To My Younger Brethren: Chapters on Pastoral Life and WorkMoule, H. C. G. (Handley Carr Glyn)
Religion
To My Younger Brethren: Chapters on Pastoral Life and Work
Moule, H. C. G. (Handley Carr Glyn)
Pastoral theology
There are other directions in which we must cultivate attractiveness.
There is English style. Here, again, gifts differ widely in detail, yet
there are common secrets open to common use. It is open to every one to
avoid, on the one hand, an ambitious, long-worded style; on the other, a
style which many young men of our time are in more danger of
patronizing--the slovenly, shapeless style, in which the Queen's English
is very "freely handled," and into which the broken English of an
ever-growing _slang_ not seldom makes its way. These defects have only
to be recognized, surely, to be avoided, by keeping our eyes open as we
read and our ears as we hear, and by remembering that the sacred message
of the King, while it is too great to be tricked out with false
rhetoric, is also too great to be slighted, not to say insulted, by a
really careless phraseology.
A GOOD STYLE IS A PRACTICAL POWER.
Pains will be needed, of course, as we pursue the object of a good
style. We must watch and think. We must read and observe good models,
the written words of men who have proved themselves powerful preachers
to the people, and indeed of men generally who are known masters of
English. We shall have, again, to consult candid friends. But my point
is, that all this is abundantly worth our while. A neat, straight,
well-worded sentence is not a mere literary luxury. It is a practical
power. It is far easier to listen to than a careless, formless sentence
is, and it is far easier to remember. The truth which it conveys is much
more likely, therefore, to find its way securely into the mind, and to
lie there ready for the vivifying touch of the Spirit of God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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