Three Apostles of Quakerism: Popular Sketches of Fox, Penn and BarclayRhodes, Benjamin
History
Three Apostles of Quakerism: Popular Sketches of Fox, Penn and Barclay
Rhodes, Benjamin
Barclay, Robert, 1648-1690; Fox, George, 1624-1691; Penn, William, 1644-1718; Society of Friends
The treatise on Church Government is one of the best of Barclay's
productions, and has been very useful, both in establishing Friends in
the right development of their principles, and in enlightening other
Christians as to the views they hold. One fact in connection with
its publication is in perfect accord with its arguments. Three years
before, there had been established in London a standing committee of
the Quaker Society, called the Morning Meeting. One of its objects was
to examine all writings issued by the brethren in which questions of
Christian truth were discussed, so as to stamp with its approval such
as were in accordance with their principles, and to disavow such as
were otherwise. The necessity for such action was evident, from the
fact that much annoyance and damage had been sustained by Friends, from
the Society being held responsible for books written by those who were
not members. Henceforth no book was to be considered an expression of
the views of the Society, unless it had secured the sanction of the
Committee. The "Anarchy of the Ranters" was therefore duly submitted to
their scrutiny, and not only received their sanction then, but was for
at least a century, published largely by the Society as an authorised
statement of their views on Church discipline. Later the Yearly Meeting
gave it a second title, "A Treatise on Christian Discipline." But they
also struck out a passage of special interest in these times, showing
how the strong reason of Barclay was logically forced along the line of
Free-Churchmanship not only to Disestablishment but to Disendowment. It
runs thus: "The only way then soundly to reform and remove all these
abuses (i.e. those following the connection of the Church with the
State) is to take away all stinted and forced maintenance and stipends,
_and seeing those things were anciently given by the people, that they
return again to the public treasury, and thereby the people may be
greatly benefitted by them, for that they may supply for those public
taxations and impositions that are put upon them, and ease themselves
of them_."[21]
[21] Barclay's "Inner Life," p. 549. This sentence is first omitted in
the edition of 1765, and has been lost from the work since!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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