Quakers Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Theology== {{See also|Friends United Meeting|Evangelical Friends Church International|Central Yearly Meeting of Friends|}} Quakers' theological beliefs vary considerably. Tolerance of dissent widely varies among yearly meetings.<ref name=QWRC-intro/> Most Friends believe in [[continuing revelation]]: that God continuously reveals truth directly to individuals. George Fox, an "[[Valiant Sixty|early Friend]]", said, "Christ has come to teach His people Himself".<ref name=GeorgeFoxsJournal/> Friends often focus on trying to feel the presence of God. As [[Isaac Penington (Quaker)|Isaac Penington]] wrote in 1670, "It is not enough to hear of Christ, or read of Christ, but this is the thing – to feel him to be my root, my life, and my foundation..."<ref name=PeningtonLetter/> Quakers reject the idea of [[priest]]s, believing in the [[priesthood of all believers]]. Some express their concept of God using phrases such as "the inner light", "inward light of Christ", or "Holy Spirit".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Muers |first1=Rachel |title=Quaker Theology |url=https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/QuakerTheology#section2 |journal=St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology |date=2022}}</ref> Diverse theological beliefs, understandings of the "leading of the Holy Spirit" and statements of "faith and practice" have always existed among Friends.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.quakermaps.com/info |title=A Brief Introduction to Quakerism |date=30 January 2010 |work=QuakerMaps.com (Beta) |access-date=13 June 2017}}</ref> Due in part to the emphasis on immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit, Quaker doctrines have only at times been codified as statements of faith, confessions or theological texts. Those that exist include the ''Letter to the Governor of Barbados'' ([[George Fox|Fox]], 1671),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fox |first=George |title=Letter to the Governor of Barbadoes |url=http://www.quakerinfo.com/barbados.shtml}}</ref> ''An Apology for the True Christian Divinity'' ([[Robert Barclay|Barclay]], 1678),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barclay |first=Robert |title=An Apology for the True Christian Divinity |year=1678 |url=http://www.qhpress.org/texts/barclay/apology/}}</ref> ''A Catechism and Confession of Faith'' ([[Robert Barclay|Barclay]], 1690),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barclay |first=Robert |title=A Catechism and Confession of Faith |year=1690 |url=http://www.qhpress.org/texts/barclay/catechism/index.html}}</ref> ''The Testimony of the Society of Friends on the Continent of America'' (adopted jointly by all [[Friends United Meeting|Orthodox yearly meetings]] in the United States, 1830),<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Testimony of the Society of Friends on the Continent of America |year=1830 |publisher=Richard and George S Wood |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtctAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> the ''[[Richmond Declaration|Richmond Declaration of Faith]]'' (adopted by [[Friends United Meeting|Five Years Meeting]], 1887),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Richmond Declaration of Faith |url=http://www.quakerinfo.com/rdf.shtml|publisher=QuakerInfo.com}}</ref> and ''Essential Truths'' ([[Rufus Jones (writer)|Jones]] and Wood, adopted by [[Friends United Meeting|Five Years Meeting]], 1922).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Essential Truths |url=http://www.quakerinfo.com/esstruth.shtml |publisher=QuakerInfo.com}}</ref> Most yearly meetings make a public statement of faith in their own [[Book of Discipline (Quaker)|Book of Discipline]], expressing Christian discipleship within the experience of Friends in that yearly meeting. ===Conservatives=== [[File:Microcosm of London Plate 064 - Quakers' Meeting (tone).jpg|thumb|alt=|Conservative Friends worshipping in London in 1809. Friends are in traditional [[plain dress]]. At the front of the meeting house, the '''[[Recorded Minister]]s''' sit on a raised ''ministers' gallery'' facing the rest of the meeting, with the '''elders''' sitting on the bench in front of them, also facing the meeting. Men and women are segregated, but both are able to minister.]] {{Main|Conservative Friends}} [[Conservative Friends]] (also known as "Wilburites" after their founder, [[John Wilbur (Quaker minister)|John Wilbur]]), share some of the beliefs of Fox and the Early Friends. Many Wilburites see themselves as the Quakers whose beliefs are truest to original Quaker doctrine, arguing that the majority of Friends "broke away" from the Wilburites in the 19th and 20th centuries (rather than vice versa). Conservative Friends place their trust in the immediate guidance of God.