.” But this passage does not make it clear that Paul was a married man.

Why Should the Pastor Be a Married Man?

First, he is a man with natural appetites and domestic instinct like other men. The love of a good woman and the atmosphere of a well-ordered home make him a better man. He is free from many temptations which assail the young unmarried preacher and has extra advantages for positive purity and godliness.

Second, the unmarried young pastor so often builds his church around himself. Young ladies flock to his church and laud the charming young pastor. We heard it said recently of an unmarried young preacher, “If Brother              should leave his church today, it would go to pieces.”

Third, a strong intellectual pastor needs the mellowing touch of a warm-hearted, sympathetic wife, to make him the symmetrical man that the pastor should be. On the other hand, the non-studious pastor needs a wife to make him study and be God’s best man. In North Carolina a young lawyer became a preacher. His noble Christian wife said, “If you are going to be a preacher, get a library and go to work and be a first class preacher.” He is now occupying one of the leading pastorates of Virginia.

Fourth, to have a wife gives the pastor access to many hearts and homes that are closed against the unmarried pastor.

Fifth, for the pastor to have a real “help-meet” puts another worker on the given field.

The Kind of Woman to Make a Good Wife For a Pastor

First, she must not be a worldly society woman. Such a wife cripples the pastor’s influence and prevents the growth of his own spirituality. The writer knows a pastor whose congregation smile when he preaches on dancing for they know the pastor’s daughters dance, and that this is encouraged by his worldly wife.

Second, she should be one with him in faith and doctrine. A Baptist pastor in North Carolina whose wife is a Pedo-baptist is often embarrassed because of this fact.

Third, she should be a cultured woman. If a pastor is uneducated a cultured wife might be his college. Andrew Johnson was taught to read by his polished wife and afterwards became president of the United States. If the pastor is educated, surely he should have a wife with trained mind and heart to sympathize with him and help him in his work. “Noble Minds should ever associate with their likes.” How true of the pastor in his marriage state! We know several cultured, able pastors whose influence has been curtailed on account of uncultured wives.

Fourth, she should be a woman of good, common sense. She is his bosom counsellor. Let her be wise and she sill give helpful counsel in the great problems to be solved by her preacher husband.

Fifth, She should be a woman of intense spirituality.

When the Pastor Should Marry

This question cannot be answered dogmatically. But generally it may be said,

First, not too early. The preacher should complete his college and seminary courses if possible before marrying. At least, he should be in sight of finishing his school days.

Second, he should not marry at the beginning of a particular pastorate. Third, he should not marry unless he is financially able to support a wife.

Chapter VII:
The Pastor in His Home⁹

What we say in this chapter applies almost exclusively to the married pastor.

The Pastor’s Position in His Home

First, his conduct should be exemplary in godliness, gentleness, unselfishness, and spirituality.

Second, he is the ruler of his home. 1 Timothy 3:4–5, “One that ruleth well his own house, etc.” He is not to rule with the rod of severity, but with the scepter of love and spiritual power.

Third, he is the spiritual shepherd of his own home. Paul asserts in I Timothy 5:8, that “he who cares not for his own is worse than an infidel.” He who cares for the souls of others, shall not he care for the souls of his own children? If he seeks day by day to brighten the homes of others with salvation’s joys and consecration’s glory, shall he not strive to fill his own home with the same joys and glories?

The Pastor’s Home and Society

First, the pastor’s home must give forth a more fragrant religious atmosphere than the average home. Even the most aristocratic people in his pastorate expect the pastor’s home to be far superior to theirs in religious attainments.

Second, the pastor cannot be the spiritual man that God wants him to be if his home is one of worldly frivolity. If His wife and daughters live and move and talk in the world of fashion, how can the man of God keep his thoughts and affections on spiritual things?

Third, the pastor is everybody’s man and his family should assume no social relation that prevent his usefulness among all classes of society.

Fourth, the pastor’s home should be a model religious home for the whole community. All classes of people come into the pastor’s home and each time others enter his home they should be able to carry away an aroma of piety and godliness that will make the homes and lives of others holier and happier. The wicked sons of Eli not only brought shame and grief to their gray-headed, priestly father, but their influence was destructive to the morals of all Israel. 1 Samuel 3:17, “Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.”

