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Isaac Watts and the Rhetoric of Dissent

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Isaac Watts and the Rhetoric of Dissent ISAAC WATTS AND THE RHETORIC OF DISSENT By ROBERT G. WITTY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA June, 1959 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this study is the result of co-operative effort. Grateful appreciation is acknowledged to each contributor. First, thanks be to God! Only as He has given strength, wisdom, and grace has each step been possible. Then, a special measure of gratitude is due Dr. Douglas W. Ehninger, chairman of the supervisory committee, for his untiring patience, his easy availability, and his constant guidance. A por- tion of credit for whatever merit may be found in this work should also be assigned to each member of the committee : Dr. L. L. Zimmerman, Dr. W. Me. Buck, Dr. D. L. Scudder, Dr. C. S. McCoy. Special thanks are due Professor H. P. Constans, Head of the Department of Speech, for his unfailing encouragement both in course work and during the preparation of this study. Finally, there is deep gratitude in my heart for the loyal sup- port of the Central Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida, for the faith- ful and efficient assistance of my secretary, Mrs. Nell Morgan, and, most of all, for the understanding love of my wife, Katherine Witty. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page latTyHai I DR. ISAAC WATTS: DISSENTER PASTOR 1 Introduction • 1 Watts: Pastor, Scholar, Author, Saint . 4 Watts's Writings 22 Conclusion ..«•••• •••••••• 32 II WATTS'S TREACHUG VIEWPOINT 37 Sociological 37 Government and Religion 38 Social Ills and Religion 41 Personal Sins and Religion 44 Philosophical. 47 Ecclesiastical 52 The Basic Differences 52 The Spirit of Charity 54 Purposeful 56 The Ideal Layman 57 The Function of the Church 59 A Pastor's Personal Goals 63 Man of God 64 A Man of Virtues 65 Pastor Preacher 66 Theology 67 Conclusion ..................... 68 III SEJMON SOURCES J1 Biblical 72 The Focus of Revelation 73 The Nature of Inspiration 74 The Method of Interpretation. 75 The Area of Authority 77 The Basis of Apologetics 76 Experimental 8l Cultural 86 Study Program 87 Benefits 88 To Improve the Reasoning Facility. 88 To Trace God's Work ..... 89 To Improve Preaching Skills 90 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page To Prove Christianity Divine . 93 To Understand the Bible 94 To Embellish Preaching 96 Conclusion. 97 IV MEMORY : THE STOREHOUSE OF THE MIND 99 Tie Nature of Memory 99 Memory Related to the Faculties 100 The Physical Basis of Memory 102 Memory Related to Religion. 105 The Improvement of Memory's Powers 105 The Standard of Good Memory 105 Rules for Improving Memory 106 Memory and Preaching Ill Memory and the Hearer 113 The Ultimate Purpose of Preaching ........ 114 Conclusion . H5 V METHOD: THE STRUCTURE OF SERMONS 119 Ontology: The Philosophy of Method 120 The Art of Method 121 Tie Nature of Method 122 The Rules of Method 124 Safe. 124 Plain and Easy. Distinct Pull. * 126 Short 126 Propriety 127 Connected 127 General Rhetorical Application of Method 128 Definition 128 Division. ........ .... 129 Specific Homiletical Application of Method. 130 Tyro and Ergates. ........... 131 Polyramus and Fluvio I33 Our Fathers and Our Contemporaries. ....... 136 Conclusion I37 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page VI STYLE: THE MEDIUM OF WORDS 140 Introduction. 14-0 The Basis of Style. ................. 142 Types of Styles 144 The Instructional Style 14-4- Poetic Style. 148 Preaching Combination 152 The Balance of Figures 152 The Balance of Politeness 155 The Balance of Erudition. .......... 156 The Balance of Scriptural Terms 157 Conclusion 15@ VII DELIVERY: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION l6l v t '. «. v t 1 Introduction l6l Eighteenth Century Preaching 162 The Waning Pulpit ..... ...... 162 The Varieties of Preaching. 163 The Critics of Preaching. 165 The Read Sermon 165 Contemporary Evaluations of the Read Sermon . 166 The Art of Reading. 167 The Extempore Sermon. ...... 170 The Personal Elements 170 The Functional Elements 175 Conclusion 179 VIII ELEMENTS IN PERSUASION 182 Introduction .......... ... 182 Reason: A Reliable Judge ....... 183 Viewed as a Human Facility 183 Viewed as a Logical Function. .......... 184- Reason Primary in Persuasion. .......... 186 Rhetoric in General ........ 186 Preaching in Particular 187 The Passions 189 Viewed as a Human Power 190 Viewed as Dynamic Forces 191 Viewed as Essential to Persuasion ........ 193 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page Rhetoric in General ... 193 Preaching in Particular ...... 194 Factors in Persuasive Preaching 197 The Hindrance of Prejudice 197 The Force of Personality. 198 Conclusion 200 IX ISAAC WATTS: DISSENTER PREACHER 202 Introduction. .................... 202 Watts*s Sermon Material ......... 202 Doctrinal Position. ...... ... 202 Sermon Subjects 204 General Character 206 Specific Character. ............... 208 Organisation 208 Style 209 Delivery 211 Persuasive Appeals ....... 213 Sermon Methods. ..... 215 Ample Time. 216 Prayer Guidance ........ .... 216 Thorough Study. ................. 217 Careful Form 220 Material from Inspiration 223 A Typical Sermon. 223 Conclusion 232 X SUMMARY AND EVALUATION 235 Introduction. 235 Surmary 235 The Authority of the Bible 235 The Function of Education 236 Experience as a Source of Knowledge 238 Analysis. 239 Rhetorical Factors... 240 Puritan Factors ....... 245 Environmental Factors 247 Evaluation 251 Contemporary Influence. ..... 251 Continuing Influence. 254 Present Day Value 256 BIBLIOGRAPHY 262 vi CHAPTER I DR. ISAAC WATTS: DISSENTER PASTOR Introduction "It is not enough for the Christian minister, that he be instructed in the science of theology," declared George Campbell, "unless he has the skill to apply his knowledge, to answer the different purposes of the pastoral charge." 1 This problem of understanding and communicating the truths of religion has challenged preachers in all Christian history. One of the first to present a formal solution was St. Augustine (354-430). His De Doctrine Christiana , setting a pattern followed even by the ingenious Campbell, treated first how to understand the Scriptures, and second how 2 to communicate their truths effectively. From the sixteenth century to the present an ever-growing number of books have been printed in Eng- lish treating this persistent problem. 3 All of these have historical interest; some have intrinsic merit. Yet none was written in a more dedicated spirit, from a broader background, by a brighter genius, or with a more practical design than the homiletical works of Dr. Isaac Watts (1674-1748). George Campbell, "Lectures on Pulpit Eloquence," Campbellc nnfl Fenelon (Boston, 1832), p. 93, L. Clarke, Rhetoric at Rome (London, 1953), pp. 148-154. 3 Harry Caplan and Henry H. King, "Pulpit Eloquence: A List of Doctrinal and Historical Studies in English," Speech Monographs (Special Issue), XXII (1955)# Wo. 4. 1 The stimulus to compose a body of preaching theory may result either from the positive arousal of a great religious awakening or from the challenge to halt a spiritual decline. In Watts's case it was the latter. In seventeenth-century England civil persecution threatened the life and property of the so-called "dissenters"—those persons who did not conform to the Established Church. Relief came to such dissenters only when the Toleration Act of May 24, 1689, granted freedom of worship to all who affirmed allegiance to William and Mary, and rejecting basic Catholic doctrine, subscribed to the doctrinal portions of the Thirty- nine Articles. ^ But tolerance did not develop spiritual vigor. Instead spiritual laxity increased in the following half-century. Challenging such leaders as Watts, therefore, was the disturbing realization that decay was working greater harm to the churches than had all the former perils of outward physical danger. In the early eighteenth century, Christianity was threatened on all sides. Rationalism dominated religious thought. Form replaced reality. Contemporary Christianity was little more than a code of morals supported by religious sanctions. The tide of evangelism was out. The lower classes were spiritually destitute; the upper, licentious. Coarse amuse- ments, epidemic drunkenness, savage laws, widespread illiteracy, social irresponsibility—these evil conditions, which characterized Watts's generation, challenged him to produce a method for preaching equal to 4 tfilliston Walker, A History of the Christian Church— (New York. 1937), p. 476. 3 the needs of his age. Today, Watts's hcmiletical writings are virtually unknown. While many recognize Isaac Watts as a hymn writer or poet, few know that he was a celebrated dissenter preacher; fewer still that he wrote instruc- tions for preaching. The generality of such ignorance is, however, no excuse for its continuance. The fact should be known that Watts did pro- duce, though he never assembled as a separate treatise, a complete theory for effective, evangelical, pastoral preaching. A study of Watts's preaching theory has three justifications. Historically, it is a sample of dissenter homiletics in the Age of Reason. Personally, it is an important segment of the thought of a mw-n of enduring renown. Intrinsically, it is an instructive body of doc- trine, still of value to the preacher today. In his instructions concerning preaching. Watts discussed the sources, style, delivery, organization, and memorization of sermons. He related the reason, the passions, and the preacher's character to the pastoral ministry. With great earnestness, he exhorted his fellow minis- ters to adopt his teachings. To him, preaching was an essential weapon in the struggle of the church to evangelize the world. Alfred Ernest Garvie has defined preaching as "divine truth through human personality for eternal life. Because of the inescap- able personal factor in all preaching, an evaluation of Watts's preach- ing theory calls for some knowledge of the man himself, of the forces e 'Alfred Ernest Garvie, The Christian Preacher (New York, 1921), p. 9. 8 k which moulded his thinking, of the books he wrote, of the ideas he held, and of the way he himself actually preached.
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