would send in his name, to lead and guide his followers into all truth, to teach them all things, and to bring all things to their re- membrance They believe that the saving knowledge
of God and Christ cannot be attained in any other way than by the revelation of this Spirit ; — for the Apostle says, ' What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things Avhich are freely given to us of God.' If, therefore, the things which properly appertain to man cannot be discerned by any lower prin ciple than the spirit of man ; those things which properly relate to God and Christ, cannot be known by any power inferior to that of the Holy Spirit."
4. As to man, " They believe that man was created in the im- age of God, capable of understanding the divine law, and of hold- ing communion with his Maker. Through transgression he fell from this blessed state, and lost the heavenly image. His posterity come into the world in the image of the earthly man ; and, until renewed by the quickening and regenerating power of the heav- enly man, Christ Jesus, manifested in the soul, they are fallen, degenerated, and dead to the divine life in which Adam originally stood, and are. subject to the power, nature, and seed of the ser- pent ; and not only their words and deeds, but their imaginations, are evil perpetually in the sight of God. Man, therefore, in this state can know nothing aright concerning God ; his thoughts and conceptions of spiritual things, until he is disjoined from this evil seed and united to the divine light, Christ Jesus, are unprofitable to himself and to others."
5. As to the future state, " The Society of Friends believe that there will be a resurrection both of the righteous and the wicked ; the one to eternal life and blessedness, and the other to everlasting misery and torment, agreeably to Matt. xxv. 31-46 ; John V. 25-30 ; 1 Cor. xv. 12-58. That God will judge the world by that man whom He hath ordained, even Christ Jesus the Lord, who will render unto every man according to his works."
6. As to the Scriptures, ^' The religious Society of Friends has always believed that the Holy Scriptures were written by divine in- spiration, and contain a declaration of all the fundamental doctrines and principles relating to eternal life and salvation, and that what- soever doctrine or practice is contrary to them, is to be rejected as false and erroneous ; that they are a declaration of the mind and
92 INTRODUCTION. [Ch. IV. — Mysticism.
will of God, in and to the several ages' in which they were written, and are obligatory on ns, and are to be read, believed, and fulfilled
by the assistance of divine grace It looks upon them
as the only fit outward judge and test of controversies among Christians, and is very willing that all its doctrines and practices should be tried by them, freely admitting that whatsoever any do, pretending to the Spirit, which is contrary to the Scriptures, be condemned as a delusion of the devil."
It thus appears that the orthodox Friends are in sympathy, on all fundamental doctrines, with the great body of their fellow Chris- tians.
Heterodox Friends.
Secondly. There is a class calling themselves Friends, and re- taining the organization of the Society, and its usages as to dress, language, and mode of worship, who are really Deists. They ad- mit of no higher authority, in matters of religion, than the natural reason and conscience of man, and hold little if anything as true beyond the truths of natural religion. This class has been dis- owned by the Society in its representative capacity.
Thirdly. There is a third class which does not constitute an or- ganized or separate body, but includes men of very different views. As has been already remarked, great diversity of opinipn existed among the Quakers, especially during the early period of their his- tory. This diversity related to the common doctrines of Chris- tianity, to the nature of the inward guiding light in which all pro- fessed to believe, and to the authority due to the sacred Scriptures. Some explicitly denied the doctrine of the Trinity and the satisfac- tion of Christ ; some seemed to ignore the historical Christ alto- gether, and to refer everything to the Christ within. Others, while admitting the historical verity of the life of Christ, and of his work on earth, regarded his redemption as altogether subjective. He saves us. not by what He has done for us, but exclusively b}'- what He does in us. This, as we have seen, is the characteristic ten- dency of Mysticism in all its modifications.
C. The Doctrine of Friends as to the Inward Light given to all 3Ien.
Still greater diversity of views prevailed as to the nature of the inward light which constitutes the distinguishing doctrine of the Society. The orthodox Quakers on this subject, in the first place, carefully distinguish this " light " from the natural reason and con- science of men ; and also from spiritual discernment, or that in-