06.00.2. Foreword

FOREWORD THE FIELD of homiletics is like the woods pasture; treatises upon the subject stand like trees—a multitude in number, and in fair proximity. The man, therefore, who proposes to plant another in this increasing forest must defend his procedure. For more than forty years I have taught in connection with the Northwestern Schools (Bible Training School and Theological Seminary) the subject of homiletics, and have had opportunity, therefore, to consult the many authors who have written upon the same. On the whole, this field of study is as well provided by competent contributors as is the average department of a theological curriculum or better; and yet, I dare to add this additional volume.

Among my reasons for so doing are the following:

First of all, the average treatise on the subject seems to me to be lumbered. Homiletical writers, as a rule, are verbose men, and they wrap their thought in the too-ample folds of eloquence. Often many pages are given to a subject which would be better comprehended if stated in more terse terms. As a lad growing up in the South, my chief objection to walnuts, of which I was extremely fond, was in the fact that they had too much hull and case to be disposed of before you got to the kernel. I find the same reason for writing upon homiletics. If possible, I want to present kernels of truth without too much of verbiage to be removed, and with adequate illustrations!

Still further, “The Preacher and His Preaching” are so intimately and inexorably related that to present the one apart from the other amounts to the divorcing of the man from his ministry; in other words, separation of self from expression—a baneful procedure. In this volume we are giving five chapters to the preacher and nine to his preaching. Certainly two fifths of one’s success, if not a much larger proportion, must rest with the preacher rather than with his preaching.

Concerning preaching, its importance cannot be over-estimated! Christianity is conspicuously creedal. Jesus has been named as “the only teacher of perfect morality” while His philosophy of life is worthy the phrase, “The Light of the World.” This fact accounts for His committing His entire cause to apostles, and thereby making preaching the medium of salvation, both for the individual and for the nations. Hence Paul, the inspired apostle, writes to the Corinthians, saying, “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). For twenty centuries the church of Jesus Christ has depended upon and marked progress by THE PREACHING OF THE WORD. The future holds no prospect of either superiors or competitors to this office. It has been, and is destined to remain, the divine plan for the good of mankind. To make, therefore, effective ministers of the gospel is the climax of accomplishment in education! To that end this volume is dedicated.

We trust it may become a companion-piece to Pastoral Problems—a volume now going into the fourth edition, and rapidly growing in favor as a textbook. THE AUTHOR Minneapolis, Minnesota
December, 1947