Unto Charles II

RantWoman began this post way back when she and the Barclay reading group were first wading into the Apology. The file is dated 8/27/2010. RantWoman is unclear whether the blogosphere cares in the slightest about the saga of RantWoman's slog, together with a flock of hardy, erudite fellow readers from her Meeting, through the Apology, but heck, electrons are cheap and the file will take up space whether RantWoman posts it or not.


RantWoman remembers being struck by the passage at the beginning entitled Unto Charles II. RantWoman's knowledge of 17th century history including England and the nuances of various religious and theological rows is SPOTTY at best. RantWoman expects her grasp of history to get expanded.


RantWoman notes the we're just peaceful ... followers of Jesus" thread. RantWoman THINKS she knows what was meant, but that line makes RantWoman almost as nervous as "God made me do it" as a defense for civil disobedience. Why underplay the transformative nature of one's faith, particularly when Barclay spends so much time in the rest of the book upholding the virtues of Quaker practices which clearly WERE an open challenge and perceived threat to the established order?
http://www.qhpress.org/texts/barclay/apology/front.html#1


RantWoman found a wonderful Pendle Hill talk by Quaker theologian Lloyd Lee Wilson:

http://www.pendlehill.org/lectures/fall2009/253-who-do-you-say-i-am

about Min 37 or so, there is a wonderful bit about who is the most subversive group in this country, Christians. ... Think of the Lord's prayer and "Thy kingdom come"

RantWoman is wondering in hindsight after the end of Proposition Eleven whether Barclay will come again to relationship to temporal authorities, acknowledgment of his own self-justification. RantWoman also promises to meditate some more on the submission to the Divine inherent in early Quakers.