,,the        ,,message ,,and ,,mission  
,,of ,,quakerism                   ,by  
,,william ,c4 ,,braithwaite             
and    ,,henry ,t4 ,,hodgkin1 ,m4,a41   
,m4,b4        ,,published ,,by          
,,direction ,,of ,,the         ,,five   
,,years ,,meeting                       
,decoration               ,,philadelphia
    ,the ,john ,c4 ,winston ,company    
#aiab                ,copyright1 #aiab1 
by      ,the ,john ,c4 ,winston ,co4    
,,foreword      ,the two addresses which
 compose this book were delivered at the
 ,five  ,years ,meeting of the ,society 
of ,friends held in ,indianapolis1      
,indiana1  from ,october #aeth to #bbnd1
 #aiab4 ,they were listened to with     
profound  interest and appreciation1 and
 were approved by a ,minute which also  
ordered their publication1 in order that
 the wider group of ,friends1  and all  
others who are interested in the message
 and mission of a  religion of this     
type1 might have the opportunity to read
 them4 ,it is  a plain duty of any      

religious body to put its truths into   
circulation1  and to reinterpret again  
and again the vital principles by which 
its  members live and work4 ,here in    
this little book will be found in       
convenient form a fresh and illuminating
 expression of the truths1  principles  
and ideals of present-day ,quakerism and
 some of the  practical problems        
confronting the modern world which the  
application  of these truths1 principles
 and ideals might solve4 ,the reader    
will  discover that the writers live in 
the ,twentieth ,century and that they   
are 8speaking to the condition0 of the  
age4                                    
,rufus ,m4 ,jones4    ,haverford1       
,pennsylvania  #abth mo4 #ith1 #aiab    
,,analytical ,,table ,,of ,,contents    
,,part ,i    ,,the ,,essentials ,,of    
,,quakerism    ,,by ,,william ,c4       
,,braithwaite                           
,,page    ,introductory                 
#aa      ,the early ,quaker movement    
#ac      ,its two great                 

characteristics1--intense sincerity and 
the experience of the living presence of
 ,christ       #ad      8,seekers0 were 
especially receptive to the message of  
,george ,fox                            
#ad      ,edward ,burrough's description
 of experience             #af      ,the
 heightened personality that came to the
 8,children      of the ,light0         
#bj      ,quakerism a religion of the   
prophetic and apostolic      type1 in   
contrast with the priestly and          
institutional      type                 
#ba      ,the ,church should be a living
 fellowship of      disciples at work   
for the ,kingdom of ,god1      plus     
,jesus ,christ ,himself1 in whose       
,spirit      they become together 8one  
flock1 one      ,shepherd0              
#bc      ,the vital nature of such a    
fellowship                   #bd        
,our position not negative but positive 
#be      ,quakerism a 8religion of life0
                          #be      ,the 
supreme question for the ,church1 ,how  

can we      foster life8                
#bf      ,cheap substitutes for life    
#bi      ,a religion of life must devote
 itself to vital      processes and     
vital relations2 chiefly1        ,loyal 
discipleship                            
#cj        ,inspired leadership         
#ca        ,warm fellowship             
#cc        ,loving service              
#ce        ,steady spiritual growth     
#cf      ,methods and machinery1        
organization and ,church      discipline
 have only a subordinate value to these 
prime factors of health                 
#cg      ,the life must be allowed free 
expression2 the form      must be kept  
plastic                                 
#ch      ,the physiologist tells us that
 living matter is      always soft and  
jelly-like1 permitting of the free      
play of molecular interchanges          
#ch      ,fit the clothes to the man1   
not the man to the      clothes         
#dj      ,expansion that comes where the
 ,spirit of ,god has been      allowed  

freely to work upon groups of disciples 
without being limited by organization   
and tradition1      e4 g4 ,foreign      
,missionary ,work1 ,adult ,school       
movement1 ,quakerism in ,western ,states
                 #dj                    
,church-arrangements1 important in      
themselves1 should      be regarded as  
machinery through which the life can    
work1--the life of the individual which 
we call      personal responsibility1 of
 the group1 which we call               
fellowship1 and above all the ,divine   
vitality1 which      we call spiritual  
power and spiritual guidance        #da 
,above conclusion illustrated from the  
way in which      these vital forces    
come into play in the various      forms
 of ,friends' meetings                  
#db      ,the evangelistic service and  
its needs                  #dc      ,the
 meeting for worship1 its great value   
and its      needs                      
#dd      ,the teaching meeting and its  
needs                      #df          

,quakerism1 at its best1 always the     
product of vital      forces and the    
producer of vital relations             
#dg      ,its dependence upon the       
earnest seeking spirit          #dh     
,craving to-day for reality in religion 
and life         #di      ,atmosphere of
 large-hearted charity and brotherly    
confidence needed                       
#ej      ,quakerism1 essentially1 a     
religion of sincerity1      answered by 
the incoming of the living ,christ      
#ea      ,hopes confronting us          
to-day1--the craving after truth1       
the meaning and worth of personality1   
woman's place      in the world1 the    
reign of law in international           
affairs1 the regeneration of social     
conditions1 the      hope of ,christ for
 the whole world                    #eb 
,the ,quaker ,church called to be in the
 vanguard of      progress with respect 
to all these                    #ec     
,duty of personal witness for truth1    
based on a living      experience of it 

#ec      ,conclusion                    
#ed      ,,part ,,ii    ,,the           
,,contribution ,,of ,,friends ,,to ,,the
 ,,life ,,and ,,work ,,of ,,the ,,church
    ,,by ,,henry ,t4 ,,hodgkin1 ,m4,a41 
,m4,b4      ,personal experience of     
co-operation with other    denominations
 in west ,china and elsewhere           
#ef      ,an ideal of ,christian unity  
#eg      ,the ,society of ,friends in   
relation thereto              #eh       
,that which the ,society holds in common
 with others      #fb      ,the attitude
 in which the contribution can be made  
#fc      ,summary of some contributions 
,friends have already      made4        
,need of first-hand                     
experience--,religious                  
toleration--,brotherhood of all         
races--,high business                   
standard--,practical philanthropy       
#ff      ,contribution of ,friends to   
modern life4      ,direct personal      
intercourse with ,god--,modern drift to 
materialism--,the greater danger in the 

child      races--,proposed             
remedies--,the positive message of      
,friends                                
#fi      ,the quiet heart4      ,the    
rush of modern life--,the sense of need 
felt at      home and abroad--,worship  
as a united inspired act--,a      high  
ideal to be reached                     
#gf      ,the leadership of the ,spirit4
      ,from autocracy to democracy--,the
 nationalist spirit in      the         
,east--,the ,quaker meeting for         
discipline--,a      theocratic ideal    
#hc      ,idealism4      ,the danger of 
opportunism--,solution of the race      
problem--,place of the idealist         
#hi      ,woman's contribution4         
,the ,woman's ,movement to-day--,the    
emancipation of women      in the       
,east--,the failure of the ,church to   
respond--,the      experience of        
,friends                                
#ie      ,a non-professional ministry4  
,the labor-movement an                  
aspiration--,difficulty of the          

organized ,churches--,danger            
abroad--,freedom of the      ministry   
#ii      ,the spirit of tolerance4      
,modern scholarship and the             
,bible--,suggested solutions      of the
 difficulty--,a grave peril--,where     
,friends can      help                  
#ajd      ,how the message is to be     
delivered4      ,a fresh conviction--,a 
fuller consecration--,large             
sympathy with others--,a corporate sense
 of      mission--,apostles             
#aji          ,,part ,i    ,,the        
,,essentials ,,of ,,quakerism    ,,by   
,,william ,c4 ,,braithwaite             
,introductory ,words    ,it is with     
great diffidence that we from ,england  
venture to speak to  the ,american      
,yearly ,meetings4 ,our circumstances   
and the problems we  have to face are   
often so different that it would be     
presumptuous in  us to feel that we had 
advice on matters of detail that would  
deserve  very great attention from you4 
,but when it comes to our common history

  and to the common inheritance we have 
in the principles and faith of  the     
,society of ,friends1 we may speak      
freely4    ,we represent the main body  
of those who call themselves 8,friends40
 ,the  ,yearly ,meetings from which we  
come connect by continuous history with 
the first ,quaker ,churches of two      
hundred and fifty years ago4 ,of  course
 when we compare ourselves as we are    
now1 with the first  ,friends1 we find  
great differences1 as great undoubtedly 
as exist  between the ,new ,englander of
 to-day and the ,pilgrim ,fathers4 ,we  
should  find much to astonish if we     
could peep in at one of those first     
,london  meetings held in the summer of 
the year #afee at the ,bull and ,mouth1 
the great 8tavern-chapel0 in            
,aldersgate1 in which you could then    
crowd  a thousand people standing4 ,i   
fancy these meetings may have been      
rather like some of your pioneer        
meetings in the ,west4 ,but the         
pioneers of the ,london work1 ,howgill  

and ,burrough1 would find modern        
,quakerism1 whether in ,england or in   
the ,middle ,west1 a strange thing4  ,it
 takes a wise man to recognize his own  
great-great-great-great  grandchildren4 
,they have an inheritance that connects 
them up with  their ancestor1 but their 
environment is so different that on the 
surface they seem to have been changed  
into another type of man4 ,at  bottom1  
however1 we shall find that the         
inherited type will continue4      8,for
 never ,pilgrims' offshoot scapes       
control     ,of those old instincts that
 have shaped his soul40                 
7,lowell1 8,fitz ,adam's ,story407      
,in other words1 the inner life of a    
religious movement remains1  although   
the expression of that life will greatly
 vary under changing  conditions of time
 and place4      ,i4    ,in order to get
 at the essentials of ,quakerism1 we do 
well to go  back to the beginnings1 to  
those first years of nascent energy     
which  carried the ,quaker message      

through the ,english-speaking world4    
,whenever a new truth starts to life1 it
 is intensely dynamic and  vital2 it    
masters every opposing circumstance2 it 
flings itself  victoriously against a   
stubborn world4 ,it is a thing of life  
and  movement1 and ,i believe it will be
 found that a live truth in motion  is  
the mightiest of all forces4 ,but1 a    
generation later1 unless the  vital     
forces have been cherished1 the emphasis
 comes to be laid on  establishment     
rather than movement1 and when a thing  
gets established  it usually ceases to  
move2 the emphasis comes to be laid on  
dogma  instead of truth1 on organization
 instead of life1 and the day of  glory 
and power passes away4 ,that was the    
case with ,quakerism4    ,two things1 ,i
 believe1 leave a vivid impression upon 
any student of  the early ,quaker       
movement4 ,they can be stated quite     
simply1 but they  make up together the  
fundamentals of ,quakerism to which     
everything  else belongs as a natural   

consequence4    ,in the first place we  
find ourselves among men and women of an
 intense  sincerity1 who are seeking    
truth with all the energy of their      
faith1  all the energy of their nature1 
and1 in the second place1 we become     
aware that this earnest search after the
 ,kingdom of ,god and its  righteousness
 was rewarded with a great finding1 a   
rich personal  experience in their      
lives1 of the living presence of ,jesus 
,christ1  their ,savior4    ,we know now
 that communities who called themselves 
8,seekers0 were  specially receptive of 
the ,quaker message1 and became the main
  strength of the new movement4 ,in that
 ,puritan age1 filled with  religious   
zeal1 there were many honest-hearted men
 craving after  something more real than
 the mere outward profession of         
religion4 ,they  were not satisfied with
 the triumphant religion of the time1   
which put  strong emphasis1 and rightly 
put strong emphasis1 on belief in the   
great historical facts of ,christianity1

 but had little or no  conception of    
,christ's living presence in the world  
to-day4 ,and when  ,fox told these      
honest-hearted ,seekers that he knew in 
his own  experience that ,jesus ,christ 
was come to teach ,his people ,himself1 
their souls leapt up to welcome the     
,divine ,guest4 ,fox himself was a  man 
of intense sincerity1 who found actually
 in his own spirit the  place where the 
seed of ,divine life was springing up1  
the place where  the voice of a ,divine 
teacher was being uttered1 the place    
that was  being inhabited by a ,divine  
and glorious presence4 ,he could tell   
the  great company of ,seekers who met  
at ,firbank ,fell in ,westmorland on    
that memorable afternoon in ,june1      
#afeb1 not only of an historical        
,christ1 but of a living ,savior1 their 
,teacher to instruct them1 their        
,governor to direct them1 their         
,shepherd to feed them1 their ,bishop to
  oversee them1 their ,prophet to open  
,divine mysteries to them4 ,i am  giving

 you the points of his three-hour sermon
 on that occasion4 ,their  bodies1 he   
said1 were intended to be temples for   
,jesus ,christ to dwell  in4 ,they were 
to be brought off from the temples1     
tithes1 priests and  rudiments of the   
world4 ,they were to come to the ,spirit
 of ,god in  themselves and to ,christ  
the ,substance4    ,the new message     
opened out a new way of life to men who 
were sincere  enough to go through with 
it and to live it out4 ,it carried with 
it a  radical transformation or rather  
transfiguration of life from the        
earthly into the ,heavenly4 ,i will give
 a passage in the quaint ,english  of   
the time in which ,edward ,burrough1    
himself one of these ,westmorland       
,seekers1 describes the experience3     
8,in all things we found the ,light     
which we were enlightened withal1  and  
all mankind 7which is ,christ71 to be   
alone and only sufficient to  bring to  
,life and eternal salvation4 ,and so we 
ceased from the  teachings of all men1  

and their words1 and their worships and 
their  temples1 and all their baptisms  
and churches1 and we met together       
often1 and waited upon the ,lord in pure
 silence1 from our own words  and all   
men's words1 and hearkened to the voice 
of the ,lord1 and felt  ,his word in our
 hearts to burn up and beat down all    
that was contrary  to ,god1 and we      
obeyed the ,light of ,christ in us1 and 
took up the cross  to all earthly       
glories1 crowns and ways1 and denied    
ourselves1 our  relations and all that  
stood in the way betwixt us and the     
,lord1 and1  while waiting upon the     
,lord in silence1 as often we did for   
many hours  together1 we received often 
the pouring down of the ,spirit upon us1
  and our hearts were made glad and our 
tongues loosed and our mouths  opened1  
and we spake with new tongues1 as the   
,lord gave us utterance1  and as ,his   
,spirit led us1 which was poured down   
upon us1 on sons and  daughters1 and the
 glory of the ,father was revealed4 ,and

