A Treatise On The Pastoral Office Addressed Chiefly To Candidates For Holy Orders Or To Those Who Have Recently Undertaken The Cure Of Souls

Excerpt from A Treatise on the Pastoral Office: Addressed Chiefly to Candidates for Holy Orders, or to Those Who Have Recently Undertaken the Cure of Souls With whatever success, it shall be a comfort to think that I have thus attempted to remedy, even in an imperfect way, the reproach which attaches to us as a Church of sending men into the Ministry unprovided even with a plain Manual of elementary Instruction. But indeed our entire practice requires to be reconsidered and remodelled. Surely the method is even pre posterons, of committing the Cure of Souls to those who have never had the slightest preparation for their difiicult Office, or enjoyed any special teaching as to how it is to be rightly discharged. No sooner has a youth graduated in Arts, than he announces himself as a Candidate for Ordination; at the end of a few months presents himself before the Bishop and on the very next Sunday, comes forward as a Professor of Divinity and a Physician of Souls. Examined indeed as to his fitness, he has been; and had he not displayed a fair amount of knowledge, he certainly would not have been ordained. But is it not clear that such an ordeal, from the very nature of the case, must be in the highest degree unsatisfactory? The Standard for the examined is exceedingly low; and there is every reason why the examining party should be exceedingly indulgent. Thus suddenly introduced to an Office beset with the gravest difficulties, the newly ordained Shepherd Of souls discovers at leisure the extent of his Shortcomings. He has to Visit, to catechize, to prepare Candidates for Confirmation, or for the lord's Supper, and must trust throughout to the suggestions of the moment for direction and help. It is his duty to be for ever reading Services of which he does not know the history, and which he has never studied. Above all, he is once, twice, perhaps three times a week, expected to discourse publicly about a Science of which as yet he does not know so much as the grammar. The absolute barrenness of such teaching might be foreseen. It manifestly becomes his part, as a matter Of prudence, to deal with generalities: to be rhetorical and vague, instead Of precise and instvnnfive. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.