08-Conclusion

Having published this book, I know I shall be accused of
denigrating both the biblical work of the gospel minister, and the
man himself. Indeed, I knew it before I began. But I didn’t agree
with it then, and I don’t agree with it now. Yet, if such a critique of
an unscriptural title really has undermined what many regard as
‘the ministry’, then something is seriously wrong with what we
think of as ‘the ministry’. And the sooner we find it out the better.
In the 16th century, men like Thomas Cartwright and Robert
Browne came to realise that the warrant to preach does not depend
on a magistrate’s licence, and they had the courage to destroy the
noxious bits of paper which pretended to make a man into a
minister.