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The Doctrines of the Society of Friends (1869)
The Doctrines of the Society of Friends - 1869 Author:Thomas Story Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: BRIEF MEMOIR THOMAS Of all those firm upholders of the truth, whose writings have come down to us out of the half-forgotten past, we know of few, if any, b... more »etter adapted to illustrate the Christian principles of the religious society of Friends than Thomas Story, — one in whom seem to have been combined the earnest, unwavering faith of a true gospel minister, with the sound reasoning and clear discrimination of a man of high intellectual attainments. In offering to the reader a brief outline of his biography, with selections from his writings, our hope is to draw to them the attention and thoughtful consideration of some who might not have time or inclination to peruse them at large. Before coming, however, to the matter immediately in hand, a few general observations, bearing upon the subject, may not be out of place in this connection. An inward, invisible, spiritual Church, walking by faith, and not by sight, and merged in, or surrounded by, another outward or ceremonial religions system, is clearly discernible far back in the history of our race. In the days of Elijah the Prophet, the Priest and the Levite, who should have been shepherds of the flock, had fled from their posts, and the great mass of the chosen people, with their wicked rulers, were left to worship Baal in the groves and upon the high places; yet were there in Israel seven thousand souls who bowed not down to the false idol, but continued faithfully serving the God of their fathers. Long ages after, as we follow down the history of the same wondrous people, who then, as formerly, may be considered as representing the outward Church, we shall find the priests and high professors of the day ready to deliver up the Saviour of mankind to the scourge and the cross; and only a few poor fishermen and ...« less