<ref name=quakerfinder/> They reject all forms of [[religious symbolism]] and outward [[sacraments]], such as the [[Eucharist]] and [[water baptism]]. Conservative Friends do not believe in relying upon the practice of outward rites and sacraments in their living relationship with God through Christ, believing that holiness can exist in all of the activities of one's daily life – and that all of life is sacred in God. Many believe that a meal held with others can become a form of [[Communion (Christianity)|communion]] with God and with one another. Conservative Friends in the United States are part of three small Quaker Yearly Meetings in Ohio, North Carolina and Iowa. Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) is generally considered the most Bible-centred of the three, retaining Christian Quakers who use plain language, wear plain dress, and are more likely to live in villages or rural areas than the Conservative Friends from their other two Yearly Meetings.<ref name=Wilburite-Gurneyite/> In 2007, total membership of such Yearly Meetings was around 1642,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://fwccamericas.org/find_friends/stats_by_country.shtml |title=FWCC Section of the Americas |website=fwccamericas.org |access-date=25 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419003049/http://fwccamericas.org/find_friends/stats_by_country.shtml |archive-date=19 April 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> making them around 0.4% of the world family of Quakers. ===Evangelical=== {{See also|Evangelical Friends Church International}} [[File:Old Camara 038.JPG|thumb|Sign at entrance of [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] Friends Church]] Evangelical Friends regard Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour,<ref name=quakerfinder/> and have similar religious beliefs to other [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] Christians. They believe in and hold a high regard for [[penal substitution]] of the [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]] of Christ on the Cross at Calvary, [[biblical infallibility]], and the need for all to experience a relationship with God personally.<ref name="Friends Beliefs">{{Cite web |last=Evangelical Friends Church International |title=Friends Beliefs |url=http://www.evangelicalfriends.org/6}}</ref> They believe that the Evangelical Friends Church is intended to evangelise the unsaved of the world, to transform them spiritually through God's love and through social service to others.<ref name="Friends Beliefs"/> They regard the Bible as the infallible, self-authenticating Word of God. The statement of faith of [[Evangelical Friends International]] is comparable to that of other Evangelical churches. Those who are members of Evangelical Friends International are mainly located in the United States, Central America and Asia. Beginning in the 1880s, some Friends began using outward sacraments in their Sunday services, first in Evangelical Friends Church–Eastern Region (then known as Ohio Yearly Meeting [Damascus]). Friends Church–Southwest Region also approved such a practice. In places where Evangelical Friends engage in missionary work, such as Africa, Latin America and Asia, adult baptism by immersion in water occurs. In this they differ from most other branches of the Religious Society of Friends. EFCI in 2014 was claiming to represent more than 140,000 Friends,<ref name=EFCI>{{Cite web |title=Evangelical Friends Church International |url=http://www.evangelicalfriends.org/ |access-date=10 December 2011 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109032249/http://evangelicalfriends.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> some 39% of the total number of Friends worldwide. ===Gurneyites=== {{See also|Friends United Meeting}} Gurneyite Friends (also known as Friends United Meeting Friends) are modern followers of the Evangelical Quaker theology specified by [[Joseph John Gurney]], a 19th-century British Friend. They make up 49% of the total number of Quakers worldwide.<ref name=QWRC-intro/> They see Jesus Christ as their Teacher and Lord<ref name=quakerfinder/> and favour close work with other Protestant Christian churches. Gurneyite Friends balance the Bible's authority as inspired words of God with personal, direct experience of God in their lives. Both children and adults take part in religious education, which emphasises orthodox Christian teaching from the Bible, in relation to both orthodox Christian Quaker history and Quaker testimonies. Gurneyite Friends subscribe to a set of orthodox Christian doctrines, such as those found in the [[Richmond Declaration]] of faith. In later years conflict arose among Gurneyite Friends over the Richmond Declaration of faith, but after a while, it was adopted by nearly all of Gurneyite yearly meetings. The Five Years Meeting of Friends reaffirmed its loyalty to the Richmond Declaration of faith in 1912, but specified that it was not to constitute a Christian creed. Although Gurneyism was the main form of Quakerism in 19th-century Britain, Gurneyite Friends today are found also in America, Ireland, Africa and India. Many Gurneyite Friends combine "waiting" (unprogrammed) worship with practices commonly found in other Protestant Christian churches, such as readings from the Bible and singing hymns. A small minority of Gurneyite Friends practice wholly unprogrammed worship.