Calvin on the Necessity of Preaching

The preaching of heavenly doctrine has been joined upon the pastors . . .  Many are led either by pride, dislike or rivalry to the conviction that they can profit enough from private reading and meditation; hence they despise public assemblies and deem preaching superfluous . . . this is like blotting out the face of God which shines upon us in teaching.   Quoted by John Stott in Between Two Worlds, p. 119.