Ministry of the word by William Taylor (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Lecture II (The preparation of the preacher).
Now Taylor teaches us about the preparation of the preacher.
After passing quickly over the assumption that the preacher should be a sincere, earnest, prayerful, seminary trained Christian, Taylor says there are two things necessary for the preacher.
Firstly a familiar acquaintance with the Scriptures through:
(i) systematic and continuous study of its books;
(ii) forming your system of theology from its pages;
(iii) reading it as a whole.
Secondly, a prerequisite to success in the pulpit is a good knowledge of the human heart which may be gained through studying:
(i) one's own heart;
(ii) other hearts in the biographies of the Word of God;
(iii) other hearts in the characters of human literature;
(iv) other hearts as you mingle much among men.
Interesting to see a minister highly commend reading Shakespeare in order to understand human hearts (the quote is long but I think worth including in full): 'But better, perhaps, than any history, for the end which I am now setting before you, are the dramatic works of Shakespeare. To them, I, at least, must acknowledge my obligations, in the most emphatic manner. They came into my hands during my second session at the University of Glasgow, and opened up what was virtually a new world to me. For more than two years I devoted to them every minute of my leisure time. I read them not for the sake of the stories which they told, or the plots which they unravelled, but for the insight which they gave me into the workings of the human heart. I was especially fascinated with those plays which manifest the power of conscience ; and long before I knew of the writings of Schlegel and Coleridge, I had made for myself an analysis of the characters of Macbeth, Richard III., Brutus, Hamlet, lago, and others. The productions were crude enough, no doubt ; yet, the mere attempt at such work was valuable to me beyond most other things ; and to this day I look back with no ordinary pleasure on the hours which I spent in such a delightful manner.
It is not without a measure of trepidation, indeed, that I venture to mention this, for I have still vividly before my mind the consternation of my father, a worthy elder in the Presbyterian Church, when he discovered the nature of my studies at that time. Sitting up one evening until far past midnight at my favorite pursuits, I happened to burst into a long, loud laugh over a ludicrous passage which I was reading, and to make some noise by the movement of my chair. This disturbed my venerable parent in his slumbers, for my room was immediately over his, and in a few minutes I was confronted with the vision of a man in white, who, on finding out how I was engaged, very gravely said to me, "My man, if you are going to preach Christ's Gospel, you had better be doing something else at this time in the morning than reading a play-actor's books." I fear, therefore, lest some exemplary Christian people may think that I am giving you perilous advice, when I recommend you to make yourselves familiarly acquainted with the characters which the great dramatist has so powerfully depicted. But I am reassured when I remember that if I err here, I err in good company, since I find that Dr. Guthrie wrote, "I never tire of reading Shakespeare. I have always considered him the greatest uninspired genius that ever lived ; and I remember how glad I was when reading the biography of Dr. Chalmers, to find that he was of the same mind." In spite, therefore, of the prejudice which many friends entertain against the class of works to which Shakespeare's writings belong, I would urge you to make a study of these noble productions, for though occasionally you will meet with some things which indicate that according to his own plaintive confession, his nature had become "subdued to that it wrought in, like the dyer's hand." Yet every candid critic must agree with Sir James Stephens when he says, "In his soul, as in a mirror, were concentrated all the lights radiating from every point of human observation, and from his soul as from a mirror these lights were reflectd back in every possible combination of beauty and sublimity, of wisdom and wit, of pathos and humor."'
I have been going through Shakespeare's works over the last few months and this is a timely incentive to finish them.
But I must add here that I have also been reading Jane Austen's works and the many facets of the sin of pride is exhibited so clearly in her characters that I would recommend her titles to ministers as well.
Read Lecture III (The preparation of the preacher continued).
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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