Quaker Beliefs

A reader writes:

I would hope that "Quaker beliefs" would mean 'the truth, whatever that
turns out to be," but once we start getting into "I'm a Quaker, and
Quakers are supposed to believe 'thus & so,' so I suppose I must believe
'thus & so'," we crash headlong into the fact that there don't seem to be
many Quakers who do believe whatever it is--particularly not what I'd
consider the most characteristly "Quaker" beliefs.

I really don't have any argument directly with what this reader puts forward, but I wouldn't find this to be a particularly fruitful starting point in the discussion -- say, should I be teaching a class on Quaker beliefs.

Quakers seek to know and act on the truth. I have no doubt of that. Furthermore, Quakerism is founded on the experiential (or "experimental," to use Fox's term) joy that the spiritual truth we need most deeply and profoundly is available to us, and can be inwardly apprehended through the "Light of Christ," or the "inner light" -- I do not have a dogmatic preference for what we name this inward point of contact with the divine.

This divine Light is not different in each of us -- so Friends have understood since our origins that one function of the Light is to lead us into unity. Certainly, however, we are not stuck with someone's past version of what the Light reveals, or even a particular point of unity that perhaps was profoundly important to a whole generation of Quakers. There is a group role and an individual role in searching for leadings, and understanding the truth which God is calling us to now. The synergy between them -- the role of the group in checking the leadings of the individual -- are a vital and necessary part of Quakerism.

What unites us as Friends are our testimonies -- and I do not see those as merely ethical in content; they certainly include elements of practice, and they may possibly include elements of what those in other denominations or faiths might call doctrine. In an article published in the most recent edition of Quaker Studies (September, 2006) on "Universalising and Spiritualising Christ's Gospel: How Early Quakers Interpreted the Epistle to the Colossians," I present three aspects of religious faith that seventeenth-century Quakers stoutly argued for, that might well be called "testimonies" in the sense that I'm using the term. One is a kind of universalism that suggested that salvation was available inwardly to everyone, even those who had never heard the Gospel preached outwardly. Another was an inward, or mystical, orientation to faith -- that it is not necessary to hear the truth preached by another in order to apprehend the truth inwardly. A third is a kind of spiritualism that stripped away the necessity for all outward liturgy or ritual, even the very limited ritual of the Puritans, but paradoxically, ended up commending a new kind of church order, one that Quakers today might well call waiting, expectant worship. I think these spiritual, or religious, testimonies are still relevant today. And I am arguing here that these are, and have been, Quaker "testimonies" that we might quite appropriately set alongside those testimonies that we appeal to more frequently, such as simplicity; peace; integrity; community; and equality.

There has never been, nor should there ever be, a Quaker creed, in terms of some prescribed formula to which all Friends must agree. But I do believe that it is possible to discern a center, or core, to the truths which Friends have discerned from attending to the Light throughout the centuries. I would hope that we would not limit ourselves in our reading and exploration of those truths, and exploration of our growing edges, to Friends or others of one particular time period. Truths may be garnered from spiritual guides of all faiths and certainly from Friends of all the various branches of our Society.

Greetings!

Hello, folks! I'm Stephen W. Angell. I teach Quaker Studies at the Earlham School of Religion -- that includes courses in Quaker History, Quaker Spirituality, and Quaker Theology (or, as the title actually says, Quaker Beliefs -- if you are one of those who wonder whether Quakers can have a theology, this course can still be right for you.) There's more information on my teaching at esr.earlham.edu; I offer courses in a residential, two-week intensive and online format. I am a Quaker myself -- a member of the Oxford Friends Meeting in Oxford, Ohio.

In this blog, I will post occasional and quite unsystematic thoughts having to do with current Quaker developments, as well as any of the above rather broad subject areas. I do travel. Most years I attend the Friends General Conference Gathering, which in the coming year (2007) will be in River Falls, Wisconsin. Other groups I attend on at least a fairly regular basis include the meetings of the Quaker Theological Discussion Group, the Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists, and the Friends Association of Higher Education (which in 2007 will be at Earlham!) I am also quite open to other travel invitations. Perhaps I'll have the privilege and pleasure of meeting you in person at some place on the road!

I welcome your questions and comments at my gmail address: stephenwangell@gmail.com.