THE
MESSAGE AND MISSION
OF QUAKERISM
By
WILLIAM C. BRAITHWAITE
and
HENRY T. HODGKIN, M.A., M.B.
PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE
FIVE YEARS MEETING
[Decoration]
PHILADELPHIA
The John C. Winston Company
1912
Copyright, 1912, by
The John C. Winston Co.
FOREWORD
The two addresses which compose this book were delivered at the Five
Years Meeting of the Society of Friends held in Indianapolis, Indiana,
from October 15th to 22nd, 1912. They were listened to with profound
interest and appreciation, and were approved by a Minute which also
ordered their publication, in order that the wider group of Friends,
and all others who are interested in the message and mission of a
religion of this type, might have the opportunity to read them. It is
a plain duty of any religious body to put its truths into circulation,
and to reinterpret again and again the vital principles by which its
members live and work. Here in this little book will be found in
convenient form a fresh and illuminating expression of the truths,
principles and ideals of present-day Quakerism and some of the
practical problems confronting the modern world which the application
of these truths, principles and ideals might solve. The reader will
discover that the writers live in the Twentieth Century and that they
are “speaking to the condition” of the age.
Rufus M. Jones.
Haverford, Pennsylvania
12th mo. 9th, 1912
ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
_THE ESSENTIALS OF QUAKERISM_
BY WILLIAM C. BRAITHWAITE
PAGE
Introductory 11
The early Quaker movement 13
Its two great characteristics,—intense sincerity and
the experience of the living presence of Christ 14
“Seekers” were especially receptive to the message of
George Fox 14
Edward Burrough’s description of experience 16
The heightened personality that came to the “Children
of the Light” 20
Quakerism a religion of the prophetic and apostolic
type, in contrast with the priestly and institutional
type 21
The Church should be a living fellowship of
disciples at work for the Kingdom of God,
_plus_ Jesus Christ Himself, in whose Spirit
they become together “one flock, one
Shepherd” 23
The vital nature of such a fellowship 24
Our position not negative but positive 25
Quakerism a “religion of life” 25
The supreme question for the Church, How can we
foster life? 26
Cheap substitutes for life 29
A religion of life must devote itself to vital
processes and vital relations; chiefly,
Loyal discipleship 30
Inspired leadership 31
Warm fellowship 33
Loving service 35
Steady spiritual growth 36
Methods and machinery, organization and Church
discipline have only a subordinate value to these
prime factors of health 37
The life must be allowed free expression; the form
must be kept plastic 38
The physiologist tells us that living matter is
always soft and jelly-like, permitting of the free
play of molecular interchanges 38
Fit the clothes to the man, not the man to the
clothes 40
Expansion that comes where the Spirit of God has been
allowed freely to work upon groups of disciples
without being limited by organization and tradition,
_e. g._ Foreign Missionary Work, Adult School
movement, Quakerism in Western States 40
Church-arrangements, important in themselves, should
be regarded as machinery through which the life can
work,—the life of the individual which we call
personal responsibility, of the group, which we call
fellowship, and above all the Divine vitality, which
we call spiritual power and spiritual guidance 41
Above conclusion illustrated from the way in which
these vital forces come into play in the various
forms of Friends’ meetings 42
The evangelistic service and its needs 43
The meeting for worship, its great value and its
needs 44
The teaching meeting and its needs 46
Quakerism, at its best, always the product of vital
forces and the producer of vital relations 47
Its dependence upon the earnest seeking spirit 48
Craving to-day for reality in religion and life 49
Atmosphere of large-hearted charity and brotherly
confidence needed 50
Quakerism, essentially, a religion of sincerity,
answered by the incoming of the living Christ 51
Hopes confronting us to-day,—the craving after truth,
the meaning and worth of personality, woman’s place
in the world, the reign of law in international
affairs, the regeneration of social conditions, the
hope of Christ for the whole world 52
The Quaker Church called to be in the vanguard of
progress with respect to all these 53
Duty of personal witness for truth, based on a living
experience of it 53
Conclusion 54