Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/35

Rh pure child of God. William Penn, a young man of extraordinary powers, handsome person, and high and wealthy family, became one of George Fox's most zealous disciples. He also suffered for his opinions, and strengthened them by becoming one of his most powerful apostles.

The weapons of persecution and ridicule had long been directed against the increasing multitude of Quakers; human reason, too, directed her arguments to oppose them. They were charged with self-deception. “How can you know that you are not mistaking the fancies of a heated brain for the manifestation of the Spirit of God?” said the caviller.

“By the same spirit,” replied Penn. “The Spirit witnesseth with our spirit.”

“The Bible was the guide and rule of the Protestants. Had the Quakers a better guide?”

The Quakers answered that truth was one. God's revealed word cannot be opposed to God's voice in the conscience. But the Spirit is the criterion, and the Spirit dwells in the spirit of man. The letter is not the spirit. “The Bible is not religion, but the history of religion. The Scriptures are a declaration of the fountain, but not the fountain itself.” “God's light in our souls bears witness to the truth of God in the Scriptures and in Christianity.”

The Christian Quaker maintained his relationship to all the children of light in all ages, and received the revelation of the light of Christianity only because it became strengthened by the inner light in his soul. His faith was founded upon the universal testimony of the conscience. This assisted him through all knotty controversy. When they propounded to him the doctrines of predestination, the questions of free will and necessity, the Quaker laid his hand upon his breast. The inner voice there, testified of free will and responsibility; and it