Paper has hardly been better used than by the gems of Quaker spiritual wisdom known as “Pendle Hill pamphlets” but have the form of extended tracts. (Universalist and Unitarians once used this genre extensively, now almost completely lost.) Now, that famous Philadelphia-area retreat center has some of their classic pamphlets available for download. A great use of electrons.
To those familiar with these: which are your favorite?
Writing about Universalist Christianity and improving how churches work
Perhaps we should revive the long-form pamphlet in our movement?
My favorite Pendle Hill Pamphlet is the recent title (#378) “Living In Virtue, Declaring Against War” by Steve Smith. The pamphlet is a challenge against the use of the Quaker Peace Testimony as a law that all must conform to, and re-asserts the more traditional concept of testimony as a freely given witness inspired by spiritual experience. In other words, Smith argues that the Peace Testimony can not be framed in dogmatic legal terms. It is instead a witness that because of your experience of the Inner Christ, you have abandoned warfare, and will work to undo the causes of warfare.