5. Style ami Qualities of Sermons. — It is due to the dignity of Christian truth that the words in which it is uttered shoidd be well chosen and fitly arranged. Hence the general qualities of a good style, such as purity, precision, perspicuity, unity, and strength, should be re- garded as of primary and absolute necessity in pulpit style. At the same time. Christian discourse sternly rejects all the faults of style which rhetorical laws con- demn, such as dryness, tautology, floridity, and bom- bast. Preaching also requires more than mere rhetoric. In order to its higher objects, it demands certain pecul- iar combinations, such as a blending of dignity with simplicity, of agreeableness with pointedness, and of energy with love. Tlie style of the sermon should at once be full}-^ within the comjjrehension of its hearers, and yet elevated by a certain scriptural congruity, which shows that it emanated from commmiion with God, and a familiarity with his inspired word.
Beyond mere verbal expression, sermons should pos- sess several important qualities. (1.) They should be evanf/elical, setting forth the unadidterated truth of the Gospel in its just proportions, and in an evangelical spirit. (2.) Sermons should be interesting. To this end, the preacher must be deeply interested himself. He must utter his thoughts with clearness and vivid- ness. He must use frequent illustrations. He must group things new and old in just and graphic combina- tions. (3.) Sermons should be instructive. The minis- ter of the Gospel must never forget the Saviour's com- mand to TEAcir. Hence everj^ sermon should be tribu- tary to the diffusion of knowledge as well as holiness. (4.) Sermons should be efficient. Failing to accomplish some of the special objects of preaching, they are failures themselves. Hence their great essentiality must ba considered an adaptation to high and true religious re- sults. If possible, all these qualities should be combined in everj'^ sermon, though in proportions to suit occasions. 6. Delivery. — Foiu: different modes of delivery are recognised in Christian oratory: (1.) the extemporane- ous; (2.) the recitative; (3.) that of reading; (4.) the composite, in which two or all of the foregoing are blend- ed. The last finds little favor among theorists, and is rarely practiced with any high degree of success. The first is the normal mode of human speech. No other was practiced by the Great Preacher, the apostles, or
the early fathers. Eecitative came into the Church in the 4th and 5th centuries, and reading in the IGth. Few questions pertaining to Homiletics have during the last 300 years been more zealously discussed than the relative advantages and disadvantages of the differ- ent modes of pulpit delivery. While it may justly be conceded that each mode has both advantages and dis- advantages, especially when considered in reference to the peculiar capacity of individuals, yet it may be af- firmed as the result of all discussion and experience that the primitive mode of extemporaneous address is commended by the best modern opinion as a gift to be earnestly coveted by every minister of the Gospel, and as a result of proper effort within the reach of most, if not all earnest preachers.
7. Conditions and Elements of Success in Preaching. — Mere eloquence, although a great auxiliarj', is not of it- self a guaranty of success in the proclamation of God's word. There is an infinite difference between the form and the power of preaching. The form is easy; the power is the gift of God cro\vning the highest human effort. To attam this great gift various conditions are prerequisite. A preacher must have clear and abiding conceptions of the dignity and overwhelming impor- tance of his sacred vocation. With these must be as- sociated a consuming love for his work, evidenced by tireless diligence and unshimbering faithfulness in its discharge. He must make preaching his great busi- ness, his absorbing employment. He must have discre- tion in the adaptation of his subjects, and style of ad- dress both to his hearers and to occasions. He must cidtivate the habit of making all his observations, read- ing, and experience subsers'ient to his capacit_y of in- struction and religious impression. Above all, he must aim at the supreme glory of God, and at the end of his most earnest efforts depend with trustful confidence upon the divine blessing to give efficiency to his labors, and crown them with success. See Pastoral Cake. (D. P. K.)
IV. A dditional Treatises. — 1. Foreign (Latin, French, and German) : Lange (Joannes), Oratoria sacra (Frankf. and Lpz. 1707, 8vo; Halle, 1713, 8vo) ; Yitringa (Camp.), Animadversiones ad Method, homiliar. ecclesiasticar. rite instituendar. (Jena, 1722, 8vo) ; Maitre (J. H. Le), Re- flexions sur la maniere de j>recher (Halle, 1745, 8vo) ; Hollebeck (Eberhard), De Opt. Concionum genere (Leyd, 1768, 8vo) ; Ammon (C. F.), Hundbuch d. A 7ileit. z. Kan- zelheredsamkeit (Gott. 1799 ; 3d edit. Niimb. 1858, 8vo) ; Gesch. d. Ilomiletik v.Huss h. Luther (Gott. 1804, 8vo); Tittmann (J. A. H.), Lehrh. d. Homiletik (Breslau, 1804; 2d ed. Lpz. 1824, 8vo) ; Schott (A. H.), Entw. einer The- orie d. Beredsamheit, mit hesonderer Anvend. a. d. Kan- zeloeredsamkeit (Lpz. 1807, 1815, 8vo) ; Theorie d. Bercd- samkeit (Lpz. 1815-28; 2d edit. 1828-47, 3 vols, in 4 pts. 8vo) ; Fenelon (Fr. Salignac de la Motte), Dialogues sur t eloquence de la chaire (Paris, 1714, 8vo ; transl. l)y Ste- vens, Lond. 1808; Bost. 1832, 12mo); Dahl (J. Cb.W.), Lehrhuch d. Ilomiletik (Lpz. and Eost. 1811, 8vo); Mar- heinecke (Ph.), Grundleg. d. Homiletik (Hamburg, 1811, 8vo); Theremin (F.), Die Bcredsamkeit eine Tugend; Oder Grimdlinien e. systemat.Rhetorik (Berl. 1814; 2d ed. 1837, 8vo) ; Kaiser (( i. Pb. Cli.). Kntuurf e. Systems d. geistlichen Rhetorik (Erlangen. 181(1, 8vo) ; Grotefend (J. G.), Ansicht. Gedank. v. Erfahrungen ii. d. geistl. Bered- samkeit (Hannov. 1822) ; Ziehnert (J. G.), Casual-IIom- ilet. und Liturg. (Meissen, 1825) ; Schmidt (A. G.), Die. Homilie (Halle, 1827) ; Van Hengel (W. A.), Institutio oratoris sacri (Lugd. 1829) ; Sickel (G. A F.), Grundr. d. christlichenHalieutik (Ljjz. 1829, 8vo) ; Stier (Rudolf), Kurz. Grundriss e. hihl. Keryktik (HaUe, 1830) ; Chene- viere (J. J.), Observations sur V Eloquence (Gen. 1834) ; Brand (J.), Handb. d. r/eistl. Beredsamk. (edit, by Hahn, Frankf. 1836, 1839 ; new ed. Const. 1850, 2 vols.) ; Zarbl (J. B.), Haiulb. d. Kathol. Ilomiletik (Landsh. 1838) ; Alt (J. K. W.), Km-ze Anleitiaig z. Kirckl. Beredsamk. (Lpz. 1840) ; Palmer (Ch.), Evaiig. Homiletik (Stuttgard, 1842 ; 4th edition, 1857, 8vo) ; Ficker (Ch. G.), Grundlinien d.