F. D. Maurice

The Kingdom of Christ

Volume I

or, Hints to a Quaker respecting the Principles, Constitution, and Ordinances of the Catholic Church

First published
1838
This text
Third edition. London: Macmillan and Co., 1883.
Length
115,000 words, about 8 hours' reading

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What is the Kingdom of Christ? Is it simply the Church? A future hope? A private spiritual experience? Or has Christ already established a universal kingdom into which humanity is called?

In this, his greatest theological work, Maurice develops one of the central ideas of his theology: that Christianity is not fundamentally the creation of a religious party, but God’s own act in Christ to reconcile humanity to Himself and establish His enduring Kingdom. Rather than dismissing Quakers, Protestants, Roman Catholics, or other traditions, Maurice seeks the truth each has preserved while showing how every partial system points beyond itself to the larger reality of Christ’s universal reign.

This first volume opens with a dialogue with a Quaker, examines Quakerism, “pure Protestantism,” Unitarianism and the philosophical movements of the age, and begins the inquiry into the signs of a spiritual society with Baptism.

Contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Author’s Note
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. Introductory Dialogue with a Quaker
  6. Part I. On the Principles of the Quakers and of the Other Religious Bodies Which Have Arisen since the Reformation, and on the Systems to Which They Have Given Birth
    1. Chapter I. Quakerism
      1. Section I. On the Positive Doctrines of the Quakers
      2. Section II. Objections to the Quaker Theology Considered
      3. Section III. The Quaker System
      4. Section IV. On the Practical Working of the Quaker System
    2. Chapter II. Pure Protestantism
      1. Section I. The Leading Principles of the Reformation
      2. Section II. Objections to the Principles of the Reformation Considered
      3. Section III. Protestant Systems
      4. Section IV. The Practical Working of the Protestant Systems
    3. Chapter III. Unitarianism
    4. Chapter IV. On the Tendency of the Religious, Philosophical, and Political Movements Which Have Taken Place in Protestant Bodies, since the Middle of the Last Century
      1. Section I. Religious Movements
      2. Section II. Philosophical Movements
      3. Section III. Political Movements
  7. Part II. Of the Catholic Church and the Romish System
    1. Chapter I. Recapitulation
    2. Chapter II. Indications of a Spiritual Constitution
    3. Chapter III. The Scriptural View of This Constitution
    4. Chapter IV. Signs of a Spiritual Society
      1. Section I. Baptism
        1. Objections. 1. The Quaker
        2. 2. The Anti-pedobaptist
        3. 3. The Modern Protestant
        4. 4. The Philosopher
        5. The Romish System
  8. Notes to Volume I
  9. Note A
  10. Note B
  11. Note C
  12. Note D
  13. Note E
  14. Note on Part I. Chapter II. Section IV