| Reality Of The Spiritual World | BookedPDF |
Throughout his years at Haverford College Thomas R. Kelly entered generously into the life of Pendle Hill. To Haverford-Pendle Hill students he gave both instruction and inspiration. He was lecturer in the summer term of 1936, and he visited Pendle Hill at many other times as a member of the American Friends Service Committee and of various other groups conferring here.
This is a foundational pamphlet in the modern history of Quakerism. Not mincing words, Thomas Kelly begins with the query: "How can we be sure that God is real, and not just a creation of our wishes?" After giving us his thorough analysis of the popular rational arguments of his, and our, day, Kelly offers us his sincere convincement: "But there is a wholly different way of being sure that God is real. It is not an intellectual proof, a reasoned sequence of thoughts. It is the fact that men experience the presence of God. Into our lives come times when, all unexpectedly, He shadows over us, steals into the inner recesses of our souls, and lifts us up in a wonderful joy and peace. The curtains of heaven are raised and we find ourselves in heavenly peace in Christ Jesus."
From his own admission, "it may seem as if I have been kicking over a great deal of religious furniture, offering criticisms not only of the traditional proofs for God's existence but also of the validity of the mystical experience of the Presence of God. But I was only doing what the great philosopher, Immanuel Kant, said he must do - destroy reason in order to make room for faith." Join Thomas in his quest for Truth, in his search for Reality, and on his journey of Faith.
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