An examination of the causes which led to the separation of the Religious Society of Friends in America, in l827-28

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Chapter I

VIEWS OF THE EARLY FRIENDS COMPARED ■WITH THE POPULAR THEOLOGY ON ' IMMEDIATE REVE- LATION.

§ 1. The indwelling presence of the Divine Word, or Spirit of Christ, in the souls of men, is the fundamental principle of the Society of Friends. " The principle of the Quakers," wrote George Fox to the king, " is the Spirit of Christ, who died for us, and is risen for our justification ; hy which we know we are his. He dwelleth in us hy his Spirit, and by the Spirit of Christ we are led out of unrighteousness and ungodliness." '

§ 2. "Now observe," says Pennington, in his treatise addressed to the Royal Society, " the difference between the religion that God hath taught us, and led us into, and the religions of all men upon the earth besides. Our religion stands wholly out of that, which all their religion stands in. Their religion stands in the comprehension, in a belief of a literal relation or description. Our religion stands in a principle which changeth. the mind, wherein the spirit of life appeareth to, and witnesseth in the conscience to and concerning the things of the kingdom ; where we hear the voice, and see the express image of the invisible one, and know things not from an outward relation, but from their inward

• Works of a. P., Vol. IL p. 163.

nature, virtue and power. Yea, here, we must profess, we so know things that we 'are fully satisfied about them, and could not doubt concerning them, though there never had been word or letter written of them ; though indeed it is also a great comfort and sweet refreshment to us, to read that testified of outwardly, which, through the tender mercy of our God, we enjoy inwardly. And in this our whole religion consists j to wit, in the silence and death of the flesh, and in the quickening and flowing life of the spirit. For he who is of the new birth, of the . new creation, of the second Adam, (the Lord from heaven,) is as really alive to God, and as really lives to him in his spirit, as ever he was really dead in trespasses and sins, in the time of his alienation and estrangement from God."'

This passage was published in 1668, a few years subsequent to the restoration of the Stuarts ; when religion in England was at a low ebb, the established Church resting in a state of lifeless formality, and the Puritan sects, in their practice, havi,ng sunk far below their profession. There were, doubtless, throughout Europe, both among the Catholics and Protestants, many devout souls who had seen beyond the rituals of their church, and attained to that "life which is hid with Christ in God;" nevertheless the language of Pennington was applicable to Christian professors in general; their religion "stood in the comprehension," — in an effort of the mind to understand Scriptural truth, without having it

' Worksof I. P., II. 59.

verified in their bwa experience, through the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

§ 3. Eobert Barclay states the doctrine of immediate revelation in this proposition. "Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him ; Matt. xi. 27. And seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit, therefore the testimony of the Spirit i*? that alone b^ which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed." "It is very probable," he says, "that many carnal and natural Christians will oppose this proposition, who being wholly unacquainted with the movings and actings of God's spirit upon their hearts, judge the same nothing necessary ; and some are apt to flout at it as ridiculous. Yea, to that height are the generality of Christians apostatized and degenerated, that, though there be not anything more plainly asserted, more seriously recommended, nor more certainly attested to in all the writings of the Holy Scriptures, yet nothing is less minded and more rejected by all sorts of Christians, than immediate and divine revelation; insomuch that once to lay claim to it, is a matter of reproach. Whereas of old none were ever judged Christians, but such as had the Spirit of Christ; Rom. viii. 9. But now many do boldly call themselves Christians, who make no difficulty of confessing, they are without it ; and laugh at such as say they have it. Of old they were accounted the sons of God, who were led by the Spirit of God ; iUd., verse 14 ; but now, many aver themselves sons of God, who know nothing of this leader: and he that affirms himself so led, is by the pretended orthodox of this age, presently proclaimed a heretic.