 then began we  to sing praises to the  
,lord ,god ,almighty and to the ,lamb   
forever1 who  had redeemed us to ,god1  
and brought us out of the captivity and 
bondage of the world1 and put an end to 
sin and death1--and all this  was by and
 through and in the ,light of ,christ   
within us40#a      ,footnote #a3        
,burrough1 ,preface to 8,great          
,mystery40    ,now1 it is not my purpose
 to examine this experience from the    
side  either of psychology or dogmatic  
theology4 ,there are psychologists and  
theologians1 too1 with whom ,i could not
 venture to compare myself1 but  it is  
enough to take the great experience     
simply as historical fact4  ,there can  
be no question that two hundred and     
fifty years ago actual  living          
intercourse with the ,divine1 such as   
,burrough describes1  gathered the first
 ,friends into their wonderful          
fellowship4 ,it lifted  them into an    
order of life which set them in a place 
of vision and  power and joy4 ,they saw 

the things of time in the light of      
eternity4  ,they knew what it was to    
overcome the world1 so that nothing     
could  daunt their faith4 ,in the words 
of one of the finest of the first       
,friends1 ,william ,dewsbury1 the very  
prisons became palaces to them  and the 
bolts and locks jewels4 ,the ,kingdom of
 ,heaven was theirs1 not  indeed        
bringing the prizes of worldly ambition1
 but filling life with  something       
richer1 righteousness and peace and joy 
in the ,holy ,ghost4  ,and all this was 
the reward and the result of a          
single-hearted  sincerity1--full        
righteousness of heart1 full humility of
 soul1 full  searching after truth1 full
 opening of the heart to the incoming of
  the ,divine life4 ,it had been won1 as
 men count1 at a great price4 ,it  had  
meant a breach with the current fashions
 of life and forms of  religion2 it had 
meant a daring following of fresh truth 
through all  its untried consequences2  
it had meant suffering and loss2 it had 

meant the daily crossing of the carnal  
mind4 ,it had meant all these  things1  
yes1 but it had meant also the incoming 
of the ,life of ,christ1  bringing men  
into a new fellowship with one another  
and with ,god4    ,we have to admit that
 in the first tide of this wonderful    
experience  there were some serious     
extravagances of thought and conduct4   
,it would  be strange1 ,i suppose1 if   
newly opened eyes did not sometimes see 
men  as trees walking4 ,you get these   
extravagances when a fresh faculty of   
the soul is awaking to its powers4 ,but 
the main phenomenon of  ,quakerism is   
the heightened personality which        
undoubtedly came to the  ,children of   
the ,light4 ,they were men and women to 
8shake their country  in their          
profession for ten miles round10 as some
 of our ,friends have  done in the      
,western states4 ,their very look       
carried with it the  sentence of honor  
or shame4 ,their words had a challenging
 power1  challenging men's consciences1 

forcing them to face the issues of good 
and evil1 shattering self-complacency   
and self-righteousness4 ,the  ,quaker   
was an impregnable man1 his principles  
were held with an  extraordinary        
tenacity4 ,he stood not on a sandy      
foundation of notions1  but on a rock of
 experience1 and thus founded the man   
was sure and  steadfast4 ,the message of
 a present living ,christ within the    
heart and  a present ,kingdom of ,god   
awaiting those who would receive it     
burned in  the heart of these first     
,friends4 ,it burned in their hearts as 
a  gospel for all men4 ,it is a great   
mistake to suppose that the ,quaker     
,church was founded as a sect4 ,it had  
nothing sectarian about it4 ,it  had a  
great message of vital spiritual        
experience to give to the whole  world4 
,these first ,friends were evangelists  
of vital ,christianity4    ,they began  
as our evangelists to-day begin1 by     
warning men to repent4  ,george ,fox    
went up ,wensleydale calling on men to  

repent1 for the day  of the ,lord was at
 hand1 and proclaiming the ,kingdom of  
,christ at the  door of men's hearts1   
for them to take or reject4 ,that is the
 spirit  of this early ,quakerism1 and  
it surely takes us back to the spirit of
  the prophets and of primitive         
,christianity4      ,,ii4    ,the       
centering of life on the realities of   
inward intercourse with ,god  is the    
great mark of the prophetic and         
apostolic type of religion and  is in   
sharp contrast with religion of the     
priestly or institutional  type4 ,the   
prophet was a man who knew what it was  
to have converse  with ,jehovah and sure
 knowledge of ,his will4 ,he became a   
,seer1 a man  of insight and foresight1 
aware of the true values of things1 the 
true  values as weighed in the balance  
of the sanctuary4 ,he became thereby a  
great social and moral reformer4 ,his   
ideal was of a time when all  would be  
prophets--when 8your sons and your      
daughters shall prophesy1  your old men 

shall dream dreams1 your young men shall
 see visions40  ,and we may remember    
that this ideal is recognized on the day
 of  ,pentecost as the natural          
first-fruits of the ,spirit4 ,if it had 
been  realized the ,church would have   
been a school of prophets from          
generation to generation4 ,unfortunately
 the ,church has more often  stifled the
 seer and glorified the priest4    ,as  
,i understand it1 it is the specific    
mission of ,quakerism to  propagate a   
,christianity of this prophetic1        
apostolic type1 a  ,christianity in     
which the ,church is a living fellowship
 of disciples  at work for the social   
and moral ends of the ,kingdom of ,god4 
,but the  ,church is not simply1 in the 
,quaker conception1 a fellowship of     
disciples at work for the ,kingdom of   
,god2 it is such a fellowship  plus     
,jesus ,christ ,himself1 in whose       
,spirit1 the ,spirit which unites  them 
one to another and to ,him1 they become 
together 8one flock1 one  ,shepherd40   

,fellowships1 made up of groups of men  
and women who are with ,christ1         
redeemed by ,him1 learning from ,him1   
following ,him1 helping in ,his  work1  
looking out on life with something of   
,his devotion to the will  of ,god and  
,his passion to seek and save the       
lost--such are the true  ,quaker        
,churches4 ,it is worth while to analyze
 the conception a little4  ,the ,church1
 we say1 is a living fellowship--not in 
the first place an  organization1 but in
 the first place an organism--not an    
institution1  but a body1 built up of   
many cells1 many individuals1 just as   
the body  has cells that grow and change
 and perform their several functions    
under the direction of an all-pervading1
 all-embracing life4 ,that is  what a   
living fellowship means4 ,this life     
received through direct  contact with   
the ,divine life is the one essential of
 the ,christian  ,church4 ,it is the    
business of the ,church to see that it  
is fostered  in every possible way1 so  

that the body may freely grow under its 
influence and freely express the life in
 all forms of worthy living4            
,historically1 ,quakerism is the product
 of this vital experience and  while we 
gladly recognize that the experience is 
shared by us with  many other branches  
of the ,christian ,church1 it remains   
true that no  other religious community 
so deliberately and emphatically bases  
its  individual and corporate life upon 
this supreme fact of the soul's         
immediate contact with ,god4    ,our    
special position among the churches is  
sometimes stated--not by the  ,five     
,years' ,meeting--in a series of        
desolating negatives4 ,we do not        
practice water baptism1 nor partake of  
the outward elements of the  ,lord's    
,supper1 we are against war and oaths   
and priestcraft1 our  meetings are held 
on a basis of silence1 and so on--all   
negatives4 ,but  we were gathered as a  
people out of the world through the     
force of  dynamic positives4 ,we        

withstand priestcraft because every     
disciple is  ordained for service4 ,as  
,george ,fox said1 every man hath an    
office  and is serviceable4 ,we witness 
against oaths1 because we uphold a      
single standard of truth speaking1 and  
against distinctions of dress  and      
address1 because all men are equal in   
the sight of ,god2 we oppose  war       
because the armor of the children of    
light is the armor of  righteousness1   
and disuse the outward form of baptism  
because the  all-important thing is not 
the form but the inward repentance and  
cleansing by the blood of ,christ4 ,we  
cannot narrow down the experience  of   
communion with our ,lord to special     
ceremonials and places and  ministrants1
 when we hold that ,jesus offers        
,himself as the ,bread of  ,life to ,his
 people day by day--in the home1 in the 
factory1 at  business1 in all our common
 work and in all our loftiest           
worship--the  whole of life may be a    
sacrament of communion with ,jesus      

,christ4    ,it is as a 8religion of    
life0 that ,quakerism will be presented 
in the  future and is being presented   
now4    ,its distinguishing note will be
 its resolve to bring all this human    
life of ours under the transforming     
power of spiritual life4 ,it will  stand
 out against all divisions and          
compartments that separate the  sacred  
from the secular1 the sanctuary from the
 outward world of  nature1 the sacrament
 from the day's common work1 the clergy 
from the  laity4    ,it will tell of a  
,christian experience that makes all    
life sacred and  all days holy1 all     
nature a sanctuary1 all work a          
sacrament1 and gives  to every man and  
woman in the body fit place and service4
 ,its concern  will be to multiply men  
and women who will have a message of    
power  because they are themselves      
living in the power of ,god1 who will   
spread the light because they are       
themselves the children of light4 ,it   
will claim the whole of a man's life1   

and the whole of life1  individual1     
social1 national1 international1 for the
 dominion of the  will of ,god4         
,,iii4    ,so then the question comes3  
,how can we foster this life8 ,how can  
the  ,church continue1 through a        
succession of generations and amid      
manifold changes of circumstance and    
thought1 not merely its name and        
organization1 its tradition of the      
fathers and its orthodoxy of  language1 
but a living body of ,christ1 which     
shall embody ,him1 as ,he  would make   
,himself known to each age8    ,that is 
the supreme question4 ,unless the       
,church does that1 it  misrepresents its
 ,lord and hinders the coming of ,his   
,kingdom4    ,everything must be thought
 of in terms of vital relation if we are
 to  see our way to an answer4 ,we are  
dealing with life1 and it is life1 a    
unity of life1 that connects the        
individual ,christian with his ,savior  
and with his fellow-,christians4    ,i  
know vital relations are costly things2 

it is comparatively easy to  preach and 
profess2 it is not easy to give         
ourselves4 ,but vital  relations are    
abundantly fruitful1 and that supreme   
giving of life  which we associate with 
the sacrifice of ,jesus ,christ is1 we  
know1 the  most fruitful vital relation 
that has ever been exhibited in history4
  8,he1 the ,son of man1 gave his life a
 ransom for many0--for the whole  world4
    ,dr4 ,hort has finely said3    8,in 
the times when ,christianity owed       
nothing to custom and tradition1  and   
when all the ways of ordinary society   
tended to draw men away from  it1 what  
drew them to it and held them to it1    
despite all persecution1  was the power 
of its life4444 ,life calling to life   
was the one  victorious power which     
mastered men and women of all conditions
 and  all grades of culture40#b         
,footnote #b3 8,the ,way1 ,the ,truth1  
,the ,life10 p4 #ahc4    ,we cannot     
commend the ,kingdom of ,god to the     
world through institutions  that are    

starched and stiff1 but only by the     
living1 warm1 expansive  touch of human 
hearts reaching out in fellowship to    
others4    ,men substitute tradition for
 the living experience of the love of   
,god4  ,they talk and think as though   
walking with ,god was attained by       
walking  in the footsteps of men who    
walked with ,god4 ,there has been a     
great  deal of that in the ,quaker      
,church4    ,they substitute authority  
for leadership1 the authority of the men
 of  the past for the inspiration of men
 who have vision and first-hand         
experience of truth to-day4 ,they       
substitute conventional methods--we     
have had a great deal of that1 too--for 
the natural arrangements which  a living
 fellowship of disciples would make and 
modify from time to  time and place to  
place4 ,they substitute a cold          
organization for a  warm fellowship1 an 
outward profession for an inward        
experience1  priestly agency for        
personal responsibility1 dogmatic       

teaching for  education1 almsgiving for 
personal social service1 sectarian ends 
for  the great purposes of the ,kingdom 
of ,god4    ,there is no end to the     
cheap substitutes offered for the use of
 the  ,church4 ,almost all of them are  
methods for running the ,christian      
,society with the minimum of spiritual  
energy1 seeing how little  spiritual    
life you can manage with1 whereas our   
aim ought to be to  generate and use the
 maximum in the illimitable service of  
the ,kingdom  of ,god4    ,a religion of
 life must devote itself to vital       
processes and vital  relations4 ,these  
are the things that concern our truest  
welfare4 ,take  the chief3--loyal       
discipleship1 inspired leadership1 warm 
fellowship1  loving service1 steady     
spiritual growth2 every one of them     
vital  processes4 ,look at them in order
 just sufficiently to get them well in  
mind4    ,jesus ,christ1 so far as we   
know1 wrote nothing1 ,he organized no   
religious society1 ,he formulated no    

creed1 but what ,he did was to  gather  
around ,himself a band of disciples1 men
 and women1 who received  ,his spirit1  
and in turn would bring others into     
touch with the life  which had redeemed 
them4 ,his life1 springing up in the    
lives of men1  was to be fundamentally  
that which should regenerate the world4 
,the act of discipleship was following  
,jesus4 ,it began with personal         
adherence to the ,lord1 and it continued
 through personal communion  with ,him4 
,in art and in learning we know how     
stimulating the daily  contact of       
teacher and disciple proves to be--the  
disciple's spirit  kindled by the       
enkindled spirit of his teacher1 the    
coming together of  teacher and scholars
 into a common life and a common        
purpose4 ,that is  why the colleges of  
,american ,quakerism have been such     
great forces4  ,still greater1 vastly   
greater1 is the discipleship which is   
ours in  the ,school of ,christ4 ,it    
calls for the fullest dedication1 the   

