# The Dangers of Notorious Preachers



## py3ak (Aug 17, 2008)

W.G.T. Shedd has some sobering words in his little essay, "The Evils of Pulpit Notoriety", in _Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy_ (thanks, Randy!).



> The declamatory and sensational preacher gathers around him only a particular class. It is a class marked by defects that require to be removed rather than strengthened. They are commonly the same defects which the preacher has himself. Like priest, like people. He abhors doctrine and they abhor it. He talks metaphors, relates anecdotes, and raises laughter, and they like metaphors, anecdotes, and laughter. He favors loose and easy-going ethics, and they enjoy the same. In this way the preacher speedily becomes the "great man" of his congregation and then
> 
> "Like Cato gives his little senate laws,
> And sits attentive to his own applause."​
> ...



As it stands, it could be a prophecy of Ted Haggard or an analysis of Joel Osteen. But take out the bit about abhorring doctrine and loose and easy-going ethics and could these warnings not apply to the way some Reformed christians view some of their prominent preachers?


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