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://fum.org/quaker-life-local-meeting-directory/ |title=Quaker Life – Local Meeting Directory |publisher=Friends United Meeting |access-date=25 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112213838/http://fum.org/quaker-life-local-meeting-directory/ |archive-date=12 November 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ===Holiness=== {{See also|Central Yearly Meeting of Friends}} Holiness Friends are heavily influenced by the [[Holiness movement]], in particular [[John Wesley]]'s doctrine of [[Christian perfection]], also called "entire sanctification". This states that loving God and humanity totally, as exemplified by Christ, enables believers to rid themselves of voluntary sin. This was a dominant view within Quakerism in the United Kingdom and United States in the 19th century, and influenced other branches of Quakerism. Holiness Friends argue (leaning on writings that include George Fox's message of ''perfection'') that early Friends had this understanding of holiness.<ref name="central">{{Cite web |last=Central Yearly Meeting of Friends |title=About Us |url=http://www.centralyearlymeetingoffriends.org/AboutUs.dsp |access-date=6 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205212906/http://www.centralyearlymeetingoffriends.org/AboutUs.dsp |archive-date=5 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Today, some Friends hold holiness beliefs within most yearly meetings, but it is the predominant theological view of [[Central Yearly Meeting of Friends]], (founded in 1926 specifically to promote holiness theology) and the Holiness Mission of the Bolivian Evangelical Friends Church (founded by missionaries from that meeting in 1919, the largest group of Friends in Bolivia).<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Margery Post Abbott |display-authors=etal |title=Historical Dictionary of the Friends (Quakers) |date=December 2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-8108-7088-8 |pages=327–328 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WlTnzA6kHYwC&q=Bolivian+Holiness+Mission+Evangelical+Friends+Church&pg=PA328 |edition=2nd}}</ref> ===Liberal=== {{See also|Friends General Conference|Britain Yearly Meeting|Beanite Quakerism|}} Liberal Quakerism generally refers to Friends who take ideas from [[liberal Christianity]], often sharing a similar mix of ideas, such as more critical Biblical [[hermeneutics]], often with a focus on the [[social gospel]]. The ideas of ''that of God in everyone'' and the ''[[inner light]]'' were popularised by the American Friend [[Rufus Jones (writer)|Rufus Jones]] in the early 20th century, he and [[John Wilhelm Rowntree]] originating the movement. Liberal Friends predominated in Britain in the 20th century, among US meetings affiliated to [[Friends General Conference]], and some meetings in Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Southern Africa. These ideas remain important in Liberal Friends' understanding of God. They highlight the importance of good works, particularly living a life that upholds the virtues preached by Jesus. They often emphasise pacifism, treating others equally, living simply, and telling the truth.<ref name=QWRC-intro/> Like Conservative Friends, Liberal Friends reject [[religious symbolism]] and sacraments such as water baptism and the Eucharist. While Liberal Friends recognise the potential of these outward forms for awakening experiences of the Inward [[Light of the World|Light]] of Christ, they are not part of their worship and are thought unnecessary to authentic Christian spirituality. The Bible remains central to most Liberal Friends' worship. Almost all meetings make it available in the [[Friends Meeting House|meeting house]], often on a table in the centre of the room, which attendees may read privately or publicly during worship. But Liberal Friends decided that the Scriptures should give way to God's lead, if God leads them in a way contrary to the Bible. Many Friends are also influenced by liberal Christian theologians and modern [[Biblical criticism]]. They often adopt non-propositional Biblical hermeneutics, such as believing that the Bible is an anthology of human authors' beliefs and feelings about God, rather than Holy Writ, and that multiple interpretations of the Scriptures are acceptable. Liberal Friends believe that a corporate confession of faith would be an obstacle – both to authentic listening and to new insight. As a non-creed form of Christianity, Liberal Quakerism is receptive to a wide range of understandings of religion. Most Liberal Quaker Yearly Meetings publish a [[Book of Discipline (Quaker)|Faith and Practice]] containing a range of religious experiences of what it means to be a Friend in that Yearly Meeting. ===Universalist=== {{main| Quaker Universalist Fellowship}} Universalist Friends affirm [[religious pluralism]]: there are many different paths to God and understandings of the divine reached through non-Christian religious experiences, which are as valid as Christian understandings. The group was founded in the late 1970s by John Linton, who had worshipped with the Delhi Worship Group in India (an independent meeting unaffiliated to any yearly meeting or wider Quaker group) with Christians, Muslims and Hindus worshipping together.