To many it may seem that the ideal of a single organically united Christian Church is a wild and impracticable dream. To some it will appear as an altogether 58undesirable object to set before ourselves. We are indeed perpetually reminded in a variety of ways of the inestimable gain which comes to the Kingdom of God through the wide differences of opinion and view-point represented by the existing sections of the Christian Church. If union spelt uniformity, I confess that I should be found amongst its strongest opponents. If, indeed, it stood for merging11 all differences and an emphasis upon nothing beyond the minimum upon which we are all agreed, I could not look forward with any satisfaction to such a prospect12. To me, however, union stands for something far other. My ideal of it is represented by the following sentence from the report presented to the Edinburgh Conference on this subject: “They desire that ... those who are at present separated should seek to be led by the Spirit of God into a unity13 in which all that is true and vital in the principles and practices of each may be preserved and reconciled.... Unity when it comes must be something richer, grander, more comprehensive than anything which 59we can see at present. It is something into which and up to which we must grow, something of which and for which we must become worthy14. We need to have sufficient faith in God to believe that He can bring us to something higher and more Christ-like than anything to which at present we see a way.”4
It is not, however necessary for us to determine in our own minds what is the ideal towards which the Christian Church is moving, or ought to move, in regard to this particular problem. One thing is abundantly clear, and that is that, if our own generation is to receive and respond to the Christian message, every section of the Church must bring its best contribution. No one section will, in itself, contain the whole of truth. In this day of Foreign Missions we are enabled to see on the horizon the glorious ideal of the Kingdom of God into which each nation and each race shall contribute its own distinctive elements of moral strength and spiritual 60illumination. Even so may we not conceive, as a preparation for this end, the delivery of a Christian message more comprehensive than any which has been delivered to the world since Apostolic days? If this message is to be delivered, either at home or abroad, there must be a larger sympathy and a better understanding between the various Christian communions. Each must seek to interpret its own message in terms intelligible15 to the others: each must make a patient endeavor to appreciate the strength and beauty of that which has been committed to other Christian communions with which it has perhaps hitherto been at war. Whether this will ultimately lead into an organic unity or not none of us can possibly say. Whether, indeed, we should work for organic unity or not will evoke16 large divergence17 of opinion. Whether or not we should cultivate the spirit of unity—the atmosphere in which the beautiful flower of unity will come to perfection—this is a question upon which there can surely be no divergence of view.
I approach this question as one who 61dares to believe that Christianity is the future religion of mankind. I believe this because I see no other religious system in the least degree competent to take this place. I believe it because the closer linking of mankind by commercial and intellectual bonds appears to me as nothing less than a preparation for the linking together of the whole human race in one great spiritual kingdom. I believe it because I see in the Man Christ Jesus the One who alone can appeal to all ages and all races and all classes of men: who is in very truth the Son of Man. I believe it supremely19 because I see in Him the only begotten20 Son of God sent into the world for the redemption of mankind, and offering His life as the one supreme18 sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It is with nothing short of a passionate21 longing22 that I desire that the Society of Friends may make its full contribution to the achievement of this glorious ideal. In the great purposes of God the full content of truth will, I feel assured, be some day discovered and followed by a redeemed23 humanity. For the 62Society of Friends, which has already played a great part in leading men into the truth, I am ambitious that we may not, through any failure of spiritual perception or moral earnestness, lose the opportunity of giving what has been given to us. That which we have, we hold in trust for the Church and for the world.
On this occasion, it is not my purpose to enlarge upon the contribution of our Society to the world. In common with all the Christian Churches, we have a great message to deliver. Even as George Fox said in his day we are charged primarily with “the preaching of the Everlasting24 Gospel.” The great essentials of this gospel—the Divine Sonship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: His great sacrifice for sin: His victory over it in His resurrection: the gift of His Holy Spirit—these are the things which bind25 us together with all sections of the Christian Church, and which give us, in common with them, a life-giving message to our own generation. I wish it to be clear that, in passing over these fundamental questions, it is not because I lightly esteem26 them; 63but simply because I feel so sure that we here are united with one another and with all who truly call upon the name of Christ, and because I wish rather to emphasize and plead for a more deliberate and sympathetic attempt to bring the message of Quakerism to our own generation.
But I do this in no narrow sectarian spirit. It may be that the following recollection of a Quaker boyhood represents to some extent the attitude which many of us have held at one time in our lives. “I said ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ to everybody, and I would fully27 as soon have used profane28 words as have said ‘you’ or ‘yours’ to any person. I thought only ‘Friends’ went to heaven, and so I supposed that the use of ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ was one of the main things that determined29 whether one would be let in or not. Nobody ever told me anything like this and if I had asked anybody at home about it, I should have had my views corrected. But for a number of years this was my settled faith. I pitied the poor neighbors who would never be let in, and I wondered why everybody did not ‘join 64the Meeting’ and learn to say ‘thee’ and ‘thy.’ I had one little Gentile friend whom I could not bear to have ‘lost,’ and I went faithfully to work and taught him ‘the language,’ which he always used with me till he was ten or twelve years old, when the strain of the world got too heavy upon the little fellow! I am quite sure no Israelite, in the days of Israel’s prosperity, ever had a more certain conviction that he belonged to a peculiar30 people whom the Lord had chosen as His own than I had. There was for me an absolute break between ‘us’ and anybody else. This Phariseeism was never taught me nor encouraged directly by anybody; but I none the less had it. If I had anything in the world to glory over, it was that I was a Quaker.”5
I have no doubt that we shall all wish to banish31 from our minds any lingering suspicion of such a spirit as is represented by these words. To us it must be clear that no one sect10 is the sole repository of truth, and that others may have more to 65give than we; but this attitude is not inconsistent with a clear sense of what is entrusted32 to us and an intense desire to share it with all.
Again I want to make it clear, in referring to various elements of the Quaker contribution, that I am well aware that in respect of many of these questions there are many individuals belonging to other Christian denominations who hold the same views and exemplify in their lives the same moral qualities. I think, however, that I am right in saying that in each case Friends hold a distinctive position through the fact that they, as an organization, stand for these views of truth and, in some cases, exhibit them through that organization in a way which it is not possible for them to be exhibited in the lives of single individuals.
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1
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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overlapping
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| adj./n.交迭（的） | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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denominations
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| n.宗派( denomination的名词复数 )；教派；面额；名称 | |
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6
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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7
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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merging
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| 合并（分类） | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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13
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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divergence
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| n.分歧，岔开 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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supremely
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| adv.无上地，崇高地 | |
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20
begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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21
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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22
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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24
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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25
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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26
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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27
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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28
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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30
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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31
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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32
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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