Nevin’s The Reformed Pastor
The Reformed Pastor
ed. Sam Hamstra Jr.
Pickwick Publications (Whipf and Stock)
ISBN: 1-59-752383-6
The Reformed Pastor is a collection of lectures offered by Nevin to his students. In them he presents a well-rounded picture of what a pastor is and what he (for in Nevin’s day it was always “he”) is not.
“What good can an unlearned man do in the ministry, that he might not do out of it? They can still be teachers in Sunday School. Tract distributors. We have sufficient unlearned ministers and the want does not lie here. There always will be enough of unlearned ministers at any rate, and we need not take any pains to multiply them.” (13)
“Those who have had any opportunity of observing, know that the spirit which candidates for the ministry have in the theological seminary, is almost universally the spirit which they carry along with them as ministers into the church, and that continues to distinguish them through life. The conscientious student makes the conscientious pastor. The serious, prayerful, heavenly-minded candidate, is known afterwards as the good shepherd of souls, who walks in the steps of Jesus Christ, and lays himself out in labors of love for the salvation of men. While, on the other hand, show me a careless, idle, self-indulgent student, and I behold one whose ministry also will be characterized by carelessness and sloth. Show me a proud, passionate, self-willed student, and I see in him one that will preach himself hereafter more than Christ, and spread difficulty and trouble around him in the church. Show me a theological dandy, under the name and garb of a candidate for the ministry, who affects to incorporate the spirit of fashion with religion, in order than me may recommend it the better to the world; who is always pleading for gentility and declaiming against monkishness, as an apology for the lightness and worldliness of his own carriage; who spends as much time at his toilet, as he does upon his knees in secret prayer; whose books are abandoned, and his room vacated, on every call to enter into company; who delights in mixed society, where he can be allowed to unbend himself from the fatigues of study, in unrestrained sympathy with the frivolous spirit of the youthful and gay around him, with only a sentimental reflection, that sounds like religion, brought in from time to time to sanctify the occasion; who by smooth gallantries wins for himself, in spite of all the disadvantages of his station, and deserves to wear, the laurels of a ‘ladies man’; show me such a theological dandy, in pumps and gloves, and I need no prophet’s inspiration to foretell, that he will be neither a son of thunder nor of consolation to the church, in time to come.” (33)
“It is not enough that we have a deep sense of the wretched circumstances, in which mankind are as sinners, or that we be actuated by a strong desire of extending to them the relief they need; we must be able also to appreciate aright the power and sufficiency of the remedy which the gospel itself has provided for this end.” (47)
“A missionary should have special compassion or the heathen; and this should be steady and permanent, not fitful or fanciful. Young men are very apt to have such starts. Yet the hollowness of such feeling appears from their having no heart for the poor negro at his door. This is a proper test whether our missionary feeling is romantic and sentimental merely, or real and genuine.” (53)
“The Bible is the ground of all right preaching. It should be studied, and much of it committed to memory, so as to have facility in quoting scripture. This will give force to his words, when done pertinently. Committing should be done in youth. Hard to do it afterwards. Boyhood is the best time. The Waldenses made much account of this. Required them to know Pauls epistles by heart. We to have it so – also the Psalms” (56)
“The preacher should be clear, not vague, life must be presented as a reality. Social and relative duties. Final judgment. Errors must be opposed didactically, as occasions turn up. Vice must be rebuked with meekness, not human wrath. The Bible should be the main source of illustrations also.” (56)
“The young have a special claim upon the minister. They form the hope of the church – the life of the church prospectively considered belongs to the young: wilst the old are passing away, they must be marshaled to the ranks; and if the minister neglects them, the church must necessarily decline.” (61)
Grace and Peace,
`tim
3 Responses to “Nevin’s The Reformed Pastor”
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October 21st, 2006 at 1:51 pm
[…] Some excellent quotes from Nevin’s The Reformed Pastor: Lectures on Pastoral Theology (Princeton Theological Monograph) over at Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. Here’s just a taste: “It is not enough that we have a deep sense of the wretched circumstances, in which mankind are as sinners, or that we be actuated by a strong desire of extending to them the relief they need; we must be able also to appreciate aright the power and sufficiency of the remedy which the gospel itself has provided for this end.” (47) […]
October 21st, 2006 at 2:56 pm
“There could be found varieties of theologizing that sought to affirm the dominant American value of independent private judgment and a belief that the natural order could reveal whatever truth was essential to effective and practical living….”
This excerpt struck me because I had a really interesting conversation with a teacher I work with who is Jewish. I asked her to explain what she believed, and she believes in a creator, and a god who is logical, and she believes there is no Heaven or Hell. She believed that we can logically and systematically understand god. And that god gave us reason, and scientific laws.
This brought me to the second part I thought was really interesting. It is something I have been struggling with lately. How am I both a Christian, and a High School biology teacher in a public High School in New York City. I have and do feel that I am called to be a witness by my words and actions, and that I am a missionary to my students. How does the theory of evolution, and what scientists believe to be how the earth was created fit into/contradict my Christian world view?
I want to live as Romans 12 says,
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
I really liked what you included about nature. I feel that this passage really sheds light on my quandary about reconciling faith and science.
“Nevin’s theology of liturgy is grounded in an understanding of nature itself. Liturgy provides the perception by means of which we may understand the longing to which nature points. Nature is to be understood from the perspective of the Incarnation of Christ’s life and work. Nature’s expectations are fulfilled and reconciled in Christ. ‘Nature’ said Nevin, ‘is a divine liturgy throughout.’
October 21st, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Chris,
First of all, good to see you here… I hope New York is treating you well!
As for your discussion, what I think strikes me as more appro pro to it, however, is 1 Cor. 1:19-20:
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
I’m not suggesting, of course, that logic has no place or that God is, somehow, a-logical, but It seems absurd to believe in a god bound by our logic. I’m not interested in one that small. If God isn’t bigger than my ability to fully comprehend, it’s not a god worthy of worship.
It seems reasonable to suggest that Nature is bound by God, not the other way around.
Of course, Nevin wasn’t speaking specifically to that. But I do think he might have agreed
Grace and Peace,
`tim