aware of divine rights and claims be fore they are engrossed solely in civil and social and human rights. No so ciety has ever lost out by giving God His rightful place and due. And the seminarian is not to prepare himself to be an entertainer. Probably no age in history has placed higher stock in those who can amuse, entertain, and regale an audience. Read Amos 4:1 and Isaiah 1:10 and see how intent the prophets of God were on humor ing their hearers. Furthermore, the theologue is not to prepare himself to be an organizer or administrator as an end in itself. Others can perform these necessary functions, but for him it is without the range of his calling. Moreover, the student is not to prepare to be an orator or elocution expert. No one will deny the joy of listening to one with genuine speaking ability, but this is not the goal of the seminary’s training, even though homiletics is one of the important emphases of that discipline. Finally, the seminarian is certainly not to prepare to be an ath letic or social director for the congre-
ating the word o f God, but by the manifestation o f truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight o f God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds o f the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel o f the glory of Christ, who is the im age of God. For w e do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out o f darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory o f God in the fa ce of Christ. The aim of seminary training is to prepare the student to preach. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:5, unmis takably declares the goal is preaching. The seminarian is not to prepare him self, in the first instance, to be a social reformer. Though ever conscious of and burdened for social needs, he is never to occupy himself as a social reformer. Men must first be made
Page 47
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online