58 OF CHURCH CONTROVERSIES. 



for every thing ; and that they have, in a manner, 

 deprived themselves and the Church of a special 

 help and support, by embasing the authority of the 

 fathers, they resort to naked examples, conceited 

 inferences, and forced allusions, such as do mine into 

 all certainty of religion. 



Another extremity is the excessive magnifying 

 of that, which though it be a principal and most holy 

 institution, yet hath its limits, as all things else have. 

 We see wheresoever, in a manner, they find in the 

 Scriptures the word spoken of, they expound it of 

 preaching ; they have made it, in a manner, of the 

 essence of the sacrament of the Lord s supper, to 

 have a sermon precedent ; they have, in a sort, an 

 nihilated the use of liturgies, and forms of divine ser 

 vice, although the house of God be denominated of 

 the principal, &quot; domus orationis,&quot; a house of prayer, 

 and not a house of preaching. As for the life of the 

 good monks and hermits in the primitive Church, I 

 know, they will condemn a man as half a papist, if 

 he should maintain them as other than profane, be 

 cause they heard no sermons. In the mean time, 

 what preaching is, and who may be said to preach, 

 they move no question ; but, as far as I see, every 

 man that presumeth to speak in chair, is accounted 

 a preacher. But I am assured, that not a^few that 

 call hotly for a preaching ministry, deserve to be the 

 first themselves that should be expelled. All which 

 errors and misproceedings they do fortify and in 

 trench by an addicted respect to their own opinions, 

 and an impatience to hear contradiction or argu- 



