Quaker Beliefs; Faith III

 QUAKER BELIEFS; FAITH III

181. The Quaker Message: A Personal Affirmation (by L. Hugh Doncaster; 1972)
           About the Author—L. Hugh Doncaster was born into a Quaker family in 1914. He was educated in Sidcot & Leighton Park Friends Schools. At Cambridge he took a degree in Natural Science. He did social work amongst unemployed miners in South Wales, & from 1942 to 1954 he worked full-time at Woodbrooke College in Birmingham, England, interpreting Quaker history. This lecture was given at Australia YM, January 1972.
           1. The Universal Light of Christ—The central affirmation in the Quaker message is that God is continuously revealing God’s self to every person, that “every man is enlightened by the divine light of Christ.” By “God” I mean the Ultimate Reality behind & in existence. Jesus is supremely significant for Friends, [with different Friends giving different emphasis to his “divinity” & his “humanity,” an indication of what God is like, and what humans can be like]. God is known to every person, whether or not one would express faith in Christian terms. All have within them powerful drives [both towards and] away from God. 
           The central affirmation that the Light of the Christ-like God shines in every person, implies that our knowledge of God is both subjective and objective. “Inner Light [is not] an invitation to individualism and anarchy. The inner experience must be checked by accordance with the mind of Christ. And we must seek carefully and prayerfully through the insights of others, past and present. The heart of the Quaker message does not lie in a doctrine expressed in abstract terms, but in an experience of power and grace, known in our hearts. It is from a double emphasis on [the universal Light of Christ] that the Quaker message starts.
           2. Belief & Creed—“The Friend had a life within him to wait on & to obey, not chiefly a creed to believe (William C. Braithwaite). Experience of God evokes response from whole person in which one’s mind, feeling & will are involved. It is a response in a life of commitment, obedience & discipleship. William Penn said that Friends “placed religion in a clean conscience, not a full head; in walking with God more than talking of God.” To suggest that Friends do not stress the importance of belief is a misunderstanding of Quakerism. Because we do not all subscribe to a single creed, we need all the more to formulate for ourselves our own “creed.” 
           I wrote in 1963: “The refusal to set up a standard of belief for all leaves room for untrue thinking, muddled thinking, & no thinking at all. It may hinder communication … [produce contradictions] … [& cause con-fusion & lack of clarity] … Each one, each group has responsibility to seek where the Light is leading, to find what God’s life means in human life, to wrestle with facts & [divine] mysteries, & to know what we believe.”
           3 & 4. The Bible/ Worship—The Bible is fundamentally important to Friends, and at the same time it is not their final authority. It is important as a unique record of religious experience. It tells us of the way in which the 1st 2 generations of his followers understood and misunderstood him, and how they organized the group life. [The Bible’s] Christ-like Spirit is] frequently mixed up and distorted by the limited humanity of the writers of scriptures. The Bible must be understood in the Spirit which lies behind and inspired it. [Note: There are extremes represented in Friends of fundamentalism and indifference to the Bible]. 
           Friends’ central experience of Christian worship is a gathering of ordinary people met together for silent prayer from any of whom spoken ministry may arise. Friends came to this way of worship through the experience of utter dependence on God. Its evolution is probably through the “time of prophesying” at the conclusion of Puritan services. In our corporate worship, we are led into a depth of communion with God & with one another. The unprogrammed nature of Friends’ worship demands discipline.
           (Note: To the author, unprogrammed worship is the essential Quaker pattern in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Southern Africa, Japan, & mostly the Eastern US. In most of US, Americas, East Africa, Madagascar, & elsewhere, Friends worship in a service similar to Protestant nonconformists. Each has strengths & weaknesses; each can learn from other. Unprogrammed worship needs supplementing by good teaching at other times). 
           5 & 6. Sacraments/ Decision-Making—With the development of an entirely lay society it followed that any “administration” by priest or minister was abandoned. No ceremony could add more to what they already knew. Friends have sought to know the reality behind each of the sacraments in their normal day-to-day living.
