The Eternal Promise: A contemporary Quaker classic and a sequel to A Testament of Devotion Kindle Edition
by Thomas R Kelly (Author), Howard Macy (Foreword)
One reason for Kelly’s broad appeal lies in his understanding of the “seeker.” He knows that many of us, both inside and outside of the church, long for something more than the “common, mild, gentle, half-hearted conventional religiosity” which we so often experience.
We want authentic, vital, life-changing faith. He also knows that our dissatisfaction is born less of spiritual blindness than of a vision of something greater, a vision engendered by God’s gracious Presence itself. “We are all seekers,” he says, “for we feel that we are sought.” But, most of all, Kelly assures us that what we long for is indeed possible. In doing so, he gives us witness rather than argument, description rather than definition. — from the Foreword, by Howard Macy
4.7 out of 5 stars 9 customer reviews
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Length: 124 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting:Enabled
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Product details
File Size: 1118 KB
Print Length: 124 pages
Publisher: Friends United Press; 1 edition (February 8, 2017)
Publication Date: February 8, 2017
9 customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
Top Reviews
Marlene Oaks
5.0 out of 5 starsHe Will Change Your LifeDecember 6, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Many decades ago, his "Testament of Devotion" changed my life. He introduced me to mystics and led me to understand my own experiences of Light. I just became aware of this book, and I eagerly downloaded it. It touched me so very deeply. It addresses my concerns about spiritual decline and the inner hunger to know God. Often I have said that my goal is to help people know God, not just know about God. I treasure this book and plan to read it again from time to time.
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Ger Agrey-thatcher
5.0 out of 5 starsAN UNRECOGNIZED MYSTICOctober 11, 2009
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This volume is the sequel to A TESTAMENT OF DEVOTION. I read Kelly with wonder and love. I cannot write with his power, authority and simplicity. Read instead a short and passionate passage from "The Richard Cary Lecture " in The Eternal Promise by Thomas Kelly himself.
How God Breaks into Human Lives
The experience of God breaking into a human life is the experience of an invasion from beyond of an Other who in gentle power breaks in upon our littleness and in tender expansiveness makes room for Himself. Had we thought Him an intruder? No, God's first odor is sweetness, God's touch an imparting of power. Suddenly, a tender giant walks by our side, no, strides within our puny footsteps. We are no longer our little selves. As two bodies closely fastened together and whirled in the air revolve in part about the heavier body, so life gets a new center, from which are moved. It is as if the center of life had been shifted beyond ourselves, so that we are no longer our old selves. Paul speaks truly when he says that we no longer live, but Christ lives in us, dynamic, energetic, creative, persuasive. In hushed amazement at this majestic Other, our little self grows still and listens for whispers - oh some so faint - and yields itself like a little child to its true Father-guidance. Yes, the sheep surely knows its shepherd in these holy moments of eternity.
It is an amazing discovery to find that that a creative power and Life is at work in the world. God is no longer the object of a belief; He is a Reality, who has continued, within us. His real Presence in the world. God is aggressive. He is an intruder, a lofty lowly conqueror on whom we had counted too little, because we had counted on ourselves. Too long have we supposed that we must carry the banner of religion, that it was our concern. But religion is not our concern; it is God's concern. Our task is to call people to "be still and know that I am God," to hearken to that of God within them, to invite, to unclasp the clenched fists of self-resolution, to be plaint in His firm guidance, sensitive to the inflections of his inner voice.
There is a life beyond earnestness to be found. It is the life rooted and grounded in the Presence, the Life which has been found by the Almighty. Seek it, seek it. Yet it lies beyond seeking. It arises in being found. To have come only as far as religious determination is only to have stood in the vestibule. But our confidence in our shrewdness, in our education, in our talents, in some aspect or other of our self-assured self; is our own undoing. So earnestly busy with anxious, fevered efforts for the Kingdom of God have we been, that we failed to hear the knock upon the door, and to know that our chief task is to open the door and be entered by the Divine Life.
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Fiona R.
5.0 out of 5 starsThomas Kelly talks about the Divine Indwelling from EXPERIENCE. ...July 19, 2014
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Thomas Kelly talks about the Divine Indwelling from EXPERIENCE. I read him on my knees gathering the crumbs from the table of his life. Every single human being is created for union with GOD but "narrow is the gate and difficult the road and few find it". Thomas Kelly's writings ( especially Testament of Devotion) is the very first door to go knock, seek, and ask, for those who aspire to follow in this Spiritual Master's footsteps.
4 people found this helpful
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Sara in Syracuse
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the best Christian classicsJuly 20, 2016
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Thomas Kelly's writings are life-changing for Christ-followers.
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kennethb
5.0 out of 5 starsAlways a pleasure to openJune 24, 2015
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like talking to a learned friend as the logs burn to embers. Smiling, awakening, nodding and at times sitting and just drifting on Joy as in the best of Quaker sittings.. A Call to love, believe, and embrace a life of wonder.
2 people found this helpful
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Buford E.
5.0 out of 5 starsNot my favorite read, but not bad eitherNovember 1, 2015
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It's okay. Not my favorite read, but not bad either.
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William Segur
3.0 out of 5 starsThree StarsSeptember 12, 2015
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More marked up than expected, but it worked for my class.
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Jean clarkson
5.0 out of 5 starsThe author speaks simply and challenges the reader to walk closer to God and grow in faith.February 9, 2018
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Thomas Kelly's books lift my spirit and bless me. I am grateful for this one.
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