The Conception of the Inner Light in Robert Barclay's Theology: A Study in Quakerism (review)

Book Reviews The Story of Quakerism. By Elfrida Vipont. London: The Bannisdale Press. 1954. 312 pages. $2.50 This history of Quakerism is the first of the kind to appear in England for many years. As the Introduction states, it was felt that "it need amount to no more than a summary of the Rowntree Histories brought up to date." To reduce the five great volumes of Braithwaite and Jones to a little over 200 pages was quite a feat in itself and called for a nice sense of proportion. The author's apparently modest purpose has been well carried out, and in addition Part III carries on the history of the Society and its work both in England and America during the present century. It is natural that the bulk of this tercentenary publication should deal with British Quakerism, for that is where one must look for the most significant contributions to the thought and life of the Society of Friends. Leading American Friends, however, are mentioned in their proper perspective, and nothing of primary importance in American Quakerism has been found lacking. An interesting feature in a history of this kind is the complete lack of footnotes, the author feeling that anything important should find a place in the text itself. This text is very happily written, as one should expect it to be by such an experienced writer. A useful minor feature of the book is a tabulation of membership in the different meetings of the Society—a total of about 116,000 for America and about 58,000 for the rest of the world. This information is followed by quite a sufficient bibliography for further reading and a convenient index. It is a pity that the proofreading has been so faulty, but steps have been taken to correct misprints in a future edition. This book is the best current account of Quakerism for the interested inquirer. Haverford CollegeW. W. COMFORT The Conception of the Inner Light in Robert Barclay's Theology: A Study in Quakerism. By Leif Eeg-Olofsson. Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup. 1954. 258 pages. $4.50. In a day when theology is once more becoming relevant to the human situation as viewed and experienced by ordinary persons, it is well for us to take a hard and penetrating look at the wisdom to be gained from the writings of Robert Barclay, the outstanding theologian produced by the Society of Friends. In reviewing a recent book about George Fox, Henry Cadbury notes that it does not attempt to evaluate "the current validity of [Fox's] religious position." In considering the historical and analytical treatment of "The Conception of the Inner Light in Robert Barclay's Theology" presented by Leif Eeg-Olofsson for the D.D. thesis at 55 56Bulletin of Friends Historical Association Lund, we should keep in mind the current validity of Barclay's religious position. The book is sub-titled "A Study in Quakerism." Leif Eeg-Olofsson paints a broad canvas. This is necessary in any comprehensive consideration of the conception of the Inner Light and Barclay's contribution to it. By definition the author calls the Inner Light "a characteristic of a divine disposition in man, through which he comes into contact with the Godhead." Even limiting his inquiry to thinkers mentioned by Barclay because he was in harmony with them or the reverse , it is necessary for him to deal with such "philosophers of antiquity" as Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, Phocylides. For example, "when Barclay refers to Plato, he wishes to show that Plato had a certain conception of Adam's fall, although he knew nothing of the story of original sin . . . [The] divine characteristic of the soul is expressed by Plato in various ways." Similarly, Eeg-Olofsson includes within the purview of Barclay the Old and New Testaments, the Apologists and Church Fathers, mediaeval Christian mysticism, the Cambridge Platonists, the Ranters, and Islamic and Jewish mysticism. The Inner Light is the key to Barclay's theology just as justification by faith is the key to Lutheranism. Barclay had much in common with Calvinism's "theological apparatus of ideas," held a rationalistic theory of cognition philosophically but theologically "places himself on...