Thursday, March 12, 2009

No One Can Rid Himself of the Preaching Clergyman



"Bore of the Age"...I'm thinking about getting that put on my business cards....


From John Stott's Between Two Worlds...


"In Barchester Towers, Anthony Trollop rants eloquently:


"There is, perhaps, no greater hardship at present inflicted on mankind in civilized and free countries, than the necessity of listening to sermons. No-one but a preaching clergyman has, in these realms, the power of compelling an audience to sit silent, and be tormented…..

"A member of Parliament can be coughed down or counted out. Town councilors can be tabooed. But no-one can rid himself of the preaching clergyman. He is the bore of the age, …the nightmare that disturbs our Sunday’s rest, the incubus that overloads our religion and makes God’s service distasteful" (53-54).

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