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UJicert ^ a < ' gg ^ ttftifte Q oissiia&tfoas ? Caa w ^ n <> t inttuce our congregations aiui- ^ .-bve ^^ i ifk th ^ i ^ mstry to meet £ o £ . great and &&o < i purposes , except vra . a , ¥ i $ yt ^^^ f ^^^ rl ^ eir-fbrepoaseS' - sions und prejudices ^ _
I fu& ? aware that ingenuit y * on aae ba ^ d , iifid a . disposition , mi the other l ^ a ^ Jo _ y i ewi a tbiag in a favourable ljg % l # ^ iii aften give a striking degree of speciQUsness f # arguments grounded on the plea of utility , ; however inconclusive they may be ; but I wonder tfeat any perapn \ yho is qualified for
being a scriptural critic should have the hardihood to say , that any one of the passages to which Mr . Baker referred * in your number for June , ( pp . 345— -348 i ) affords any ground for concluding that an ordination or inaugural service , of the kind advocated , ** h eminen t !*/ scriptural in its practice , " or , indeed , scriptural at all .
Mr . Baker observes , that " it is in the manner in which these officers ( i . e . elders or bishops and deacons ) were appointed or ordained , that the force of the scriptural argument consists ; " and he adds , that "it was
generally , if not always , distinguished by a special act of devotion . '' How far especial I do not understand ; but granted * " by an act of devotion , " or prayer to God for his blessing on the persprt appointed and his mifitetratiom But hovv can there be any force in this a ^ guttient , except the fcimitetrity behveeri the * prihiitive * 'act of devotion , " atrid of modem oi-diiiatian services , be shewn to our satisfaction ? So far are vre from being authorized , by th ^ e passages died by Kir . Baker ,
to infer any similarity between them , ( prmyer beitig made akme excepted , ) that we infer the direct contrary . The pfatetice , therefore , Contended for , in ^ - ste&d df being eminently scriptural , is uhtkinly and radically deficient in scri ^ - tui ^ af-probfattd--autIiiQirity :
I am iic ^ t a little Surprised that this sfytftinJli / -Unavailing appeal to scriptiiral iuithbrity should be resorted to &t th * rirtiibe ^ wlieii it is well known ( See ntirn ^ r for April , p . 217 ) , that
thos £ MftH retained the practice 6 f ordrft ^ tiirth , nearty a ceritury ago ^ acknolWlo < Jged that it haid no foundation irt Seri ^ ttfte : Andy iiid ^ d , with their manifest disincliilatibri to g ^ ive it up , it would havci been truly wonderful
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thtft thfcy should ever have b « ea ia ^ duced to discontinue it , if it were strikingly and eiii ' mently grounded on scripteral practice .
From Tit * i . 5 , it is moat evideut that the ordination , i . e . choice or ap ^ pointmehfc to an offlc * e , wW ^ h took place in the chttrchds * was very different from any thing new in use suttong « ss " For this cause I left thfee-ln
Crete , that thou shouldst ordain elders in every city . ^ Elders were pr ^ actiers or te ? w : hers of the Christian dt > ctfine , who were ordained or appointed by Titus , according to the Apostle's direction , without any thing like an ordination service—without any " celebration of their connexion" vyith the
church . I hope now that even the zealous supporters of ordination are convinced that there is a striking difference between the primitive ordination , or
appointment of officers in the church , and the modern ordination service , or celebration of a minister ' s appointment . The former was a private affair , within the limits of the particular society , which was conducted without the advice or
assistance of brethren or friends from distant places , and which consisted , so far as our information goes , of nothing besides prayer amd fasting ; the latter no ordination or appointment at all , but only the celebration of it , which owes its main interest and attraction
to th <* services and attendance of distant ministers , and where fasting certainly is not observed . We have every reason to suppose that all the officers iu the primitive
church were ordained alike , i . e . with prayer and fasting ; will any one of my opponents in this question inform us why fasting is now omitted ; and why the ordination service is only performed when the ministers appoinU
ment is to be celebrated , but is an honour not conferred upon any other officer in our societies ? By some , scriptural authority is deemed unnecessary ifi support of tainous forrris and practices Which
different persons or societies may think proper to observe ; atid they , therefore , presriirne that the putting ori of a gown or sacred vestment is & thing as indifferent as the jmttbj * on " of * b coat . And ' . ' fid I grant it is , when qot considered as a religiotis act , arid not
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Mr . Johns &n Ordination Services . 737
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vol . xx . 5 ii
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1825, page 737, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2543/page/33/
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