THE MESSAGE AND MISSION OF QUAKERISM By WILLIAM C. BRAITHWAITE and HENRY T. HODGKIN, M.A., M.B. PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE FIVE YEARS MEETING [Decoration] PHILADELPHIA The John C. Winston Company 1912 Copyright, 1912, by The John C. Winston Co. FOREWORD The two addresses which compose this book were delivered at the Five Years Meeting of the Society of Friends held in Indianapolis, Indiana, from October 15th to 22nd, 1912. They were listened to with profound interest and appreciation, and were approved by a Minute which also ordered their publication, in order that the wider group of Friends, and all others who are interested in the message and mission of a religion of this type, might have the opportunity to read them. It is a plain duty of any religious body to put its truths into circulation, and to reinterpret again and again the vital principles by which its members live and work. Here in this little book will be found in convenient form a fresh and illuminating expression of the truths, principles and ideals of present-day Quakerism and some of the practical problems confronting the modern world which the application of these truths, principles and ideals might solve. The reader will discover that the writers live in the Twentieth Century and that they are “speaking to the condition” of the age. Rufus M. Jones. Haverford, Pennsylvania 12th mo. 9th, 1912 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I _THE ESSENTIALS OF QUAKERISM_ BY WILLIAM C. BRAITHWAITE PAGE Introductory 11 The early Quaker movement 13 Its two great characteristics,—intense sincerity and the experience of the living presence of Christ 14 “Seekers” were especially receptive to the message of George Fox 14 Edward Burrough’s description of experience 16 The heightened personality that came to the “Children of the Light” 20 Quakerism a religion of the prophetic and apostolic type, in contrast with the priestly and institutional type 21 The Church should be a living fellowship of disciples at work for the Kingdom of God, _plus_ Jesus Christ Himself, in whose Spirit they become together “one flock, one Shepherd” 23 The vital nature of such a fellowship 24 Our position not negative but positive 25 Quakerism a “religion of life” 25 The supreme question for the Church, How can we foster life? 26