THE
MESSAGE AND MISSION
OF QUAKERISM[ [1]

By
WILLIAM C. BRAITHWAITE
and
HENRY T. HODGKIN, M.A., M.B.

PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE
FIVE YEARS MEETING

PHILADELPHIA
The John C. Winston Company
1912

[2]Copyright, 1912, by
The John C. Winston Co.

FOREWORD[ [3]

The two addresses which compose this book were delivered at the Five Years Meeting of the Society of Friends held in Indianapolis, Indiana, from October 15th to 22nd, 1912. They were listened to with profound interest and appreciation, and were approved by a Minute which also ordered their publication, in order that the wider group of Friends, and all others who are interested in the message and mission of a religion of this type, might have the opportunity to read them. It is a plain duty of any religious body to put its truths into circulation, and to reinterpret again and again the vital principles by which its members live and work. Here in this little book will be found in convenient form a fresh and illuminating expression of the truths, principles and ideals of present-day Quakerism and some of the practical problems confronting the modern world which the application of these truths, principles [4] ]and ideals might solve. The reader will discover that the writers live in the Twentieth Century and that they are “speaking to the condition” of the age.

Rufus M. Jones.

Haverford, Pennsylvania
12th mo. 9th, 1912

ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS[ [5]

[PART I]

THE ESSENTIALS OF QUAKERISM

BY WILLIAM C. BRAITHWAITE

	PAGE
Introductory	[11]
The early Quaker movement	[13]
Its two great characteristics,—intense sincerityand the experience of the living presenceof Christ	[14]
“Seekers” were especially receptive to the messageof George Fox	[14]
Edward Burrough’s description of experience	[16]
The heightened personality that came to the“Children of the Light”	[20]
Quakerism a religion of the prophetic andapostolic type, in contrast with the priestlyand institutional type	[21]
The Church should be a living fellowship ofdisciples at work for the Kingdom of God,plus Jesus Christ Himself, in whose Spiritthey become together “one flock, oneShepherd”	[23]
[6]The vital nature of such a fellowship	[24]
Our position not negative but positive	[25]
Quakerism a “religion of life”	[25]
The supreme question for the Church, How canwe foster life?	[26]
Cheap substitutes for life	[29]
A religion of life must devote itself to vitalprocesses and vital relations; chiefly,
Loyal discipleship	[30]
Inspired leadership	[31]
Warm fellowship	[33]
Loving service	[35]
Steady spiritual growth	[36]
Methods and machinery, organization andChurch discipline have only a subordinatevalue to these prime factors of health	[37]
The life must be allowed free expression; theform must be kept plastic	[38]
The physiologist tells us that living matter isalways soft and jelly-like, permitting of thefree play of molecular interchanges	[38]
Fit the clothes to the man, not the man to theclothes	[40]
Expansion that comes where the Spirit of Godhas been allowed freely to work upon groupsof disciples without being limited by organizationand tradition, e. g. Foreign MissionaryWork, Adult School movement,Quakerism in Western States	[40]
[7]Church-arrangements, important in themselves,should be regarded as machinery throughwhich the life can work,—the life of theindividual which we call personal responsibility,of the group, which we call fellowship,and above all the Divine vitality,which we call spiritual power and spiritualguidance	[41]
Above conclusion illustrated from the way inwhich these vital forces come into play inthe various forms of Friends’ meetings	[42]
The evangelistic service and its needs	[43]
The meeting for worship, its great value and itsneeds	[44]
The teaching meeting and its needs	[46]
Quakerism, at its best, always the product of vitalforces and the producer of vital relations	[47]
Its dependence upon the earnest seeking spirit	[48]
Craving to-day for reality in religion and life	[49]
Atmosphere of large-hearted charity andbrotherly confidence needed	[50]
Quakerism, essentially, a religion of sincerity, answeredby the incoming of the living Christ	[51]
Hopes confronting us to-day,—the craving aftertruth, the meaning and worth of personality,woman’s place in the world, the reign oflaw in international affairs, the regenerationof social conditions, the hope of Christfor the whole world	[52]
[8]The Quaker Church called to be in the vanguardof progress with respect to all these	[53]
Duty of personal witness for truth, based on aliving experience of it	[53]
Conclusion	[54]

[PART II]

THE CONTRIBUTION OF FRIENDS TO THE
LIFE AND WORK OF THE CHURCH

BY HENRY T. HODGKIN, M.A., M.B.

Personal experience of co-operation with other denominations in west China and elsewhere	[56[!-- TN: original lacks this page number in the ToC --]
An ideal of Christian unity	[57]
The Society of Friends in relation thereto	[58]
That which the Society holds in common with others	[62]
The attitude in which the contribution can be made	[63]
Summary of some contributions Friends have already made. Need of first-hand experience—Religious toleration—Brotherhood of all races—High business standard—Practical philanthropy	[66]
Contribution of Friends to modern life. Direct personal intercourse with God—Modern drift to materialism—The greater danger in the child races—Proposed remedies—The positive message of Friends	[69]
[9]The quiet heart. 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	[76]
The leadership of the Spirit. From autocracy to democracy—The nationalist spirit in the East—The Quaker meeting for discipline—A theocratic ideal	[83]
Idealism. The danger of opportunism—Solution of the race problem—Place of the idealist	[89]
Woman’s contribution. The Woman’s Movement to-day—The emancipation of women in the East—The failure of the Church to respond—The experience of Friends	[95]
A non-professional ministry. The labor-movement an aspiration—Difficulty of the organized Churches—Danger abroad—Freedom of the ministry	[99]
The spirit of tolerance. Modern scholarship and the Bible—Suggested solutions of the difficulty—A grave peril—Where Friends can help	[104]
How the message is to be delivered. A fresh conviction—A fuller consecration—Large sympathy with others—A corporate sense of mission—Apostles	[109]

PART I[ [11]