closest  following1 the daily taking of 
the cross1 but it gives us ,him who is  
the ,way1 the ,truth and the ,life4     
,discipleship then is the first vital   
relation that must be always  energizing
 the ,church1 but next in order comes   
inspired leadership4    ,the great      
initial success of ,quakerism was due1  
beyond all else1 so  far as human means 
went1 to the traveling 8,publishers of  
,truth10 as  they called themselves1 who
 carried their burning message far and  
wide2 they were like rich life-blood    
circulating freely through the  body4   
,they were for the most part men and    
women of competent ,bible  knowledge and
 religious training1 men with intense   
sincerity1 with a  great experience1 who
 were talking about ,christ because they
 knew ,him4  ,they went out on a devoted
 service1 which no privations or        
persecutions could daunt1 and many of   
them were young men in the  prime of    
their ardor and strength1 who would     
follow the movings of  life rather than 

the counsels of prudence--and we want   
those in the  ,church4 ,the ,church must
 be prepared to take a few risks with   
its young  men4 ,after all1 the hearts  
of the young are burning for a crusade4 
,in the days of persecution which came  
upon the ,quaker ,church there was  a   
great mortality among these leaders and 
unfortunately the supply of  new leaders
 was small1 indeed1 ever since that     
glorious morning of  ,quakerism1 the    
equipment of the ,quaker ,church with   
inspired leaders  has been a pressing   
problem4 ,it is our business to raise up
 not  priests but prophets1 ,christian  
men and women of trained intelligence   
and wide outlook1 who know ,god and have
 a sure insight into the great  social  
and spiritual needs of humanity1 whose  
lives have been  redeemed1 whose hearts 
have been touched with the live coal    
from off  the altar4 ,there is no place 
in vital religion for the vested        
interests of a clerical caste1 nor the  
dead hand of tradition1 nor  the        

compulsion of conscience by the         
authority of the expert2 but  there is  
every need for a leadership1 which      
continues the past in a  living         
experience and educates and inspires and
 illuminates4 ,a  democracy requires    
leadership1 not the leadership of       
authority1 but  what we may call1 to use
 the constitution of the ,five ,years   
,meeting1  an advisory leadership1      
moving along channels of inspiration and
  personal influence4 8,for lack of     
vision the people perish40    ,the third
 great vital relation that the ,church  
has to be fostering is  warm fellowship4
 ,a few degrees of temperature may alter
 a climate and  introduce wonderful     
possibilities of new life4 ,change the  
climate and  you change the kinds of    
growth which may come into the world4   
,it is  very much the same with the     
,church4 ,i remember a story of a little
  girl who was taken into a cold church 
one winter's day4 ,she got in at  one   
end and could scarcely hear what the    

preacher was talking about4  ,after     
church she went home and her mother     
asked her3 8,nellie1 what was  the text 
to-day80 ,she answered1 8,i couldn't    
hear it very well1 but ,i  think it was 
#8,many are cold but few frozen4'0    ,i
 think congregations have sometimes     
preached that sermon4 ,it is  oftener   
preached by the congregation than by the
 minister4    ,quakerism at times has   
suffered from a frigidity of climate    
which has  repressed and repelled4 ,in  
the first centuries ,christianity became
 a  great power1 because it was a great 
brotherhood4 ,surely we need to  warm up
 our church organization so that it     
becomes quickened into a  living        
fellowship4 ,we want a ,christianity    
with the brotherliness left  in and the 
starch taken out4 ,i remember seeing an 
advertisement1  8,catlow's preserves1   
boiled in silver pans40 ,what it meant  
was this3  you got the sugar1 you got   
the fruit1 and you got nothing else4    
,that  is what we want in our           

,christianity4 ,we want the sweetness   
and we want  the fruitfulness4 ,we don't
 want much else4 ,we don't want         
frigidity1 we  don't want starch4       
,group life with a strong fellowship    
about it has always been a ,quaker      
characteristic4 ,in the early days it   
was groups of ,seekers who  embraced the
 message of ,fox1 and in ,england we    
still find ,friends  settled in groups  
over the country4 ,i notice1 in the     
expansion of  ,quakerism in the far     
,west1 that it is colonies of ,friends  
you get4 ,you  cannot have a diffused   
,quakerism diffused over the whole      
,state of  ,nebraska or ,california1 but
 you can have a few groups of ,friends  
at  particular points4 ,but group life  
means a great deal more than the        
collection of persons within the four   
walls of a particular building4  ,it    
means a life in community and           
comradeship1 because the members are    
joined together actually and vitally in 
a common ,lord and a common             

discipleship4 ,it means1 as with the    
limbs of the body1 that the gifts  and  
activities of each are freely used for  
the service of the whole4  ,it means    
that each shares in and contributes to  
the larger life of the  whole4    ,then 
there is the need for loving service4 ,a
 ,church is not an end in  itself1 not a
 club where we sit at ease in ,zion2 it 
is a means to an  end4 ,it ought to be1 
in the phrase of our early ,friends1 a  
8camp of  the ,lord40 ,it needs to have 
the purposes of the ,kingdom of ,god    
ringing  in its ears all the time4 ,it  
needs to be vowed to the great          
redemptive  work of seeking and saving  
the lost4 ,it will be rightly judged by 
its  output of service for the ,kingdom 
of ,god4 ,i fancy that the weakness of  
modern ,christianity is very similar to 
the besetting weakness of  civilization4
 ,we grasp our privileges and shirk our 
responsibilities4  ,the healthy ,church 
fixes each member with personal         
responsibility for  using the life which

 he has received4 ,it finds work for all
 to do4 ,it  knows that activity is the 
natural expression of life1 and that the
  torpor of any part spells atrophy and 
death4    ,last of my list is what ,i   
have called steady1 spiritual growth4   
,the  vital relations which are the     
wealth of the ,church not only bring    
about a unity of life with ,god and with
 one another1 but produce that          
progressive development of personality  
that we call growth4    ,these are the  
questions we need to be asking ourselves
 all the time3  ,are our church members 
bigger men and women inwardly than a    
year ago8    ,are they stronger in      
faith1 more radiant in hope1 warmer in  
love8    ,have their spiritual senses   
developed8 ,do they see more of truth1  
hear  more readily the ,divine voice1   
respond more quickly to the guidance of 
the ,spirit8    ,are their consciences  
alert1 their loins girt1 their hands    
eager for  sacrifice and service8       
,here surely is what we may call the    

intensive work of the ,church1 the      
making of men and women not after the   
pattern of the world1 but after  the    
pattern of ,jesus ,christ1 who shall go 
forth in ,his power and  spirit to serve
 the ,kingdom of ,god4    ,now1 we might
 well enlarge on these five important   
vital  processes--discipleship1         
leadership1 fellowship1 service and     
growth4  ,but my purpose will have been 
served if ,i have said enough to bring  
home to you the fact that these are the 
things that matter1 the things  that are
 of vital importance in the ,church4    
,methods and machinery1  organization   
and ,church discipline have a value of  
their own1 but  only a subordinate value
 to these prime factors of health4 ,if  
these  lesser things are accepted as a  
substitute for the vital factors1 the   
,church becomes weak4 ,if they are      
allowed to limit the development of  the
 life1 the ,church may become dwarfed   
and deadened4 ,their true  function1 the
 true function of organization and      

discipline and these  other matters1 is 
surely large enough--namely1 to provide 
means with  which and through which the 
life can readily work4      ,,iv4    ,in
 vital ,quakerism then1 the form has    
continually to be subordinated  to the  
life4 ,the life must be allowed free    
expression from time to  time and place 
to place according to the varying needs 
and  circumstances4 ,in a word1 the form
 must be kept plastic4 ,this should  be 
as much a fundamental of religious      
biology as it is of physiology4    ,the 
physiologist tells us that living matter
 is always soft and  jelly-like4 ,it is 
matter in a jelly-like state1 permitting
 of the free  play of molecular         
interchanges1 so that it is called a    
8dynamical  state of matter40 ,that is  
the general statement about living      
matter  which the physiologist has to   
make to us to-day4 ,it is essential that
  it should be plastic1 able to grow1   
able to change its shape from time  to  
time4 ,it is always changing its form1  

as may be seen in the  colorless cells  
of the blood4 ,it has been said1 and    
said truly1 that  no one of us is the   
same person we were seven years ago1    
every little  bit of us has been changed
 in the interval4 ,living matter does   
not  grow like the crystal1 by the      
addition of new matter on its surfaces4 
,it grows by absorbing matter into its  
substance and transforming that  into   
matter like itself4    ,it should surely
 be the same in the life of             
institutions4 ,the form  should be      
flexible so that the life may be        
continually growing and  changing its   
form according to the great directing   
control which the  life exerts upon the 
body1 and you want ease and flexibility 
in  organizations just as you do in     
clothes4 ,if you do not have this1 you  
will have a good deal of chafing and    
cramping4 ,sometimes1 perhaps1 a        
growing boy will burst his waistcoat4   
,it is a great mistake to try to  fit   
the man to the clothes when we ought to 

be fitting the clothes to  the man1 but 
it is a mistake that the ,quaker ,church
 has frequently  made4    ,in ,church   
life1 our own included1 the letter that 
killeth has again  and again encroached 
upon the quickening spirit4 ,outward    
government  and external rules have     
limited spiritual guidance4 ,the desire 
to  preserve the deposit of faith has   
crystalized vital experience into       
formularies and creeds4 ,emphasis has   
been laid upon life according to  some  
stereotyped standard with a particular  
cut of collar and a  particular mode of 
language and the life of the spirit has 
been  quenched4 ,but where the ,spirit  
of ,god has been allowed freely to work 
upon the groups of disciples there has  
been a wonderful expansion of           
,christianity of a vital kind4 ,this has
 been largely the case in the  great    
foreign missionary work of the          
,churches1 and in our ,adult ,school    
movement in ,england1 and in the pioneer
 work of ,quakerism in the  ,western    

states4    ,if spiritual life is allowed
 to be the controlling1 directing1      
molding  force in ,quakerism ,i have no 
fear for our future4 ,we shall put in   
the  forefront of our ,church work the  
things that belong to life1 the         
gathering of disciples1 the raising of  
leaders and prophets1 the  maintenance  
of warm fellowship1 the encouragement of
 service1 the  fostering of growth4     
,this means that our ,church            
arrangements will be  so made and       
modified as to promote and secure the   
expression through  them of the living  
forces which we have at our command4    
,those living  forces are the spiritual 
force of the individual1 which we call  
individual responsibility1 the living   
force of the group1 which we  call      
fellowship1 and above all1 the ,divine  
vitality1 the incoming of  the life of  
,jesus ,christ1 which we call spiritual 
power and spiritual  guidance4 ,church  
arrangements1 important in themselves1  
must be  regarded as simply machinery   

through which forces can work1 and the  
more efficiently the machinery allows   
the forces to work1 the richer  will be 
the service of the ,church4    ,let us  
consider the way in which these great   
forces get to work4 ,i  will take the   
meetings of the ,church as my           
illustration4 ,i am not one  who says   
that the only kind of ,friends' meeting 
is a meeting for  worship4 ,i believe   
that there are three or four types of   
,friends'  meetings1 in all of which we 
may have personal responsibility and    
group fellowship and the spiritual power
 and guidance of ,jesus ,christ4        
,take first--it comes first--the        
evangelistic service1 the meeting which 
seeks to do the primary work of the     
,church1 by bringing the gospel of      
,jesus ,christ to man1 the living gospel
 of a living ,savior4 ,for such a       
meeting you want a man who feels his    
personal responsibility1 who  feels that
 he is speaking as the ambassador of    
,jesus ,christ1 called1  chosen1        

faithful1 with a freshly given message  
of truth on his lips1  but you want also
 behind him to back him the fellowship  
and sympathy  of a group of earnest     
souls1 who are helping the meeting by   
their  prayer and sympathy1 and who     
perhaps themselves will have some share 
in the delivery of the message or in the
 other outward service of the  meeting4 
,moreover1 the ingathering of disciples 
is a matter not only  for evangelistic  
services1 but for individual personal   
influence4  ,andrew findeth his own     
brother ,simon3 ,philip findeth         
,nathanael4 ,the  men and women reached 
will need from the first to be          
surrounded with a  new set of companions
 and to be brought into a new           
fellowship4 ,they  will need1 not simply
 one service on a ,sunday stimulating   
them to  follow ,jesus ,christ1 but the 
helpful comradeship of a group bringing 
them into a knowledge of what it means  
to live according to the will  of ,god4 
,in the redemptive work which our ,adult

