Christianity Commons^™

Frontmatter, Quaker Religious Thought No.131, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Robert Barclay's Christology, Madeleine Ward

Quaker Religious Thought

Robert Barclay (1648-1690) was arguably the most influential Quaker theologian of the seventeenth century, but his legacy has been controversial. This article will assess this legacy through an examination of his changing Christology over time. This focus on Christology is justified because underlying the earliest Quakers’ belief that Christ was ‘come to teach his people himself’ was the notion that the Light within was Christ—and Barclay has been accused of striking this concern at its heart.

Primitive Christianity Revived—The Original Quaker Vision, Paul N. Anderson

Quaker Religious Thought

Quaker histories over the last century or so have been highly interpretive in their interests and approaches, yielding a number of diverse results as to the character of the early Quaker movement, with varying implications. Obviously, one of the interests in history involves seeking to understand more about the past in order to shed light on the present and the future of the Friends movement itself. What, however, if such an interest is itself misguided? What if the founders of the Friends movement did not seek to start a movement, but rather, were solely invested in something entirely different? In …

Christian And Universalist?: Charting Liberal Quaker Theological Developments Through The Swarthmore Lectures, Danchristy Randazzo

Quaker Religious Thought

In this article, I elucidate two main strands of thought in the Swarthmore Lectures concerning the relationship between Liberal Quakerism, Christianity, and Universalism. Within these two poles are nuanced differences, however, with relation to where Liberal Quakerism falls along a spectrum between explicitly Christian and Universalist.

Response To Anderson, Ward, And Randazzo, Jeffrey Dudiak

Quaker Religious Thought

In this issue we have been gifted with three credible, nay expert, expositors of three interpretations of Quakerism in historical perspective: Penn’s interpretation of Quakerism as “primitive Christianity revived,” Barclay’s evolving interpretation of Quakerism’s “inward Light” as vehiculum dei, and his speculation on a corresponding spiritual sense, and the twentieth century development of Quaker understandings of Christianity and universalism—mutually excluding or complementary?—traced across the prestigious Swarthmore Lectures.

Contributors -- Quaker Religious Thought No. 131

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Review Of T. Vail Palmer, Jr., A Long Road: How Quakers Made Sense Of God And The Bible (Newberg, Or: Barclay Press, 2017), Isaac Barnes May

Quaker Religious Thought

T. Vail Palmer, Jr.’s A Long Road provides a nuanced and comprehensive overview of the thought of two centuries of Quaker Biblical scholars and theologians, focusing on the careers of individual religious leaders to chart the trajectory of a movement. The introduction positions the book as building on classics of Quakerism like Rufus Jones’s Faith and Practices of the Quakers, John Punshon’s Portrait in Grey, Walter Williams’s Rich Heritage of Quakerism and Carole Dale Spencer’s Holiness: The Soul of Quakerism, but the Quaker work that Palmer’s book most closely resembles is Wilmar C. Cooper’s attempt to document a systematic Quaker …

Review Of Paul Buckley, Primitive Christianity Revived: Translated Into Modern English (San Francisco, Inner Light Books, 2018) And Primitive Quakerism Revived: Living As Friends In The Twenty-First Century (San Francisco, Inner Light Books, 2018), Paul N. Anderson

Quaker Religious Thought

In translating William Penn’s analysis of the early Quaker movement into Modern English and in expanding on its meaning for reviving the spirit of early Quakerism for the 21st century, Quaker theologian and historian Paul Buckley has performed a great service. These two books go hand-in-hand, and individuals and reading groups alike would benefit greatly from reading these books and considering their meaning for today. The text is readable, and Buckley’s language is readily accessible. Thus, in rendering William Penn’s Primitive Christianity Revived in a welcoming form, and in expanding upon its meaning as a source of spiritual renewal for …

Frontmatter, Quaker Religious Thought No.130, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Anthony Benezet's (1713-1784) Revolutionary Rhetoric: Slavery And Sentimentalism In Quaker Political Remonstrance, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

Following the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), many Britons resented the human and financial cost of the war and looked to the colonies for partial reimbursement. To this end, Britain passed the Stamp Act in 1765, which levied a tax on paper, and beginning in 1767, the Townsend Act, which taxed imported tea, lead, and other products. Colonial printing presses quickly decried these taxes as unfair and rebuked the general economic interference in colonial life by lawmakers in London. The American Patriots employed a rhetoric of virtue, natural rights, and liberty to enflame the popular colonial conscience with the conviction that …

Beyond The Bureaucracy: The True & Proper Purpose Of Quaker Yearly Meetings In The 21st Century, Robin Mohr

Quaker Religious Thought

In short, the true and proper purpose of Quaker yearly meetings, in all times and in all places, is to help Friends to do God’s will.

