Through a glass darkly

'How canone write about any of these matters [nontheism in the Society of Friends] without mentioned David Boulton? It would be like trying to write the history of ancient Egypt without reference to the pyramids' So wrote Derek Guiton in his book A Man that Looks on Glass - but his words were not intended as flattery. Guiton argued that the Society is 'poised at the edge of the abyss', and a principal cause of the crisis is David Boulton's subversive advocacy of religion as a wholly human creation. In Through a Glass Darkly David Boulton responds to each of Guiton's criticisms, robustly defending the Society's inclusivity and openness to religious diversity. 'If Friends are indeed in crisis, he writes, 'it is because our Society's inclusivity is being challenged by those who wants some of us out, not those who aare working to keep us all in.'