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VOL. IV. RICHMOr
The Making
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in L
The word 'minister' in the Scriptures has
many uses, but for our purpose on this occaeinn
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is the chief officer in the church of Christ, and
his multifarious duties are indicated by such
scriptural titles as ambassador, bishop, evangelist,
minister, pastor, preacher, presbytery,
teacher, and steward. Among these titles
priest does not appear, and indeed is made
conspicuous by its absence. The sacerdotal
function attaches to the whole body of believers,
and not in any special or exclusive
sense to ministers of the Word. It is the privilege
of any disciple of Christ to offer spiritual
sacrifice unto the Lord without the mediation
of an ecclesiastical functionary. We are not
therefore concerned with the question of the
making of a priest.
the MINISTER OP THE WORD SnOULD BE a man.
It does not appear that women were called
to this office in the early church. Women were
engaged in many Christian activities, and their
labors were highly blessed of God, but they
were not designated as ministers of the Word,
and it can not be shown from the New Testament
that any woman occupied this office.
The kind of man needed must be learned
from the Holy Scriptures. The office is manyaided,
and the duties of it are grave and responsible.
The minister must labor in the
spiritual realm in an atmosphere both strange
and uncongenial to worldly minds and into
which no one should venture rashly without an
adequate acquaintance with the character of
work required of him and some manifest fitn,'8s
for it. God can without doubt use any
Kind of a man to work His will, and the history
of the church shows that for the glory of
His grace He has often "chosen the foolish,"
"the weak," "the hase," and "the despised,"
"to confound the wise" and "the mighty"
(1 Cor. 1:26-29), and ne will presumably continue
this course as long as His infinite wisi
dom directs; yet from our point of view, as
'^lightened by the teaching and example of
the Apostles and our own experience, we be'ii've
that the best material out of which to
'onstruct a minister of the Word is a manly
tnan. Whatever the great head of the church
In&y do, as it pleases Him, in the selection of
Material, He has not authorized those acting
m Ili8
name to "lay hands suddenly" (1 Tim.
,);22), on any kind of a man who offers himfor
the ministry. Some men are constitulioholl
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kiiy unntted lor the office, and should be
firmly rejected, as an honost builder rejects
an unworthy piece of timber in the construc,l()n
of a handsome edifice. We should en"uirage
manly men of noble minds and of
(|ne?t hearte to undertake this work.
JD. NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA, JUNE
prrTZ. Ministe
f. S., "Delivered at the Centennial Anniversary of the Founding of the
A GODLY MAN.
Of course the minister snould be a godly
man; that is, a God-like-mau; one whose
knowledge of God is first hand, not a sitnu~
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uiui, ui <111 iiiiniitur, ur even inai sort OI an
investigator, who is "ever learning and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth"
(2 Tim. 3:7); but a man of deep spiritual experience,
who has heard the voice of the Spirit
in his own soul and liaa obeyed it, and has
become like God in his love of truth, of righteousness
and of men. It is impossible to make
a true minister of the Word out of an unregenerate
and ungodly man.
A GOD-CALLED MAN.
He must also be a God-called man. Tnere
is a difference here which some seem to be
willing to obscure. A godly man and a Godcalled
man are not necessarily identical. Not
every godly man is called to preach. The
minister should be able to say:
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uuuaci tuiu evening star,
And one clear call for me!"
It is just as impossible to ;ma,ke a minister
of Christ's evangel out of art jincall^d ^tian as
it is out of an ungodly one/ "No man faketh,
this honour to himself," not even the devout
child of God. It is bestowed from above. God
chooses those who are to preach the Word,
and in some way makes clear to them His will.
Various elements may enter into a call,?the
man's own convictions, the indications of
providence, the desire of his friends, and the
judgment of the church, but a call there
must be.
So much in brief as to the material out of
wmcn tiie minister is to be constructed. Now
as to the method. With material of the right
kind furnished, what of the process through
which it should, be put in order to make a minister?
It should be said that entire harmony
of view does not exist in different branches
of the Christian church upon this subject, but
this is not the time and place to discuss divergencies
of opinion. An effort will be made
simply to suggest in outline certain things
which are of value in this process. I say things
which are of value; it would be rash to say
things which are essential. With the right
kind of material in hand, who can point out
definitely what things are essential to the making
of a minister? Some things we know are
of value to anv minister but whun a man it.
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evidently sent of God with a message to the
people, it is hazardous for us to prescribe
things which we believe to be essential to him
for the proper delivery of it. It can not be
forgotten that some men who have fulfilled a
fruitful ministry have entered upon their work
ves ternpresb YTEP/am
il Presbyter/an c
<-/ef?n Presbyter/an
26, 1912. NO. 26.
By
tlC Rev. Russell Cecil, D. D.
Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N. J., May 6, 1912
with very little of what- is usually regarded
as helpful preparation. This is not an indication,
however, that preparation is useless to
the man of God. Any able bodied man with
an axe in his hand can go into the woods and
build some sort of a house to shelter himself
From the weather, but if he were a well trained
carpenter with a chest of fine tools in his
hand he could build a better house. The fact
that some men have preached the Gospel with
power without having received any special
preparation for their work does not argue that
they might not have done it more effectively
had they enjoyed the advantages of theological
education.
EARLY ENVIRONMENT.
Early environment is an important factor in
the making of a minister. Family life, youthful
associations, school and college experiences
contribute not a little to the formation of his
character and to his usefulness in the service.
The apostle Paul owed much to the superior
advantages for mental and moral culture which
he enjoyed in the plastic period of youth. His
life from the beginning was evidently projected
upon an elevated plain by his parents, and
he himself had always cherished high ideals of
personal piety and duty; and to his early training
no doubt much of his remarkable efficiency
as a minister was due. He appreciated the
same thing in Timothy and took occasion to remind
him of the religious atmosphere of his
mother's home and of his education from childhood
in the Holy Scriptures. Many of the great
preachers have traced the elements of their
power to these early sources. We can hardly
over estimate their value in the make-up of
the minister, and the church will find herself
poor in ministers of the right kind unless the
spirit of Christ dwells in our homes and
schools and colleges.
But on this occasion we are chiefly interest~
J i- ai * - -
eu in ine worK ot the theological seminary.
Many useful ministers have never seen the inside
of a seminary, but schools of the prophets
and institutions for the training of men in
sacred learning have existed in the church
throughout the most of her history, and the
vast majority of those who have served in the
saered office have received their preparation
in such institutions. As we are celebrating
the one hundredth anniversary of the founding
of a great theological seminary, the character
of work done in such an institution demands
our attention.
It may he said at the outset that it should
not be mechanical. Students are not to be regarded
as empty barrels to be filled with theology,
headed up with a diploma and thus
made ready to be shipped to various parts of