ABSTRACT
John Steinbeck has given this theme classic treatment in his autobiographical Travels With Charlie in Search of America. He describes his reaction to an old-fashioned fire and brimstone sermon which he heard in Vermont. There is an art of preaching, of course, but it is more like the art of gardening than the art of painting or sculpture. And in any case, in this artistry the aim is not a beautiful sermon, any more than the aim of gardening is a beautiful hoe. The aim is human life captured by the beauty of holiness that was seen in the Christ. Someone years ago referred to ministers in the high pulpits of Scotland as 'standing six feet above criticism'. Undeniably the minister is an authority figure. He may take himself seriously as such, endeavoring to do his peoples' thinking for them.