 ,schools in ,england have  done in     
hundreds of cases amongst men and women 
who had lost their own  respect and were
 down in the gutter1 the most fruitful  
work has been  done by bringing men and 
women a new set of companions1 in whose 
fellowship they may learn what the love 
of ,jesus ,christ means4    ,take next  
the ,friends' meeting with worship as   
its primary object4  ,there you see     
clearly the three-fold play of these    
same forces of  personal responsibility1
 group-fellowship and spiritual         
guidance4  ,worship in fellowship is an 
intensely active thing4 ,its basis is   
not  an inert stillness1 but a waiting  
upon ,god in the unity of the spirit4   
,the meetings of the first ,friends were
 radiant with the joy of  ,christ's     
indwelling life4 ,there were times of   
living fellowship and  communion1 warm  
with the central fires of ,divine love1 
so delightful  that sometimes they could
 hardly break them up and would stay far
 into  the night4    ,the meeting for   

worship1 more than any other agency1 has
 given the  world the ,quaker type of   
character--the man or woman who meets   
life's  problems simply and wisely1     
because he resolves them1 not by passion
  or prejudice1 nor mainly by the       
motions of human wisdom or policy1 but  
by habitually consulting the ,light of  
,god which shines in the waiting  soul4 
,the revival in its power of the ,quaker
 meeting is an urgent need in  the      
crowded hurry of this twentieth century1
 when men live so much  upon the surface
 and so little in the deep places of    
their lives4      ,the world is too much
 with us1 late and soon1    ,getting and
 spending1 we lay waste our powers4     
,in ,england1 wherever you get          
earnest-hearted groups of persons       
together at a special gathering1 as an  
,adult ,school week end1 or a  lecture  
school1 or a conference1 you find1      
whether they are ,friends or  not1 that 
a ,friends' meeting of a free1 open     
kind1 with prayer and  praise and speech

 and silent worship all mingled under   
the guidance of  the ,spirit1 comes as  
the great crown of all our fellowship   
and our  intercourse1 the benediction of
 all that has taken place1 the          
perfectly natural means through which   
the common fellowship and  purpose are  
lifted into communion with the life of  
,god4 ,we hardly  sufficiently          
understand the great value in deepening 
character and  consolidating fellowship 
of meetings of this kind1 where there is
 a  common purpose4    ,the poverty of  
many ,friends' meetings for worship has 
lain1 ,i think1  in the poverty of      
common purpose in the congregation4     
,where there is a  common purpose1 a    
sincere waiting upon the ,lord in       
fellowship1 their  value is very great4 
,it is the place for withdrawing awhile 
from the things of outward  sense and   
exercising the faculties of spiritual   
sense2 the place where  to the awakened 
soul the vision of truth may be seen1   
the ,word of the  ,lord may be heard1   

the guidings of ,his hand may be felt2  
the place  where the heart may become   
aware of its waywardness and want and   
may  gain strength to repent and come to
 ,christ and choose the narrow road  of 
life and dedicated service2 the place   
where many have been able to  say1 with 
,isaac ,penington1 8,i have met with my 
,god1 ,i have met with my  ,savior1 and 
,he hath not been present with me       
without ,his salvation1  but ,i have    
felt the healings drop upon my soul from
 under ,his wings40  ,but it is also the
 place where the worship we render and  
the life we  receive are parts of a     
fellowship of worship and of life which 
comes  to the meeting as a whole and    
finds its natural expression through the
  lips of one and another as the ,spirit
 touches them to utterance4    ,there is
 a third type of meeting1 which we may  
call a teaching  meeting1 sometimes a   
,bible class and sometimes a service in 
which  teaching ministry is to the      
front4 ,there1 again1 surely you get the

  same forces in operation4 ,the most   
vital teaching meetings are those  which
 best combine inspiration1 personal     
influence and fellowship4 ,in  true     
educational work the character and the  
faculties of a group of  scholars are   
being trained by vital contact with one 
another and with  the teacher4 ,the     
contact of life with life is going on   
all the time4  ,my friend1 ,rufus ,m4   
,jones1 is quite right in saying that   
the central  weakness of the ,friends in
 the past lay in their failure to       
appreciate  the importance of the       
fullest education of human personality  
in mind  and soul1 and the attention    
that is now being given to education in 
the ,society of ,friends is of the      
highest value4 ,we cannot overestimate  
the promise to ,american ,quakerism and 
to ,english ,quakerism of our  great    
educational institutions4      ,v4    ,i
 have now sought to show that ,quakerism
 at its best is always the  product of  
vital forces1 and is always producing   

vital relations4 ,i  say 8at its best02 
that is the necessary qualification4    
,this brings me to my last point4 ,what 
is needed besides the life of  the      
,spirit1 the life of ,jesus ,christ in  
the ,church8 ,surely what we  need is an
 earnest dedication on the part of those
 who are seeking to  know ,jesus        
,christ4 ,god is a spirit1 and they that
 worship ,him must  worship in spirit   
and truth4    ,in the early days of     
,quakerism men were athirst for the     
gospel of a  living ,christ4 ,in the    
present day1 side by side with much     
indifference  and indolence there is a  
wide-spread craving for reality in      
religion  and life4    ,tremendous      
social problems confront men to-day1 new
 hopes of higher  life are coming to the
 mass of workers1 new convictions and   
new duties  are dawning on the world1   
and fresh questions are being raised in 
the  domains of history1 psychology and 
philosophy4 ,we are probably living  in 
the midst of as great a period of       

transition as that which formed  the    
bridge between the ,middle ,ages and    
,modern ,europe1 and those alone  will  
find the fuller truth and lead men into 
it who will bear the  travail and follow
 the trail of the ,seekers of the       
,light4 ,we want men  who will get on   
the top of the situation1 men in the    
spirit of ,george  ,fox4 ,when he was   
overwhelmed by the confusion of the year
 of anarchy  that preceded the          
,restoration of #affj1 he lay in great  
exercise of  spirit at ,reading for ten 
weeks and he writes3    8,and so when ,i
 had travailed with the witness of ,god 
which they had  quenched and gotten     
through with it and over all that       
hypocrisy 444 ,i  came to have ease and 
the ,light shined over all40#c          
,footnote #c3 ,cambridge ,journal1 i1   
#cdc4    ,it is the duty of the ,church 
to discountenance all the manifold      
insincerities which disfigure our       
current ,christianity1 and to give  free
 scope to honest-hearted love of truth4 

,sincerity is a plant that  thrives     
under freedom and light1 but withers    
under authority4 ,the  ,church must use 
methods of illumination and education   
and fellowship  as its means for        
cherishing true-hearted allegiance to   
the ,lord4 ,it  will find these methods 
more fruitful than methods of authority4
  ,methods of authority may secure an   
artificial conformity1 but it will      
always be at some expense of sincerity4 
,jesus resolutely turned ,his back on   
the quickly won ,kingdom of ,god1 to  be
 made up of those who gave ,him external
 obedience2 ,he set ,himself to  the    
slow achievement of an inward ,kingdom1 
which should gather men  into willing   
discipleship4    ,i desire an atmosphere
 of large-hearted charity and brotherly 
confidence1 which will allow the ,seeker
 after truth to live in the  power of   
his experience1 even if it is not a full
 experience1 without  being expected to 
live beyond his experience1 an          
atmosphere which will  allow him to make

 use of all the great aids which we have
 to-day in  the search after truth--the 
great aids of scientific investigation1 
and  what is still more important1 in my
 opinion1 the modern historical  method 
which we are using to-day4 ,we want to  
have as the motto of our  ,church the   
motto of one of our ,yorkshire towns1   
8,weave truth with  trust40 ,we want a  
,church that believes in the nobility of
 the truth2  as this belief prevails    
amongst us1 so shall we find a deeper   
reality  in all our ,church life1 and a 
fresh release of energy and renewal of  
inspiration4 ,for ,quakerism is         
essentially a religion of sincerity1    
answered by the incoming of the living  
,christ4      ,,vi4    ,what then shall 
groups of ,friends1 who have reached the
 vital  experience of which ,i have been
 speaking1 do with their experience8    
,surely there are great demands         
confronting them to-day1 great duties   
and convictions to be entered upon1     
great ,messianic hopes stirring in  the 

world4 ,this world of change is also a  
world that is fertile in the  promise of
 richer life4 ,there is the passionate  
craving after truth4  ,surely we are to 
stand for reality in religion and life4 
,there is the  fresh sense that is      
coming to men of the meaning and the    
worth of  personality4 ,men are learning
 what the early ,friends reached as a   
fact  of inner experience1 that their   
hearts could be places where the        
,divine side of life could spring up1   
and that here in this world of  our own 
personality1 in personal responsibility1
 personal dedication1  personal service1
 is the very heart of religion4         
,there is another ,messianic hope3      
,woman's place in the universe in  equal
 fellowship with man4 ,surely we can    
stand for that4 ,we have  expressed that
 in our ,church life long before it came
 as a great hope  to the mass of the    
people4    ,then there is the hope of   
the establishment of the reign of law   
instead of brute force in international 

affairs4 ,we stand and have  always     
stood for that4    ,again1 there is the 
hope of the better ordering of society1 
removing  the menace of destitution from
 the poor1 securing an equality of      
opportunity for all1 remedying the      
conditions that produce stunted  lives1 
and giving those whom we call men the   
chance to become men in  reality4 ,the  
social regeneration of ,england and     
,america has become  to-day a living    
,messianic hope1 making an insistent    
demand upon the  ,christian ,church4    
,surely1 with our witness to the        
practical  application of ,christianity 
to every part of life1 we stand for     
that4  ,above all1 and finally1 there is
 the great hope of ,christ and ,his     
,kingdom1 not for a few only but for the
 whole world4 ,with our living          
experience of ,jesus ,christ1 we must   
stand for that4 ,are we not again       
called to form a vanguard of progress   
towards the ,kingdom of ,god8 ,our      
response to the call depends upon our   

personal consecration to the  task4     
,behind the ,kingdom of ,god as it is1  
behind the ,kingdom of ,god as  it is to
 be1 there stand the actual groups of   
disciples1 their  personal experience1  
their personal devotion4    ,joseph     
,sturge1 the founder of the ,adult      
,school movement1 once wrote3  8,it     
seems to be the will of ,him who is     
infinite in wisdom1 that light  upon    
great subjects should first arise and be
 gradually spread through  the          
faithfulness of individuals in acting up
 to their own  convictions40 ,this      
personal witness for truth1 based upon a
 living  experience of it1 is the great 
duty laid upon each member of the       
,quaker ,church4 ,it carries with it the
 necessity for self-sacrifice4 ,we  know
 how the self-sacrifice of our ,lord on 
the cross was the atonement  of the     
world1 and the self-sacrifice of men and
 women1 in the spirit  of ,jesus        
,christ1 has still redemptive force4    
,we see before the ,society of ,friends1

 as it renews its spiritual  communion  
and its warmth of fellowship1 a great   
service for which it  has been          
wonderfully prepared--a service for the 
revival of vital1  prophetic religion   
and for its expression in righteousness 
of life--but  the service will be       
fruitful through discipline and         
suffering2 if it  is to be redemptive of
 society it will cost much2 those of us 
who have  seen the vision of the future 
that may be will find our eyes filled   
with light and our hearts with peace1   
and our souls will know the             
springings-up of everlasting life and   
power1 but at the same time our  feet   
must be treading the way of the ,cross  
with our ,lord4          ,,part ,,ii    
,,the ,,contribution ,,of ,,friends ,,to
 ,,the ,,life ,,and ,,work ,,of ,,the   
,,church    ,,by ,,henry ,t4 ,,hodgkin1 
,m4,a41 ,m4,b4    ,secretary of the     
,friends ,foreign ,mission ,association1
 of ,london1  ,england                  
,introductory ,words    ,after a general

 introduction ,i shall refer briefly to 
some ways in  which ,friends in the past
 have made a contribution to the        
,church's  life and work4 ,i shall then 
set forth under seven heads the         
distinctive mission which ,i believe the
 ,society of ,friends has to our  own   
generation both in ,western lands and in
 the awakening nations of  the ,east4   
,in closing we may pause to consider    
what is required in  order that this    
message may be believed in its fullness 
and power4          ,i4    ,during the  
time that ,i spent in ,china as a       
missionary1 it was my  privilege to be  
associated with the members of other    
,christian bodies  who were working     
alongside of ,friends in the ,province  
of ,szechwan4 ,for  a number of years   
there has been a large measure of       
co-operation in  the missionary work in 
that province1 in some directions of a  
more  thorough character than in any    
other part of the mission field4 ,the   
province was mapped out thirteen years  

ago between the various  missions1 and  
by this means overlapping has been      
avoided and great  harmony has          
prevailed4 ,to such an extent has this  
been the case that1  at the ,conference 
of ,west ,china ,missions held in       
,chengtu in #aijh1 the  ideal of 8,one  
,protestant ,christian ,church for ,west
 ,china0 was  unanimously adopted by a  
gathering representing the missions of  
six  different denominations1 and two   
inter-denominational societies4 ,it  was
 also resolved 8that whereas all        
,christian missions laboring in  ,west  
,china have for their aim the           
establishment of the ,kingdom of  ,god1 
and whereas there is a sincere desire   
for more co-operation and a  closer     
union of our ,churches1 this ,conference
 recommends the free  interchange of    
full members on a recommendation from   
the ,pastor of the  ,church from which  
they come40 ,this remarkable action on  
the part of  the ,west ,china           
,missionary ,conference compelled me to 

look into the  problem suggested by the 
title of this address in an altogether  
new  way4 ,if we were really working for
 a single united ,church1 what was to   
be the contribution of our ,society3 had
 we in fact anything  distinctive and   
vital to give1 and in what way were we  
to give it8 ,the  still more remarkable 
gathering held at ,edinburgh in #aiaj1  
and the  contact which ,i have since had
 with members of other ,christian bodies
  in following up the results of that   
,conference1 have pressed the  question 
home with renewed force4    ,to many it 
may seem that the ideal of a single     
organically united  ,christian ,church  
is a wild and impracticable dream4 ,to  
some it will  appear as an altogether   
undesirable object to set before        
ourselves4  ,we are indeed perpetually  
reminded in a variety of ways of the    
inestimable gain which comes to the     
,kingdom of ,god through the wide       
differences of opinion and view-point   
represented by the existing  sections of

 the ,christian ,church4 ,if union spelt
 uniformity1 ,i confess  that ,i should 
be found amongst its strongest          
opponents4 ,if1 indeed1 it  stood for   
merging all differences and an emphasis 
upon nothing beyond  the minimum upon   
which we are all agreed1 ,i could not   
look forward  with any satisfaction to  
such a prospect4 ,to me1 however1 union 
stands  for something far other4 ,my    
ideal of it is represented by the       
following sentence from the report      
presented to the ,edinburgh  ,conference
 on this subject3 8,they desire that 444
 those who are at  present separated    
should seek to be led by the ,spirit of 
,god into a  unity in which all that is 
true and vital in the principles and    
practices of each may be preserved and  
reconciled4444 ,unity when it  comes    
must be something richer1 grander1 more 
comprehensive than  anything which we   
can see at present4 ,it is something    
into which and  up to which we must     
grow1 something of which and for which  

we must  become worthy4 ,we need to have
 sufficient faith in ,god to believe    
that  ,he can bring us to something     
higher and more ,christ-like than       
anything  to which at present we see a  
way40#d      ,footnote #d3 ,report of   
,world's ,missionary ,conference1 vol4  
viii1     pp4 #acg1 #ach4    ,it is not1
 however necessary for us to determine  
in our own minds what  is the ideal     
towards which the ,christian ,church is 
moving1 or ought to  move1 in regard to 
this particular problem4 ,one thing is  
abundantly  clear1 and that is that1 if 
our own generation is to receive and    
respond to the ,christian message1 every
 section of the ,church must  bring its 
best contribution4 ,no one section will1
 in itself1 contain  the whole of truth4
 ,in this day of ,foreign ,missions we  
are enabled to  see on the horizon the  
glorious ideal of the ,kingdom of ,god  
into which  each nation and each race   
shall contribute its own distinctive    
elements of moral strength and spiritual

