Quakerism Explained (was, amongst other things Stand-Offish-Ness?)

[Guest guest]

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The Stewarts

 

> Why presume the person asking is dogmatic? Nice bias, there.

 

Bias? You really do want to be picky, don't you? I said that if a person

is one to whom dogma is important, Quakerism will be hard to understand. I

did not say that you were such a person or that I automatically presumed

that anyone was.

 

> Succeed in being a Quaker, as opposed to being a Baptist, a Hindu, or a

> Moslem, for instance.

 

I don't know that " success " is the word I would use, was the point I was

trying to make.

 

> It's simply a matter of stubborn inarticulate stand-offishness and so be

it.

 

No, it isn't.

 

> It seems useless to bother going any further since no one can articulate

> anything about this.

 

Did it occur to you at all that it might have been thought that the

discussion of Quakerism was not something that all would feel was

appropriate to this list which is, after all, not about religion? Or that

the original question simply asked for a church which encouraged its members

to think for themselves and that Pixx and I both thought that the answer

" Quakers " was really enough (particularly when coupled with the information

that Quakers don't have creeds and dogmas. That pretty much assumes that

Quakers have to think for themselves). How about the fact that there is

lots of information out there for those who are interested and available in

a form which would save Pixx or myself a great deal of typing? There is

also the fact that Quakers really aren't much given to talking about

religion, generally speaking.

 

> No one is much interested anyway.

 

No, probably not and that is, maybe, why Pixx and I have not gone into great

detail, until now. However, I will beg the indulgence of those to whom this

conversation is less interesting and be as articulate as I can be about

Quakerism.

 

As we have said, Quakerism has no set creeds or dogmas - which makes it hard

to say " Quakers believe this " . However, there are a few things which are

generally considered standard. Friends believe in That of God (the Light of

God, the Light of Christ, et cetera) in everyone regardless of race, colour,

creed, or gender and it is from this belief that all aspects of Quaker

theology (if such a concept didn't seem a contradiction in terms) flow.

 

'Most faith groups have specific beliefs that their membership is expected

to follow. Sometimes, as in the case of the Roman Catholic church, these

requirements are numerous. The Religious Society of Friends is near the

opposite end of the religious spectrum. They rely heavily upon spiritual

searching by individual members, individual congregations and meetings

(regional assemblies).'

 

There are some principles which are important to most, if not all, Quakers.

They are generally non-violent and usually refuse to go to war (the Peace

Testimony is possibly the oldest Testimony in Quakerism and it is considered

to be very important to Quakers). They, generally will not take oaths and

regard no human being as higher than another (although, I would certainly

curtsey to the Queen in deference to her position. Is that unQuaker?

Possibly, but it is where I am led). There are no priests or ministers

(although there are people called Elders or Overseers - elected by

consensus, all Quaker business is done by consensus who look after the

spiritual and material well being of meeting) and no sacraments or rituals

(no baptism, no Eucharist, and so on).

 

'They do not have a specific creed; however, many of the coordinating groups

have created statements of faith. The statement by the largest Quaker body,

the Friends United Meeting includes the beliefs in:'

 

'true religion as a personal encounter with God, rather than ritual and

ceremony' - we don't need intermediaries or rituals to come to God. Friends

don't have priests or ministers and they don't have rituals. He is

available to all of us at any time. Quakers refer to having " abolished the

laity " or having a " priesthood of believers " , in other words, we are all

ministers.

'individual worth before God

 

'worship as an act of seeking' - because we wait on the spirit in Meeting,

worship is seen as looking for the divine and waiting on its prompting.

Meetings are held in silence although those who are led by the Spirit to

speak will do so.

 

'the virtues of moral purity, integrity, honesty, simplicity and humility' -

Parts of this statement, such as simplicity and honesty have formed rather

important Quaker testimonies*.

 

*'In Quaker use, a way of expressing a belief through your behaviour and

actions.' 'Convictions based on beliefs of the Society of Friends which give

direction to our lives. Some of these testimonies are seeking for Divine

Guidance, simplicity, integrity, peace as opposed to war, temperance in all

things, affirmation instead of " swearing " in court, the worth of each

individual regardless of race, sex or religion.'

 

'Christian love and goodness' - Personally, as a Universalist Quaker, I

would not use the word " Christian " , but I think that it is something that

many would understand.

 

'concern for the suffering and unfortunate' - A concern*, to Quakers, quite

an active concept and can be held by an individual or a Meeting. It

'implies an interest so deep and vigorous that it often moves to action.'

Many Quakers have a direct concern for those who are suffering, poor,

" unfortunate " and this is often expressed in humanitarian service and social

justice.

 

*'When a Quaker feels a religious compulsion to act in a certain way based

on a 'leading of the Spirit' it is described as 'having a Concern'. It is

similar to a sense of vocation but a Concern is task-related, not life-long,

and when the task is completed the Concern can be laid down.'

 

'Continuing revelation through the Holy Spirit'

 

Testimonies are probably as close as Quakers come to creeds, but, even then,

each individual interprets the testimonies for themselves. The wording from

" Advices and Queries " speaks to that:

 

" Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or

form to walk by; but that all, with a measure of the light, which is pure

and holy, may be guided: and so in the light walking and abiding, these

things may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not in the letter; for the letter

killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. "

 

As I said before, testimonies are more about action than words ( " The peace

testimony is not a form of words but a way of living, not a creed but an

active witness, not an ideology but an always imperfect and faltering

attempt to live out a fundamental spiritual perception " ), and they are not

laid down from on High but are reached by much prayer and debate within

Quakerism.

 

'Recognizing and developing a new Quaker testimony is an equally gradual and

complex process. It requires pioneering actions by those who seek to arouse

the conscience of the society, together with the response of those who come

to see the new truth in what is being said. It takes place against a

background of religious conviction essentially expressed in a spirituality

of developing response to God. Moreover there is a universal aspect to the

task of formulating new testimonies-- they do not represent a separatist

holiness of the elect-- they rest in the discovery of the truth applicable

to all.'

 

There, that is probably enough to be going on with for now. The links

below, as well as being my references for quotes above, can provide further

reading for those who are interested

 

Lee-Gwen

 

http://www.religioustolerance.org/quaker.htm

http://www.quakers-swfl.org/quaker.html

http://gtrc911.quaker.org/testimony.htm

http://www.digitalbristol.org/members/quakers/AdvicesQueries.html

http://members.aol.com/quakeredit/glossary.html

http://www.quaker.org.uk/more/qviews/qviews1.html