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

And if we excel them never so much in Learning, it will not suffice unless we excel them in our proper Ministerial gifts of preaching exhortation and prayer, which are the works of our ⟨p. 328⟩Office, it will neither preserve the honour of our Office, nor attain its ends. When many of the people can open the case of their souls in prayer, in more orderly, clear and congruous expressions than the Pastor can, it tendeth to bring down the honour of the Pastor, in the peoples esteem. Some think to repair this, by casting out all prayer except that which is read out of a book, or recited by memory alone; that so there may be no observable difference of mens abilities: But this is so far from curing the peoples disease, that it increaseth it: And they still say, all this is no more than we can do our selves, or then a child of ten years old can do. And if you extend the case to all other parts of the Ministry, where the reason is the same, they will say [what reverence is due to such? or why should we maintain and honour men, for doing no more than our children can do?]

And if we excel them never so much in Learning, it will not suffice unless we excel them in our proper Ministerial gifts of preaching exhortation and prayer, which are the works of our ⟨p. 328⟩Office, it will neither preserve the honour of our Office, nor attain its ends. When many of the people can open the case of their souls in prayer, in more orderly, clear and congruous expressions than the Pastor can, it tendeth to bring down the honour of the Pastor, in the peoples esteem. Some think to repair this, by casting out all prayer except that which is read out of a book, or recited by memory alone; that so there may be no observable difference of mens abilities: But this is so far from curing the peoples disease, that it increaseth it: And they still say, all this is no more than we can do our selves, or then a child of ten years old can do. And if you extend the case to all other parts of the Ministery, where the reason is the same, they will say [what reverence is due to such? or why should we maintain and honour men, for doing no more than our children can do?]