''No Cross, No Crown'' is one of the chief works of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

, first published in 1669. It was written during Penn's imprisonment in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

.Thomas Nelson (2009). "NKJV American Patriot's Bible." Thomas Nelson Inc. p. 1358.

Summary

Penn exhorts believers to adhere to the spirit of

Primitive Christianity Restorationism (or Restitutionism or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer a ...

. The book is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the importance of self-denial in the Christian life and the second gathering a series of references to men through the ages who have written of the importance of self-denial, including "heathen," professed Christians, and "retired, aged, and dying men, being their last and serious reflections, to which no ostentation or worldly interests could induce them." Penn's view of Christianity is intensely spiritual rather than formal, and in passing he defends several practices typical of the Religious Society of Friends (

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

) including clothing which was not fashionable and speech which addressed royal and commoner alike in the second person singular "thee" and "thou."

Scholarly editions

A 1931 scholarly edition was edited by Norman Penney.Bulletin of Friends Historical Association 20, no. 1 (1931): 54-55. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41943874.

References

External links

{{Gutenberg, no=44895, name=No Cross, No Crown Philosophy books 1669 books 1669 in Christianity 17th-century Christian texts Prison writings Works by William Penn