Contents

The Teaching Pastor

 

The Samuel A. Crozer Lectures

March, 1923

Crozer Theological Seminary

 

Six lectures by

Rev. William C. Bitting, D.D.

 

 

The Lectures

  1. The Need and Opportunity for His Ministry
  2. Reactions of His Ministry on His Life
  3. His Oneness with the Educated Community
  4. His Ministry to the Young
  5. His Relation to the Problem Of Christian Unity
  6. Some Spiritual Values of His Ministry

 

Preface    lectures:   ONE    TWO    THREE    FOUR    FIVE    SIX   

Table of Contents

Notes on this transcription: The book is roughly 5" x 7.2", 150 pages long. Including the header line, the printed area is 3.5" x 6" with about 30 to 34 lines (justified) to a page, six lines per inch. The type font is Times Roman, apx. 12 point. Footnotes were at the end a page. To maintain this ease of reference I placed them at nearby paragraph ends where pages did not end at a paragraph.

As of 6-20-98, each transcribed lecture has been compared to the book line by line. Even so it is entirely possible that errors and oversights remain. So if you find anything that looks like it might be well to compare with the book, I would greatly appreciate an email! — wbitting@yahoo.com

Contents    

 

The necessary limitation of the number of these lectures caused the giving up of the first intention to open the course with a treatment of the historical method of Bible study. Every lecture is based upon the use of that method. ...the Scriptures cannot be understood, nor their power appreciated, without some knowledge of the historical situations out of which they grew. [From the preface.]

  1. The Need and Opportunity for His Ministry
    Concentration of Functions in the Pastor’s Work
    1. The Need for the Teaching Ministry
      1. Enlightening Ignorance of the Bible
      2. Correcting Mistaken Ideas
      3. Preventing Wrong Conceptions
      4. Helping in Practical Living
      5. Neutralizing Unitelligent Teaching
    2. The Opportunity for This Ministry
      1. The Offical Position as Pastor
      2. Control of Church School Instruction
      3. Week-day Classes for Study
      4. The Use of good Books
    3. Cautions for the Teaching Pastor
      1. Be Qualified
      2. Gain the Confidence of the People
      3. Proceed Slowly
      4. Avoid Making the Pulpit a Laboratory
      5. Be Constructive in Spirit and Purpose
  2. Reactions of His Ministry on His Life
    Necessity of Proper Qualifications
    1. Reactions on Personal Life
      1. Compulsory Systematic Bible Study
      2. Fellowship in Pursuit of Spiritual Reality
      3. Wide Culture as a By-Product of Teaching
      4. Ethical Enthusiasm Pervading All Processes
      5. Devotional Appreciation of Sacred Literature
    2. Effects Upon His Public Ministry
      1. Uses of Scriptures in the Pulpit
      2. Choice and Treatment of Texts in Sermons
      3. The Joy and Vitality of Preaching
    3. Inevitable Church Educational Atmosphere
  3. His Oneness with the Educated Community
    The Teacher in the Early Church and His Successor
    1. Present Functions of the Teaching Pastor
      1. Uplifting the Uneducated
      2. Identification With the Educated
      3. Competent Interpretation of the Bible
      4. Mediating Truth to Modern Life
      5. Evangelization of the Cultured
      6. Recruiting Teaching Forces in Religion
  4. His Ministry to the Young
    Young People Must live Out Their Own Lives
    1. Discoveries Concerning Religious Education
      1. Neglected in Most Homes
      2. Unsatisfactory in Many Church Schools
      3. Superior Equipment and Methods of State Schools
      4. Influence of the Non_academic Curriculum
      5. Inevitable Results of These Conditions
    2. The Service of the Pastor
      1. Anticipating College Tests of Church-school work
      2. Guarding Against Teaching That Must Be Unlearned
      3. Preventing Moral Shock in Educational Development
      4. Welcoming College Graduates When They Return Home
      5. Helping Those Without Educational Advantages
      6. Promoting Educational Evangelism
    3. The Forms of this Ministry
      1. Pulpit and Personal Service
      2. Control of Church-School Curriculum
      3. Supervision of Youg People’s Organizations
  5. His Relation to the Problem of Christian Unity
    The Fact of Sectarianism
    1. The Harmfulness of Sectarianism
      1. Inability to Make United Sentiment Effective
      2. Disunion in Christian Work
      3. Waste of Money
      4. Waste of Ministerial Service
      5. Impressions on Non-Christians
      6. Confusion in Foreign Mission Work
    2. Conditions Demanding Teaching Pastors
      1. Each Sect Appeals to the Bible
      2. Love and Scholarship the Solution of the Problem
      3. The Pastors are Leaders of Their Groups
      4. Varieties of Biblical Interpretation
      5. Influence of Dogmatic Prepossessions
      6. Bondage to Historical and Hereditary Accidents
      7. Failure of All Other Plans for Union
    3. The Specific Contributions of the Teaching Pastor
      1. Leadership in Sane Bible Study
      2. Moral Courage in Facing Truth
      3. Emphasis upon Life Above Literature
      4. If all Ministers Were Teaching Pastors
  6. Some Spiritual Values of His Ministry
    Every Form of Ministry Has Its Own Spiritual Value
    1. Personal Values
      1. Mental, Social, Ethical, and Devotional Values
      2. Repose of Entire Rational Nature
      3. Nourishment of Spirit While Feeding Others
      4. The Spiritual Blessedness of Teaching
    2. Appreciation of the Bible
      1. Revelation Through History
      2. The Religious Value of Human Experiences
      3. Divine Use of Current Vehicles
      4. The permanent Values of the Bible
    3. Values Seen in Human Life
      1. The Place of the Bible in Religious Life
      2. The Social Value of Biblical Ideals
      3. The Democracy of Religious Truth
      4. The Increase of Reverence Through Knowledge
      5. How the Bible Was Meant to Guide Life
    4. The Knowledge of God
      1. God’s Revelation of Himself Progressive
      2. The Steady Development Toward Theism
      3. The Reality of God
      4. God Works Now as Hitherto

Preface    lectures:   ONE    TWO    THREE    FOUR    FIVE    SIX   

Suggestions, corrections or comments— wbitting@yahoo.com

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Last revised: 10/20/00 (prior 6/20/97).