<ref name="Universalist History">{{Cite journal |last=Rickermann |first=Sally |title=Quaker Universalist Fellowship: Its History |journal=Journal of the Quaker Universalist Fellowship |year=2007 |issue=46 |url=http://www.universalistfriends.org/uf046.html#Rickerman}}</ref> After moving to Britain, Linton founded the [[Quaker Universalist Fellowship]] in 1978. Later his views spread to the United States, where the Quaker Universalist Fellowship was founded in 1983.<ref name="Universalist History"/> Most of the Friends who joined these two fellowships were Liberal Friends from the Britain Yearly Meeting in the United Kingdom and from Friends General Conference in the United States. Interest in Quaker Universalism is low among Friends from other Yearly meetings. The views of the Universalists provoked controversy in the 1980s{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}} among themselves and Christian Quakers within the Britain Yearly Meeting, and within Friends General Conference. Despite the label, Quaker Universalists are not necessarily [[Christian Universalism|Christian Universalists]], embracing the doctrine of [[universal reconciliation]]. ===Non-theists=== {{main|Nontheist Quakers}} A minority of Friends have views similar to post-Christian non-theists in other churches such as the [[Sea of Faith]], which emerged from the [[Anglican]] church. They are predominantly atheists, agnostics and humanists who still value membership in a religious organization. The first organisation for non-theist Friends was the ''Humanistic Society of Friends'', founded in Los Angeles in 1939. This remained small and was absorbed into the [[American Humanist Association]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cresson |first=Os |title=Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism |url=http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/roots-and-flowers-of-quaker-nontheism-2/ |access-date=6 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209104940/http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/roots-and-flowers-of-quaker-nontheism-2/ |archive-date=9 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> More recently, interest in non-theism resurfaced, particularly under the British Friend David Boulton, who founded the 40-member ''Nontheist Friends Network'' in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Nontheist Friends Network in Britain |url=http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/new-nontheist-friends-network-in-britain/ |publisher=nontheistfriends.org}}</ref> Non-theism is controversial, leading some Christian Quakers from within Britain Yearly Meeting to call for non-theists to be denied membership.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heathfield |first=D |title=Non-theist Friends Network |journal=The Friend |date=27 May 2011 |volume=169 |issue=21 |url=http://thefriend.org/article/letters-27-may-2011/}}</ref> In one study of Friends in the [[Britain Yearly Meeting]], some 30% of Quakers had views described as [[non-theism|non-theistic]], [[agnostic]], or [[atheist]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dandelion |first=Pink |title=A Sociological Analysis of the Theology of Quakers: The Silent Revolution |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |year=1996}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Heron |first=Alistair |title=Caring, Conviction, Commitment: Dilemmas of Quaker Membership Today |publisher=Quaker Home Service |location=London |year=1992}}</ref> Another study found that 75.1% of the 727 members of the Religious Society of Friends who completed the survey said that they consider themselves to be Christian and 17.6% that they did not, while 7.3% either did not answer or circled both answers.<ref name=Mellor/>{{rp |p.41}} A further 22% of Quakers did not consider themselves Christian, but fulfilled a definition of being a Christian in that they said that they devoutly followed the teachings and example of Jesus Christ.<ref name=Mellor/>{{rp |p.52}} In the same survey, 86.9% said they believed in God.<ref name=Mellor>{{Cite thesis |last=Mellor |first=Katherine |title=Christian Belief in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers): a Response to the Claim That British Friends Are Post-Christian |type=M.Phil. |year=2009 |publisher=University of Birmingham |url=http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/682/1/Mellor10MPhil.pdf |pages=39–40}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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