Now,  I  think  it  is  an  exceedingly
enriching  discipline  to  seek  to  look
at  our  themes  from  other  men's  points
of  view.  How  would  So-and-so  look  at
this  ?  By  what  road  would  he  approach
it  ?  One  of  our  English  magazines  has
been  lately  propounding  problems  to  its
readers  of  this  kind.  One  week  the
readers  were  asked  to  identify  themselves
with  Dr.  Johnson,  with  his  mind  and
heart  and  manner,  and  give  his  probable
opinions  on  Woman's  Suffrage  !  And  I
think  some  such  similar  discipline  must
be  employed  in  relation  to  our  inter
pretation  of  the  Word.  If  I  may  give
you  my  own  experience,  I  have  been  in
the  habit  of  following  this  practice  for
many  years.  I  ask,  How  would  Newman
regard  this  subject  ?  How  would  Spur-
geon  approach  it  ?  How  would  Dale  deal
with  it  ?  By  what  road  would  Bushnell
come  up  to  it  ?  Where  would  Maclaren


THE    PREACHER    IN    HIS    STUDY    129

take  his  stand  to  look  at  it  ?  Where
would  Alexander  Whyte  lay  hold  of  it  ?
You  may  think  this  a  very  presumptuous
practice,  and  I  have  no  doubt  some  of
my  conclusions  would  horrify  the  saintly
men  whose  heart-paths  I  have  presumed
to  trace.  But  here  is  the  value  of  the
practice  :  it  broadens  and  enriches  my
own  conception  of  the  theme,  even  though
I  may  not  have  correctly  interpreted  the
other  men's  points  of  view.  I  have  looked
at  the  theme  through  many  windows,
and  some  things  appear  which  I  should
never  have  seen  had  I  confined  myself  to
the  windows  of  my  own  mind  and  heart.
