" THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING "
BY THE VERY REV. W. R. INGE, DEAN OF ST.
PAUL'S
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has exhorted the clergy to take more pains with their sermons. The result, as might have been expected, has been that the chronic dissatisfaction of churchgoers and others with the spiritual and intellectual food provided for them on Sundays has become more vocal than usual, and that many clergymen have protested that their critics do not seem to realize the difficulties with which they have to contend.
The standard of preaching in the Church of England is certainly low. Not only is the average sermon unin- spiring, but there is a dearth of outstanding preachers whose reputations can be compared with those of Liddon, Magee, Phillips Brooks, and Farrar. The few preachers who can still fill any church are men who for one reason or another are in the public eye ; they are not great pulpit orators, but they are known to have the courage of their opinions, and to say what they think. Most of the preach- ing in Anglican churches is unworkmanlike and even slovenly, if we judge it as we should judge other pro- fessional work. Our preachers do not study the art of hortatory eloquence as the Nonconformist ministers do, nor do they as a rule put so much thought into their dis- courses as the Scottish Presbyterians, from whom their people demand stronger meat than would be acceptable to most English congregations.
For this deficiency there are several causes. The Anglo- Catholic clergy, with some notable exceptions, disparage preaching. It is, in their opinion, a Protestant error to regard the sermon as the most important part of the service. Some of them seem hardly to prepare their sermons, relying perhaps on the promise given to the Apostles that " it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak." This kind of inspiration, however, does not seem to follow necessarily from the possession of the Apostolic Succession. It is also a Catholic principle that the priest is to give the authorized teaching of the Church, not his own opinions. But in these days, if people listen to sermons at all, they want the first-hand convictions of the preacher. A sentence beginning, " The Church teaches," or " The Bible says," leaves them cold.
The tendency to neglect and disparage preaching is doubtless connected with the inferior intellectual quality and the absence of proper training among the younger clergy. It requires no brains to be a purveyor of sacer- dotal magic, and this conception of the ministerial office is unfortunately growing. These young men adopt a very dictatorial tone in the pulpit, which repels their hearers, many of whom are far better educated than themselves.
Want of time is often pleaded as the excuse for poor sermons. It is a plea which cannot be accepted, for we can all make time to do our main work, whatever we think it to be. If a clergyman really has no time to prepare his sermons, the probable cause is the inordinate multiplication of church services, which cater only for the spiritual luxuries of a mere handful of people, while the mass of actual or potential churchgoers suffers. A real and deplorable obstacle is the extreme poverty of the clergy, which makes it impossible for them to collect a library, and the isolation from all stimulating and intel- lectUal companionship in which many of them are forced to live. This last, however, is partially remedied by clerical discussion societies, which exist in all parts of the country, and to which Nonconformist ministers are often invited. But the want of books is a grievous deprivation, which must have bad effects on preaching. The crumbling of certain parts of the dogmatic strut ture has undoubtedly increased the difficulty of preaching. There is much uncertainty as to what may be, and should be, said from the pulpit. The people themselves are im- patient with dogma. Accordingly, many preachers try tc interest their congregation by topical discussions of news• paper controversies, new books, or, worst of all, burning economic problems, in which their ill-informed tirades generate much more heat than light. There seems to be a kind of fatality that the Church always begins to champion a political party at the moment when it is preparing to abuse its power. The Church never goes into politics without coming out badly smirched, and few sermons are more unprofitable than rambling comments or declama- tions on secular affairs.
It may be asked whether the pulpit any longer exercises a useful function in modern life. Oral teaching is neces- sary for the illiterate ; but we are a reading people, and nothing can be more futile than to try to fill rows of narrow-necked vessels by throwing a bucketful of water over them. To which it may be answered that we are not really a reading people, and that, especially in the country, the sermon might be the one opportunity during the week of giving the parishioners something to think about out- side the daily routine of their lives. There is still a very large number of people who can pick up readily what they hear, but who have never learned to concentrate their attention on a printed page.
One of the greatest difficulties which the preacher has to meet arises from the very different educational levels of his hearers. It is almost impossible to interest highly educated men and women without becoming unintelligible to many persons in the church. And the problem becomes acute when we are asked to assist the young and thought- ful men and women in the congregation in their intellec- tual difficulties about the Christian faith. We cannot even come to grips with these difficulties without shocking and offending those of our hearers who are neither young nor thoughtful. There is no solution of this problem ; when the laity complain of the disingenuousness of the clergy in shirking the questions which are exercising the minds of the younger generation, they seldom realize the shackles in which they are held, not by the bishops, but by another type of layman.
The golden age of the pulpit is over ; but it is a great mistake to despise preaching, or to suppose that in this art, unlike all others, personal goodness will compensate for the want of careful training and diligent application.
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