| The Life of Dr. J.R. Miller |
Chapter 8 |
Page 7 |
“The first impression I gained of him in his official capacity was the perfect ease with which he did his work. I had indeed the feeling that he was a man larger than his sphere; though he meanwhile was already planning and preparing for the enlargement of the work to its present proportions. He was a born editor and writer, and the most indefatigable worker I have ever known. The time, pressure and the creak of the machinery in periodical work were no inconvenience or cause of nervousness. His ‘thousand words’ were always ready when wanted; but their writing could at any time be suspended at the call of anyone who wanted his judgment or his help. It was, however, not the ease of his writing that was the phenomenon, but its unfailing acceptability. We have the high authority of Sir Robertson Nicoll (in The British Weekly for July 25, 1912) for saying that Dr. Miller may ‘be justly called the most popular religious writer of his time.’ We think of such a position as won by unfailing discipline of the mind, the diligent study of great models, and the conscious culture of literary style. In Dr. Miller’s case it seemed to be won rather by the simpler expedient of being himself and of speaking in the way natural to him. He loved others, and by loving them understood them. He addressed literally millions of people, and each one of them felt his personal touch and was conscious of the ministry of love. He had only one theme, the beauty of being better than we are. It is said that he repeated himself; and that saying probably reveals one of the secrets of his success. He was no more afraid of repeating himself than life itself is.
“Much of his work for the Board was the exposition of Scripture. It was done with a minimum of apparatus. He like the Cambridge Bible best as the framework for his exposition; and it was not a learned exposition. What concerned him was the application of Scripture to life. He was not unaware of the progress of historical criticism, but his religious experience was of a character so intimate, that he felt lifted above the problems of criticism, and into that serene air he attempted to lift his readers also. Incidentally he kept the Board of Publication outside the arena of controversy in periods of some agitation in the Church.
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