 illumination4 ,even so may we  not     
conceive1 as a preparation for this end1
 the delivery of a  ,christian message  
more comprehensive than any which has   
been delivered  to the world since      
,apostolic days8 ,if this message is to 
be delivered1  either at home or abroad1
 there must be a larger sympathy and a  
better  understanding between the       
various ,christian communions4 ,each    
must seek  to interpret its own message 
in terms intelligible to the others3    
each  must make a patient endeavor to   
appreciate the strength and beauty of   
that which has been committed to other  
,christian communions with which  it has
 perhaps hitherto been at war4 ,whether 
this will ultimately lead  into an      
organic unity or not none of us can     
possibly say4 ,whether1  indeed1 we     
should work for organic unity or not    
will evoke large  divergence of opinion4
 ,whether or not we should cultivate the
 spirit  of unity--the atmosphere in    
which the beautiful flower of unity will

  come to perfection--this is a question
 upon which there can surely be  no     
divergence of view4    ,i approach this 
question as one who dares to believe    
that  ,christianity is the future       
religion of mankind4 ,i believe this    
because  ,i see no other religious      
system in the least degree competent to 
take  this place4 ,i believe it because 
the closer linking of mankind by        
commercial and intellectual bonds       
appears to me as nothing less than a    
preparation for the linking together of 
the whole human race in one  great      
spiritual kingdom4 ,i believe it because
 ,i see in the ,man ,christ  ,jesus the 
,one who alone can appeal to all ages   
and all races and all  classes of men3  
who is in very truth the ,son of ,man4  
,i believe it  supremely because ,i see 
in ,him the only begotten ,son of ,god  
sent into  the world for the redemption 
of mankind1 and offering ,his life as   
the  one supreme sacrifice for the sins 
of the whole world4 ,it is with  nothing

 short of a passionate longing that ,i  
desire that the ,society  of ,friends   
may make its full contribution to the   
achievement of this  glorious ideal4 ,in
 the great purposes of ,god the full    
content of truth  will1 ,i feel assured1
 be some day discovered and followed by 
a  redeemed humanity4 ,for the ,society 
of ,friends1 which has already  played a
 great part in leading men into the     
truth1 ,i am ambitious that  we may not1
 through any failure of spiritual       
perception or moral  earnestness1 lose  
the opportunity of giving what has been 
given to us4  ,that which we have1 we   
hold in trust for the ,church and for   
the world4    ,on this occasion1 it is  
not my purpose to enlarge upon the      
contribution of our ,society to the     
world4 ,in common with all the          
,christian ,churches1 we have a great   
message to deliver4 ,even as ,george    
,fox said in his day we are charged     
primarily with 8the preaching of  the   
,everlasting ,gospel40 ,the great       

essentials of this gospel--the  ,divine 
,sonship of our ,lord and ,savior ,jesus
 ,christ3 ,his great  sacrifice for sin3
 ,his victory over it in ,his           
resurrection3 the gift  of ,his ,holy   
,spirit--these are the things which bind
 us together with  all sections of the  
,christian ,church1 and which give us1  
in common  with them1 a life-giving     
message to our own generation4 ,i wish  
it to  be clear that1 in passing over   
these fundamental questions1 it is not  
because ,i lightly esteem them2 but     
simply because ,i feel so sure that  we 
here are united with one another and    
with all who truly call upon  the name  
of ,christ1 and because ,i wish rather  
to emphasize and plead  for a more      
deliberate and sympathetic attempt to   
bring the message of  ,quakerism to our 
own generation4    ,but ,i do this in no
 narrow sectarian spirit4 ,it may be    
that the  following recollection of a   
,quaker boyhood represents to some      
extent  the attitude which many of us   

have held at one time in our lives4 8,i 
said #8thee' and #8thy' to everybody1   
and ,i would fully as soon have  used   
profane words as have said #8you' or    
#8yours' to any person4 ,i  thought only
 #8,friends' went to heaven1 and so ,i  
supposed that the use  of #8thee' and   
#8thy' was one of the main things that  
determined whether  one would be let in 
or not4 ,nobody ever told me anything   
like this and  if ,i had asked anybody  
at home about it1 ,i should have had my 
views  corrected4 ,but for a number of  
years this was my settled faith4 ,i     
pitied the poor neighbors who would     
never be let in1 and ,i wondered  why   
everybody did not #8join the ,meeting'  
and learn to say #8thee' and  #8thy4' ,i
 had one little ,gentile friend whom ,i 
could not bear to have  #8lost1' and ,i 
went faithfully to work and taught him  
#8the language1'  which he always used  
with me till he was ten or twelve years 
old1 when  the strain of the world got  
too heavy upon the little fellow6 ,i am 

quite sure no ,israelite1 in the days of
 ,israel's prosperity1 ever had  a more 
certain conviction that he belonged to a
 peculiar people whom  the ,lord had    
chosen as ,his own than ,i had4 ,there  
was for me an  absolute break between   
#8us' and anybody else4 ,this           
,phariseeism was  never taught me nor   
encouraged directly by anybody2 but ,i  
none the  less had it4 ,if ,i had       
anything in the world to glory over1 it 
was that  ,i was a ,quaker40#e          
,footnote #e3 8,a ,boy's ,religion from 
,memory10 by ,rufus ,m4 ,jones1     pp4 
#bd1 #be4    ,i have no doubt that we   
shall all wish to banish from our minds 
any  lingering suspicion of such a      
spirit as is represented by these words4
  ,to us it must be clear that no one   
sect is the sole repository of  truth1  
and that others may have more to give   
than we2 but this  attitude is not      
inconsistent with a clear sense of what 
is entrusted  to us and an intense      
desire to share it with all4    ,again  

,i want to make it clear1 in referring  
to various elements of the  ,quaker     
contribution1 that ,i am well aware that
 in respect of many of  these questions 
there are many individuals belonging to 
other  ,christian denominations who hold
 the same views and exemplify in their  
lives the same moral qualities4 ,i      
think1 however1 that ,i am right in     
saying that in each case ,friends hold a
 distinctive position through  the fact 
that they1 as an organization1 stand for
 these views of truth  and1 in some     
cases1 exhibit them through that        
organization in a way  which it is not  
possible for them to be exhibited in the
 lives of  single individuals4          
,,ii4    ,when one looks back upon the  
past #bej years and attempts to estimate
  the value of ,friends to the          
,christian life of ,england and         
,america1  there are certain outstanding
 features which at once arrest          
attention4 ,amongst the chief           
contributions which the ,society has    

been  successful in making hitherto to  
the ,christian life of ,england and     
,america are the following3    #a4 ,at a
 time when religion was in danger of    
becoming1 to a large  extent1 formal1   
ceremonial and external1 the early      
,friends succeeded  in calling the      
attention of their own generation to the
 necessity for  a vital1 inward         
experience4 ,they undoubtedly helped    
many besides those  who actually joined 
with them into a clearer understanding  
of the  inwardness of the ,christian    
gospel1 and into a personal experience  
of  the living and indwelling ,christ4  
#b4 ,the ,reformation and               
post-,reformation period was marked by  
that  intensity of religious conviction 
which so often leads to intolerance  and
 religious bigotry4 ,even those who had 
suffered persecution  themselves        
followed the very example one would have
 expected them to  avoid as soon as the 
opportunity occurred4 ,that our         
spiritual  forefathers had an immense   

influence upon that age1 in bringing    
about  a greater spirit of religious    
toleration1 cannot be doubted by any    
who read carefully the religious history
 of that time4    #c4 ,from the day that
 ,william ,penn entered into treaty with
 the ,red  ,indian ,chiefs till the day 
when ,john ,woolman made his protest    
against  ,negro ,slavery1 and on till   
,john ,greenleaf ,whittier thrilled the 
nation  with the songs which called to  
love and brotherhood1 ,friends have     
consistently stood for an attitude of   
sympathetic understanding of  other     
races4 ,nowhere perhaps has this been   
more publicly and more  deservedly      
acknowledged than by the action of      
,president ,grant in  handing over to   
,friends the management of certain      
reservations for ,red  ,indians1 a      
policy which he declared had proved     
8most satisfactory40    #d4 ,even at the
 time when ,quakerism ceased to be a    
powerful evangelical  force1 and when   
,friends seem to have lost something of 

their first  love1 the ,society was     
producing men and women of outstanding  
,christian  character1 who were known to
 be no hypocrites2 whose word was their 
bond2 whose business integrity was      
proverbial and whose character for      
truthfulness and honesty was surely an  
outstanding contribution to the         
,christian life of the eighteenth       
century4 ,this type of character has1   
,i believe1 been largely maintained till
 the present day4    #e4 ,and lastly1   
scarcely any great philanthropic        
movement has risen  during the last #bjj
 years which has not had the support of 
,friends2  and notable cases could be   
quoted to show the way in which ,friends
  have taken the lead in such matters4  
,especially at times when  religious    
revival has taken on emotional forms1   
and when the emphasis  has been thrown  
almost exclusively upon the subjective  
side1 it has  been of great benefit to  
the ,church to have the association of  
practical philanthropy with the very    

,society which has always insisted  on  
the necessity for an inward experience4 
,i refer to these few historic examples 
in order to illustrate the way  in which
 ,i am approaching the question1 and to 
show how a particular  ,christian       
,society has1 for upwards of #bej years1
 been steadily  bringing its influence  
to bear upon the ,christian life of two 
great  nations4 ,in looking back upon   
the past1 we may truly thank ,god and   
take courage4 ,let there be no thought  
of arrogance in our minds2 but  rather  
of deep humility1 as we proceed to look 
into the problems which  confront us    
to-day1 and consider in what direction  
our ,society may  contribute towards    
their solution4      ,,iii4    ,in      
whatever direction we look to-day1 we   
see the danger of an invading           
materialism4 ,by this ,i do not mean any
 philosophic position4 ,in fact1  ,i do 
not believe that what might be called   
philosophic materialism is  gaining     
ground at the present time4 ,it does    

seem to me1 however1 that  a practical  
agnosticism is making itself felt in    
very many quarters4  ,the vague sense   
that ,god is responsible for the        
,universe1 that at one  time some great 
,cause operated to bring it all into    
being and that1 in  some way1 we are all
 still depending upon the benevolent    
activity of  that ,cause1 is not        
,christianity4 ,the ,christian ,church  
is being  invaded by this uncertainty   
with regard to ,god4 ,there is a        
loosening1  it seems to me1 of that     
close grip upon the eternal verities    
which  enables men perpetually to draw  
upon the resources of ,god1 to throw    
themselves in the abandonment of faith  
upon a living ,savior and to  find that 
faith justified at every step of the    
way4 ,men do not like to  set forth upon
 a path without knowing whither it      
leads4 ,the prevailing  scientific      
temper leads men to test everything many
 times1 to trust  nothing beyond the    
range of verifiable scientific facts4   

,this breeds a  spirit which only takes 
cognizance of the things which can be   
seen and  felt and weighed and measured4
 ,where is there room in this narrowed  
universe for the limitless activity of  
the ,god of ,love8    ,when we turn our 
eyes to the non-,christian world1 the   
danger becomes  more startlingly        
apparent4 ,here are the 8child races0   
filled with that  sense of the mystery  
and awe which the little child1 even in 
our  materialistic modern world1 still  
has4 ,the savage thinks of ,god as      
infinitely near1 or at least he thinks  
that the spirits of the  departed are4  
,it needs no carefully stated argument  
to demonstrate the  existence of an     
unknown world4 ,it lies all about and   
around4 ,he is  reminded of it by the   
thunder and the lightning4 ,and to him  
there  comes our modern education       
explaining away all the beautiful or the
  dreadful mystery of life1 and1 before 
he knows what has happened1 he  is      
losing his sense of ,god4 ,the old      

sanctions are loosened as the old  fear 
is removed1 and he has got helplessly   
adrift into the mid-stream  of a barren 
rationalism4    ,what are we to do for  
him and what are we to do for the modern
 man in  our midst8 ,we shall not have  
to go very far to search for those who  
still find the remedy in an elaborate   
and beautiful religious  ceremonial2 who
 will tell us that it is foolish to     
build our religious  conviction upon    
mere personal experience3 that we are   
rather to turn  back to the experience  
of the ,christian ,church4 ,we are to   
observe its  ordinances perfectly4      
,there are to be stated seasons of      
prayer3 there  are to be stated means of
 grace3 and through these1 whether you  
feel any better for it or not1 you will 
be brought into line with  the          
experience of the ,catholic ,church and 
become partakers of ,heavenly  grace4 ,i
 am far from denying that beautiful     
forms of worship1 that  stated seasons  
of prayer1 or that time-honored ritual  

may have a real  place in the spiritual 
experience of very many4 ,doubtless1    
these  things have been of value in     
bringing numbers of souls into the      
,kingdom of ,god1 and will still be so4 
,to me it seems1 however1 that  they are
 fraught with great danger4 ,especially 
at the present time1  when men intensely
 desire reality1 they are apt to become 
impatient  with the forms of a bygone   
age1 however zealously they may be      
followed  by some of their              
contemporaries4 ,and1 on the other hand1
 there are  those who are too readily   
content with the outward and allow the  
mere  forms of religion to salve the    
uneasy conscience4 ,was there1 ,i       
wonder1  ever a time when men needed    
more than they do to-day a clear summons
  into a life of spiritual reality and  
of personal intimate knowledge of  ,god8
 ,can we summon them back as did our    
forefathers8 ,have we the  message that 
they had8 ,can we say1 as did ,francis  
,howgill1 8,the ,lord  appeared daily to

 us to our astonishment1 amazement and  
great  admiration1 insomuch that we     
often said one to another with great joy
  of heart1 #8,what6 ,is the ,kingdom of
 ,god come to be with men8'0 ,the       
message sent forth by the ,edinburgh    
,conference to the whole ,church of     
,christ called her to realize that 8,god
 is demanding of us all a new  order of 
life 444 that ,he is greater1 more      
loving1 nearer and more  available for  
our help and comfort than any man has   
dreamed40 ,if there  was one thing which
 the ,society of ,friends was called    
into existence  to proclaim1 it was this
 very truth4 ,are we proclaiming it     
to-day8  ,and1 for the non-,christian   
world1 how great is the danger of       
substituting one set of ceremonies for  
another4 ,to those who have been  in the
 habit of trusting to such barren rites 
as the burning of paper  money1 the     
washing in the ,ganges and the sacred   
but often most unholy  feasts1 how easy 
it is to allow the burning of incense or

 the rites  of ,baptism or the ,holy    
,communion to take the same place in    
their  thoughts and to be trusted for   
salvation or merit in the same way4 ,in 
fact1 one of our own missionaries in    
,ceylon was a man who had1 for  some    
years1 worked in connection with another
 ,society1 and who had  found that he   
was in constant difficulty because he   
was building up  with one hand what he  
had to remove with the other4 ,he came  
to the  conclusion that1 if he was to   
help men into a personal experience of  
,christ1 he must take away entirely all 
possibility of trusting to  outward     
rites1 and preach to them the simple    
,quaker message4 ,when the  ,friend     
missionaries in ,china met after the    
,west ,china ,conference to  consider   
the way in which we might express in a  
few words the  contribution of ,friends 
towards the doctrine and practice of a  
,union  ,church1 they drew up a brief   
statement which contains the following  
words under the heading of 8sacraments40

