No Cross No Crown

by William Penn, Anna Brinton (Editor)

Overview

This pamphlet, an abridgment of William Penn’s No Cross No Crown, is published in October, 1944, in commemoration of the tercentenary of Penn’s birth. It is a companion to Barclay in Brief, by Eleanore Price Mather, Pendle Hill Historical Study Number Three, and The Inward Journey of Isaac Penington, by Robert J. Leach, Historical Study Number Six. These three texts are issued to make available in handy form the thought of three early leaders of the Society of Friends whose writings are too lengthy for the present mood. As Penn himself puts it, large books “especially in these days grow burdensome both to the pockets and minds of too many.”

Barclay deals with belief, Penington with experience, and Penn with practice. No Cross No Crown began as a tract for the times of the extravagant Stuart kings and ended as Penn’s religious legacy to his country and to the world of Christians. The glory of Christianity being, as Penn insists, the purity of those who profess it, the cure for Christendom’s defection can only come through “that divine grace and power by which the wills of men are made conformable to the will of God.” This condition is brought about through daily self-denial and through worship by which is meant “waiting patiently, yet watchfully and intently upon God.”

Product Details

BN ID:	2940148134084
Publisher:	Pendle Hill Publications
Publication date:	02/04/2014
Series:	Pendle Hill Pamphlets , #30
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	93 KB

About the Author

Anna Cox Brinton (1887-1969), who abridged this classic work by William Penn, was born in College Park, California, a suburb of San Jose. Her grandparents, Joel and Hannah Bean, had founded the College Park Meeting, an independent meeting whose success provided an example for the emerging spirit of Liberal Quakerism. Anna’s own experience in that region prepared her to exert her own influence on the Society of Friends and the world at large. She attended Stanford University, eventually earning a PhD from that school. During her years at Stanford, she also gained valuable service experience, as her family was one of the few able to provide succor to neighbors devastated by the great earthquake of 1906. After receiving her PhD, Anna went on to teach at Sweet Briar College for three years, before leaving for the Friends’ World Conference in London in 1920. Afterwards she helped with the feeding efforts in Germany and Eastern Europe following the end of World War I.
She met Howard Brinton when they traveled together in that region to coordinate feeding efforts. Here her classical training came in handy, because the Rector of Konigsburg University refused to negotiate with her in English and she had to use her knowledge of Latin. She returned to San Jose betrothed to Howard Brinton, and the two were married in 1923. After their marriage, they taught at Sweet Briar and Earlham, before receiving two appointments at Pendle Hill in 1936. Howard served as the director of studies while Anna directed administration at Pendle Hill, while raising four children. She covered housekeeping, the budget, negotiations with guest speakers, lecturers and teachers, and editing of pamphlets and bulletins. In 1950 she accepted a position at the American Friends Service Committee, where she worked and served as a pillar of the personnel committee. Most of her career, however, was spent at Pendle Hill, where her service continued until her death in 1969.