thetically I hope, in a former lecture. But
do not ask us to be always speaking to children or to beginners. Is
the Bible always simple? Is Job simple, or Isaiah? Is the Epistle to
the Romans simple, or Galatians? This cry for simplicity is
three-fourths intellectual laziness; and that Church is doomed in
which there is not supplied meat for men as well as milk for babes. We
owe the Gospel not only to the barbarian but also to the Greek, not
only to the unwise but also to the wise.[63]

I do not believe, however, that it is only in cultured congregations
that this element of preaching is required. There is no greater
mistake than to suppose that you will drive the common man away from
the Church by strong intellectual preaching. You will do so no doubt
if you preach over his head,[64] and use a language which he does not
understand. You must find him where he is, and either speak to him in
his own language or teach him yours by slow degrees. But, if you
accommodate yourself to him so far, you will find him alert and
willing to accompany you; you will find that he has not only sturdy
limbs for climbing, but even wings for soaring to the heights of
truth.

A greater difficulty lies in the preacher himself. At the beginning of
his ministry he may be encumbered with doubts and far from clear in
his faith. This is a real obstacle, and the first years of ministerial
life may be a time of great perplexity and pain. I suspect our
congregations have often a good deal to suffer while we are
endeavouring to preach ourselves clear. It is vicarious suffering; for
they do not know what is perplexing us. They have to stand by and look
on while their minister is fighting his doubts. But, if he is a true
man, it is worth their while to wait. If these are the pangs of
intellectual birth, and the truth is merely divesting itself of a
traditional form in order to invest itself in a form which is his own,
he will preach with far greater power when the process is complete,
and he is able to speak with the strength of personal conviction.

But, gentlemen, it is important for you to see that your opening
ministry is not enveloped in mist simply because you have never made a
real study of Christianity. This, I am afraid, is the commonest source
of a vague theology. In a former lecture I have recommended a wide
acquaintance with the masterpieces of literature; but some able men at
college substitute this for the studies of their profession; a