CHAPTER III.

AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE DOCTRINES AND TESTIMONIES PROMULGATED BY THE FOUNDERS OF THE SOCIETY OF

FRIENDS.

LTHOUGH it would be foreign to the object of this

A work, to develop ut med length the Christian does

trines held by George Fox and his fellow-laborers, yet a short insight into some important principles most surely believed by them, may be necessary to enable us to pursue their history with a clear conception of their real character as advocates of the Truth in Christ.

They never hesitated to declare their belief in "the three that bear record in Heaven"-that there is one God and Father of all, of whom are all things,-one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom all things were made, who was glorified with the Father before the world began, who is God over all, blessed for ever-and one Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father and the Son, the Leader and sanctifier and comforter of his people—and that these three are One, as the Holy Scriptures declare.

They believed that the one only wise, omnipotent and everlasting God was the Creator of all things, and is the preserver of all that he hath made. And they owned and truly believed that Jesus Christ was his beloved and onlybegotten Son, conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin Mary-in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins-that he is the express image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature-by and for whom all things in heaven and in earth were created-that he offered himself without spot unto God, a sacrifice for sin, and tasted death for every man,

being crucified for us in the flesh, without the gates of Jerusalem that he rose again the third day for our justification, ascended into Heaven, and now sitteth at the right hand of God; being made the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. They rejoicingly believed in Him as their Redeemer and Saviour, the Captain of their salvation, their Mediator with the Father, and the author and finisher of their faiththeir wisdom, righteousness, justification and redemptionthe Shepherd and Bishop of their souls-and sincerely acknowledged that there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The doctrine of immediate divine revelation, which had been lost sight of in the apostasy, was revived and abundantly preached by them as the glory and life of the gospel dispensation. While other professors, too generally, were resting in a bare belief of what Christ had done for them, without them, and in a literal knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, these converted and regenerated witnesses for the truth as it is in Jesus, were made partakers of that faith which is produced by the testimony of the Spirit of Christ in the heart; by which they not only received Him as their Redeemer and Saviour, in what he graciously did and suffered in the flesh, as the propitiation for sin, and as their mediator and intercessor; but likewise in his inward and spiritual appearance, to baptize and sanctify them; so as to prepare their souls to partake of the fulness of the blessings which the Gospel confers.

Concerning the Holy Scriptures, they believed that they were given forth by the Holy Spirit of God, through the holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. They believed that these blessed writings are to be read, believed, and fulfilled (he that fulfils them is Christ); and that they "are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that

the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works"-and that they "are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

They believed that the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God, or of the Holy Scriptures, can be revealed-that the revelations of the Spirit in the heart are the great guide of life, by which true Christians are to be immediately led and governed; and that these revelations can never contradict, or lead men to slight or lightly esteem the testimony of Holy Scripture, which proceeded from the same Spirit in holy men of old.

Hence they also believed that faith is not a natural faculty of the human mind, to be exercised according to man's will; and that there can be no effectual faith, but that which is produced by the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart, inclining and enabling us to believe what it reveals to us there, as well as those things which are recorded in the Scriptures.

They plainly declared their conviction, a conviction amply confirmed by what they knew of their own hearts, that man, who was created in the image of God, fell by transgression from this blessed state, and lost the heavenly image; so that all men are by nature fallen, degenerated and dead to the divine life, and subject to the power of sin; though not punishable for Adam's sin, until they make it their own by actual transgression. But they further declared the all-consoling truth, that God, who of his infinite love sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world, who tasted death for every man, hath given to every man, Jew or Gentile, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, of whatsoever nation or place, a certain day or time of visitation by the light of His Holy Spirit in the heart, during which it is possible for him to be saved and to partake of the benefits of Christ's death-that these visitations of divine Grace draw men to God, convict for sin, baptize into a

death of the first and carnal nature, and if received and cooperated with, work the salvation of all, even of those who are ignorant of the history of Adam's fall, and of the death and sufferings of Christ.

While they fully believed that remission of sin and reconciliation with God is obtained only through Christ and his most satisfactory offering, they were also convinced that no man was justified while he continued in sin, whatever might be his profession of faith. They preached the indispensable necessity of holiness, without which the Scriptures declare that no man shall see the Lord; and they placed justification where the apostle places it, in connection with being washed and sanctified, but not as preceding sanctification. They believed that this sanctification is produced by the mighty work of Christ within us, whereby the power, nature, and habits of sin are destroyed; that men truly repenting and believing, are, by the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ without us, through the mercy of God, justified from the imputation of sins that are past; and that all this is effected, not by a bare act of faith separate from obedience, but in the obedience of faith; Christ being the author of eternal salvation to none but those that obey him.

This brought them to that great doctrine, that all mankind are called to perfection, and offered the attainment, through perfect obedience, of a state of freedom from sin even in this life, though not from a liability to fall again, through unwatchfulness, under the power of temptation. And this doctrine of perfection was a groundwork for their uncompromising integrity, and strict attention to what many termed little things, but which were essential to their character as truly faithful Christians, because required by the manifestations of the divine light of Christ in their consciences.

Christian baptism they held to be, not the washing of the

body with water-" the putting away the filth of the flesh" —but the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who submit thereto, refining them from the pollution of sin, winnowing away the transgressing nature, and preparing the soul for being gathered into the heavenly garner, as grain separated from the chaff.

In like manner they believed, that the communion of the body and blood of Christ, is not the partaking of outward bread and wine; but is inward and spiritual-a real participation of His divine nature in measure, through faith in Him, and obedience to his Spirit in the heart; by which participation the inward man is daily nourished, strengthened, and kept alive unto God.

Acceptable worship, they often testified, could not be offered, but through the assistance of the Spirit of Christ, our mediator, by whom only we can approach unto God; and that in order to experience this necessary qualification, it is our duty to have the mind withdrawn from all outward objects, and engaged in reverently and humbly waiting upon the Lord in the silence of all flesh; that He may be pleased, through the revelation of his Spirit, to give us a true sense of our needs, and a knowledge of his will, and enable us to offer a sacrifice well pleasing in his sight; whether it be in silent mental adoration, the secret breathing of the soul to him, the ministry of the gospel, or vocal prayer and thanksgiving.

They were brought off, by the spirit of meekness and longsuffering which characterizes true Christianity, from all wars and fightings, and from that mind which promotes the warlike disposition; being enabled to see their entire inconsist ency with the gospel of the Prince of peace, and that their origin was, as said the apostle James, in those "lusts which war against the soul." Thus they could never take up arms, even though, like the primitive Christians, they should suffer the loss of liberty, property and life, for their faithful