" For the better understanding of this proposition, we do distinguish betwixt the certain knowledge of God, and the uncertain ; betwixt the spiritual knowledge, and the literal ; the saving heart-knowledge, and soaring airy head-knowledge. The last we confess may be divers ways obtained ; but the first by no other way tlfan the inward immediate manifestation and revelation of God's Spirit, shining in and upon the heart, enlightening and opening the understanding." •

§ 4. In confirmation of this doctrine, Barclay quotes from the works of Augustine, Clemens Alexandrinus, and others of the early Christian writers, and also from Luther and Melancthon, showing th^t the saving knowledge of God can only be derived from the teachings of his own spirit. He might have quoted similar doctrines from the early reformers in England, — the fathers of the Anglican Church, — as well as from Baxter, Bunyan and others then living, who were the opposers of Friends.

The difference between the Friends and most others, in relfition to this doctrine, may be briefly stated as follows :

§ 5. In the Church of England, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit's influence on the heart was recognized la her Liturgy and taught in her Homilies ; but in the ministrations of her priesthood it was little

' Barclay's Apology, Prop. 2, J 1.

14 VIEWS OF THE EAKLY FRIENDS.

regarded, if not wholly ignored; while among the Puritan ministers, who were generally Calvinists, the giftg of the Spirit were supposed to be confined to the elect, for whom alone, they asserted, Christ died. It was generally taught by both classes, that immediate revelation had ceased, and that the Holy Spirit as an enlightener and sanctifier was only witnessed through the use of the means of grace, such as reading the Scriptures, partaking of the ordinances, and attending on the services of religion. One of the opponents of Friends, a vicar in the established church, wrote as follows : " God has committed his will now wholly to writing, so that former ways of God's revealing his will, as by immediate revelation, are now ceased, and the Scripture is a fixed canon or rule, — and our sole and entire rule of faith and manners, in all that is necessary to our salvation."'

§ 6. In the Society of Friends, " the Universal and Saving Light of Christ" was held forth continually as their fundamental principle, — the corner-stone of their religion. Not only to those who have the Seriptuies, or the historical knowledge of Christ's advent, does his spirit come ; but even to the heathen who are sitting in darkness, his light appears. He comes as the Spirit of Truth, " to convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." To the wicked, he appears as a reprover for sin, " a spirit of judgment, and a spirit of burning ; " but to the humble, obedient soul, as a comforter in righteousness.

' Patrick Smith, quoted in Besse's Defence of Quakerism, p. 36.

§ 7. In the brief account we have, in Genesis, of the primogenitors of our race, it appears that not only while they were in a state of innocence did the Lord hold converse with them, but after their transgression they heard his voice, saying, " Adam, where art thou?" With Cain also he conversed, both before and after the murder of his brother: in the first instance, showing him that his acceptance depended upon well-doing ; in the second condemning him for the crime he had committed. In these cases the Eternal "Word or Spirit of Christ spoke immediately to the human soul, — no outward instrument was employed ; and such is still the ordinary process by which the divine will is made known to man, — it is therefore called immediate revelation. It is true, that in the ordering of Divine Providence, instrumental means are often employed, such as the Scriptures of truth, the preaching of the gospel, and the vicissitudes of life ; but in all cases, the good efi:ected is from the immediate operation of divine grace upon the heart or conscience.

In fact, there can be no saving knowledge of Christ, but from immediate revelation. " No man can come to me," said Jesus, "except the Father which hath sent me draw him." ' This drawing of the Father is the operation of his spirit, for " the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal."" As the power and virtue of the outward sun can only be known through his light, and as no description of light can give an idea of it without the sense of vision, so the Author of all

' John vi. 44. '1 Cor. xii. 7.

Good — the sun of the spiritual world — can only be known through the influence of his light, or spirit, immediately revealed to our spiritual perception.

