Robert Barclay's Apology has been the classic systematic statement of the Quaker faith. But the lucid prose of the original suffered the same hardening of the linguistic arteries that overtook the King James Version of the Bible. In this edition, antique and obscure words and sentence structure have been eliminated and references to people and matters of faith come alive through the annotations. The nature of the church, its ministry and sacraments, and the relationship of church and state, with the consequent implications for religious liberty and Christian integrity, are key topics.
If you are a Quaker seeking a better understanding of your own faith, or an ecumenist trying to understand beliefs that were significant to Methodism, challenging to Calvinism, and frequently in rapport with Catholicism, you will find Barclay's Apology enlightening.
