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it to amount to no more than a public declaration made toy the ordainers of their satisfaction in the qualifications , and as to the fitness of th ^ parties concerned for what they undertake /' Iu a " True and Brief Account of the Protestant Dissenters in Bhglaad , "
appended to the above sermon , we are informed , that the " examination and ordination are managed according to the rules laid down in the Directoryy published by the Westminster Assembly , about the year 1644 . " A sermon lies before ilie , likewise , preached at a public ordination by C . Bassnett , of Liverpool ; but as the notions of the preacher are not alaterially different from the two preceding , I do not think it necessary to make
any extracts . ftitherto , it is evident , that ordination was regarded as an indispensable introduction to the gospel ministry ; nor was any person , allowed to be settled as minister with any congregation , or to administer the ordinances of
baptism arid the Lord ' s supper , without the investiture of ordination . There were , indeed , conflicting opinions concerning the grounds of tli& authority and efficacy of the institution , but divines still retained the power of examining qualifications , requiring a profession of faith , and the authority of ordaining ; and it
appears to me , that the power and authority , in virtue of which they pretended to do such things , was the circumstance which , in reality , chiefly recommended the practice . I am sorry that I am not able to mark the gradual progress of more liberal sentiments by a regular series of extracts from ordination sermons to the present time * y but , perhaps , if I had the means of doing bo , it would not be deemed very necessary , as , from
the nature of the case and the specimens already given , the course of subsequent opinions may be easily con- * ceived and traced without such aid . By an extract from an ordination service , in 1770 , ( on which occasion l > r . Enfield-preached , ) from the address , on the nature of ordination , by the Rev . Richard Godwin , it will ap-
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pear very manifestly at once , that , though the meagre form of ordination and th | e name were retained , it was nothing more than a compliance witfr custom , and a prudent yieldiBg to old--fashioned -prejudices , ; for which , inr deed * reasons werfe ^ jivea , ( as may be for any thing , ) but vejfy insufficient reasons :
Great pains" ( p . 41 ) •« have been taken to shew , that ordination is of diviae authority , an 4 to prove Us obligation from Scrapt ^ e . But concerning : the subject , considered in this light , , I shall not speak absolutely ; only that this argument is attended' with some difficulty , and does not appear to alt with equal evidence *
" Allow me here to indulge some latitude , and consider ordination , at this time ,, as a voluntary act of publicr worship , usually performed soon aftei ? a person teas demoted himself to the Christian ministry , a « 4 accepted of an invrt&tioi * from aChri&ta&n society , to settle with them as their stated minis
ter B - y one extract from the ordination service of the Rev . David JanHae , it will be seen how rational Christiana have disavowed the essentially constituent parts , of Presbyterian ordination " : We" Cp- 41 ) " assume no authority over Christian churches osr i » i > lusters , nor have we the vanity to think that we can communicate any ministerial gifts or graces to them . TJbese we believe to be the effects of
the blessing of God on the use of the means of spiritual improvement which lie has afforded them ; and when a church or society of Christians has chosen such a person for their pastor , and he accepted their invitation ^ nothing more is necessary to constitute the relation between them . " It will now , Sir , remain for me to consider the reasons which have been urged for continuing this harmless
species of ordination—for retaining the namey when the thipg is so cs . sen * tiully changed ; But this I am under the necessity of reserving to another communication . RURIS COLON US .
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VOL . XX . 2 F
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On Ordination Services . 2 t 7
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 217, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/25/
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