There is one other direction in which my own experience leads me to believe that Friends have a position of peculiar advantage and responsibility, and I cannot close this address without making some reference thereto. 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 Bible. On the one hand there are those who believe that the Bible should be treated exactly as any other book; that the various documents which [105] ]have been embodied in it should be critically examined and that every statement should be checked and challenged. This treatment of the Bible has led to results which many regard as serious, if not disastrous. So much is this the case that many of the most earnest followers of Christ believe on the other hand that the whole movement, generally spoken of as the “higher criticism,” is altogether evil and to be resisted with the whole strength of the Church. This school, with which are associated some of the most saintly and earnest Christian workers, believes that we should maintain the entire literal inspiration of the whole of Holy Scripture. From the results which they have seen in the case of many who have been grievously upset, and whose faith seems to have been shipwrecked through following the higher critics, 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 book. To some it seems as though these two schools of thought could not possibly [106] ]be reconciled. They regard their opponents as hopelessly narrow-minded and bigoted or as giving away the very essence of Christian faith. But can the Christian Church afford to lose either section? It is true there may be irreconcilable extremists on both sides; but even this I should be sorry to admit. Of course, there are some who have entered upon the critical study of the Bible from a sceptical standpoint: I am not referring to these. But there are many who are truly devout scholars and who are intensely loyal to our Lord Jesus Christ; and there are many younger men and women who long to be able to maintain the faith delivered to their fathers, but who feel that, in doing so, they dare not be untrue to their own God-given reason, and who are therefore compelled to face the questions which some would counsel them to leave alone. 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 God: unfortunately there are not a few whose counsels to the young would seem to point in this direction. [107] ]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 question? If we cannot so work together I believe there must be weakness in our testimony to Christ.
I think that the Society of Friends is in a position of unique strength in regard to this difficult problem. The early Friends realized—as their contemporaries did not—that the Holy Scriptures contained the word of God; but that it was not right to speak of them as being the word of God. They realized the danger, to which the Reformers were many of them blind, of a literalism in the interpretation of Scripture which would bind men as did the tradition of the Elders in the time of Christ. Nevertheless, they held with tremendous tenacity the view that the Scriptures were indeed inspired of God, 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 writings.
This view is thus expressed by Samuel Fisher:
[108] “And because we do not, with the misty ministers of the mere letter, own the bare text of Scripture entire in every tittle, but say it hath suffered much loss of more than vowels, single letters and single lines also, yea, even of whole epistles and prophecies of inspired men, the copies of which are not by the clergy canonized nor by the Bible sellers bound up, and especially because we own not the said alterable and much altered outward text, but the holy truth and inward light and spirit to be the Word of God, which is living [and] the true touchstone, therefore they cry out against us. 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 itself, to have been written by men moved of God’s Spirit.”[Footnote 8] ]
This, it seems to me, is the platform upon which all reverent scholars and devout lovers of the Bible can meet. The Society of Friends, which has ever stood for tolerance, is not the Body to hurl anathemas at those who are finding light for their path [109] ]in ways that to some of us may seem dark and tortuous. Rather, is it not the Body which, in the true spirit of its founders, may bring us together with a tendering of spirit, 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 live.
The Church needs to recognize that even large divergence of view in reference to the Bible is consistent with loyalty to Christ, and that we must all stand together to face the great tasks that demand her undivided attention.
X.
In conclusion, let me say a few words upon the meaning of all this to ourselves. Much that I have said to you will be familiar, and perhaps even of the nature of platitudes to many of you; 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-day. We come to this point recognizing that, whether at home [110] ]or abroad, the Society of Friends is called to play a part, to make a contribution of permanent worth to the Church of Christ. I have touched upon some of the things that are included in the heritage of the past. In our Books of Discipline, in the memoirs of ancient Friends, in the lives of our own parents and grandparents we have abundant proof of our goodly spiritual inheritance; and the amazing fact that confronts us to-day is surely this—that, having so much, we are giving so little. The really pressing question is not, “What is our contribution?” but, “How are we to make it?” What a glorious heritage the Jews possessed when our Lord was on earth, and yet how many of them were content to say “We have Abraham to our father!” We need, then, first a new conviction—a conviction that what God has given to us is not only beautiful, uplifting and inspiring, but that it is true. Whence can this conviction come? It can come to us only from God Himself. The records of the past, however luminous, will not enlighten us without His Spirit. We need [111] ]to be brought into His presence, that we may see Him, as did our fathers, and have that note of conviction in all that we say and do that shall compel men to believe that what we say is true.
And, secondly, we need a new consecration. To us there may be revealed “the vision beautiful”; but only when we have said with the whole heart, “Here am I, send me,” can we be trusted to bring that vision into the lives of others. If we are mere imitators of others, the ideal may seem beautiful, but it is not compelling enough for us to take up the cross and go all lengths in the service of the Master. When we draw our inspiration from Him direct, there comes into our lives that intensely personal motive which the Apostle described in the words “The love of Christ constraineth us.” In this spirit of consecration to Him we shall be united with one another, and, being thus joined together, we shall be permitted to bring our message home to others as we could in no other way.
And, thirdly, we need to have a larger sympathy with those to whom we go. [112] ]It is not the passion of bigotry which will enable us to deliver our message. Let us remind ourselves again that we are one with all who love the Lord in sincerity and truth. If we expect others to understand us, let us be at least as patient in seeking to understand them. Let us beware of the sectarian spirit. Let us emphasize the fundamentals which we hold in common with others even more than our own distinctive views. The more we have to give, the more vital does it become that we should “walk humbly with our God.” 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 Church.