[34] J. J. Gurney's Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 28.
For a long period Barclay was more than a standard writer amongst the Friends. His Apology had all the authority of a creed, and not to accept it would be sufficient to brand any Friend as unsound.[35] Nobler minds might feel that this was bondage utterly foreign to the spirit of the early Friends; yet a large number of Friends did not. But about the beginning of the present century, a change came over the Society. Religious and philanthropic works led some of its members to associate with evangelical churchmen and others. Controversies also arose, which at least compelled a systematic and critical study of the Bible. Broader sympathies and more enlightened study of the Scriptures undermined Barclay's influence. It was found that his exposition of Scripture texts was sometimes unsatisfactory. The Yearly Meeting ceased to print the Apology for gratuitous distribution, though not without strenuous protest from some, who clung to the old ways of presenting Quaker truth.
[35] "The 'Apology' of Barclay was largely printed and distributed by the Society, and was accepted at the period of which we are treating [1833] (contrary to the principles of the ancient Society) as a _distinct creed_, which every person bearing the name of a 'Friend' ought to be prepared to accept in all its parts. * * * At this period it was deemed sufficient proof of I. Crewdson's doctrinal 'unsoundness,' to state that he objected to certain portions of the able theological treatise of Barclay." "R. Barclay's 'Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth,'" p. 573.
In the more recent literature of the Society, the doctrine of the Divine seed is scarcely to be found. But its essence is there. The illumination of the Holy Spirit, and the presence of Christ with his church are held by Friends with peculiar distinctness and force. The fact that all men have grace enough to accept the offer of salvation if they will, is stated as clearly now as it was by George Fox. Let there be but the zeal and the faith of George Fox, his urgency in dealing with men, his confidence in pleading with God, and Quakerism has yet a message that the world needs to hear, and that will win its olden triumphs, and bring its divine blessings to man.