"Of the Episcopal Church," he said, "there are some of her children who
love to call her in exclusive phrase The American Church. She is not
that; and to call her that would be to give her a name to which she has
no right. The American Church is the great total body of Christianity in
America, in many divisions, under many names ... as a whole bearing
perpetual testimony to the people of America of the authority and love
of God, of the redemption of Christ, and of the sacred possibilities of
man....
"The church which to-day effectively denounces intemperance and the
licentiousness of social life, the cruelty or indifference of the rich
to the poor, and the prostitution of public office, will become the real
church of America. Our church has done some good service here. She ought
to do more.... She ought to blow her trumpet in the ears of the young
men of fortune, summoning them from their clubs and their frivolities to
do the chivalrous work which their nobility obliges them to do for
their fellow-men. She ought to speak to Culture, and teach it its
responsibility."
Five volumes of Dr. Brooks's sermons have been published and read
widely: one in 1878; another in 1881, "The Candle of the Lord and Other
Sermons,"--the first sermon was preached in London, and attracted wide
attention; in 1883, "Sermons in the English Churches;" in 1886, "Twenty
Sermons," dedicated to the memory of Frederick Brooks, his brother; and
in 1890, "The Light of the World and Other Sermons," dedicated to the
memory of his "brother, George Brooks, who died in the great war."
The Rev. Frederick Brooks, who was the talented young pastor of St.
Paul's Church in Cleveland, Ohio, was drowned by falling one dark
evening through the Charlestown draw of the Boston and Lowell Railroad
bridge. The last inspiring talk which he made was at one of the
Temperance Friendly Inns in Cleveland, where he encouraged us with his
words of sympathy and interest.
Phillips Brooks wrote two other books, "Lectures on Preaching," and the
"Bohlen Lectures," on "The Influence of Jesus." Besides these he has
written several Christmas carols of extreme beauty, and some pamphlets.
All his books have gone through many editions, and, like Spurgeon's,
have been read by thousands.
In an address on "Biography," delivered at Phillips Exeter Academy, he
said that he would rather have written a great biography than any other
great book.
The "Lectures on Preaching" abound, like all his work, in short, concise
sentences full of meaning, and should be read especially by every one
who intends to preach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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