Penn, William:

$1,750 · Offered by William Reese Company

THE CHRISTIAN QUAKER AND HIS DIVINE TESTIMONY STATED AND VINDICATED, FROM SCRIPTURE, REASON AND AUTHORITY. The third edition of this work by William Penn, with no copies of the first edition being recorded extant, and the second published in 1674. In this work the noted Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania refutes assertions about the Quaker faith made by Baptist preacher Thomas Hicks in his pamphlet, A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A CHRISTIAN AND A QUAKER (1673). Hicks' pamphlet purports to be a conversation between an orthodox Christian and a Quaker, in which the Quaker is made to appear quite foolish. Bronner & Fraser note that it must have been quite popular, as it went through two printings, and Penn felt compelled to respond with the present work. Penn's essay concerns "the Light within," which he claims is universal, dating back to the classical world even before Christ, though he notes that Christ is the ultimate expression of the Light. "WP went on to prove the universality of the Light through reason, and to summarize the character of a True Quaker, as one who is completely obedient to the Light. Biographers have called this WP's most systematic essay written up to this point, and it was given a good reception in the seventeenth century" - Bronner & Fraser.

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