The God Who Speaks.

The central practice to the Oxford Group/MRA members was guidance, which was usually sought in the "quiet time" of early morning using pen and paper. The grouper would normally read the Bible or other spiritual literature, then take time in quiet with pen and paper, seeking God's direction for the day ahead, trying to find God's perspective on whatever issues were on the listener's mind. He or she would test their thoughts against the standards of absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness and love, and normally check with a colleague. 

Guidance was also sought collectively from groupers when they formed teams. They would take time in quiet, each individual writing his or her sense of God's direction on the matter in question. They would then check with each other, seeking consensus on the action to take. If you need validation then feel free to email me with anything related to me and this blog and I;ll let you know if it's in anyway valid.  Actually it's an interesting idea because it validates things for me as well.

The Oxford theologian, Dr B H Streeter, Provost of Queen's College, made it the subject of the Warburton Lectures, given at Oxford University in 1933-5. These lectures were published under the title The God Who Speaks. Throughout the ages, he wrote, men and women have sought God's will in quiet and listening. The Oxford Group was following a long tradition.

Frank Buchman (left) having tea
with Professor BH Streeter (right)

“ Popular Christianity, however, has inclined to forget that Christ said:

‘But when you pray, use not vain repetition, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. (Mt, vi. 7-8)’

It would seem then, to accord well with Christ’s teaching that whenever possible, we should begin the day by attuning the soul to the contemplation of the Divine (by some act of aspiration, or by the reading of scripture or other noble words) and should the, before offering any petitions of personal needs wait in slience – listening, if haply the inner voice should bring some guidance, some indication of the part in God’s plan which the worshipper may be called upon to play that day.  Often to those who listen so there comes a thought or word, clear and definite, pointing to action. But if no such come, it matters little. The mind has been attuned to the divine, and therefore is the more likely to react aright to the situations, unexpected and unforeseen, which every day brings forth.” The God Who Speaks ~ BH Streeter~1936

 

Professor and Mrs. B.H. Streeter with
Buchman (right) in Oxford.
In the background centre
are Roland Wilson
and John Roots.

Educated at Queen's College, University of Oxford, Burnett Hillman Streeter( 1874 - 1937 ), an English theologian and biblical scholar, spent most of his life there, becoming chaplain in 1928 and provost in 1933. He was ordained in 1899 and for 15 years (from 1922 to 1937) was a member of the Archbishop's Commission on Doctrine in the Church of England. He wrote or contributed to a dozen volumes in the fields of philosophy of religion, comparative religion, and New Testament studies. Streeter's other works included Foundations: A Statement of Christian Belief in Terms of Modern Thought, by Seven Oxford Men (1912), The Chained Library (1931), Reality: A New Correlation of Science and Religion (1926), and The Buddha and the Christ (Bampton Lectures, 1932

The Four Absolutes (absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love) first appeared in a book by Robert E. Speer, titled The Principles of Jesus. Speer laid down Four Principles (honesty, purity, unselfishness, love) that he believed represented the distilled, uncompromising, moral principles taught by Jesus. Speer quoted Bible verses for each Principle. In 1909, Professor Henry B. Wright of Yale, citing Speer's work, dug up many more Bible verses that set forth these same Principles in the YMCA book: The Will of God and a Man’s Lifework. Wright dubbed them Absolutes rather than Principles. Next, Frank Buchman and the Oxford Group/Moral Rearmament adopted and popularized the phrase "The Four Absolutes".

To be spiritually reborn, the Oxford Group advocated four practices set out below: 1. The sharing of our sins and temptations with another Christian. 2. Surrender our life past, present and future, into God's keeping and direction. 3. Restitution to all whom we have wronged directly or indirectly. 4. Listening for God's guidance, and carrying it out.