Jeremiah 8:8-9 - Homiletics

Untrustworthy literature.

I. LITERATURE MAY HAVE MANY ATTRACTIONS AND YET BE UNTRUSTWORTHY .

1. Authority . They were official prophets and teachers whom Jeremiah opposed. Errors gain power when they are pronounced ex cathedra . The belief in papal infallibility is but one instance of a common human weakness.

2. Pretentiousness . The self-styled wise men of Jeremiah's age were confident and boastful. The world is too ready to take a man at his own estimate of himself. Vehement assertion is often accepted instead of solid proof.

3. Numerical force . Jeremiah stood as one against many. No mistake is greater than the assumption of so-called common sense, that truth may be presumed to reside with the majority. How often from the days of Noah downwards has it been found with the few!

4. Popular style . These "wise" men knew how to suit the taste of the multitude; they could prophesy smooth things. There is a fearful fascination in literary style. The great danger to the cultivated is that they should select for their guides those writers whose language is most pleasing in place of those whose arguments are most sound. Lies may be commended by brilliant epigrams, and unwholesome passions fostered by splendid poetry. The ease and fluency of Hume and the wit of Voltaire were effective with many persons who would not have been moved by bare arguments.

II. IF LITERATURE IS UNTRUE IT SHOULD BE TREATED AS WORTHLESS .

1. Style is but the vesture of thought, and thought is but idle fancy if it does not correspond to fact . The first question to be asked about a writer is not, "Are his ideas novel, original, striking? Are they beautiful, grand, imposing? are they pleasing, popular, acceptable?" but simply, "Are they true?" If this question in answered in the negative, all other recommendations may be considered as worse than worthless. The sweeter the bait, the more dangerous the trap.

2. The test of truth in religious literature is conformity to the Word of God . The Scripture is a guide and authority to the Christian. God's word in nature, providence, and conscience must be heard and interpreted if men would speak truly on these subjects. The profession to be speaking Divine words founded either on a pretended revelation or a boast of superior intelligence, is vain unless the private words of the individual harmonize with the general truth of God's world-wide revelations.

3. Experience will test the truth of literature. If literature concerns itself with serious subjects, it cannot be regarded as a trifle of idle hours. It will be brought into judgment. Experience will try it. No lie can be eternal. The self-styled "wise" men will "have to be ashamed," "dismayed and taken," when events contradict their untrue language.