§ 8. In the writings of Friends there is a clear distinction observed between the Divine light which is the medium, and the conscience which is the organ, of spiritual perception. This faculty of the soul may be clouded by prejudice, benumbed by disobedience, and " even seared as with a hot iron," by long-continued transgression ; but the light itself, though obscured, or lost to our vision, remains ever the same, for the Divine nature is unchangeable. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light ; but if thine eye be evil [or diseased], thy whole body shall be full of darkness."

William Penn, in treating of this subject, adopts the language of Justin Martyr, viz. : " God hath built to himself a natural temple in the consciences of men as the place wherein he would be worshipped ; and it is there men ought to look for his appearance and reverence and worship him." He quotes also the following passage from Clemens Alexandrinus: "It is the voice of Truth, that light will shine out of darkness. Therefore doth it shine in the hidden part of mankind, that is, in the heart ; and the rays of knowledge break forth making manifest and shining upon the inward man, which is hidden ; — Christ's intimates and co-heirs are the disciples of the Light." »

Robert Barclay, in his treatise on Universal Love, relates, on the testimony of Francis Xavier, called

• Penn's Select Works, p. 245.

VIEWS OF THE EABLT PKIEND3. 11

by the Catholics the Apostle of the Indies, that the Japanese, whom the Jesuits endeavored to proselyte, made objections to the Catholic doctrines, saying that God seemed not to be merciful and just in condemning to eternal punishment all the Japanese who died before the coming of the missionaries. To remove this objection and gain converts, the Jesuits assured them that all men have the knowledge of the divipe laws from nature, and from God the Author of nature, — this law was implanted in man's heart before any human laws were made.

Thus says Barclay, "To satisfy these Japanese, that their forefathers were not all necessarily damned, and to show that the universal love of God reached unto them to put them in a capacity of salvation, this cunning Jesuit could not find any other way than by asserting this principle,"' — the Light and Life of God in the soul.

George Fox says in his Journal: "I was sent to turn people from darkness to the light, that they might receive Christ Jesus, for to as many as should receive him in his light, I saw that he would give power to become the sons of God, which I had obtained by receiving Christ. And I was to direct people to the spirit that gave forth the Scriptures by which they might be led into all truth, and so up to Christ and God as they had been who gave them forth." ^

Such was the truly liberal doctrine held forth by the first preachers and writers in the Society of

' Barclay's Works, p. 701. ' G. F's. Journal. London ed. 1694. 2* Q

Friends, a doctrine that was then assailed on every hand by the pulpit and the press — by Churchmen and Dissenters. j

This doctrine, when held in sincerity by enlightened minds, necessarily leads to toleration and religious liberty ; for if we believe that those who have not so much as heard of the coming of Christ in the flesh, may nevertheless be saved by obedience to the Light or Spirit ^of Christ, the conclusion logically follows, that the same divine power will save those professed followers of Christ who obey his spiritual law, although, in our apprehension, they may err in judgment concerning some important points of doctrine.

Accordingly we find that religious liberty was cherished by the early Friends, and consistently carried out in their practice when they attained to power in some of the American colonies.

CHAPTEE II.

VIEWS OF THE EARLY FRIENDS COMPARED "WITH THE POPULAR THEOLOGY ON THE HOLY SCRIP- TURES.

§ 1. The first imprisonment of George Fox resulted from his controverting the views generally entertained concerning the Scriptures. In the year 1649, he went into the parish house of worship at Jifottingham, where he heard the priest take for hig text tliese words of Peter: """We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts." This, he told the people, was the Scriptures, by which they were to try all doctrines, religions, and opinions.

"Now the Lord's power," writes George Fox, "was so might^upon me and so strong in me, that I could not hold, but was made to cry out, 'Oh! no, it is not the Scriptures;' and told them what it was, namely, the Holy Spirit by which the holy men of God gave forth the Scriptures, whereby opinions, religions, and judgments were to be tried; for it led into all truth, and so gave the knowledge of all truth. For the Jews had the Scriptures, yet resisted the Holy Ghost and rejected Christ, the bright morning-star, and persecuted Christ and his apostles, and took upon them to try their doctrines by the Scriptures, but erred in judgment and did not try them aright, because they tried them without the Holy Ghost."

