Studies in Christian Enthusiasm Illustrated from Early Quakerism (review)

Book Reviews43 Quakerism cannot be said to have suffered by the loss of the Book of Miracles. Indeed the impulse to withhold it from general circulation was based on correct judgment. More would have been lost than gained in an age when science was struggling to establish its proper claims by propagating these instances which, as recounted, represent the end of an epoch. But the reasons for not publishing the Book of Miracles in the 17th century no longer exist today and we owe a great deal to Henry Cadbury for preserving the essence of this material in such a way as to give us insight into a little known corner of our history. Pendle HillHoward H. Brinton * * * Studies in Chrutian Enthusiasm Illustrated from Early Quakerism, by Geoffrey F. Nuttall. Wallingford, Pennsylvania, Pendle Hill, 1948. 96 pp. Fifty cents. I^HIS little book provides an interesting picture of early Quakerism, especially of its spirit of enthusiasm. It is "intense feeling," as Howard H. Brinton says in his Foreword, which characterizes the first Quakers and which may sometimes have overreached itself and have become a danger. But the best things in this life cannot be had without risk, and so this book on Christian enthusiasm shows us the eternal truth that man by reaching to his greatest height will come dangerously near to sin and fall. This danger is most clearly seen in the last chapter, when Mr. Nuttall treats the extravagances of enthusiasm, as they appear in the Ranters, a sect not to be identified with the Quakers. But it is not only with regard to the Ranters that Mr. Nuttall makes the concluding remark : "We are to use all God's gifts to the full ; and at the same time not to suppose that ... we shall make no mistakes. But better far to make mistakes. . . than to dismiss the way of Christian enthusiasm as altogether too dangerous." The five main chapters are devoted to five outstanding personalities: Thomas Aldam, Richard Farnworth, Thomas Holme and James Nayler, all of them representative figures of the 17th century. In each of these men Mr. Nuttall tries to depict a special brand of enthusiasm: a moral, didactic, emotional, and spiritual enthusiasm. The last of these men, the spiritual James Nayler, seems to have been the most interesting personality; the tension between saintliness and human deficiency makes him a tragic figure of first importance, and Mr. Nuttall shows great ability in making this man as well as the four others fully alive. Thus for its length (90 pages) this book covers its ground very well and holds the interest of the reader throughout its content, comprising many quotations of original writings. Haverford CollegeMartin Foss ...