bring tutors to read some system or body of divinity to their pupils, and en-
gage them to make them at least masters of the Greek of the New Testament,
which I amsorry to tell you so fewwho come to me for Holy Orders . . .
are. 37
When pressed to recommend a system of divinity for candidates to read,
Wake had to admit that none came to mind: Our Church stands upon a dif-
ferent bottom from most of those in which the system-writers have been bred.
Expositions on our Church Catechism and Articles there are several, and some
very good. I wish such as those (though in English), were duly read and the
young men examined on them. And that every tutor would exact of his pupils
the constant reading of the Greek Testament, so as at least to make them well
acquainted with the text and language of it. 38
If the church failed to attract the brightest and the best, one source of the
problem, as the learned archbishop tellingly discerned, was that the Church of
England stood upon a different bottom from the major continental Prot-
estant communions. It lacked a distinctive theological stance. No system-
writer of the stature of Luther, Melanchthon, or Calvin provided a com-
prehensive and coherent theological grounding for the English Church, and
consequently preparation for the ministry and specifically for the ordination
examination suffered from that absence. If Wake was at a loss to prescribe a
system of divinity for those with access to university tutoring, one can only
imagine the uncertainty and irregularity that attended the preparation of the
majority of ordinands undertaking self-directed study. Presumably, too, most
of what would constitute the future priestly and pastoral duties was garnered
by observing a parson in action, and for that there could be no guarantee of
the quality of the model. For most it was a hit-and-miss business, ambiguous,
confusing, inefficient, isolating.39
To officiate as a Church of England minister required ordination. For ad-
mittance to deacon s orders, the candidate had to be at least twenty-three years
old and provide evidence of a college education or its equivalent, good char-
acter, seriousness of purpose, and knowledge of the scriptures and the articles
or faith.40 The age requirement presumed post-baccalaureate study and matu-
ration. Similarly, the required minimum age of twenty-four for admittance to
priest s orders envisioned a probationary period between the diaconate and
the priesthood, a purpose rarely realized in eighteenth-century practice.
The candidate for Holy Orders had to be first called, tried, examined and
known to have such qualities as are requisite. By called was meant not the
.
Preparations for Ministry 113
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