The early Friends avowed their belief in the authenticity and divine authority of the Scriptures, but they declined to give them the usual appellation,— the Word of God,— because this title is, by the sacred writers, appropriated to Christ the Eternal Word, that was in the beginning with God and

was God,

§ 2. The views expressed by Barclay in the third proposition of his Apology, were tlnse generally held by the Society, viz :— »

"From these revelations of the Spirit of God to the saints have proceeded the Scriptures of Truth, which contain : I. A faithful historical account of the actings of God's people ■ in divers ages ; with many singular and remarkable providences attending them. n. A prophetical account of several things, whereof some ard already past, and some yet to come. III. A full and ample account of all the chief principles of the doctrine of Chtist, held forth in divers precious declarations, exhortations, and sentences, which by the moving .of God's Spirit, were at several times and upon sundry occasions written unto some churches and their pastors. Nevertheless because they are only a declaration of the fountain, and not the fountain itself, therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal ground of all truth and knowledge, nor yet the adequate, primary rule of faith and manners. Yet because they give a true and faithful testimony of the first foundation, they are and may be esteemed a secondary rule, subordinate to the Spirit from which they have all their excellency and certainty. For as by the inward testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them, so they testify, that the Spirit is that guide by which the saints are led into all truth; therefore, according to the Scriptures, the Spirit is the first and principal leader."' * * * * "The principal rule of Christians under the gospel is not an outward letter, nor law outwardly written and delivered, but an inward spiritual law ingraven in the heart, the law of the Spirit of life, the word that is nigh in the heart and in the mouth ; but the letter

' John xvi. 13; Rom. vii. 14,

VIEWS OP THE EAELY FRIENDS. 21

of the Scripture is outward, of itself a dead thing, a mere declaration of good things but not the things themselves : therefore it nor is, nor can be, the chief or principal rule of Christians."

He says moreover of the Scriptures : " The proposition itself declares how much I esteem them ; and provided that to the Spirit (from which they came) be but granted that place the Scriptures themselves give it; !^do freely concede to the Scriptures the second place, even whatsoever they say of themselves, which the apostle Paul chiefly mentions in two places. Bom. xv. 4 : ' Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were ■Written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.' 2 Tim. iii. 15, 17: 'The Holy Scriptures are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.' * * * * 'AH Scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work.'" * * * * " Moreover because they are commonly acknowledged by all to have been written by the dictates of the Holy Spirit, and that the errors which may be supposed by the injury of time to have slipped in, are not such, but that there is a sufficient clear testimony left to all the essentials of the Christian faith, we do look upon them as the only fit outward judge of controversy among Christians, and that whatsoever doctrine is contrary unto their testimony may therefore justly be rejected as false."!

' Apology, Prop. 3. |§ v. and vi.

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Chapter III

VIEWS OF THE EARLY FRIENDS COMPARED WITH THE POPULAR THEOLOGY ON THE ORIGINAL AND PRESENT STATE OF MAN.

§ 1. The doctrine of Origina;! Sin, as generally held, is thus defined by one of its advocates:' " Oiiginal sin was the rebellion of the first man, Adflm, against his Creator, which was a sin of universal efficacy, which derives a guilt and stain to mankind in all ages of the world. The account the Scripture gives of it, is grounded on the relation which all men have to Adam as their natural and moral principal or head." * * * * "As the whole race of mankind was virtually in Adam's loins, so it was presumed to give virtual consent to what he did; when he broke, all suffered shipwreck that were contained in him as their natural original." * * * * "In «Ae first ireaf?/ between God and man, Adam was considered not as a single person, but as the representative of a nation and contracted for all his descendants by ordinary generation. His person was the fountain of theirs, and his will the representative of theirs. From hence his vast progeny became a party in the covenant, and had a title to the benefits contained in it upon his obedience, and was liable to the curse upon his violation of it." ^

§ 2. Such is the doctrine of original sin, which

• CruQlen's Concordance. ' Ibid.

