The Message and Mission of QuakerismBraithwaite, William C. (William Charles)
Religion
The Message and Mission of Quakerism
Braithwaite, William C. (William Charles)
Society of Friends
Again, there is the hope of the better ordering of society, removing
the menace of destitution from the poor, securing an equality of
opportunity for all, remedying the conditions that produce stunted
lives, and giving those whom we call men the chance to become men in
reality. The social regeneration of England and America has become
to-day a living Messianic hope, making an insistent demand upon the
Christian Church. Surely, with our witness to the practical
application of Christianity to every part of life, we stand for that.
Above all, and finally, there is the great hope of Christ and His
Kingdom, not for a few only but for the whole world. With our living
experience of Jesus Christ, we must stand for that. Are we not again
called to form a vanguard of progress towards the Kingdom of God? Our
response to the call depends upon our personal consecration to the
task. Behind the Kingdom of God as it is, behind the Kingdom of God as
it is to be, there stand the actual groups of disciples, their
personal experience, their personal devotion.
Joseph Sturge, the founder of the Adult School movement, once wrote:
“It seems to be the will of Him who is infinite in wisdom, that light
upon great subjects should first arise and be gradually spread through
the faithfulness of individuals in acting up to their own
convictions.” This personal witness for truth, based upon a living
experience of it, is the great duty laid upon each member of the
Quaker Church. It carries with it the necessity for self-sacrifice. We
know how the self-sacrifice of our Lord on the cross was the atonement
of the world, and the self-sacrifice of men and women, in the spirit
of Jesus Christ, has still redemptive force.
We see before the Society of Friends, as it renews its spiritual
communion and its warmth of fellowship, a great service for which it
has been wonderfully prepared—a service for the revival of vital,
prophetic religion and for its expression in righteousness of life—but
the service will be fruitful through discipline and suffering; if it
is to be redemptive of society it will cost much; 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 peace, and our souls will know the
springings-up of everlasting life and power, but at the same time our
feet must be treading the way of the Cross with our Lord.
PART II
_THE CONTRIBUTION OF FRIENDS TO THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE CHURCH_
BY HENRY T. HODGKIN, M.A., M.B.
Secretary of the Friends Foreign Mission Association, of London,
England
=Introductory Words=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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