Ralph W. Sockman: 20th Century Circuit Rider
A third factor in Sockman's preaching is his masterful use of style. If style can be defined as "the manner of expressing thought in language, giving such skilled expression as invests the idea with dignity and distinction," Sockman seemed to have mastered this art on the anvil of long hours of preparation. His use of word imagery produced a vividness of force that transformed the abstract into the concrete. Each sentence and paragraph exhibited the skill of a master craftsman.
His sentences were varied in length and type; they were free from technical jargon, confusing pronouns or antecedents, and words that had more than one meaning. Avoiding cliches and monotony, his sermons breathed with freshness, thought and vitality. Vibrant figures of speech added force and vigor to his thought.
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Antithesis frequently energized his sermons, as may be seen from one he preached during the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee. "Christianity cannot be tried by the jury method, but by the laboratory method. The truth of the Bible is not proved by courts but by lives. Man is convinced of his divine origin not by arguments but by the evidence of things not seen which are within his own life when he follows the footsteps of his Lord."
Sockman believed that a preacher must turn the ears of his listeners into eyes. He could describe a cold and listless church member by saying: "Some persons are like houses with their doors open in the wintertime. They hold no warming convictions." On another occasion he said: "We are designed to be spans in the bridge of purposes stretching across the generations." In a sermon on "The Arm of the Lord" he says, "The Tightness of a thing rests on God's law and not on popular thinking. Our diplomats and politicians and our plain citizens must listen for the voice of God rather than the latest Gallup poll."
The fourth factor that contributed to the effectiveness of Sockman's preaching was his delivery. He possessed a warm and free delivery that gave him the unusual ability, as one reporter said, "to awaken in people a new appreciation of the whole realm of religious thinking and acting."
Although he wrote out his sermons in full, in the pulpit he spoke extemporaneously. His voice was conversational, possessing a wide range and pitch. His movements were meaningful but not excessive and his gestures were spontaneous. He always left the distinct impression of being completely relaxed, which in turn relaxed his audience.