Fifth, the modern pastor’s home should continue to be a great moral, intellectual and spiritual power as it has been in the past. It is often said, “The preacher’s son is the meanest boy in town.” Doubtless there are a few cases where this is true, but as a general rule it is false. A famous English historian declared that no other class of homes so much as minister’s homes had helped to elevate the standard of civilization and enlightment. A noted French scientist has named the following list of great men who were preachers’ sons:

[Louis] Agassiz, [Arthur] Hallam, Jonathan Edwards, [Richard] Whately, [R.] Parkham, [ Josiah] Bancroft, the Weslesys, [Charles] Beechers, [C. H.] Spurgeon, [William] Cowper, [ John Coleridge Patterson], [Alfred] Tennyson, [Charles] Lowell, [William] Holmes, [Nathaniel] Emmons, Charles Kingsley, Matthew Arnold, Dean Standley, [Zachary] Macauley, [William] Thackery, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Joshua Reynolds, [Zachary] Swift, [Daniel] Stearn, [William] Hazlitt, Presidents [Ulysses] Grant, [Gro- ver] Cleveland and [Chester] Arthur, Peter Stuyvesant, Adoniram Judson, Timothy Dwight, Henry Clay, Fritz-Green Halleck Morse, Justices [Stephen] Field and [David]Brewer, et al.

I saw a statement recently that almost three-fourths of the world’s most emminent authors, statesmen, philanthropists, and businessmen were the sons or grand-sons of ministers. In the Baptist World note the examples of Presidents Faunce of Brown University, Brooks of Baylor University, Mullins of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the famous Dixons, R. C. Buckner, J. M. and B. H. Carroll, L. R. Scarborough, C. C. Slaughter. And our beloved G. W. Truett is the grand-son of a preacher. Eternity alone will disclose the boundless influence which preachers homes have had in shaping the literature, history, and morals of the world.

How May Preacher’s Homes Be Made the Model Christian Homes?

First, by keeping spiritual family worship. The pastor must lead the church in building the home altar. No pastor can afford to neglect family worship.

Second, the pastor must see to it that none but good wholesome books and magazines be read by his family.

Third, he should make his home one of simplicity. There should be no luxuries, no expensive indulgences in the pastor’s home. These will sap the spiritual life of his family and even the pastor himself.

Fourth, let it be a home of unselfish hospitality. This is enjoined by Paul in Titus 1:8 and 1 Timothy 3:2. The pastor should lead the way. It is a rare occurence that the pastor’s wife is imposed on by excessive demands on her hospitality. The people who visit the pastor’s home usually have too much sense and religion to intrude on the domestic rights of the pastor’s home.

1. Collateral Reading: Fairbairn, Pastoral Theology, Chapter 2; B. H. Carroll, Sermon on Text, I Magnify Mine Office (In His Book of Sermons.); Gladden, The Christian Pastor, pages 50 to 69; Vinet, Pastoral Theology, pages 41 to 51. ↩︎
2. Collateral Reading: Vinet, Pastoral Theology, pages 109 to 118; Bairbairn, Pastoral Theology, pages 79 to 105; Gladden, The Christian Pastor, page 73; Plumer, Pastoral Theology, Chapter 5; Williams, Baylor Bible School Lectures, Lecture 2. On the Holy Spirit; Also books mentioned in Bibliography on the Holy Spirit, Devotion, etc. ↩︎
3. “See Vinet’s Pastoral Theology, pages 112–115.” ↩︎
4. Collateral Reading: Wayland, Principles and Practices of Baptists; Plumer, Pastoral Theology, Chapter 7; Strong, Philosophy and Religion, pages 259 to 318. ↩︎
5. Editor’s Note: This portion of text was hand written on the manuscript. ↩︎
6. Collateral Reading: Gladden, The Christian Pastor, Chapter 5; Vinet, pages 116 to 122; Shedd, Chapter 4; Plumer, Chapter 8; Strong, Philosophy and Religion, pages 566 seq., 575 seq. ↩︎
7. Collateral Reading: Vinet, pages 156 to 161. ↩︎
8. Carroll Note: “see Broadus’ Commentary on Matthew.”[ John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1886)]. ↩︎
9. Collateral Reading: Vinet, pages 161 to 167. ↩︎