In 1888, a student remarked on the tendency among some ministers to entertain rather than preach.

“We have known of some ministers whose sermons were largely made up of odds and ends, from the brilliant scarfs of some bright genius…The pew is not altogether free from the blame attached to the existence of this kind of preaching. It is the “mostest-amusement-for-the-leastest-money” spirit showing itself on religious worship. People are not always anxious to hear the solid truth. For too many would rather be amused than instructed. A minister of the gospel has no right to yield to the gratification of so perverted a taste. How much better it is, for both preacher and people, to cultivate the love for the wholesome truths of the gospel—the gospel in all its strength and purity.”

–From “Student Life at Southern Seminary,” Review and Expositor

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