 ,these words are intended to  convey   
the essence of the ,quaker position on  
this point4    #a4 8,the ,pre-eminence  
of the ,spiritual ,experience4    #b4   
8,the ,spiritual ,experience may be     
realized independently of any  special  
occasion1 rite1 or mediating person1    
except our ,lord4    #c4 8,membership of
 the ,church of ,christ is of such a    
character that any  outward recognition 
fails adequately to determine it40      
,if the complete ,christian message is  
to be given1 if the ,christian  ,church 
is to enter fully into an understanding 
of the mind of the  ,master1 this aspect
 of truth needs to be emphasized1 not   
only by words  but by lives1 and not    
only by the lives of individuals but by 
that  added emphasis which comes through
 the existence of a corporate ,body1    
whose very existence depends upon the   
validity of this tremendous  fact4 ,our 
position as a ,society does depend upon 
this truth1 and out  of it grow many    
other of our special contributions1 if  

not all4 ,we are  set in the world of   
to-day to testify to a truth the        
enunciation of  which has never been    
more urgently or more widely needed4    
,the whole  ,church of ,christ should be
 sounding forth this message4 ,she      
needs1  therefore1 a body of persons who
 stand for the principle that ,god      
deals directly with every soul of man1  
ever challenging the spirit of  man to  
rest in nothing short of direct personal
 intercourse with ,god4      ,,iv4      
,no one can be blind to the way in which
 every detail of our life is  being     
modified by the many new inventions     
which accelerate the rate of  living4   
,we crowd into a single day more than   
our forefathers could put  into a week4 
,the express train1 the telegraph and   
the telephone1 the  typewriter1 the     
multiplied devices for saving time--all 
these things  are speeding up life to   
the point at which the time for         
meditation and  quiet is crowded out4   
,this is surely a great and growing     

danger of  which none of us is wholly   
unconscious4    ,i have been surprised  
to find in how many different circles   
there is  at the present time a feeling 
of dissatisfaction with the forms of    
worship which have for long been        
regarded as sufficiently  satisfactory4 
,i know a number of cases where1 in high
 church circles1  prominent people are  
feeling after something more akin to a  
,quaker  ,meeting than anything else4 ,i
 am also intimately associated with some
  of the most living movements in my own
 country1 in which meetings have  been  
held on the same lines4 ,this does not  
mean that great value does  not still   
attach to regular arranged services4 ,no
 doubt the vast  majority of those who  
attend the services of the ,anglican    
,church are  still finding out that     
their spiritual needs are met thereby2  
but1  there are others1 and some of them
 are choice spirits1 who feel the  need 
of more liberty and who crave for more  
stillness in their  worship4 ,they are  

coming to recognize the great danger of 
the regular  pre-arranged service such  
as is usual in most other denominations4
  ,they fear1 perhaps1 the invasion of  
the sanctuary by the spirit of  rush and
 hurry4    ,turning to the mission      
field1 ,i could quote many examples     
which show  the way in which the ,quaker
 form of worship appeals to some of     
those  who are being brought out of     
heathenism4 ,i think of one young man1 a
  close personal friend of my own in    
,china1 who1 having attended one or  two
 ,friends' ,meetings1 came to us and    
urged us1 at a very early stage  in our 
mission work in ,chengtu1 to establish a
 regular ,friends'  ,meeting in addition
 to the ordinary mission services2 and  
,i recall  with keen satisfaction the   
experiment which we made and the true   
worship into which ,chinese and ,english
 together entered and the  helpful and  
inspired ministry which arose out of it4
 ,a leading ,indian  ,christian1        
describing the establishment of the     

,national ,missionary  ,society of      
,india1 explained to a ,friend the way  
in which the  ,christians had met       
together for united worship1 sitting as 
he said  often as much as half an hour  
in silence and then breaking out1 as    
prompted by the ,spirit1 into prayer and
 praise4 8,we10 he said1 8find  this    
most helpful2 it means a great deal to  
us1 and we have meetings  of this kind  
before every one of our business        
sessions2 but10 he  continued1 8you     
won't be able to understand it2 it is so
 different  from your ,english ways40   
,you can imagine his surprise on being  
told  that he had almost exactly        
described the way in which the ,friend  
to  whom he was speaking habitually     
worshiped4 ,not long ago ,i took a      
friend of mine to ,meeting4 ,he was a   
man who had spent some years in  ,india 
and had become intimately associated    
with a number of ,indian  students4     
,after ,meeting he asked me if our      
,meetings were open to the  public2     

because1 if so1 he would like to bring  
some of his ,indian  friends to         
,meeting1 as he felt it was exactly the 
thing which would  help them4    ,it    
seems to me that1 in the forms of       
worship in other ,churches1 we  have    
either on the one hand a united act of  
worship which is to some  extent formal1
 as when the congregation joins in the  
singing of a hymn  or in a set prayer2  
or else on the other hand we have an    
individual  act which is not formal but 
inspired1 as when a man filled with a   
message from ,god delivers it to the    
congregation4 ,i know no other  form of 
worship which fulfils my idea of a      
united act inspired of  ,god4 ,as we    
wait together upon ,him we are together 
called into ,his  ,holy presence4 ,the  
silence represents to us not merely the 
touch of  each individual spirit with   
the ,spirit of ,god2 it represents      
rather  the uniting of our spirits      
together in harmony with ,his ,spirit4  
,thus  are we privileged to understand  

something of that true ,communion of    
the ,saints which is to be fully        
experienced in the life beyond4 ,a      
,friends' ,meeting filled with the sense
 of the presence of ,god is1 to  my     
mind1 one of the chief contributions    
which ,friends ought to be  making to   
the life of the ,church of ,christ4     
,this ideal was well  expressed by ,t4  
,r4 ,glover in the ,swarthmore ,lecture4
    8,when it is real worship1 common   
worship may take the individual soul  a 
good deal further than it may go alone4 
,we make the atmosphere for  one        
another--courage1 depression1 hope1     
study1 reflection or whatever  it may   
be2 and faith is1 as a matter of fact1  
as liable to be helped  as hindered by  
environment4 ,prayer1 when it is        
reality1 and when it  is the common     
activity in one place at one time of a  
community of like  experience1 may reach
 a higher plane than we have known      
before1 not as  a matter of mere emotion
 but with results that do not pass away4

    8,love is reinforced by this        
solidarity of the ,christian communion1 
for  in it ,christ becomes more real1   
and things are apt to be seen here  sub 
specie aeternitatis in their true       
proportions4 ,such vision of  reality   
will over and over again be translated  
into action and  consecration4 ,the     
common worship1 if it is the act of all1
 and done in  deep seriousness1 passes  
out of the formal into the effective1   
with or  without mystical rite or       
element1 it becomes communion1 and we   
understand in a new and quieter way what
 the early ,church meant by its         
doctrine of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,god's   
,spirit is not bound by our  choosing1  
but it is possible for us to become more
 receptive4 ,it is  easy to see how men 
have come to the view that through the  
,church the  gift of the ,spirit is     
mediated40#f      ,footnote #f3         
,swarthmore ,lecture1 #aiab1 pp4 #fh1   
#fi4    ,he has to add however1 8,it is1
 ,i think1 right to say here that these 

paragraphs are an epitome of my         
observations and experience of the      
,student ,christian ,movement20 a       
statement which may well suggest to us  
in ,england that our ,meetings have not 
been all they might have been in  recent
 years4 ,although ,i do not consider the
 following statement as  satisfactory as
 that previously quoted from the same   
source1 ,i should  like again to refer  
to the statement drawn up by the members
 of the  ,friends' ,mission in ,west    
,china4    8#a4 ,united worship should  
provide opportunities for the ,spirit of
 ,god  to deal individually with each   
worshiper as well as for each worshiper 
to approach to ,god in the way best     
suited to his individuality4    8#b4    
,each individual has a ministry for the 
benefit of all1 to be  exercised in     
spirit1 and the true worship of         
believers depends upon  the faithfulness
 of each4    8#c4 ,worship should       
provide an opportunity for this ministry
 to assume  vocal form1 under the       

guidance of the ,holy ,spirit1 who may  
thus use  any worshiper40    ,i recently
 received a letter from one of the most 
prominent religious  leaders in this    
country in which he said3 8,this morning
 ,i attended the  ,old ,friends'        
,meeting here in ,philadelphia and was  
much refreshed in  spirit4 ,i believe we
 must have more of the spirit of the    
,friends if we  are to save ,north      
,american ,christianity40    ,if        
meetings such as these have a real and  
timely message to-day1 it  becomes us to
 see that we do not lower our ideal and 
that we strive to  achieve it more      
nearly in every meeting we hold4 ,for   
the ,church needs  a quiet place in     
which its members can together hear     
,god's voice and  find afresh the       
message and the power to believe it4 ,it
 needs to learn  how to wait upon ,god4 
,v4    ,one of the most notable features
 of the last century has been the       
progress of the democratic movement4    
,every one who has watched that         

movement must realize the great danger  
of the tyranny of majorities4  ,it is   
true that this danger seems to most of  
us to-day a smaller one  than the danger
 of the tyranny of a bureaucracy or of  
an autocrat4  ,but1 whichever way we    
look at it1 it does not seem that we    
have found  the true solution4 ,is it   
not possible that the pendulum has swung
 too  far and that we have yet to       
discover the highest principle upon     
which  a ,state may be governed8    ,in 
the new democracies of the ,east there  
is perhaps a greater danger1  owing to  
the rapidity with which the new ideas   
have spread and the  lack of an         
understanding of the deeper principles  
out of which they  spring4 ,those who   
have closely followed affairs in the    
,far ,east will  realize with what      
anxious eyes ,japan has been watching   
the democratic  movement in ,china1 and 
how she would have given almost anything
 to  preserve at least the name of      
monarchy for ,china4 ,in ,india and in  

other nations the desire for an         
independent government and the rule of  
the people is outrunning the growth in  
ability to fulfil such  functions4 ,the 
spread of democracy and the desire for  
national  independence is making itself 
felt1 not only in the ,state but also in
  the young ,churches in the ,far ,east4
 ,on the one hand we have those  systems
 of ,church ,government which are       
classed together as ,episcopal1  and in 
which the authority is vested in a      
comparatively few4 ,on the  other hand  
we have ,churches which pin their faith 
to the old adage  8vox populi vox ,dei40
    ,i question whether either has found
 the solution to the difficulty of  the 
young ,church4 ,in both systems there   
lurk dangers which can here  only be    
hinted at4    ,it has often seemed to me
 that ,friends do not realize how much  
they  have in their ,meetings for       
,discipline4 ,i believe that we have    
here a  most valuable contribution      
towards the solution of the difficulty  

at  which ,i have hinted4 ,we have at   
least an ideal which we ought to be     
most careful not to surrender4 ,let me  
explain a little more fully what  ,i    
mean4    ,we meet together on the       
assumption that ,jesus ,christ is the   
,head of  the ,church and that we can   
trust ,him to lead it4 ,we enter upon   
the  discussion of a difficult matter of
 business with the full knowledge  that 
many different shades of opinion will be
 represented in that  meeting4          
,nevertheless1 we discuss it with the   
confidence that the will  of ,god will  
be made known to us as a ,body of       
persons1 and through the  whole ,body2  
not that is to say merely through the   
individual or set of  individuals who   
act as a ,cabinet1 nor even through the 
majority of  those present4 ,we discuss 
the question together and we believe    
that1  at the end of that discussion1 we
 shall be led to a united judgment as   
to the wisdom of a certain course of    
action4 ,that judgment may not be  the  

opinion of any one individual in the    
room4 ,it may be the opinion  of the    
actual minority of those present2 but1  
if we are in a true  ,friends' ,meeting 
for ,discipline1 we come out of that    
room all of us  satisfied that the      
,spirit of ,god has ,himself determined 
our action and  that ,he has1 as it     
were1 made ,himself responsible for it4 
,if we  entered our ,meetings for       
,discipline in this spirit1 they would  
assuredly be a sacrament to every one of
 us4 ,there is need for as much         
consecration of heart in them as in the 
,meeting for ,worship2 and  perhaps     
more1 for it is not easy to give up     
one's own pet theories and  prejudices4 
,if this call to sacrifice is cheerfully
 accepted1 our  ,meetings for           
,discipline should be of untold blessing
 to each of us2  and thus there would be
 a chance for us to do our part in the  
solution  of this most difficult        
problem4 ,the end towards which we are  
working  is the ,kingdom of             

