Friends in the unprogrammed, liberal tradition respond in a wide variety of ways to the language and teachings of Christianity. The author has discovered her own approach to Christian perspectives, one that speaks specifically to her experiences of the Divine Light. She finds inspiration and fellowship with early and modern Friends for whom Christ is central, without excluding the wisdom and inspiration of other religious traditions. Her example is an invitation to spiritual receptivity: a stance that emphasizes “yes” and connection, rather than separations among those who hold different beliefs.

In her explorations of the writings of early Friends, Marge Abbott has discovered her own approach to Christian perspectives, one that speaks specifically to her experience of the Divine Light. She finds inspiration and fellowship with early and modern Friends for whom Christ is central, without excluding the inspiration of other religious traditions.

This is a rich pamphlet, full of a wealth of wisdom and insight drawn from a long experience of Quaker life in the Spirit. Abbott explores the distinctive Christian heritage of Friends, and how it underpins much of what (unprogrammed) Friends value today about our Quaker faith. At the same time she affirms that the core truth of Jesus' message (and of the Quaker message) is not confined to Christianity, and we can welcome other expressions of this truth among us.
Abbott presents the early Quakers' understanding of Christianity, differing importantly from the Christianity of their contemporaries, as well as from the forms of most of our own Christian contemporaries. What these Friends called "true Christianity" insisted on turning within to the presence and guidance of the Inward Christ, rather than on professing a creed, and how standing in this Inward Light was cleansing and transformative. She relates all this to her own spiritual experience of the Spirit's presence, guidance, and gradual transformation of heart and mind, which she herself feels no demand to call Christ. ( )

An contemporary exploration of Christian terminology and its meanings among the writings of early Friends. ( )

Margery Post Abbot once again calls us to examine our inner lives and to not accept blindly phrases that have become trite through over use. She looks to the past at historic Friends to see what they say, but then looks to her heart today to see what she can say, in the manner George Fox exhorted us to do. ( )