The Twentieth-Century Pastor; or, Lectures on Pastoral Theology

Introduction¹

1. The Definition of Pastoral Theology

Dr. [Alfred] Cave defines it [Pastoral Theology] as the “science of the functions of the Christian Church.” [Karl R. Hagenbach] calls it the “theory of ecclesiastical activities, either as proceeding from the church as a whole, or from individual members, or representatives in the name of the church.” Vinet defines it as “that collection of rules and directions to which we have given the name of Practical Theology.” There is some objection to all of these definitions. Cave’s definition does not give proper emphasis to the duties of the pastor. Haggenback’s definition is liable to the same objection. Vinet’s definition is very much too broad, for Practical Theology includes several branches of theology of which Pastoral Theology is only one. The following definition we adopt for this course of lectures: “Pastoral Theology is that science which treats of the duties of a pastor and a church to one another and to the world.”

As related to Ecclesiology which treats of the theory of the church, its government and polity, etc., Pastoral Theology is but the practical fruitage. As related to Homiletics, the Pulpit is the fulcrum, but Pastoral Work is the lever which under God turns men to Christ and to higher spiritual living. As related to the History of Preaching, Pastoral Theology gets from this latter study examples of the greatest preachers and pastors, from Paul and Peter down to Spurgeon and Phillips Brooks. Hence the History of Preaching is a great stimulus to the pastor and is thus vitally connected with Pastoral Theology.

Pastoral Theology includes the following branches of study and work: Liturgics. It comes from the Greek word, leiturgia, which means service. Here, of course, it is limited to that service which is rendered in public worship, viz., preaching, reading the Scriptures, praying, singing, etc.

It includes Poimenics. That word comes from the Greek, poimne, flock, and poimen, shepherd; and so is that branch of Pastoral Theology which treats of the care of souls.

It treats of Catechetics. This word is from katechoo, to teach; and hence catechetics is the science of teaching, especially the young in religious matters.

It includes also Pedagogics which deals with pastoral training, especially the training or Sunday School teachers, leaders of Young People’s Socities, etc.

It also includes Halieutics, or the science of Evangelism and Missions.

2. The History of Pastoral Theology

We give simply a sketch

In Ancient Times there are some hints on Pastoral Theology in the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, in the Apostolic Cannons, and also in the Apostolic Constitutions. Chrysostom, about 400 A.D., wrote a treatise called On the Priesthood. Ambrose, about the same date, wrote De Officiis Clericorum, (“Concerniyng the Duties of Pastors”) Ephraem Syrus, about the same time, wrote De Sacerdotoi, (“Concerning the Priesthood,”) in which he writes concerning the pastoral office. Leo the Great, about 550 A.D., wrote De Pastorali Cura, (“Concerning Pastoral Care.”) Gregory the Great, about 600 A.D., wrote Liber Pastoralis, (“Pastoral Book,”) describing the qualifications and duties of pastors. There are other fragments between the Seventh and the Sixteenth Centuries.

In the Middle Ages, Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a treatise on the Morals and Duties of Pastors. [ John] Wyclif wrote a treatise on Pastoral Duty. [Martin] Luther wrote many fragments on “Pastoral Theology.” [Huldrych] Zwingli wrote On Preaching, and The Shepherd. [ John] Calvin, in his Institutes, devotes some parts to Pastoral Theology.

In Modern Times there are many works on this Practical Science of Theology. For the last two hundred years a great deal more attention has been devoted to this science. On the Continent, Roques has written The Evangelic Pastor. [Alexandre] Vinet, Pastoral Theology. This book has become classic, is evangelical and unsacerdotal. [ Johann] Mosheim wrote Pastoral Theology. [Gilbert] Burnet, Discourse on Pastoral Care. [Alexander Gerard], Pastoral Care. These are still all of the Eighteenth Century except Vinet, who writes in the Nineteenth Century.

[Friedrich] Schleiermacher gave Pastoral Theology its first scientific exposition, (in the Nineteenth Century), by writing his “Outlines of Theological Study.” Van Oosterzee wrote “Practical Theology.” He was the head of the evangelical party in Holland. He treats Homiletics, Liturgics, Catechetics, and Poimenics in his Practical Theology.

In England in recent times, books on Pastoral Theology have been written by such men as [ James] Evans, [ John] Burgon, [William] Blaikie, Jeremy Taylor, Hort, etc.