           Matters concerning the whole body should be the concern of the whole body, [acted on in a meeting by as many of the members as were present]. We are met together not to press our own point of view, but to seek what we believe to be the will of God. Belief in the revelation of God through each one encourages listening to & weighing each contribution with care & respect, from whatever quarter it may come. The time comes when “the sense of the meeting” is evident, & the clerk can write a minute which expresses this without a vote being taken. 
           7 & 8. Women & Men/ Personal Integrity and Political Action—In the 17th century, Friends affirmed that the Light shines in every human heart. It shines as much in women as in men, so there should be equal opportunity & responsibility for each sex. It meant providing as good an education for girls as for boys at a time when this was uncommon. Friends have been active in earlier generations in women’s rights movements.
           A very far-reaching affirmation is that if God is revealing God’s self to every human, there can be no “secular” parts of life, in contrast to other sacred parts. Every human encounter can fan or quench the divine spark in another. This attitude affects our general attitude to people, which gradually becomes more positive, considerate, & caring. The essential Quaker testimony is that we should allow the spirit's fruits to grow unhindered by cramping inadequacies of conventional morality. John Woolman said: “Whatever a man does in charity's spirit, to him it's not a sin; while he lives & acts in this spirit, he learns all things essential to happiness. Yet others, who live in charity's spirit may [find it] binding on them to desist from conduct which good men have been in.” 
           From this approach comes an attitude which seeks to make every human encounter in commerce & industry affairs standards based on awareness of God, rather than maximizing profit; God is to be known & obeyed in the business world. As political doors opened to Quakers, there were found Friends pressing the essential Quaker insight that there's no area from which God abdicates; they saw abdication was irresponsible. In 1880 there were 10 Friends M. P.’s; in 1945 there were 9. Numbers of Friends in industry & politics have recently declined.
           9. Social Testimonies—The faith that God reveals God’s self to everyone means that human personality is sacred. Friends corporately have been concerned not only with children, wrongdoers, & slaves, but the healthy functioning (or abolition in slavery’s case) of the institutions of which they are a part. So Friends have developed “testimonies” which have begun in the hearts of individuals, & have been adopted by groups of Friends. 
           Changes in society have either made some testimonies unnecessary, or have brought the need for new applications. The newest of all the concerns of Friends—for the right sharing of the world’s resources—is a fruit in part of seeking right race relations. What began as a testimony against “vain fashions” & degenerated into a Quaker garb that was simple & expensive, continues in the tendency to choose clothes which are serviceable & not ostentatious. Our Advices remind us that “God’s gifts are for all to enjoy; learn to use them wisely [& simply]. In view of the evils arising from unwise use of drugs, [consider limiting or perhaps not using].”
           The Society has long been concern with the evils in betting & gambling, & concern about lotteries goes back to the 17th century. Friends believe that the appeal to selfishness & covetousness is a denial of our conviction that the spirit of God dwells in every heart. The social testimonies of Friends are many and are changing quickly as new circumstances call forth new response. In London YM, 4 independent bodies [and social concerns] were united in 1970-71 into Friends Social Responsibility Council. Friends have refused to take judicial oaths as being contrary to the teaching of Jesus & as setting up a double standard of truthfulness. They are against capital punishment & for undertaking relief work in areas of distress arising from natural disaster or war. 
           10. The Peace Testimony—The peace testimony has 2 deep roots [& convictions]: God is Christ-like & in every one. In seeing the way that Jesus met & overcame evil, we see how God meets & overcomes evil, [& if we kill “that of God in our enemy], then the way of organized violence is out. It is only incidentally an anti-war testimony. Beginning with an affirmation about the peaceable nature of God’s kingdom on earth, [it grew into]: refusal to use carnal weapons; promoting conciliation; educating public opinion; arbitration in international disputes; encouraging disarmament; opposing military conscription; promoting institutions that build peace.
           What should be our attitude to UN peace-keeping “forces”?      How can Friends’ peace testimony be applied where majorities are being held down by a violent repressive minority?      What about [our apparent] acceptance of the hidden violence of the status quo? There are no simple answers to some of the fiercely divisive dilemmas of our time. Our business as Christian disciples is to be loyal to what we can see of God’s will even if we can’t see complete solutions. This involves us in both the renunciation of violence and the pursuit of justice. 
