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The Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth
The Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth Author:Robert Barclay Subtitle: Considered Principally With Reference to the Influence of Church Organization on the Spread of Christianity General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1876 Original Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton Subjects: Sects Great Britain United States Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It... more » has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER II. The Course Of Religious Opinion In England Prior To 1640. The Rise Op The Baptists, The PresByterian And Anglican Parties In The Church Of England, The Familists, And Brownists. It is impossible to take a correct and reasonable view of the opinions and practices of any of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth, unless we endeavour clearly to understand the causes which led, first, to the temporary abolition of Episcopacy and the overthrow of the Established Church, and, in the second place, how certain religious opinions were gradually formed; which produced, as their practical result, the English Presbyterian party, the Independent and Baptist Churches, and the Society of Friends. George Fox commenced his ministry in the year 1648, and therefore our subject will lead us to look both backwards and forwards from this historical standpoint. We shall endeavour to trace how, under the excitement of the stirring events of the time, certain phases of religious truth were preached in every part of the United Kingdom, principally by " lay " or private persons, and produced an outburst of religious activity and energy which has always been regarded with some degree of astonishment. The Society of Friends was the last religious society formed during the extraordinary period we are about tocontemplate, and those facts which explain its relation to other religious societies, will be found to ...« less