VIEWS OF THE EABLT FBIENDS. 23

Hobert Barclay in his Apology calls an " invented and unscriptural barbarism."*

The notion that all men were virtually in Adan and gave their consent to what he did, is an absurdity that must be obvious to the lowest capacity. Wo sane person will pretend to assert, that a man is morally responsible for the guilty transactions of his father, his grandfatber, or any of his ancestors. As to the first treaty between man and his Maker, in which Adam contracted for all his descendants, it is a fiction which has no foundation in Scripture or reason.

The imputation of sin to infants is denied and disproved by Barclay, in the following language : "The Apostle saith plainly, Rom. iv. 15, '"Where no law is there is no transgression.' And again, v. 13, 'But sin is not imputed where there is no law,' than which testimonies there is nothing more positive ; since to infants there is no law, seeing as such they are utterly incapable of it ; the law cannot reach any but such as have in some measure less or more the exercise of their understanding which infants have not." * * * * « Secondly, What can be more positive than that of Ezek. xviii. 20, ' The soul that sinneth it shall die : the son shall not bear the -father's iniquity' ? For the prophet here first showeth what is the cause of man's eternal death, which he saith is his sinning, and then, as if he proposed expressly to shut out such an opinion, he assures us, ' The son shall not bear the father's iniquity.' From which I thus argue : If the son bear not the iniquity of his

Barclay's Apology, Phila. ed. 1789, p. 108.

24 VIEWS OF THE EARLY FBIEjSTDS.

father, or of his immediate parents, far less shall he bear the iniquity of Adam." '

§ 3. It must not be inferred, however, that Barclay attributed no evil consequences to mankind from the sin of Adam. "Through him," he says, "there is a seed of sin propagated to all men, which in its own nature is sinful and inclines men to iniquity; yet it will not follow from thence, that infants, who join not with this seed, are guilty." Again he writes : " All Adam's posterity, or mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, as to the first Adam or earthly man, is fallen, degenerated and dead; deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward testimony or seed of God, and is subject unto the power, nature and seed of the serpent which he soweth in men's hearts, while they abide in this natural and corrupted state : from whence it comes that not only their works and deeds, but all their imaginations are evil perpetually in the sight of God as proceeding from this depraved and wicked seed. Man therefore, as he is in this state, can know nothing aright ; yea, his thoughts and conceptions concerning God and things spiritual, until he be disjoined from this evil seed and united tathe Divine Light, are unprofitable both to himself and others."*

Some of the writers among the early Friends refer to the fall of Adam in such language as would lead us to infer that in their opinion mankind have derived some taint or propensity to sin from their progenitors. Thus George Fox writes, in relation to

* Apology, Prop. IV., g 4. ' Apology, Prop. IV.

Adam and Eve, "Thinking to be made wise, they became fools, which brought the rod upon the back of them, which also comes upon all their posterity in the fall." '

And Isaac Pennington says: " The wound of man is deep by the fall : he hath really lost God, he is shut out of his commonwealth ; yea, in that estate he is altogether without hope (for the hope springs from God's visit^ion of him with his light, and from the living promise.) " "

These expressions, and many others of a similar character, will however admit of another construction; they may have been applied to the general corruption of mankind resulting from actual transgression, for all who have lost their innocence through disobedience to the divine law, are in a fallen state ; and even those who are least defiled must be born again " by the incorruptible seed and word of God," before they can enter the kingdom of heaven.

