The Recreations of a Country ParsonBoyd, Andrew Kennedy Hutchison
General
The Recreations of a Country Parson
Boyd, Andrew Kennedy Hutchison
Clergy -- Anecdotes; Country life -- England; Rural clergy -- England
Half rising from their
seats they gazed at the preacher with open mouths. At length the
burst was over, and a long sigh relieved the wrought-up multitude.
The two students sank upon their seat, and looked at one another
fixedly: and the first expressed his appreciation of the eloquence
of what he had heard by exclaiming half aloud to his companion,
'Damn it, that's it.'
The doctrine preached in Scotch pulpits is now almost invariably
what is termed evangelical. For a long time, now long gone by,
many of the clergy preached morality, with very inadequate views
of Christian doctrine. We cannot but notice a misrepresentation of
Dr. Hanna, in his Life of Chalmers. Without saying so, he leaves
an impression that all the clergy of the Moderate or Conservative
party in the Church held those semi-infidel views which Chalmers
entertained in his early days. The case is by no means so. Very
many ministers, not belonging to the movement party, held truly
orthodox opinions, and did their pastoral work as faithfully as ever
Chalmers did after his great change of sentiment. It is curious to
know that while party feeling ran high in the Scotch Church, it was
a shibboleth of the Moderate party to use the Lord's Prayer in the
Church service. The other party rejected that beautiful compendium
of all supplication, on the ground that, it was not a Christian
prayer, no mention being made in it of the doctrine of the atonement.
It is recorded that on one occasion a minister of what was termed
the 'High-fiying' party was to preach for Dr. Gilchrist, of the
Canongate Church in Edinburgh. That venerable clergyman told his
friend before service that it was usual in the Canongate Church
to make use of the Lord's Prayer at every celebration of worship.
The friend looked somewhat disconcerted, and said, 'Is it absolutely
necessary that I should give the Lord's Prayer?' 'Not at all,' was
Dr. Gilchrist's reply, 'not at all, if you can give us anything
better!'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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