Category Archives: John Broadus

We must constantly remind ourselves that real knowledge has three dimensions, length, breadth, and depth. Our acquisitions in that noble domain should not be confined to the surface of things, but should correspond to the old law as to the … Continue reading →

Reading accompanied by honest thinking is promotive of originality; but we are tempted to waste ourselves upon a species of reading which does not demand reflection, nor leave time for it. One who is inclined to free indulgence in light … Continue reading →

We have no right to take for granted that commentators and theologians are correct in their opinions; and in fact theological discords and conflicts, with all their evils, have this advantage, that they compel the most trusting and the most … Continue reading →

Awaken a memory, get a thought, and others will come to keep them company. So there will be a delightful mingling of old and new. The well instructed scribe, as the Master has said, will be bringing out of his … Continue reading →

Every kind of knowledge we gain should lead to further examination of that which is for us the centre of all knowledge, and the various experiences of life should be constantly bringing us back to find new meaning, strength, and … Continue reading →

…we draw our sermons mainly from what we have wrought out or learned beforehand. John Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, p. 121

Broadus on preaching children’s sermons… It has been frequently remarked that in the young child imagination is predominant; in the child of ten or twelve years, memory; and not until they are nearly grown, do the powers of abstraction and … Continue reading →

…we must not so enter into particular questions of morality, as to make the preaching of the gospel merely tributary to secular interests, and apparently to sink the preacher in the partisan. J. A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery … Continue reading →

…to incite unregenerate people to a so-called moral life, on the ground merely of interest, of regard for the well-being of society, and even of love for their children, etc., is for the preacher unsuitable, save in very peculiar cases. … Continue reading →

It would seem to be a just principle, that a preacher should never go out of his way to find controversial matter, nor go out of his way to avoid it. J. A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of … Continue reading →