In the United States, such men as [ John] Porter, [ James] Cannon, [William] Shedd, [Enoch] Pond, [Lyman] Beecher, Phillips Brooks, R. N. Barrett, H. Harvey, [Washington] Gladden, etc., have written on some phases of Pastoral Theology. There is, however, no Baptist who has covered the entire field of Pastoral Theology.

3. The Importance of Pastoral Theology

First, Homiletics depends upon Pastoral Theology. It is not enough to be a great preacher. In the present day the preacher must also be a pastor. Perhaps one out of one hundred, if a great preacher, may succeed without much pastoral work.

Second, the relation of the Pastor and the church must be known if the pastor is to fill his position properly. Especially should young preachers be trained in Pastoral Theology before assuming pastoral care of churches. How many blunders most of us would have been saved if we had understood the relation of pastor and church before we ever assumed that relation!

Third, This is an age of practicality versus dogmatism. It is not creeds, but deeds, that tell in this age. Human creeds change. There is only one real creed and that is the Bible, whose ultimate purpose is to teach men how to live. The doctrine in it is the means to the production of the highest spiritual life. The pastor must be sound on the teachings of the Bible, but he must also seek to incarnate those teaching in the lives of men.

Fourth, pastoral competition in the present day demands that preachers should be also pastors. No pastor can long succeed in any town or city church, unless he does pastoral work, because all the rest of the pastors are doing just that kind of work. A little boy, when asked why he went to a certain church, replied “Why, the people up there make a boy think he is something. They always shake hands with him, and ask him to come again.” The modern pastor must practice and cultivate this spirit in his church.

4. Bibliography

The following books may be profitably read by any pastor:²

On Pastoral Theology

Alexandre Rodolphe Vinet. Pastoral Theology: or, the Theory of the Evangelical Ministry. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1853.

William S. Plumer. Hints and Helps in Pastoral Theology. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1874.

Patrick Fairbairn. Pastoral Theology; A Treatise on the Office and Duties of the Christian Pastor. Edingurgh: T&T Clark, 1875.

Samuel Hopkins. The Works of Samuel Hopkins, Vol. 1. Boston, Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, 1854.

William G. T. Shedd. Homiletics and Pastoral Theology. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1867.

Robert Barrett. Ministerial Ethics with Practical Suggestions to Pastors and Other Ministers. Cleona: G. Holzapfel, 1901.

George Herbert. The Country Parson: His Character and rule of Holy Life.

Boston: James B. Dow, 1842.

Johannes Jacobus van Oosterzee. Practical Theology: A Manual for Theological Students. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1878.

Enoch Pond. The Young Pastor’s Guide: or, Lectures on Pastoral Duties. New York: Ezra Collier, 1844.

Charles Bridges. The Christian Ministry: With an Inquiry into the Causes of its Inefficiency. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1959.

Washington Gladden. The Christian Pastor and the Working Church. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898.

Edwin Charles Dargan. Ecclesiology: A Study of the Churches. Louisville: C. T. Dearing, 1905.

Johan Tobias Beck. Pastoral Theology of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1875. H. Harvey. The Pastor: His Qualifications and Duties. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1879.

Books of Devotion:

A. J. Gordon. The Ministry of the Spirit. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1894.

F. B. Meyer. Back to Bethel: Separation from Sin, and Fellowship with God. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1901.

               . Meet for the Master’s Use. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1898.

               . A Castaway: And Other Addresses. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1897.

John McNeil. The Spirit-Filled Life. Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association. 1986.

Andrew Murray. Absolute Surrender. New Kensington: Whitaker House, 1982.

J. W. Chapman. Kadesh-Barnea: or, the Power of a Surrendered Life. Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1897.

Dwight Lyman. Moody. Secret Power: or, the Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1881.

Thomas Waugh. The Power of Pentecost: Chapters on the Relation of the Holy Spirit to Christian Life and Service. London: Thomas Champness, 1896.

E. H. Johnson. The Holy Spirit Then and Now. Philadelphia: Griffith and Rowland, 1904.

S. D. Gordon. Quiet Talks on Prayer. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1904.

               . Quiet Talks on Power. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1903.

D. S. Gregory. Christ’s Trumpet-Call to the Ministry: or, the Preacher and the Preaching for the Present Crisis. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1896.

