| Description | This article written by Taylor Cadbury was printed in a quarterly journal called 'The Review of the Churches' in 1925. The article summarises an address which Taylor Cadbury delivered at a Conference of the Churches entitled 'The Church and the World' which was held in Murren in September 1924. The conference was attended by representatives from different sections of the Christian Church in Europe.
Taylor Cadbury's address at this conference had aimed to encourage a wider understanding of the founding figure of Quakerism, George Fox, who she suggests many people viewed as 'a perculiar man in a broad-rimmed hat'. In this summarised version of her address Taylor Cadbury provides a detailed account of George Fox's life and experiences, examining how Fox shifted the emphasis in Christian faith from 'Theology to Experience'. Referring to the writings of her American cousin, the Quaker academic Rufus Jones, Taylor Cadbury states that 'the central pillar of religion' to Fox 'was not tradition nor dogmatism, nor any external infallibility - it was the spiritual nature of man's soul and its direct relationship with God'. Taylor Cadbury also considers Fox's 'social message' with reference to his work investigating 'Conditions and Wages in Industry in the Midlands' suggesting that Fox 'stood for Temperance, Education, and industrial betterment, the removal of sex disabilities, religious toleration, common and equal justice', as well as advocating prison reform and opposing slavery. Taylor Cadbury also considers Fox's views on 'peace and war' and the development of the Religious Society of Friends with reference to their methods of church business and religious worship. |