A Quaker Understanding of Jesus Christ, Part 2

Nov 1, 1999 - © Arthur O. Roberts

are sanctified are all of one. . . So here you may see the unity and the love that is betwixt Christ and his church, which is his body, which he is the head of." (Works V., p. 306)

12. Christ is real both in and outside of time.

A citation from Job Scott speaks to this mystical blending of time and eternity:

It may be thought by many, that Christ is not the son of any but God, and the virgin Mary; but Christ himself positively declares, he that doeth the will of his Father, "the same is his mother, and sister, and brother." Shall we suppose he only meant that they were dearly beloved by him, and owned "as if" they were his nearest relations? By such glosses and interpretations, is the true meaning of many of his deep, and deeply instructive sayings qualified away. But, verily, he meant as he said; and had he not carefully confined his words to a strict meaning, he might have called such his father too. But in the spiritual sense in which he was speaking, no man can possibly be his father, but God. It is true that we read of his father David: In regard to his outward genealogy and descent, David was his forefather; but in regard to his birth in man, none can be Christ's father but God only. And in order to hold this forth to mankind, even his body that was born of the virgin, was conceived by the overshadowing efficacy of the holy ghost, without the agency of any other immediate father but God. Thus the outward holds a lively analogy with the inward. But though, speaking of the inward, no man can be his father, yet man can and must be, his "mother," as well as "sister and brother," if ever he comes to be truly regenerated and born of the "incorruptible seed and word of God." This new birth is ever produced by the overshadowing of the holy ghost upon the souls of men. [from Essays on Salvation by Christ, ca. 1793, pp. 40-44 in Quaker Heritage Press edition]

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