Quakers in Christian History

IN THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY the Quakers-- the Society of Friends--have come the nearest [to rejuvenation] that I know, but, of course, they have remained a minority (they were originally a rather persecuted minority). They have become a very affluent minority, but this has not corrupted them: They spend an enormous amount of their wealth and, what is more important, their spiritual energy in trying to do socially beneficent work. But still, they have not become characteristic--this piece of leaven has only very slightly leavened the lump.
— Arnold Toynbee, historian, 1974.


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