Review for An Apology for the True Christian Divinity: Being an Explanation and Vindication of the Principles and Doctrines of the People Called Quakers : This book is incredible, I have never been so frightened reading a book and yet so riveted that I couldn't stop reading. I loved this book. It grabbed me from the first page and I had trouble putting it down. Read it, you won't be disappointed.
An Apology for the True Christian Divinity: Being an Explanation and Vindication of the Principles and Doctrines of the People Called Quakers info
Robert Barclay (1648-1690) wrote his classic exposition and defense of Quakerism in Latin and published it in 1676 as Theologiæ Vere Christianæ Apologia. He then translated his own book into English. The Apology has since been reprinted over 60 times and translated into several other languages.
Barclay's education enabled him to understand academic theology. Most early Quaker publicists used a distinctive Quaker vocabulary which was often misunderstood by educated theologians, whom the Quakers misunderstood in turn. Thus in early debate literature, Friends and their opponents often talked past each other, taking the same words in different senses. Barclay bridges this gap, defending Quaker usage while clearly explaining it for the benefit of those who were accustomed to a different vocabulary.
This is not to say that the theological differences between Quakers and other sects were mere differences of vocabulary. There were doctrinal differences of substance; and
