Chapter 2

 The centering of life on the realities of inward intercourse¹ with God is the great mark of the prophetic and apostolic type of religion and is in sharp contrast with religion of the priestly or institutional type. The prophet was a man who knew 22what it was to have converse² with Jehovah and sure knowledge of His will. He became a Seer, a man of insight and foresight³, aware of the true values of things, the true values as weighed in the balance of the sanctuary⁴. He became thereby⁵ a great social and moral reformer. His ideal was of a time when all would be prophets—when “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy⁶, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” And we may remember that this ideal is recognized on the day of Pentecost as the natural first-fruits of the Spirit. If it had been realized the Church would have been a school of prophets from generation to generation. Unfortunately the Church has more often stifled⁷ the seer and glorified⁸ the priest.

 

As I understand it, it is the specific mission of Quakerism to propagate a Christianity of this prophetic, apostolic type, a Christianity in which the Church is a living fellowship of disciples¹⁰ at work for the social and moral ends of the Kingdom of God. But the Church is not simply, in the 23Quaker conception, a fellowship of disciples at work for the Kingdom of God; it is such a fellowship plus Jesus Christ Himself, in whose Spirit, the Spirit which unites them one to another and to Him, they become together “one flock, one Shepherd.”

 

Fellowships, made up of groups of men and women who are with Christ, redeemed¹² by Him, learning from Him, following Him, helping¹³ in His work, looking out on life with something of His devotion to the will of God and His passion to seek and save the lost—such are the true Quaker Churches. It is worth while to analyze¹⁴ the conception a little. The Church, we say, is a living fellowship—not in the first place an organization, but in the first place an organism—not an institution, but a body, built up of many cells, many individuals, just as the body has cells that grow and change and perform their several functions under the direction of an all-pervading, all-embracing life. That is what a living fellowship means. This life received through direct contact with the Divine life is the one essential of the Christian⁹ Church. It is the business 24of the Church to see that it is fostered in every possible way, so that the body may freely grow under its influence and freely express the life in all forms of worthy¹⁵ living.

 

Historically, Quakerism is the product of this vital experience and while we gladly recognize that the experience is shared by us with many other branches of the Christian Church, it remains¹⁶ true that no other religious community so deliberately¹⁷ and emphatically bases its individual and corporate¹⁸ life upon this supreme¹⁹ fact of the soul’s immediate²⁰ contact with God.

 

Our special position among the churches is sometimes stated—not by the Five Years’ Meeting—in a series of desolating²¹ negatives. We do not practice water baptism, nor partake of the outward elements of the Lord’s Supper, we are against war and oaths and priestcraft, our meetings are held on a basis of silence, and so on—all negatives. But we were gathered as a people out of the world through the force of dynamic positives. We withstand priestcraft because every disciple¹¹ is ordained²² for 25service. As George Fox said, every man hath an office and is serviceable. We witness against oaths, because we uphold a single standard of truth speaking, and against distinctions of dress and address, because all men are equal in the sight of God; we oppose war because the armor of the children of light is the armor of righteousness, and disuse the outward form of baptism because the all-important thing is not the form but the inward repentance²³ and cleansing²⁴ by the blood of Christ. We cannot narrow down the experience of communion with our Lord to special ceremonials and places and ministrants, when we hold that Jesus offers Himself as the Bread of Life to His people day by day—in the home, in the factory, at business, in all our common work and in all our loftiest worship—the whole of life may be a sacrament of communion with Jesus Christ.

 

It is as a “religion of life” that Quakerism will be presented in the future and is being presented now.

 

Its distinguishing note will be its resolve 26to bring all this human life of ours under the transforming power of spiritual life. It will stand out against all divisions and compartments²⁵ that separate the sacred from the secular²⁶, the sanctuary from the outward world of nature, the sacrament from the day’s common work, the clergy²⁷ from the laity²⁸.

 

It will tell of a Christian experience that makes all life sacred and all days holy, all nature a sanctuary, all work a sacrament, and gives to every man and woman in the body fit place and service. Its concern will be to multiply men and women who will have a message of power because they are themselves living in the power of God, who will spread the light because they are themselves the children of light. It will claim the whole of a man’s life, and the whole of life, individual, social, national, international, for the dominion²⁹ of the will of God.

1 intercourse   

n.性交；交流，交往，交际

参考例句：

• The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
• There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。

2 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

3 foresight   

n.先见之明，深谋远虑

参考例句：

• The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
• It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。

4 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

5 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

6 prophesy   

v.预言；预示

参考例句：

• He dares to prophesy what will happen in the future.他敢预言未来将发生什么事。
• I prophesy that he'll be back in the old job.我预言他将重操旧业。

7 stifled   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵

参考例句：

• The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
• The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

8 glorified   

美其名的，变荣耀的

参考例句：

• The restaurant was no more than a glorified fast-food cafe. 这地方美其名曰餐馆，其实只不过是个快餐店而已。
• The author glorified the life of the peasants. 那个作者赞美了农民的生活。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 disciples   

n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一

参考例句：

• Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. 犹大是耶稣十二门徒之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "The names of the first two disciples were --" “最初的两个门徒的名字是——” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

11 disciple   

n.信徒，门徒，追随者

参考例句：

• Your disciple failed to welcome you.你的徒弟没能迎接你。
• He was an ardent disciple of Gandhi.他是甘地的忠实信徒。

12 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

15 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

18 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

19 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

20 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

21 desolating   

毁坏( desolate的现在分词 )； 极大地破坏； 使沮丧； 使痛苦

参考例句：

• Most desolating were those evenings the belle-mere had envisaged for them. 最最凄凉的要数婆婆给她们设计的夜晚。

22 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

23 repentance   

n.懊悔

参考例句：

• He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
• Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。

24 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

25 compartments   

n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层

参考例句：

• Your pencil box has several compartments. 你的铅笔盒有好几个格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The first-class compartments are in front. 头等车室在前头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

27 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

28 laity   

n.俗人；门外汉

参考例句：

• The Church and the laity were increasingly active in charity work.教会与俗众越来越积极参与慈善工作。
• Clergy and laity alike are divided in their views.神职人员和信众同样都观点各异。

29 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。