From Knowledge to The Knowledge

Does a preacher, from the pulpit of a church, have the right to utter words borrowed from the literary world? I was reminded of this question by a priest, who lives in the West, and who, in a sermon he had delivered on one of the Sundays of preparation for the Great Lent, had quoted passages from the novel “You Can’t Go Home Again” by Thomas Wolfe, and from “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. I know great preachers who had quoted sayings, in prose and verse, from outside the legacy of the Church. However, I have not known of any who had quoted from passages of a novel! I am not writing these lines to slander. God forbid! I will distance myself a bit from the pulpit, in order to speak my mind. I am fascinated by the ministers who leave no stone unturned that would benefit the ministry of the Word. This is the understanding of us all that unless we really know this world, we cannot call it to the knowledge of the Truth!