From the writings of Henry Kurtz, 1851:
No true church ever fell into lasting decay, while it maintained that contrast, which the scriptures inculcate, to be necessarily between the church and the world, and while it continued to observe the apostolic injunction, Be not conformed to this world... (Romans 7:1-2). The early Brethren left it "altogether to the teachings of the Holy Spirit and to the power of the truth and to the free will and option of every individual member, how far they felt themselves called to follow in this practice (non-conformity), and never taking under dealings ... any member for short-comings in this practice, unless it was connected with a gross violation of the principle itself; only teaching and exhorting their fellowmembers, to live and act consistent with their professed principles, to which all had given their full and free assent, when received into the communion of the church.
