of the Spirit which is superior in authority to the external word. This inner light, according to the Anabaptist, is bestowed not to supersede the written word, but to make it possible for the humblest believer to understand and follow that word. With the Friend, the seat of authority is and must be within himself; he must listen to the voice of the Spirit speaking to his own soul, though it supplement, even if it contradict, the written word. With the Anabaptist, the seat of authority is the declared will of God in the Scriptures, and the light of the Spirit is given to make these plain to him; and he is always to test the supposed voice of the Spirit to his soul by comparing these utterances carefully with the written word.
And yet, in spite of this admirably sane theory of the Scriptures and of the office of the Spirit, groups among the Anabaptists fell into grievous errors, which were most unfortunate in their results. For one thing, they greatly weakened the party by the divisions and the controversies that naturally ensued; and then the follies and excesses into which some fell, in consequence of error in interpreting Scripture, covered the whole party with opprobrium
