A26906:557
The cure of church-divisions, or, Directions for weak Christians to keep them from being…
The cure of church-divisions, or, Directions for weak Christians to keep them from being dividers or troublers of the church with some directions to the pastors how to deal with such Christians / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for Nevil Symmons, 1670
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
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.
The famousest Divines in the Church of God, even Luther, Zwinglius, Melancthon, 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.
These all were famous worthy men, whom no wise man judgeth to be insufficient for the Ministry for want of gifts. But if such as these may so many years forbear the exercise of their gift of extemporary prayer, much more may far weaker ⟨p. 184⟩Ministers do it. Abundance of young Ministers are trained up under aged experienced Divines, what if one of these should sometimes make use of the same words of prayer, which the aged Minister used the day before, as finding them fitter than any that he could devise himself. Must he forbear to do better, because he cannot do so well, by the use of his own gifts alone?