Homiletics and pastoral theology - Shedd - V - Chapter 3 concluded

Required reading
Homiletics and pastoral theology by William G T Shedd (Available from Amazon or free here) - Conclude Chapter 3 (Fundamental properties of style).

My summary
Last week we began Shedd's chapter on the fundamental properties of good discourse. 

The chapter contains three points that Shedd claims are the primary and indispensable characteristics of good discourse:
(i) plainness;
(ii) force;
(iii) beauty.

Last week we learnt about the first two.  This week, the focus is on beauty.

Shedd defines 'beauty' as 'that by which all the manifoldness and variety in an object is moulded into unity and simplicity.'

Shedd then notices some of beauty's excellences and advantages.  These include:
(i) safety;
(ii) usefulness;
(iii) comprehensiveness.

Then he moves to note particulars of beauty that are pleasing to the taste, such as:
(i) neatness;
(ii) elegance;
(iii) grace;
(iv) specific beauty.

To close, Shedd gives the preacher some rules on how to include beauty in his preaching.  The preacher should:
(i) always make beauty of style subservient to plainness and force;
(ii) accord the degree and amount of beauty in style with the characteristics of the individual.

What grabbed me
I appreciated the encouragement to have unity in my sermons: 'Suppose that the preacher, in the composition of a sermon, altogether or in part neglects the necessary property of unity, and endeavours to superinduce upon a heterogeneous mass of materials, which he has gathered together, the element and property of beauty. By the supposition, he has not moulded these materials in the least. There they lie, a great "multitude" of items and particulars, but the mind of the preacher has pervaded them with no unifying, and no simplifying principle. There is multitude, manifoldness, variety, but there is no unity. Now it is not possible, for him to compose a beautiful oration in this manner. He may decorate as much as he pleases; he may cull words, and invent metaphors, and wire-draw metaphors into similes ; he may toil over his work until he is gray ; but he cannot, upon this method, compose a truly beautiful work. So long as this sermon is destitute of a moulding and unifying principle which assimilates, and combines, this multitude of particulars into a whole, into a simple and pure unit, it cannot be made beautiful. So long as this sermon is destitute of unity, it must be destitute of beauty.'

It doesn't matter how good your collection of sentences are, if they aren't unified the sermon on Sunday will be ugly.

Next week's reading Read Chapter 4 (General maxims for sermonizing).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.