PREFACE. IN presenting the SIXTH VOLUME of the "Homilist" to the public, the Editor is happy to say, that the circulation has been gradually increasing from the beginning; and he trusts that the work has been improving in merit. It has won enthusiastic friends amongst the most learned and thoughtful teachers in all churches. He cannot better describe this volume, than by quoting the preface to the former ones. First: The book has no finish. The Editor had not only not the time to give an artistic finish to his productions, but not even the design. Their incompleteness is intentional. He has drawn some marble slabs together, and hewn them roughly; but has left other hands to delineate minute features, and to polish them into beauty. He has dug up from the Biblical mine some precious ore, smelted a little, but left all the smithing to others. He has presented "germs" which, if sown in good soil, under a free air and an open sky, will produce fruit that may draw many famishing spirits into the vineyard of the Church. 66 Secondly: The book has no denominationalism: it has no special reference to our body," or to our church." As denominational strength is not necessarily soul strength, nor denominational religion necessarily the religion of humanity, it is the aim of the "Homilist" to minister that which universal man requires. It is for man as a citizen of the universe, not as the limb of a sect. Thirdly; The book has no polemical theology. The Editor-holding, as he does, with a tenacious grasp, the cardinal doctrines which constitute what is called the "orthodox creed"-has, nevertheless, the deep, and everdeepening conviction, first, that such creed is but a very small portion of the truth that God has revealed, or that man requires; and that no theological system can fully represent all the contents and suggestions of the great book of God; and, secondly, that systematic theology is but means to an end. Spiritual morality is that end. Consequently to the heart and life every Biblical thought and idea should be directed. Your systems of divinity the Author will not disparage; but his impression is, that they can no more answer the purpose of the Gospel, than pneumatics can answer the purpose of the atmosphere. In the case of Christianity, as well as the air, the world can live without its scientific truths; but it must have the free flowings of their vital elements. Coleridge has well said, "Too soon did the doctors of the Church forget that the heart-the moral nature—was the beginning and the end, and that truth, knowledge, and insight were comprehended in its expansion." The Editor would record his grateful acknowledgments to those free spirits of all churches, who have so earnestly rallied round him, to the many who have encouraged him by their letters, and to those, especially, who have aided him by their valuable contributions. May the "last day" prove that the help rendered has been worthily bestowed; and that the "Homilist" did something towards the spiritual education of humanity, in its endeavors to bring the Bible, through the instrumentality of the pulpit, into a more immediate and practical contact with the every-day life of man! DAVID THOMAS. Loughborough Park. CONTENTS. All the articles in the Volumes are written by the Editor, with the exception - HOMILIES. The Odium Theologicum, the Worst of Social Devils Journalism and the Pulpit . What Hinders the Gospel? The Question answered Solitude Recommended to the Pastor. (Translated from the French of A. VINET, by J. Powell.) Gospel Theology The Bible as a Grand Moral Painting THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. The Method of Saving Souls; or, The Laws of an Evangelical The Issues and Encouragements of an Evangelical Mission. Children in the Market Place; or, the Two Sides of Truth: and the Two Sides of Human Life Mighty Works; or, Diversity in the External Spiritual Advan- One, and only One Probation, a Benevolent Arrangement Christ's Way of Dealing with Bigotry. (By ANDREW Bowden.) David and Goliah,-True Spirit, the Pledge of Victory in the |