The cure of church-divisions, or, Directions for weak Christians to keep them from being…

Moreover, Christ hath given to all his members such gifts as are suitable to their places, as well as to Ministers such gifts as are suitable to theirs, And the place of a Master of a family requireth the gift of Catechising and instructing the family? And they are as truly obliged to use their gifts, as Ministers are theirs. And yet who doubteth but it is lawful for Parents to teach ⟨p. 183⟩and catechize their children, by such books and forms of Catechisms as are composed by the gifts of abler men?

Moreover Prayer is the duty of every one, and specially of the heads of families: And therefore every true Christian hath gifts procured by Christ, for so much as is his duty. And he is bound to use his gifts. And yet those gifts are so low in many, that I fear not to call that man effectively an enemy to families, souls and prayer, who forbiddeth all such, to use such forms of prayer as are composed by the gifts of others.

The famousest Divines in the Church of God, even Luther, Zwinglius, Melanchthon, Calvin, Perkins, Sibbs, and abundance of Nonconformists of greatest name in England, did ordinarily use a form of prayer of their own, before their Sermons in the Pulpit, and some of them in their families too. Now these men did it not through idleness or through temporizing, but because some of them found it best for the people, to have oft the same words: and some of them found such a weakness of memory, that they judged it the best improvement of their own gifts. Now besides the first composure of these prayers, (which perhaps was done 20 years before) none of these men did use their own gifts, any mo•e than if they had used a form composed by another. For the memory & utterance is the same of both.