A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume 2 | Page 2

that of the objectors on this subject._

CHAPTER X.
SECT. I._--Ministers of the Gospel--Quakers conceive that the spirit of God alone can qualify for the ministry--Women equally qualified with men--Way in which ministers are called and acknowledged among the Quakers._
SECT. II._--Quaker-ministers, when acknowledged, engage in family visits--Nature of these--and sometimes in missions through England--and sometimes in foreign parts._

CHAPTER XI.
_Elders--Their origin and their office--These are not to meddle with the discipline of the church._

CHAPTER XII.
SECT I._--Worship--is usually made to consist of prayer and preaching--But neither of these are considered by the Quakers to be effectual without the aid of the spirit--Hence no liturgy or studied form of words among the Quakers--Reputed manner and character of Quaker-preaching--Observations upon these._
SECT. II--_Silent worship--Manner of it--Worship not necessarily connected with words--Advantages of this mode of worship._
SECT. III.--_Quakers discard every thing formal and superstitious from their worship--No consecrated ground--No priest's garments--No psalmody--No one day esteemed by them holier than another--Reasons for these singularities._

CHAPTER XIII.
_Miscellaneous particularities--Quakers seldom use the words "original sin," or "Trinity," and never "the word of God" for the Scriptures--Believe in the manhood and divinity of Christ--In the resurrection--Their ideas on sanctification and justification._

CHAPTER XIV.
_Quakers reject baptism and the Lord's supper--Indulgence solicited for them on account of the difficulties connected with these subjects--These difficulties explained._

CHAPTER XV.
SECT. I.--_Two baptisms, that of John and of Christ--That of John was by water--and a Jewish ordinance--John the prophet left under the law._
SECT. II.--_Baptism of Christ was by the Spirit--This the baptism of the Gospel--Authorities on which this distinction between the two is founded._
SECT. III.--_Quakers conceive it was not the baptism of John which Jesus included in the Great Commission, when he ordered his disciples to go into all nations, and to teach them, baptizing in the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost--This shown from expressions taken from St. Peter and St. Paul--and from the object and nature of this baptism._
SECT. IV.--_But that it was the baptism of Christ--This shown from a critical examination of the words in the commission itself--And from the commission, as explained by St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul._
SECT. V.--_Practice of Jesus and the Apostles a confirmation of this opinion._

CHAPTER XVI.
Sect. I.--_Two suppers, the one instituted by Moses, the other by Jesus Christ--The first called the passover--Ancient and modern manner of its celebration._
Sect. II.--_Second, enjoined by Jesus at Capernaum--This wholly, of a spiritual nature--Way in which this may be enjoyed._
Sect. III.--_Quakers say that Jesus instituted no new supper distinct from that of the passover, and which was to render null and void that enjoined at Capernaum, at a rite of the Christian church--No such institution to be collected from St. Matthew, St. Mark, or St. John._
Sect. IV.--_Nor from St. Luke--St. Luke only says, that all future passovers of the Disciples with Christ were to be spiritual--but if, as Jews, they could not all at once abdicate the passover to which they had been educated, they were to celebrate it with a new meaning--But no acknowledged permission of it to others._
Sect. V.--_Nor from St. Paul--St. Paul only says that the passover, as spiritualized by Jesus, was allowed to his disciples, or to the Jewish converts, who could not all at once lay aside their prejudices concerning it, but that it was to last only for a time--Different opinions about this time--That of the Quakers concerning it._
Sect. VI.--_Had a new supper, distinct from that of the passover, been intended as a ceremonial of the Christian church, it would have been commanded to others besides the disciples, and its duration would not have been limited--Reasons from St. Paul, to show that he himself did not probably consider it as a Christian ordinance--Whereas the supper enjoined at Capernaum, was to be eternal--and universal--and an essential with all Christians._
PECULIAR CUSTOMS OF THE QUAKERS.
(CONTINUED)
VOL. II B.
PECULIAR CUSTOMS OF THE QUAKERS.

CHAP. I.
SECTION I.
_Marriage--Quakers differ in many respects from others, on the subject of Marriage--George Fox introduced Regulations concerning it--Protested against the usual manner of the celebration of it--Gave an example of what he recommended--Present regulations of the Quakers on this subject._
In the continuation of the Customs of the Quakers, a subject which I purpose to resume in the present volume, I shall begin with that of Marriage.
The Quakers differ from others in many of their regulations concerning this custom. They differ also in the manner of the celebration of it. And, as they differ in these respects, so they experience generally a different result. The Quakers, as a married, may be said to be a happy, people. Hence the detailers of scandal, have rarely had it in their power to promulgate a Quaker adultery. Nor have the lawyers had an opportunity in our public courts of proclaiming a Quaker divorce.
George Fox suggested many regulations on this subject. He advised, among other things, when persons had it