That there is less variety in the Quaker sermons than in those of
others, there can be no doubt. But such variety is not so necessary to
Quakers, on account of their peculiar tenets, and the universality of
their education, as to others. For it is believed, as I have explained
before, that the spirit of God, if duly attended to, is a spiritual
guide to man, and that it leads him into all truth; that it redeems him;
and that it qualifies him therefore for happiness in a future state.
Thus an injunction to attend to the teachings of the spirit, supersedes,
in some measure, the necessity of detailing the moral and religious
obligations of individuals. And this necessity is still farther
superseded by the consideration, that, as all the members of the Quaker
society can read, they can collect their Christian duty from the
scriptures, independently of their own ministers; or that they can
collect those duties for themselves, which others, who are illiterate,
are obliged to collect from the church.
The second objection is, that the Quaker discourses have generally less
in them, and are occasionally less connected or more confused than those
of others.
It must be obvious, when we consider that the Quaker ministers are often
persons of but little erudition, and that their principles forbid them
to premeditate on these occasions, that we can hardly expect to find the
same logical division of the subject, or the same logical provings of
given points, as in the sermons of those who spend hours, or even days
together, in composing them.
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