,god--neither a democracy nor           
bureaucracy1 but a  theocracy4 ,here    
again ,i am encouraged by noticing in   
some movements  with which ,i have been 
connected in recent years1 a tendency to
 follow  in certain lines the methods   
which ,friends have adopted in their    
,meetings for ,discipline4 ,i refer     
especially to certain ,missionary       
,conferences and ,committees with which 
,i am connected1 and to my  experience  
in the ,student ,christian ,movement of 
,great ,britain and  ,ireland4 ,and to  
apply this more particularly to the     
conditions in the  mission field at the 
present time3 in every mission we find  
this  restless desire for autonomy4 ,if 
we truly believe that the ,spirit of    
,christ is present in the ,church       
itself1 surely there need be no fear  in
 our standing aside as foreigners and   
leaving the ,church to ,him who  has    
been the ,founder of it and who is      
,himself responsible for its  future4   
,if1 on the other hand1 we leave only   

the ideal of government  by certain     
,bishops specially chosen1 or by a      
majority which can  perhaps be maneuvred
 in the interests of a particular person
 or  opinion1 we shall indeed have grave
 cause to fear for the ,church as it  is
 left to itself4    ,to those not       
accustomed to such procedure this seems1
 no doubt1 like a  wild impossibility4  
,to ,friends it is a serious truth and  
the  experience of this one ,christian  
body has demonstrated1 amid much        
failure at times1 its entire            
practicability as a method of           
transacting  business4 ,whether or no   
this method be adopted by wider circles1
 it is  nevertheless true that the      
,church needs a deeper conviction of the
  active presence of ,god 8in the midst 
of her10 not merely to inspire  the     
individual but also to direct the       
counsels of the body as a  whole4       
,,vi4    ,next to the danger of         
materialism or practical agnosticism in 
the  ,church of ,christ comes perhaps   

the danger of opportunism4 ,i suppose to
  the end of time there will be         
difference of opinion on the question of
  compromise4 ,that a certain element of
 compromise must come into human  life1 
as it is now arranged1 seems to me      
inevitable4 ,much as we chafe  against  
it1 we are bound to accept it1 owing to 
the limitations of our  existence here4 
,to take one of many examples3 ,i       
suppose there is no  one of us who does 
not year by year contribute1 through the
 payment of  taxes either direct or     
indirect1 to the maintenance of the     
,army and  the ,navy1 and perhaps to    
other actions on the part of the ,state 
with  which he equally disapproves4     
,there is1 however1 a whole range of    
problems upon which opinions differ very
 greatly4 ,the question to  which ,i    
have made allusion--the question of     
,peace--illustrates my  meaning perhaps 
as well as any4 ,at what point are we   
going to make our  ,peace principles    
felt8 ,there are certain fundamental    

propositions to  which every member of  
the ,church of ,christ can be found to  
assent4  ,that we should love our       
enemies3 that we should do good to those
 that  hate us3 that we should show     
kindness to all men3 and so forth4 ,but 
at  what point are you going to apply   
these principles8 ,we are living in a   
world where some kind of physical force 
seems to be absolutely  necessary4 ,i   
doubt if there are any of us who would  
go as far as  ,tolstoi in our rejection 
of it4    ,but does this mean that we   
must therefore accept war as a necessity
 of  this present evil time1 and        
therefore be prepared ourselves to take 
up  arms1 as many of our                
fellow-,christians think8 ,the          
8practical  commonsense man0 sees no    
other course1 even if his conscience do 
cry  out at times4    ,to take another  
of the great problems which press upon  
us in these  days1 viz3 the relation of 
,christianity to business4 8,business is
  business0 too often means that        

,christian principles cannot be applied 
to it4 ,there are so many things a man  
8must do0 if he is to get along  at all4
 8,it is better to leave religion out   
altogether in some of  these practical  
affairs40 ,in non-,christian countries  
we constantly see  the divorce of ethics
 from religion2 and ,i am afraid the    
evil is not  confined to distant lands4 
,we all know something of the pulpit    
that  dare not denounce the sins        
practiced by the wealthiest of the      
congregation3 the minister whose tongue 
is tied upon sweating and  overcrowding3
 the church-member who is zealous in the
 observance of  religion1 but lacking in
 his business obligations4    ,what a   
need for the thoroughgoing ,christian   
who has ideals and  maintains them in   
everyday life1 who will not lower them  
to suit the  exigencies of life1 or the 
pressure of social custom1 to whom      
expediency is a forbidden word even     
though its exclusion may mean the       
,cross6    ,or turn to the great        

non-,christian world with which we are  
daily  brought into contact4 ,here is   
one of the greatest problems1 if not the
  greatest1 which confronts our         
civilization to-day4 ,how are we going  
to  meet our fellow-men of other races8 
,the politician has his solution3  the  
commercial man has his4 ,what is to be  
the solution of the citizen  of the     
,kingdom of ,god8 ,there can only be one
 answer3 we must go to  these men as to 
those who are our brethren2 we must see 
them not as  wholly bad or depraved1 but
 as those who have in them infinite     
potentialities1 who are called into the 
same citizenship and the same  sonship  
which we enjoy4 ,we must reaffirm to-day
 our belief in that  ,light which       
lighteth every man1 but we dare not be  
content at that4 ,as  our forefathers   
led the way in the understanding of     
sympathy with  other races2 so we to    
whom these still more intricate problems
 present  themselves1 must stand for the
 ideal1 however hard it seems--the ideal

  of spiritual kinship and the strenuous
 effort to realize it in our            
relationship with other races2 and so it
 comes about that the ,foreign          
,missionary enterprise seems to be of   
the very essence of ,quakerism1  and    
that we find it closely akin to the     
great causes of ,peace and              
,anti-slavery with which our ,society   
has ever been identified4 ,is the       
,church of ,christ playing the part     
which it ought to play in regard to     
these matters8 ,is it taking the stand  
which it ought to take in regard  to the
 color problem in this country1 in      
regard to the export of  spirituous     
liquors1 and so forth8 ,what1 indeed1 is
 to be our view of a  ,christian        
,mission ,college which deliberately    
includes in its  curriculum military    
drill with the full paraphernalia of    
warfare1 and  this in the traditionally 
peace-loving empire of ,china8 ,to me it
 seems  evident that there is a great   
place for the ,society of ,friends in   

this  movement1 just because we stand   
upon the side of idealism in all these  
complicated issues4    ,right along the 
line ,quakerism ranks itself on this    
side4 ,the ,society  of ,friends1 as ,i 
read its history1 has stood for an      
idealism which is  well in advance of   
the current practice4 ,in the holding of
 our  ,meetings for ,worship we have    
stood for the absolute ideal2 many of   
our  ,christian brethren admit it in    
theory1 but regard it as quite outside  
the sphere of practical religion4 ,the  
same seems to be true as regards  the   
,sacraments1 ,oaths1 and so forth4 ,the 
idealist is needed as much  to-day as   
ever he was4 ,the moral reforms1 to the 
achievement of which  ,friends have     
contributed so much1 have been attained 
by men who dared  to be regarded as     
utterly impracticable1 as mere dreamers 
and  visionaries4 ,when slavery1 for    
example1 was knit into the very fabric  
of ,society1 when its abolition seemed  
certain to lead to an industrial        

cataclysm1 ,friends were not wanting who
 boldly said1 8,whatever  happens1 we   
must liberate the slave20 and in the end
 the visionary was  right and the       
practical common-sense man was wrong2   
and the simple  secret of it all was    
that the visionary saw ,god first and   
his  fellow-men in the light of ,god's  
will for them4    ,no less has it been  
true in business affairs that ,friends  
have  maintained the strictest standard 
of integrity in the face of  opposition 
and probable loss4 ,they recognized a   
higher obligation  which must be obeyed 
whatever the consequence which faced    
them4 ,and in  the strength of that     
idealism they won their way to the      
respect and  confidence of their        
fellows4 ,in the end they were often    
found to be  the more practical in spite
 of 7or was it because of87 their       
unreasoning idealism4 8,it was in this  
focussing upon moral effort  that the   
,quakers differed most from the other   
sects of the  ,commonwealth period4     

,their #8views' were not novel or       
original4 ,every  one of their peculiar 
views had already been proclaimed by    
some  individual or by some religious   
party4 ,what was new was the fixing of  
their ideas into one living truth1 which
 was henceforth to be done1  was to be  
put into life and made to march40#g     
,footnote #g3 ,w4 ,c4 ,braithwaite's    
8,beginnings of ,quakerism10     p4     
xliii4    ,and to-day1 if the ,society  
is true to its past it will not lose the
  chance of standing on the same side   
for the ideal1 the ,christian and  the  
only final solution of these complex    
problems4 ,the ,church needs a  body of 
men and women who will dare to be fools1
 unpractical1  dreamers1 in following   
the ,light and who will act up to their 
ideals4      ,,vii4    ,another         
outstanding feature of to-day1 to which 
the ,society of ,friends  ought to have 
a special relation1 is that which is    
spoken of as the  ,women's ,movement4   
,this undoubtedly expresses much more   

than a  political or social aspiration4 
,it corresponds in some measure to the  
democratic movement and indicates the   
stirring of spiritual  aspirations4 ,its
 symptoms are seen not only in the      
movement for  women's suffrage1 and not 
only in ,western countries4 ,a recent   
book1  published by the wife of one of  
the ruling chiefs of ,india1 is         
symptomatic of great changes that are   
taking place all over the ,east4  ,the  
book is a statement of the positions    
which are open to women in  ,western    
countries1 and an urgent plea for the   
opening of these doors  to the women of 
the ,east also4 ,although lacking in the
 realization of  the difficulty of      
suddenly making so great a change in    
,india1 the book  is well worthy of     
notice as indicating the stirrings of a 
new life  among ,indian women4 ,hardly  
any contrast could be imagined greater  
than  their condition in the past and   
that which is sketched out for them in  
the future by the authoress of this     

book4 ,probably many will have  noticed 
that an incident in the deliberations of
 the ,provisional  ,national ,convention
 of ,china at ,nanking was the          
presentation of a  petition from the    
women of that country for the granting  
of women's  suffrage4    ,i was recently
 made vividly aware of the vast         
difference between the  practice of     
,friends and that of other ,christian   
denominations by the  consideration of a
 report on the relations between men and
 women in  the mission field1 which was 
presented to a representative           
,missionary  ,conference in ,great      
,britain last summer4 ,the report urged 
that an  equal share in the management  
of mission affairs should be given to   
women1 and brought forward a strong     
array of reasons in favor thereof4  ,it 
was referred to by a member of one of   
the largest missionary  societies as 8a 
momentous report40 ,a lady ,friend      
described it as  8daring incursions into
 the obvious40 ,the fact is that we as  

,friends  possess the very thing which  
some other ,churches are beginning to   
realize they need4 ,a brilliant writer  
and prominent ,free ,church  leader in  
,great ,britain has recently asked the  
question why1 in these  days of the     
higher education of women1 should the   
ministry be a  monopoly of the men2 and 
we ,friends echo1 with the thought of   
,elizabeth ,fry and ,hannah ,chapman    
,backhouse and many another in our      
minds1 8,why1 indeed60 ,to the spiritual
 insight and courage of our  forefathers
 we owe it1 that in the ,society of     
,friends we can say  8,there is neither 
male nor female40 ,i wonder if we       
sufficiently  realize how great an      
heritage this is--how sacred a trust2   
and if we  take sufficient pains to     
bring our message in this respect to the
  notice of others4 ,if the women's     
movement1 with all its great            
possibilities1 is to be a contribution1 
as it ought to be1 to the  building up  
of the ,kingdom of ,god1 the ,churches  

need to adopt a  sympathetic attitude   
towards it1 and to express in their own 
organizations their readiness to adapt  
themselves to meet its ideals4  ,if they
 are to do this with confidence1 what   
greater stimulus could  they have than  
the knowledge1 which few outside our    
borders possess1 ,i  fear1 of the       
uniform experience of our ,society      
throughout its  history8 ,the ,church   
needs to realize with greater vividness 
how much  the consecrated womanhood in  
her midst can contribute to her life1   
and  to give women the fullest          
opportunity to make that contribution4  
,,viii4    ,if the women's movement     
expresses1 as it undoubtedly does1 a    
spiritual  aspiration1 ,i think the same
 may be said with perhaps equal force of
  the labor movements in ,western       
countries4 ,that many working-men have  
been practically unable to develop the  
higher side of their nature1 on  account
 of the conditions of labor1 is         
generally admitted4 ,the  movement for  

higher wages and better conditions of   
work is1 after all1  something more than
 the expression of a grievance against  
capital4  ,there is the deep yearning   
for a fuller life4 ,this great          
aspiration  the ,churches should        
recognize and seek to meet4 ,speaking   
for my own  country1 ,i can say that one
 of the great obstacles with which the  
,churches are confronted in dealing with
 the working-men is the  suspicion of   
the mercenary spirit4 ,to the           
workingman1 the clergyman is  paid to do
 a certain job and must justify his     
existence4 ,of course  this is a        
prejudice which is soon removed when the
 man gets into such  personal relations 
with the minister as to feel the        
heartbeat of a  true friendship1 but    
often these personal relationships are  
hindered  through the prejudice referred
 to4 ,do not these facts suggest that   
there is a need for one section of the  
,church which has not this  disability  
and whose ministers are all laymen8     

,and this brings me to the further      
thought of the need for this very       
testimony on the mission field to-day4  
,the other day in ,india a  missionary  
of another ,society said to me1         
8,whatever you ,friends do1 do  not give
 up your principles in regard to a free 
ministry10 and he  proceeded to quote to
 me a case of some well-to-do young men 
whose  mother was an earnest ,christian 
woman4 ,she1 it appeared1 had been      
urged to take up regular ,christian     
work1 and they had constantly stood  in 
the way4 ,when pressed as to the reason 
for such action1 they  informed the     
missionary that they could not allow    
their mother to take  up ,christian work
 because the neighbors would at once say
 that they  could not afford to keep    
her2 so intimately were the ideas of    
,christian work and the payment of a    
salary connected in the minds of  the   
,indians4 ,how often do we hear the gibe
 flung at ,christian ,missions  that    
their converts are all 8rice            

,christians60 ,the element of truth in  
the slander of course is this--that so  
many of the best are called to  direct  
religious work for which they receive   
regular payment4 ,at a  conference of   
leading ,christians held recently1 a    
strong  representation was made to the  
foreigners present1 and through them to 
the home boards1 to the effect that     
missionaries should lay greater         
emphasis on the calling of ,christians  
into business life and cease to  so     
state the problem of ,christian service 
as to lead to the inevitable  conclusion
 that the only place for the most       
consecrated ,christians was  the        
ministry4 ,the great need1 in fact1 is  
that there should be a vast  increase of
 voluntary workers2 that the idea of    
8every ,christian a  missionary0 should 
permeate the whole ,church1 both at home
 and abroad4  ,we have seen recently    
that wonderful results can flow when    
this ideal  dominates the ,church1 as in
 the history of the last ten years in   

