I would not . . . judge men by their features, but their general physique is no small criterion. That narrow chest does not indicate a man formed for public speech. You may think it odd, but still I feel very well assured, that when a man has a contracted chest, with no distance between his shoulders, the all-wise Creator did not intend him habitually to preach. If he had meant him to speak he would have given him in some measure breadth of chest, sufficient to yield a reasonable amount of lung force. When the Lord means a creature to run, he gives it nimble legs, and if he means another creature to preach, he will give it suitable lungs. A brother who has to pause in the middle of a sentence and work his air-pump, should ask himself whether there is not some other occupation for which he is better adapted.
"We will never save civilisation as long as civilisation is our main object. We must learn to want something else even more." —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Monday, May 17, 2010
Spurgeon on Physique
To my shame, I'm only now reading Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students. This portion may not hit at the heart of his message, but I wanted to pass it on as an example of Spurgeon's witty if not a bit dogmatic perspective:
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8 comments:
what a legalist...
that's a calvinist for you.
And then modern sound equipment came along, leveling the biological playing field.
Does he not mention the phrenological requirements to be a theologian?
yeah, Shayne beat me to it, but Spurgeon was speaking of a day when one had to rely simply on the physical frame and the acoustics of one's building. I don't have my books with me, but he preached once in a huge building and was able to make himself heard by a crowd of many thousands without amplification. Most of us could never do that.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
I wonder what CHS would've said about bloggers if they were around back then.
Good thing Schaeffer, Piper, Packer, Custer, (who else is puny -- was Edwards a big guy?) didn't listen to Spurgeon here.
Spurgeon's awesome when he's awesome (how's that for a tautology), and he's aweful when he's not.
Keith
Ben, when I read this some years ago, I found this particularly funny. Perhaps, I now have justification for my gym membership.
d.
Clearly David, you have nothing to fear from Spurgeon. Go preach!
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