This paper is based on a comparison between a passage in Brian Drayton’s and Bill Taber’s book, A Language for the Inward Landscape held up against the written statements of purpose in the contemporary books of Faith and Practice from thirty yearly meetings. Do they agree or do they contradict each other? This paper argues that they are in harmony.

Review Of Daniel P. Coleman, Presence And Process: A Path Toward Transformative Faith And Inclusive Community, Jeffrey Dudiak

Quaker Religious Thought

Daniel P. Coleman is an evangelical Friend who in this book pushes hard for an agenda that many liberal Friends will heartily embrace, though I suspect to the discomfort of the bulk of his fellow evangelicals. Based on his own experience at the nexus of Christianity, Quakerism, and Buddhist inspired meditative practices, his thesis, in short, is that the heart of true religion is a mystical, pre-rational (and thus pre-discursive) connection with Reality (perhaps a synonym for “God”), which is the essence of all religions once the superficial, thought-based particularities of doctrine are stripped away. His hope for the revival …

Contributors -- Quaker Religious Thought No. 130

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

After Same-Sex Marriage: Emerging Quaker Perspectives On Further Questions About Sexuality And Gender, Rhiannon Grant

Quaker Religious Thought

This paper was first presented at the American Academy of Religion in Boston in 2017. What follows incorporates some responses to questions which were asked there. In particular, it seems appropriate to preface the main text with a personal comment. The respondent for the session, Sa’ed Atshan, asked about the speakers’ relationships to Quakerism, and I answered that although in this paper I say that I am describing possible arguments rather than real positions taken by Quakers, I am a Quaker and I would—at the time of writing!— make points something like these if asked to describe my personal understanding. …

Review Of David Johnson, Jesus, Christ And Servant Of God: Meditations On The Gospel According To John, Lorraine Watson

Quaker Religious Thought

The Gospel of John is often referred to as the Quaker Gospel. So it is with no surprise that David Johnson, a Quaker from Australia, chose to spend time with this particular book. Prior to writing, or even doing serious study on the Gospel of John, David Johnson meditated on the Gospel over an eight-month period, spending time with the text and allowing it to speak directly to his spirit. He writes about the deeper meaning opened to him, “This experience convinced me that the gospel is not just a record of Jesus’ ministry; it is also a consummate guide …

Front Matter, Quaker Religious Thought No.129, Howard R. Macy

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Quaker Religious Thoughts #128, Howard R. Macy

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Multi-Denominational Belonging And Quakers In Evangelical Friends Church Southwest, Jennifer M. Buck

Quaker Religious Thought

Quakerism is a tradition rich for the intersection of conservative tradition and emergent positioning to the culture. Some understand this term as ‘convergent Friends,’ and in this context today, the convergent nature of some strands of Quakerism opens it up for hybridity and multi-belonging. Rather than assess Quakerism in regards to other faith traditions or religious communities, this paper seeks to look at a recent movement in Evangelical Friends in the Southwest region, that of multi-denominational belonging.

The Wordless Mystical And The Spirituality Of Belief, Jeffrey Dudiak

Quaker Religious Thought

In our day, at least among what passes as urbane and polite company, anything short of an enthusiastic affirmation of the full range of religious expression, including none, as anything other than the manifestation of an enriching difference, and as the enlightened antidote to any suggestion that some religion is true to the exclusion of others, means that one risks being stained with the dirtiest of modernist sobriquets: that of being a “fundamentalist”! In fact, this litmus test of liberality, dividing the drive toward acidic ethnoscleansing in the name of universal reason,1 on the one hand, from the base, parochial …

Early Quakers And Their Theological Thought, 1647-1723, Paul N. Anderson

Quaker Religious Thought

It is with great appreciation to the authors and editors of this important volume on the theological thought of early Friends— Stephen Angell and “Ben” Pink Dandelion—as it fills a gap in the history of Quaker research in much needed ways. While the social histories, political concerns, spiritual interests, and social-action contributions of early Friends have been explored extensively, and while the spiritual experience and the theological contributions of some standout leaders have been explored, the theological convictions and contributions of key Quaker leaders has not been amassed as a collection until now. That being the case, this book stands …

Review Of Early Quakers And Their Theological Thought, Madeleine Ward

Quaker Religious Thought

In Early Quakers and their Theological Thought, Stephen Angell and Pink Dandelion have provided students and scholars of early Quakerism with an invaluable tool, capturing not only the vibrancy of the early Quakers’ intellectual world, but also the vitality of Quaker studies in the present day. This review will especially consider Douglas Gwyn’s chapter on Quaker origins, and the final three chapters on William Penn, George Keith and George Whitehead respectively, before reflecting on the book as a whole.