,korea4    ,now ,friends have a position
 of peculiar strength in this matter and
  one which in ,england has been nobly  
used1 especially through the ,adult     
,school movement4    ,i am not here to  
say that the practice of ,friends needs 
no  modification1 in view of the special
 circumstances either of  missionary    
work abroad or of the conditions of a   
new country like  this2 but ,i do most  
emphatically believe that ,friends have 
here a  great testimony and one which is
 needed by the whole ,christian ,church4
    ,i am not maintaining that there is 
no place for the supported  minister4   
,you in ,america have found for him a   
larger place1 in the  special conditions
 of your life1 than we have among       
,friends in  ,england2 but1 even here1  
,i am persuaded that you recognize to   
the full  the primary thought that a man
 is not paid for his services or in     
proportion thereto1 but that he is      
simply maintained in order that he  may 
fulfil the ministry which has been      

entrusted to him4    ,is there not also 
great value in the insistence upon the  
fact that the  ministry of the ,church  
is not dependent upon the laying on of  
hands1  or any other outward ceremony8  
,i should like to quote again from the  
,west ,china document to which ,i have  
already referred1 under the  heading of 
8,ministry40    8#a4 ,the supreme and   
only indispensable qualification for the
 ,christian  ministry is the ,divine    
call1 habitually responded to4 ,any man 
or woman  so used of ,god is thereby    
constituted a ,christian minister4      
8#b4 ,the part of the ,church is to     
recognize such ministers40    ,it is not
 only the mere fact of his salary which 
makes the workingman  shun the parson4  
,it is the thought of a class set apart1
 different  from the ordinary man in the
 street4 ,are we making full use of the 
advantage we possess through having our 
business men engaged in the  active     
ministry of the ,church8 ,if we have    
broken down the barrier  between lay and

 cleric1 have we not at the same time   
done something to  remove the barrier   
between labor and the ,church8    ,the  
,church1 then1 needs to be reminded     
perpetually that the ministry  is not   
the work of a class but of all1 and that
 the service of ,christ  is not a       
profession but a free-will offering4    
,,ix4    ,there is one other direction  
in which my own experience leads me to  
believe that ,friends have a position of
 peculiar advantage and  responsibility1
 and ,i cannot close this address       
without making some  reference thereto4 
,we are all well aware of the great     
difficulties  which have been faced and 
are still being faced by the ,church of 
,christ to-day through the advent of the
 historical criticism of the  ,bible4   
,on the one hand there are those who    
believe that the ,bible  should be      
treated exactly as any other book2 that 
the various  documents which have been  
embodied in it should be critically     
examined and that every statement should

 be checked and challenged4  ,this      
treatment of the ,bible has led to      
results which many regard as  serious1  
if not disastrous4 ,so much is this the 
case that many of the  most earnest     
followers of ,christ believe on the     
other hand that the  whole movement1    
generally spoken of as the 8higher      
criticism10 is  altogether evil and to  
be resisted with the whole strength of  
the  ,church4 ,this school1 with which  
are associated some of the most  saintly
 and earnest ,christian workers1        
believes that we should  maintain the   
entire literal inspiration of the whole 
of ,holy  ,scripture4 ,from the results 
which they have seen in the case of many
  who have been grievously upset1 and   
whose faith seems to have been          
shipwrecked through following the higher
 critics1 they have come to  the        
conclusion that it is wrong to allow any
 question to be asked  which might lead 
to the shaking of our faith in the      
literal accuracy  of the whole book4 ,to

 some it seems as though these two      
schools of  thought could not possibly  
be reconciled4 ,they regard their       
opponents  as hopelessly narrow-minded  
and bigoted or as giving away the very  
essence of ,christian faith4 ,but can   
the ,christian ,church afford to  lose  
either section8 ,it is true there may be
 irreconcilable extremists  on both     
sides2 but even this ,i should be sorry 
to admit4 ,of course1  there are some   
who have entered upon the critical study
 of the ,bible  from a sceptical        
standpoint3 ,i am not referring to      
these4 ,but there  are many who are     
truly devout scholars and who are       
intensely loyal to  our ,lord ,jesus    
,christ2 and there are many younger men 
and women who  long to be able to       
maintain the faith delivered to their   
fathers1 but  who feel that1 in doing   
so1 they dare not be untrue to their own
  ,god-given reason1 and who are        
therefore compelled to face the         
questions which some would counsel them 

to leave alone4 ,the cure for  such is  
not to tell them that an unorthodox view
 with regard to the  authority of a     
certain book puts them outside the      
,kingdom of ,god3  unfortunately there  
are not a few whose counsels to the     
young would  seem to point in this      
direction4 ,can we not find a via media 
which  will help us to work together in 
love in spite of the fact that we       
differ so greatly even on so important a
 question8 ,if we cannot so  work       
together ,i believe there must be       
weakness in our testimony to  ,christ4  
,i think that the ,society of ,friends  
is in a position of unique  strength in 
regard to this difficult problem4 ,the  
early ,friends  realized--as their      
contemporaries did not--that the ,holy  
,scriptures  contained the word of ,god2
 but that it was not right to speak of  
them  as being the word of ,god4 ,they  
realized the danger1 to which the       
,reformers were many of them blind1 of a
 literalism in the  interpretation of   

,scripture which would bind men as did  
the tradition  of the ,elders in the    
time of ,christ4 ,nevertheless1 they    
held with  tremendous tenacity the view 
that the ,scriptures were indeed        
inspired  of ,god1 and this none the    
less because the same ,spirit who first 
inspired men of old to write was present
 and necessary to help the men  of      
to-day in the interpretation of those   
writings4 ,this view is thus  expressed 
by ,samuel ,fisher3    8,and because we 
do not1 with the misty ministers of the 
mere letter1  own the bare text of      
,scripture entire in every tittle1 but  
say it hath  suffered much loss of more 
than vowels1 single letters and single  
lines also1 yea1 even of whole epistles 
and prophecies of inspired  men1 the    
copies of which are not by the clergy   
canonized nor by the  ,bible sellers    
bound up1 and especially because we own 
not the said  alterable and much altered
 outward text1 but the holy truth and   
inward  light and spirit to be the ,word

 of ,god1 which is living and the true  
touchstone1 therefore they cry out      
against us4 ,yet the ,scriptures are    
owned by us in their due place and the  
letter is acknowledged by us  full as   
much as it is by itself1 to have been   
written by men moved of  ,god's         
,spirit40#h      ,footnote #h3 ,quoted  
in 8,beginnings of ,quakerism10 p4 #bhi4
    ,this1 it seems to me1 is the       
platform upon which all reverent        
scholars  and devout lovers of the      
,bible can meet4 ,the ,society of       
,friends1 which  has ever stood for     
tolerance1 is not the ,body to hurl     
anathemas at  those who are finding     
light for their path in ways that to    
some of us  may seem dark and tortuous4 
,rather1 is it not the ,body which1 in  
the  true spirit of its founders1 may   
bring us together with a tendering of   
spirit1 as we own allegiance to one     
common ,lord and as we recognize        
together the far greater dangers that   
confront the ,church in the sin  and    

unbelief of the world in which we live4 
,the ,church needs to recognize that    
even large divergence of view in        
reference to the ,bible is consistent   
with loyalty to ,christ1 and that  we   
must all stand together to face the     
great tasks that demand her  undivided  
attention4      ,x4    ,in conclusion1  
let me say a few words upon the meaning 
of all this to  ourselves4 ,much that ,i
 have said to you will be familiar1 and 
perhaps  even of the nature of          
platitudes to many of you2 but it is    
worth  saying if it does no more than   
bring us all to the same point for      
facing the tasks that are before us     
to-day4 ,we come to this point          
recognizing that1 whether at home or    
abroad1 the ,society of ,friends  is    
called to play a part1 to make a        
contribution of permanent worth to  the 
,church of ,christ4 ,i have touched upon
 some of the things that are  included  
in the heritage of the past4 ,in our    
,books of ,discipline1 in  the memoirs  

of ancient ,friends1 in the lives of our
 own parents and  grandparents we have  
abundant proof of our goodly spiritual  
inheritance2 and the amazing fact that  
confronts us to-day is surely           
this--that1 having so much1 we are      
giving so little4 ,the really  pressing 
question is not1 8,what is our          
contribution80 but1 8,how are we  to    
make it80 ,what a glorious heritage the 
,jews possessed when our ,lord  was on  
earth1 and yet how many of them were    
content to say 8,we have  ,abraham to   
our father60 ,we need1 then1 first a new
 conviction--a  conviction that what    
,god has given to us is not only        
beautiful1  uplifting and inspiring1 but
 that it is true4 ,whence can this      
conviction come8 ,it can come to us only
 from ,god ,himself4 ,the records  of   
the past1 however luminous1 will not    
enlighten us without ,his  ,spirit4 ,we 
need to be brought into ,his presence1  
that we may see ,him1  as did our       
fathers1 and have that note of          

conviction in all that we  say and do   
that shall compel men to believe that   
what we say is true4    ,and1 secondly1 
we need a new consecration4 ,to us there
 may be revealed  8the vision           
beautiful02 but only when we have said  
with the whole  heart1 8,here am ,i1    
send me10 can we be trusted to bring    
that vision  into the lives of others4  
,if we are mere imitators of others1 the
  ideal may seem beautiful1 but it is   
not compelling enough for us to  take up
 the cross and go all lengths in the    
service of the ,master4  ,when we draw  
our inspiration from ,him direct1 there 
comes into our  lives that intensely    
personal motive which the ,apostle      
described in  the words 8,the love of   
,christ constraineth us40 ,in this      
spirit of  consecration to ,him we shall
 be united with one another1 and1 being 
thus joined together1 we shall be       
permitted to bring our message home  to 
others as we could in no other way4     
,and1 thirdly1 we need to have a larger 

sympathy with those to whom we  go4 ,it 
is not the passion of bigotry which will
 enable us to deliver  our message4 ,let
 us remind ourselves again that we are  
one with all  who love the ,lord in     
sincerity and truth4 ,if we expect      
others to  understand us1 let us be at  
least as patient in seeking to          
understand  them4 ,let us beware of the 
sectarian spirit4 ,let us emphasize the 
fundamentals which we hold in common    
with others even more than our  own     
distinctive views4 ,the more we have to 
give1 the more vital does  it become    
that we should 8walk humbly with our    
,god40 ,the spiritual  pride which      
writes off the achievements of our      
ancestors on the credit  side of our own
 balance sheet is perhaps one of the    
chief hindrances  to our paying the debt
 which we owe to the ,church4    ,and1  
fourthly1 we need a corporate sense of  
our mission and message4  ,if only each 
of us in this great representative      
gathering might be  given afresh the    

child-like spirit1 and if all together  
we might hear  once more the call of the
 ,master ring out clear and strong to   
our  ,society1 might not even the early 
triumphs of ,quakerism be surpassed8  ,a
 new age needs indeed a new spirit4 ,we 
are not called to give just  the same   
thing as was given by our spiritual     
forefathers2 but we are  called each and
 all to give our best1 without stint1   
without counting  the cost1 and1 unless 
we do1 we cannot be true to that which  
,god has  given us4    ,out of the      
dedicated spirit of the body as a whole 
there will be born  a race of apostles4 
,to each is given his ministry--8,to    
some apostles40  ,we must have such if  
our message is to ring forth with its   
ancient  power and in new and living    
tones4 ,it should be the peculiar task  
of  the ,society of ,friends to raise up
 apostles4 ,we need to travail in  pain 
till they be born1 and the pain is to be
 the long sorrow of a  world's need     
which ,god has given us the ability to  

meet1 and which for  ,christ's sake we  
will make our own4    ,when ,i think of 
these great needs around me1 ,i can     
sometimes feel that  the illusion lifts 
and 8the truth lies bare40 ,in the      
,church and  beyond its borders ,i seem 
to hear the yearning cry of those who   
aspire and whose aspirations are checked
 and thwarted3 the bitter  murmurings of
 those who have lost their confidence in
 organized  ,christianity and have been 
soured and alienated where they should  
have  found sympathy and help3 the      
warring and discordant notes of those   
who  quarrel and misunderstand each     
other where they should unite firmly to 
represent ,christ to the world3 the     
perplexed questionings of those who     
seek to steer a straight course through 
the maze of modern life1 and  who have  
no certain guide3 the weary sigh of     
those for whom life is  too rapid and   
who have no time to turn inward and find
 their peace in  ,christ3 the almost    
stifled sob of the souls that are       

cramped by the  pressure of a           
materialistic view of life1 or by the   
crushing weight of  a world that leaves 
out ,god4    ,the call comes from far   
and near for sympathy1 deliverance1     
direction1  peace and courage4 ,through 
it all may we not catch the tones of    
,one  whose heart still beats with the  
heart of his weakest child1 saying      
8,my voice is crying in their cry1      
,help ye the dying lest ye die08        
,,bibliography        ,j4 ,s4 ,rowntree3
 8,friends--,their ,faith and           
,practice40      ,t4 ,e4 ,harvey3 8,rise
 of the ,quakers40      ,elizabeth ,b4  
,emmott3 8,story of ,quakerism40        
,rufus ,m4 ,jones3 8,a ,dynamic ,faith40
      8,social ,law in the ,spiritual   
,world40      8,quakerism a ,religion of
 ,life40 7,swarthmore ,lecture47        
,w4 ,c4 ,braithwaite3 8,spiritual       
,guidance in ,quaker ,experience40      
7,swarthmore ,lecture47                 
8,beginnings of ,quakerism40      ,allen
 ,c4 ,thomas3 8,history of ,friends in  

,america40          ,transcriber's ,note
    ,inconsistent hyphenation           
7common-sense_/commonsense1             
,church-arrangements_/,church           
arrangements7 has been retained as      
printed4  ,a handful of minor           
typographical errors have been          
corrected4