           11. The Meaning of Membership/Epilogue—[All attributes of the] Quaker Message I have mentioned are natural outcomes of the basic faith, organic parts of the whole & not appendages which can be regarded as optional extras to be accepted or rejected. What is implied by membership [in the Society of Friends?      If we are sure that we are together at a deep level of faith, & that there is a difference of judgment on the implication of that faith, then what? Then Friends warmly reassure the person concerned that membership is right for them, that we welcome variety of opinion as this helps us to grow; as we “walk in the Light,” more Light is given.
           Membership involves loyalty to the wholeness of Quakerism. In the interaction between Friends in “business meeting,” gathered to seek corporate insight, there is opportunity for new understanding and new commitment. John was not in step with Friends on the issue of slavery. Within a decade or 2, the Society had caught up with him, and a new testimony had been born. Membership involves commitment not only to an indefinable inward Spirit, but to a living unity. It involves loyalty to the Society’s insights as well as personal integrity.
           The Lord’s Power is Over All. This is a dominant notes in 17th century Quaker writing, & is sadly lacking in our tentative present. During WWII, an imprisoned Norwegian Friend wrote: “Nothing can keep a star from shining.” After the war, a German Friend wrote: “Loudly clang the ways of men; silently grows God’s way.”
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331. Communion for a Quaker (by Nancy Bieber; 1997)
           About the Author—Since Nancy Bieber's 1st meeting for worship in nurturing silence 18 years ago, the Religious Society of Friends has watered seeds planted by her Church of the Brethren childhood: a desire for God; & to follow God's leading. After receiving calling & training, her service has included 1-to-1 & small group spiritual guidance, retreat leadership, religious education, writing. She has a practice in psychology. This pamphlet has its roots in the Love Feast, foot-washing, Communion of her childhood, & is the fruit of study & prayer.
           The Questions—Philadelphia YM wrote: "The absence from Friends worship of outward observance of the Lord's Supper & of baptism is due to emphasis on the reality of inward experience ... In meeting for worship at its best, they know direct communion with God & fellowship with one another." Together we had experienced a Spirit which overflowed into speech for the gathering or guided one silently to a communion of love & com-passion, a Eucharist of joy & gratitude. Why [do I seem to need something] more than "direct communion with God"? The act of communion continued to haunt me. The repeated acting out of a Catholic friend's faith in communion showed her faithfulness while it strengthened her commitment to the church community & to Christ. I began to wish for a ritual which would feed me and renew my commitment as the bread and wine did for her.
           Childhood Communion—We received a symbolic Lord's Supper, & ate a real supper of rice soup, beef & bread; we washed each others' feet in recreating Jesus' actions. I knew something holy was going on, but it hadn't reached or changed me. I was sure there was something I was missing. Some youthful communicants feel untouched by ritual; some people have memories of youthful communions filled with deep spiritual meaning & God's presence. [One youth was angered by] prayers for Viet Nam soldiers that ignored what they were doing & turned to Quaker plainness. In her old age she longs again for outward, visible signs. Quaker silence & simplicity seem an incomplete answer to my joy & gladness on occasions such as Christmas. Clearly worship through the Communion sacrament also has power to enrich lives of the participants. How can a Quaker deal with the paradox of wanting meeting for worship & Communion? What is Communion's attraction?
           Explorations: The 3 Gifts of Communion—While Catholics have 7 sacraments, most Protestants use only 2, baptism & communion. Communion is to be enacted regularly. A detailed definition which is frequently used describes sacrament as "an outward & visible sign of an inward & spiritual grace"; the inward effect is a gift of God, not something we are causing to happen. The physical embodiment of spiritual reality surely is a strong attraction of the sacraments. How very human is our need to experience God in concrete & tangible signs.
           As I talked to people, 3 strands of Communion's meaning emerged. Though the strands often are interwoven, they each carried their own unique blessing. 1st, meaning is found in the strong experience of a united community, sharing the same ceremony, leaning together into the presence of God. The blessing is in the gathering itself. [Truly coming together] is both a requirement for the celebration and a gift of the sacrament.
