An Apology for Perfection

Synopsis

The author believes the Society of Friends owes more to ethical perfectionism than to mysticism.

About the Author(s)

Cecil Hinshaw graduated from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, and attended the University of Denver, the Iliff School of Theology and Harvard University for graduate school. After several years of pastoral work, Cecil Hinshaw became the professor of Bible and religion at Friends University, and then moved on to William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, three years later. At William Penn, he was the dean and later the president of the college, serving over five years in that capacity. He resigned in 1949 amid criticism of his efforts to integrate the college and reinforce support for conscientious objection on campus. He then served as a lecturer for the American Friends Service Committee and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Cecil Hinshaw also worked with the Committees of Correspondence, an intellectual forum that worked against nuclear proliferation.