“All flesh is grass; and all the beauty of men’s knowledge, religion, and worship here, will wither like grass.  All the buildings and churches that are raised here, how beautiful soever, are but Babylon, built by man’s understanding, by man’s knowledge, by man’s comprehension, by man’s wisdom, by man’s skill, and indeed in man’s will and time; and their standing, beauty, strength and glory, is but from man, and in man’s day, and will fade away like a flower.   But the true certainty is the day of God, from the light of his Spirit shining into man’s spirit, from God’s inward reaching to his heart by his power, and testifying his truth there.   And this, all the powers of darkness cannot prevail against in itself; no, nor against that man that is kept in it.   For it is the rock, the only rock upon which the whole church is built, and which cannot fail to preserve every member of the church which is built upon it.”   Isaac Penington

“For the Seed of God is a burdensome stone to the selfish, fleshly, earthly will which reigns in its own knowledge and understanding, that must perish, and in its wisdom, that is devilish.”  GF, Nichols journal, p 17

“I saw there was a great crack to go throughout the earth, and a great smoke to go as the crack went; and that after the crack there should be a great shaking.  This was the earth in people’s hearts, which was to be shaken before the Seed of God was raised out of the earth.  And it was so; for the Lord’s power began to shake them, and great meetings we began to have...”  GF, Nichols journal, p 22.

“And I saw the harvest white, and he Seed of God lying thick in the ground, as ever did wheat that was sown outwardly, and none to gather it; and for this I mourned with tears.” GF, Nichols journal, p 21.
 

“The Lord gave me the certain and sensible feeling of the pure seed, which had been with me from the beginning.  The Lord caused his holy power to fall upon me, and gave me such an inward demonstration and feeling of the seed of life, that I cried out in my spirit, “This is he, this is he, there is not another, there never was another.  He was always near me though I knew him not... O that I might now be joined to him, and he alone might live in me!”   Isaac Penington

“And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed,    to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that        thou mayest live.”   De 30:6
 
 

 “The church is no other thing but the society, gathering or company of such as God hath called out of the world, and wordly spirits, to walk in his light and life.  The church, then, so defined, is to be considered, as it comprehends all that are thus called and gathered truly by God, both such as are yet in this inferior world, and such as having already laid down their earthly tabernacle, are passed into their heavenly mansions, which together do make up the one Catholic church... Out of which church we freely acknowledge there can be no salvation:  because under this church...are comprehended all, and as many, of whatsoever nations, kindred, tongue, or people they be, though outwardly strangers, and remote from those who profess Christ and Christianity in words, and have the benefit of the Scriptures, as become obedient to the holy light, and testimony of God, in their hearts...There may be members therefore of this Catholic church both among heathens, Turks, Jews  and all the several sorts of  Christians, men and women of intergrity and simplicity of heart, who...are by the secret touches of this holy light in their souls enlivened and quickened, thereby secretly united to God, and there-through become true members of this Catholic church” (Robert  Barclay, 1678).

“The church is the people whom God has purchased with his blood... And all such were gathered in the name of Jesus, whose name was above every name, and there was no salvation by any other name under the whole heaven but the name of Jesus.   And... their bodies were the temples of God and the believers were the church which Christ was the head of.”  George Fox

“The Church [is] the pillar and ground of Truth, made up of living stones, living members, a spiritual household which Christ [is] the head of...”  George Fox

“...For both Stephen and the Apostle Paul bore testimony that [God] did not dwell in temples made with hands, not even in that which he had once commanded to be built, since he put an end to it; but that his people were his temple and he dwelt in them.”  George Fox