4. In a work published in 1678, called the "New England Fire-brand Quenched," written by G. Fox and John Burnyeat, we find the following question and answer addressed to Roger Williams. "Thou sayest these rotten and crooked dispositions in every child bring forth wild asses fruit in youth. Wherein did Jeremiah and John Baptist or such as were clean and sanctified in the womb bring forth such fruits as thou speakest of?" * * * * "All these Scriptures do not prove that Jeremiah and

^ G. Fox, Doctrinals, 723. Work's Am. ei, VI. 9. ' Pennington's Works, I. 339.

IV— 8

26 VIEW3 OF THE EARLY FBIENDS.

John, that were sanctified in the womb, and the children that Paul speaketh of {Qor. vii., that he said were holy), that they were conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, because David said, he was." '

§ 5. The early experience of Pox, Howgill, Pennington, and Burrough were very remarkable, and seem to have been related in great simplicity, without reference to popular theology. G. Fox writes in his Journal: ""VVben I came to eleven years of age, I knew pureness and righteousness ; for wMle I was a child I was taught how to walk so as to keep pure. The Lord taught me to be faithful in all things, and to act faithfully two ways, viz., inwardly to God, and outwardly to man ; and to keep to yea and nay in all things."

And "William Penn writes of Fox, that " from a child he appeared of another frame of mind than the rest of his brethren ; being more religious, inward, still, solid and observing beyond his years. "^

Francis Howgill, who died a martyr in Appleby jail, said just before his death : " I have sought the way of the Lord from a child, and lived innocently as among men ; and if any inquire after my latter end, let them know that I die in the faith that I lived in and suffered for."

Isaac Pennington, in his "Brief Account of his Soul's Travel" says: " My heart from my childhood was pointed towards the Lord, whom I feared and longed after from my tender years, wherein I felt

♦VIEWS OF THE EAELT FRIENDS. 27

that I could not be satisfied with (nor indeed seek after) the things of this perishing world, which naturally pass away ; but I desired the true senpe of, and unity with, that which abideth forever. There was somewhat indeed then still within me (even the reed of eternity) which leavened and balanced my spirit almost continually; but I knew it not distinctly, so as to turn to it and give up to it, entirely and understandifigly." *

"William Penn, after referring to the deep religious exercises of Isaac Pennington, thus continues: "Nor did this sorrow flow from a sense of former vice, for he was virtuous from his childhood, but with holy Habakkuk from the dread he had of the majesty of God, and his desire to find a resting-place in the great day of trouble."^

Edward Burrough, who died in Newgate prison, a martyr for the testimony of truth, in the 28th year of his age, was a remarkable example of early piety. It is said in the notice of him, in "Piety Promoted," that he "was in his childhood ripe in knowledge and did far excel many of his years. Gray hairs were upon him when but a youth, and he was inclined to the best things and the nearest way of worship, according to the Scriptures, accompanying the best men." In his last sickness, "he was in prayer often, both day and night, saying at one time, 'I have had a testimony of the Lord's love to me from my youth, and my heart hath been given up to do his will. I have preached the gospel freely in

' Works of I. P., II. 49. ' "Works of I. P., Vol. L

28 VIEWS OP THE EARLY FRIENDS.

this city, and have often given up my life for the gospel's sake. Lord, rip open my heart ancl see if it be not right before thee.' Another time he said, 'There lies no iniquity at my door, but the presence of the Lord is with me, and his life, 1 feel, justifies me.' Afterwards he said to the Lord, ' Thou hast loved me when I was in the womb, and I have loved thee from my cradle and from my youth unto this day, and have served thee faithfully in my generation.'"'

§ 6. These passages, selected from works that have always been considered standards in the Society, show that the early Friends did not believe in the inherent depravity of man. They were not troubled by the dogmas of theology, and when they came to die they spoke cut freely the earnest convictions of their souls. They knew and acknowledged, that the natural propensities of man, if not controlled by divine grace, will lead to sin; but sin cannot be inherent, for it is " the transgression of the law." The divine master said of the Jews, " If I had not come And spoken unto them, they had not had sin." So it is now ; we are not sinners by birth, but become so when we disobey his law written in our hearts.