Review Of Our Life Is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey By Marcelle Martin (San Francisco, California: Inner Light Books, 2016), Carole Spencer

Quaker Religious Thought

I feel somewhat reluctant to write a review of this book. Not because I fear being too critical of it, but because I fear being too complimentary. Full disclosure: Not only did I have the privilege of writing the preface to Our Life is Love, but I read drafts of some of the chapters as they were being written when Marcelle Martin was the Mullen Writing Fellow at Earlham School of Religion. I also know Martin personally, and her life authentically accords with what she has written, indeed, her life is love. So naturally I feel a deep investment in …

A Review Of Early Quakers And Their Theological Thought, 1647-1723, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

Early Quakers and Their Theological Thought, 1647-1723, edited by Stephen Angell and Pink Dandelion features the foremost scholars of seventeenth century Quakerism in a concise, groundbreaking volume. Quaker Studies is something of a growth industry as new approaches are being tested and previously inaccessible sources mined in digitized collections.1 The dynamic duo of Angell and Dandelion have combined to plan and edit the Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies, Early Quakers and their Theological Thought, and the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Quakerism. These three volumes make the best of research on Quakerism accessible to wider audiences, and solidify a base of …

Contributors

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Review Of Early Quakers And Their Theological Thought, Leah Payne

Quaker Religious Thought

First-generation Quakers were a radical and persecuted sect of early modern British Christianity. Early Quakers and Their Theological Thought: 1647-1723 shows why the Quakers have survived when so many other 17th century radicals—including Diggers, Ranters, Levellers or Muggletonians—did not. Along the way readers also discover why the Friends, though initially derided, are so loved in the twenty-first century. Quaker theology, rejected by the powers that be in its own era, resonates with many 21st century readers.

Quaker-Buddhist Blendings, Michael Birkel

Quaker Religious Thought

From their beginning, Friends have benefited from the religious ideas and spiritual practices of other communities.1 Such influences and confluences have always been a sign of spiritual openness and vitality among religious communities across history. Where, for example, would Augustine of Hippo, the most influential theologian in the history of Western Christianity, be without the insights of the pagan Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus? This essay considers two persons who identify as both Buddhist and Quaker yet define that relationship in complementary ways.

Like other Christians, such as Ruben Habito and Paul Knitter,2 some Friends have explored the gifts of other-than-Christian communities. …

A Tribute: Remembering Arthur O. Roberts, Paul N. Anderson

Quaker Religious Thought

Arthur O. Roberts made momentous contributions to the Quaker Theological Discussion Group and Quaker Religious Thought over the years, and his impact as one of the leading Quaker thinkers and ministers over the last century will continue to be felt for some time. He was among the founding generation of young Quaker scholars that launched QTDG in 1957 (including Wilmer Cooper, Tom Brown, Lewis Benson, Canby Jones and others), and he contributed ten substantive essays to QRT as well as over three-dozen editorials, responses, and tributes.2 He followed Dean Freiday as editor of QRT from 1989 to 2000, and he …

Review Of T. Vail Palmer, Face To Face: Early Quaker Encounters With The Bible. (Newberg, Or: Barclay Press, 2016), Michael Birkel

Quaker Religious Thought

Excerpt: "At the present moment, when—as with early Friends when the monarchy was restored and a vengefully conservative Parliament set out to undo all the good work of Friends and other religious radicals during the Commonwealth—political forces are at play to reverse all the efforts of the past half century to further social justice, a book like Face to Face can revive hope in the mighty acts of God. This is good news."

Review: Douglas Gwyn, The Anti-War (San Francisco: Inner Light Books, 2016), Lonnie Valentine

Quaker Religious Thought

Excerpt: "The Anti-War is a challenge to Friends everywhere because it is a call to be renewed by immersion in our tradition that will reveal our captivity to cultural and religious forces we must resist. Doug Gwyn has been an itinerant witness for peacemaking within the family of Friends and for Friends’ peacemaking in the world. In his introductory “Personal Testimony” we see his long effort to have Friends seek together the grounding for peacemaking by deeper study and meditation on Quaker and Christian witness. The Anti-War, a summary of Gwyn’s work, would be a fine way for Friends to …

My Faith In Practice, John Punshon

Quaker Religious Thought

I guess the most common—and accurate—metaphor for the religious life is that of a journey, and that is the word that lots of people use nowadays in giving an account of their religious development. Today, I want to choose a different word to express my theme, which is ‘fulfilment’. Throughout my life, rather than strike out adventurously into new and unknown seas, I have tried to sound the depths of the one I find myself in, and seek to possess as fully as possible the heritage of the Christian faith into which I was born.

I want to talk about …