James G. K. McClure. The Growing Pastor. Chicago: Winona, 1904. Cleland Boyd McAfee. The Growing Church: A Study for the Times. Chicago: Winona, 1903.

On the Sunday School:

William E. Hatcher. The Pastor and the Sunday School: Sunday School Board Seminary Lectures, Course no. 1, Delivered at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Feb., 1902. Nashville: Sunday School Board, 1902.

A. F. Schauffler. Pastoral Leadership of Sunday School Forces. Nashville: Sunday School Board, 1903.

Samuel Harrison. Greene. The Twentieth Century Sunday School: Sunday School Board Seminary Lectures, Course no. 3, Delivered at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, December 14–18, 1903. Nashville: Sunday School Board, 1904.

A. H. McKinney. The Pastor and Teacher Training: The Sunday School Board Seminary Lectures, Course no. 4, Delivered at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, December 5–9, 1904. Nashville: Sunday School Board, 1905.

Amos R. Wells. Sunday-School Problems; A Book of Practical Plans for Sunday- School Teachers and Officers. Boston: W. A. Wilde, 1905.

H. C. Trumbull. Sunday-School: Its Origin, Mission, Methods, and Auxiliaries. Philadelphia: J. D. Wattles, 1888.

On Missions:

Lemuel Call Barnes. Two Thousand Years of Missions before Carey: Based upon and Embodying Many of the Earliest Extant Accounts. Chicago: Christian Culture, 1902.

Robert E. Speer. Missions and Modern History: A Study of the Missionary Aspects of some Great Movements of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1904.

A. J. Gordon. Holy Spirit in Missions. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1893. Mary Emily Wright. The Missionary Work of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1902.

Sophie Bronson Titterington. A Century of Baptist Foreign Missions: An Outline Sketch. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1891.

John R. Mott. The Pastor and Modern Missions: A Plea for Leadership in World Evangelization. New York: Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1904.

               . The Evangelization of the World in this Generation. New York: Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1905.

Marcus Dods. Mohammed, Buddha & Christ. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1878.

Frank F. Ellinwood. Oriental Religions and Christianity. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1892.

G. M. Grant. Religions of the World in Relation to Christianity. New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Co., 1895.

John Lowe. Medical Missions: Their Place and Power. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887.

On Evangelism:

W. B. Riley. The Perennial Revival: A Plea for Evangelism. Chicago: Winona, 1904.

Henry C. Mabie. Method in Soul-Winning: On Home and Foreign Fields. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1906.

R. A. Torrey. How to Bring Men to Christ. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1910.

               . How to Promote and Conduct a Successful Revival. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1901.

A. C. Dixon. Evangelism Old and New: God’s Search for Man in all Ages. New York: American Tract Society, 1905.

W. J. Dawson. The Evangelistic Note. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1905. William Wistar Hamilton. Sane Evangelism. New York: American Baptist Publication Society, 1909.

On Social Problems:

Lyman Abbott. Christianity & Social Problems. Cambridge: Riverside, 1896. George C. Lorimer. The Modern Crisis in Religion. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1904.

Washington Gladden. Parish Problems: Hints and Helps for the People of the Churches. New York: Century, 1887.

               . Christianity and Socialism. New York: Eaton and Mains, 1905. Charles Reynolds Brown. The Social Message of the Modern Pulpit. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906.

On Biography

By all means every pastor should read the life of [Adnoriam] Judson, Yates, [William] Carey; Robert and Mary Moffett, [ John] Livingston, [Henry] Stanley, John G. Paton, John A. Broadus, [Francis] Wayland, Phillips Brooks, [C. H.] Spurgeon, George Müller, Life of Trust, etc. To read the life of a great preacher or pastor or missionary makes one want to be and do something great for his Master.

5. Divisions of the Subjects

We divide this course of Study into Four Parts:
Part One, The Pastor in his Private Life.
Part Two, The Pastor in Relation to His Church.
Part Three, The Pastor in His Relation to the World.
Part Four, Some Special Pastoral Problems.

1. Carroll’s note: Collateral Reading: Gladden, The Christian Pastor, Chapter 1; Vinet, Pastoral Theology, pages 21 to 70. ↩︎
2. Editor’s Note: The original document only listed author and title in this bibliography. Full bibliographuic material has been added for this publication. Original order has been maintained. ↩︎