Church Government

‘Tis true, Friends in the Beginnings were turned to the Light in their own Consciences, as their Guide; but when it pleased the Lord to gather so great a Number into the Knowledge and Belief of the Truth, as were in few Years, gathered, that the Heavenly Motion came upon G.F. as the Lords Anointed, and Chosen; having the Care of the Churches, as being the great Apostle of Christ Jesus (and as one whom the Lord had ordained to be in that place amongst the Children of Light in this our Day, as Moses was amongst the Children of Israel in his Day) to set forth Methods, and Forms of Church Government, and to establish Monthly, and Quarterly Meetings of Men and Women distinct from Men; and these Meetings since are called the Church, whose Counsel, Advice, and Judgement (was Occasion should offer) is to be submitted unto by every one who professes himself as a Member of the Church of Christ; and that we ought to believe, as the Church believes; else why should an Eminent Friend in the sixteenth Page of his Book thus say, “I affirm, that the true Church is the true Faith that is in God, and we must either believe thus, as the true Church believes, or else it were but a Folly, and Hypocrisie to profess our selves Members thereof. [And so in the same Page proceeds to manifest] that he who seems to own the Church of Christ, as a Member of her, and yet tells the World, that it is a most dangerous position, that we are to believe as the Church believes, is a treacherous Enemy to the Church of Christ.”

Source: The Christian Quaker William Rogers, First Part pg. 9. 1680.

About the Christian Quaker

In the year 1680, William Rogers published “The Christian Quaker Distinguished from the Apostate & Innovator, in Five Parts” as a response to what many Quakers at the time understood to be an introduction of a peremptory spirit into the gathering led by George Fox. This categorical process was manifested by George Fox’s establishment of outward institutional forms and prescriptions, the adherence to which, was enforced through ridicule and demonization and other activities over against those Quakers who demurred against the enforcement of such outward forms over against the conscience of others in the gathering.

Rogers called this publication his “Historical Treatise,” intending it as a remembrancer of those early Quakers who were come out of being guided and informed by outward forms and institutions and who were come into the sufficiency of and dependency on the direct inshining Spirit itself in itself as their sole guide in matters of human conscience, relations, and interactions.

This newly keyboarded version from a facsimile of the 1680 publication retains the topography and spelling of the original. For those who wish to cross-reference the keyboarded text with the original, page markers that match the pages in the original are embedded throughout the keyboarded text. For example {Third Part 27} indicates the same place is found in the original document in the Third Part of the book on page 27.

The book is in various formats. There is a web version and a pdf version available. Both versions are hyperlink rich. The pdf version is a bit more dynamic and interactive than the web version as it contains internal hyperlinks in the index of the book among other linked content.

The web version is published in this blog, which is the "notebook" side of the "The Chrisitan Quaker" published on separate pages. The vision of this setup is to use the notebook to create note cards from content in the book itself and to cross-reference through interactive links with other early Quaker books and pamphlets published in the same manner. To begin reading click on the links in the column to the right.

Also, you may read and download the pdf version from the link below.

Link to PDF Version of The Christian Quaker