Chapter 5

 I have now sought to show that Quakerism at its best is always the product of 48vital forces, and is always producing vital relations. I say “at its best”; that is the necessary qualification.

 

This brings me to my last point. What is needed besides the life of the Spirit, the life of Jesus Christ in the Church? Surely what we need is an earnest dedication¹ on the part of those who are seeking to know Jesus Christ. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

 

In the early days of Quakerism men were athirst for the gospel of a living Christ. In the present day, side by side with much indifference² and indolence there is a wide-spread craving³ for reality in religion and life.

 

Tremendous social problems confront men to-day, new hopes of higher life are coming to the mass of workers, new convictions and new duties are dawning on the world, and fresh questions are being raised in the domains⁴ of history, psychology⁵ and philosophy. We are probably living in the midst of as great a period of transition as that which formed the bridge between the Middle Ages and Modern Europe, and those alone 49will find the fuller truth and lead men into it who will bear the travail⁶ and follow the trail of the Seekers of the Light. We want men who will get on the top of the situation, men in the spirit of George Fox. When he was overwhelmed by the confusion of the year of anarchy⁷ that preceded the Restoration of 1660, he lay in great exercise of spirit at Reading for ten weeks and he writes:

 

“And so when I had travailed with the witness of God which they had quenched⁸ and gotten through with it and over all that hypocrisy⁹ ... I came to have ease and the Light shined over all.”3

 

It is the duty of the Church to discountenance all the manifold insincerities which disfigure our current Christianity, and to give free scope to honest-hearted love of truth. Sincerity¹⁰ is a plant that thrives under freedom and light, but withers¹¹ under authority. The Church must use methods of illumination and education and fellowship as its means for cherishing true-hearted allegiance to the Lord. It will find these 50methods more fruitful than methods of authority. Methods of authority may secure an artificial conformity¹², but it will always be at some expense of sincerity.

 

Jesus resolutely¹³ turned His back on the quickly won Kingdom of God, to be made up of those who gave Him external obedience¹⁴; He set Himself to the slow achievement of an inward Kingdom, which should gather men into willing discipleship¹⁵.

 

I desire an atmosphere of large-hearted charity and brotherly confidence, which will allow the Seeker after truth to live in the power of his experience, even if it is not a full experience, without being expected to live beyond his experience, an atmosphere which will allow him to make use of all the great aids which we have to-day in the search after truth—the great aids of scientific investigation¹⁶, and what is still more important, in my opinion, the modern historical method which we are using to-day. We want to have as the motto of our Church the motto of one of our Yorkshire towns, “Weave truth with trust.” We want a Church that believes in the nobility of 51the truth; as this belief prevails amongst us, so shall we find a deeper reality in all our Church life, and a fresh release of energy and renewal¹⁷ of inspiration. For Quakerism is essentially¹⁸ a religion of sincerity, answered by the incoming of the living Christ.

1 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

2 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

3 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

4 domains   

n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产

参考例句：

• The theory of thermodynamics links the macroscopic and submicroscopic domains. 热力学把宏观世界同亚微观世界联系起来。 来自辞典例句
• All three flow domains are indicated by shading. 所有三个流动区域都是用阴影部分表示的。 来自辞典例句

5 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

6 travail   

n.阵痛；努力

参考例句：

• Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.母亲们了解分娩时的痛苦。
• He gained the medal through his painful travail.他通过艰辛的努力获得了奖牌。

7 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

8 quenched   

解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却

参考例句：

• He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
• I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。

9 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

10 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

11 withers   

马肩隆

参考例句：

• The girl's pitiful history would wring one's withers. 这女孩子的经历令人心碎。
• "I will be there to show you," and so Mr. Withers withdrew. “我会等在那里，领你去看房间的，"威瑟斯先生这样说着，退了出去。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 conformity   

n.一致，遵从，顺从

参考例句：

• Was his action in conformity with the law?他的行动是否合法？
• The plan was made in conformity with his views.计划仍按他的意见制定。

13 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

14 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

15 discipleship   

n.做弟子的身份（期间）

参考例句：

• Teaching the Bible through seminars, workshops, discipleship, home cell groups, and books. 透过举办研讨会、工作坊、门徒训练、家庭小组和出办书籍教导圣经。 来自互联网
• Our popular PP959 radio show and podcast is another example of our integrated discipleship ministry. 我们广受欢迎的[霹啪959]电台广播节目和网上播客也是我们整全门训事工的表表者。 来自互联网

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

18 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。