Excerpt from The Distinguishing Doctrines of the Religious Society of Friends: A Lecture Delivered at Twelfth Street Meeting House Philadelphia, I Mo. 24th, 1898

As members of the Religious Society of Friends, we should approach the consideration of our distinguishing doctrines with sentiments of deep regard for all our brethren in Christ who belong to other denominations and whose doc trinal views vary from our own. Toward them we should ever entertain that feeling of Christian love which is kind, which vaunteth not itself and which thinketh no evil. Indeed, the very name of our denomination should constantly remind of this, because it implies a recognition of other branches of the church that is unique, and is remarkable for the breadth of its liberality. The name Friends was chosen in recognition of the declaration of our Lord, Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you and itfurther recognizes the relations that should exist between those of the same household of faith. This word stands for the teaching of the two great commandments. The term Society was chosen because it was recognized that the word church stood for all true believers of every name who belong to Christ's Kingdom on the earth, and that no branch of that church has any right to assume for itself a name that implies, in any way, the exclusion, or the want of recogni tion of others. The founders of the Society of Friends in the selection of its name manifested a breadth of consideration, and a liberal regard for others, that stand without a precedent in the history of the church.

Before speaking of our distinguishing doc trines it may be well to refer to the historic fact that there was a development of doctrine in the progress of the Protestant Reformation in Eng land that was unlike anything that occurred in any of the continental countries. In the latter, there was a definite time when the old doctrines and practices were rejected and the new were embraced. There was no such time in England.

The passage by Parliament of the Act of the Royal Supremacy was merely a substitution of the authority of the king for that of the Pope. It in no wise touched the Catholic doctrines. Henry VIII. Lived and died in the Roman faith. During the reign of Edward VI. Considerable progress in the Reformed faith was made. This was checked and much of it lost during the reign of Mary, and was very cautiously revived and advanced under Elizabeth and James, but during all that period the advances were but different degrees of compromise with Rome. The true understanding of this requires some definite test as to what is the fundamental difierence between Catholicism and Protestantism. The formula of Schleiermacher is generally accepted by both sides as a correct statement of this. Catholicism makes the believer's relation to Christ depend upon his relation to the church; Protestantism makes the believer's relation to the church depend upon his relation to Christ. It follows from this that if the believer's relation to Christ is made, in any degree, dependent upon his observance of any ordinance or ceremony of the church, or upon anyexercise of sacerdotal authority by its priests or ministers, in so far, the fundamental principle of Protestantism is violated and the principle of Catholicism is maintained.

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