FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97  
98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   >>   >|  
a man may be very formall in the most extemporary variety; & very fervently devout in the most wonted expressions: Nor is God more a God of variety, than of constancy: Nor are constant Forms of prayers more likely to flat, and hinder the Spirit of Prayer and Devotion, than an unpremeditated and confused variety, to distract and lose it. Though I am not against a grave, modest, discreet, and humble use of Ministers gifts, even in publique, the better to fit, and excite their owne, and the peoples affections to the present occasions: yet I know no necessity why private and single abilities should quite justle out, & deprive the Church of the joynt abilities and concurrent gifts of many learned and godly men; such as the Composers of the Service-Book were; who may in all reason be thought to have more of gifts & graces enabling them to compose with serious deliberation & concurrent advice, such Forms of prayers, as may best fit the Churches common wants, inform the Hearers understanding, and stir up that fiduciary and fervent application of their spirits (wherein consists the very life and soul of prayer, and that so much pretended Spirit of prayer) then any private man by his solitary abilities, can be presumed to have; which, what they are many times (even there, where they make a great noise and shew) the affectations, emptinesse, impertinency, rudenesse, confusions, flatnesse, levity, obscurity, vain and ridiculous repetitions, the senslesse, and oft-times blasphemous expressions; all these burthened with a most tedious and intolerable length, do sufficiently convince all men, but those who glory in that Pharisaick way. Wherein men must be strangely impudent, and flatterers of themselves, not to have an infinite shame of what they do and say, in things of so sacred a nature, before God and the Church, after so ridiculous, and indeed, profane a manner. Nor can it be expected, but that in duties of frequent performance, as Sacramentall administrations, and the like, which are still the same; Ministers must either come to use their own Forms constantly, which are not like to be so sound, or comprehensive of the nature of the duty, as forms of publike composure; or else they must every time affect new expressions when the subject is the same; which can hardly be presumed in any mans greatest sufficiencies not to want (many times) much of that compleatnesse, order, and gravity, becoming those duties; which by this m
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97  
98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

abilities

 

variety

 

expressions

 
nature
 

Church

 
concurrent
 

duties

 
prayer
 

presumed

 

ridiculous


private

 

Spirit

 

prayers

 

Ministers

 
blasphemous
 
senslesse
 
repetitions
 

greatest

 

sufficiencies

 

burthened


convince
 

sufficiently

 

tedious

 
intolerable
 

length

 

obscurity

 

impertinency

 

emptinesse

 
affectations
 
gravity

levity
 

compleatnesse

 
flatnesse
 

constantly

 
rudenesse
 

confusions

 

Pharisaick

 

profane

 

manner

 

publike


composure

 

expected

 

Sacramentall

 

administrations

 

comprehensive

 

performance

 

frequent

 
sacred
 

impudent

 

flatterers