The kingdom of Christ; or, Hints to a Quaker, respecting the principles, constitution, and ordinances of the Catholic church Volume 2

by Frederick Denison Maurice

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1842 edition. ...of distinguishing; faithfully and humbly used, it has that effect. If you, who have not used it or believed in it, shew that you have not acquired that habit, we have only another reason for giving thanks, that God has been pleased not to hide the blessing from us or from our children. 6th. These last considerations apply very remarkably to the case of the Gospel narratives. It is said, "the Church has preserved to us these histories of our Lord's life; you receive them upon the authority of the Church. You know very little about the persons who wrote them, you accept them because they are given to you as parts of the canon. Well, but the Church has put its sanction upon many histories of the saints; she deems them also profitable for her children. Granted that they refer to inferior persons, that they never can be as important as the Gospels, yet where do you draw the line? You have admitted Church authority in one case, the highest case of all, why not admit it also in a lower case 7" I answer, by the care of God's providence through his Church, these records of its Lord and Head, have been preserved. They have been preserved, no doubt, for many great and solemn purposes, but for this especially, that there may be a stan dard in the world, by which all other acts and lives may be tried. Exclude the Gospels from our canon, let there be nothing there but epistles setting forth spiritual principles, and not only do those principles lose their meaning for want of a true personal object to which they may refer; but this end is wholly lost--there is no character set before men, which exhibits to them the image after which they were formed, in connexion with the life of this earth. Now if the Church have preserved for me these books, and...

116 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2002

About the author

John Frederick Denison Maurice, often known as F. D. Maurice (29 August 1805 – 1 April 1872), was a major theologian of the Church of England, a prolific author and one of the founders of Christian Socialism. Since World War II, interest in Maurice has expanded.

John Frederick Denison Maurice was born in Normanton, Suffolk, on 29 August 1805, the only son of Michael Maurice and his wife, Priscilla. Michael Maurice was the evening preacher in a Unitarian chapel. Deaths in the family brought about changes in the family’s "religious convictions" and "vehement disagreement" between family members.

That Maurice left a legacy that would be valued by many was harbingered by responses to his death. "Crowds following his remains to their last resting place, and around the open grave there stood men of widely different creeds, united for the moment by the common sorrow and their deep sense of loss. From pulpit and press, from loyal friends and honest opponents, the tribute to the worth of Mr. Maurice was both sincere and generous."

Maurice’s written legacy includes "nearly 40 volumes," and they hold "a permanent place in the history of thought in his time."[1] His writings are "recognizable as the utterance of a mind profoundly Christian in all its convictions."[41]

By themselves, two of Maurice’s books, The Kingdom of Christ (1838 and later editions) and Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy (2 volumes, 1871–1872), are "remarkable enough to have made their writer famous." But there more reasons for Maurice’s fame. In his "life-work" Maurice was "constantly teaching, writing, guiding, organizing; training up others to do the same kind of work, but giving them something of his spirit, never simply his views." He drew out "all the best that was in others, never trying to force himself upon them." With his opponents, Maurice tried to find some "common ground" between them. None who knew him personally "could doubt that he was indeed a man of God."