           2nd, there is remembrance & commitment. The focus on Christ's presence can help to bring our scattered parts into coherence & wholeness; it can help us remember. Through the Communion sacrament, we remember & then commit ourselves to living from a Christ center. Just before he was shot Archbishop Romero said: "This holy Mass, this Eucharist, is an act of faith. This body broken and blood shed for human beings encourages us to give our body & blood up to suffering and pain ... to bring justice & peace to our people." Some experience the bread & wine as miraculously transformed into the body & blood of Christ; others see the elements as symbolic. The 3rd strand of meaning found repeatedly through Communion participation is the experience of the presence of God. Sometimes experiencing God's presence is more of a head-knowing, without mystical awareness. Mystical experiences come when the membranes which keep us from an awareness of things of the spirit grow permeable to us. Direct experience of God remains a gift, and is not amenable to schedule.
           Early Quakers and the Sacraments—Quakers, from their beginnings in 17th-century Britain, have shunned the outer acts as no longer necessary; the living Christ is already present and within us. Robert Barclay urged tolerance of those who still "indulged" in Communion. For Penington and Friends like him, the act of swallowing the bread and drinking the wine was wholly divorced from the spiritual reality; there was no vitality left in the outer form. British Church practice of the time left members woefully undernourished in the graced reality of God's presence. For Friends, the power of the spiritual awakening they had experienced required their drinking and eating directly from the inner reality, the inner truth. All scheduled, institutionalized ceremony carries the risk of not matching one's inner state of being.
           I once took Communion at Britain's magnificent Salisbury Cathedral. I appreciated the sacrament's ceremonial richness, but its heart missed my heart. I was too concerned with religious etiquette. It is too easy to go through the motions & remain untouched, to play a role with God. It dries up the spirit & leaves us thirsty, [or beyond that, with a dull habit]. Quaker meeting for worship can also be an empty form, a mere habit, which can fail to nurture attenders. The blessing of a real sacramental experience can come in a flood, a trickle, or not at all.
           Finding Communion: A Deeply United Community—All of life is graced with God's presence & can be a source of the inner & spiritual gifts of sacrament. Howard Brinton writes: "Any act is sacramental which is a sincere genuine outward evidence of inward grace ... sacraments are innumerable." Quaker understanding of sacramental experience as being in daily life is very similar to the Catholic understanding of sacramentals, sacred experiences outside of the formal sacraments. We can all be open to the sacramental gift in many settings.
           The 3 strands of Communion meaning which I identified provide a good starting place for finding [wider] communion experiences. On what occasions did I experience: deeply united community; a commitment to compassionate service; A strong, real experience of God's presence? Sometimes I have only been partly open to them. Daily life's sacrament varies. It may touch one gently or carry us within a full stream of grace. We could label every experience we have sacramental & fail to appreciate the depth of a powerful sacrament.
           In church celebration of Communion, worshipers become 1 community through the experience. A young girl in the US & a young girl in Germany wrote to one another faithfully. WW II interrupted correspondence, which continued after the war, along with packages & gifts. Although Lucille, my mother, & Lotte never met, my family went to Germany, visited Lotte, & had tea. The tea became a living communion experience, representing a bond between Lotte & Lucille. Even shared pie & coffee can be communion, if it embodies decades of being neighbors, sharing efforts, boundaries & bounty. Another way of loving; another flavor of communion.
           The gift of deep community feeling seems most consistently expressed through actual food, eating it, enjoying it, sharing it. Jesus wandered through Galilee teaching, and was accused of eating with Jews and Gentiles, outcasts and sinners. Eating together speaks of hospitality. Such powerful experiences can begin ever expanding communion circles. Everywhere communion is possible if only we have the eyes to see it, the heart to recognize it, and the willingness to participate in it.
           Reaching in Love Toward the Other—In taking on the Christ-quality of living for those in need, we receive the 2nd transforming gift of communion for a Quaker. Quaker communion signs of Christ-qualities are those living symbols of our compassion, our reaching in love toward the other. On one of a Friend's worst days, someone visited & they took a long walk together. That someone was like Christ, a compassionate companion who shared suffering by simply being there; the experience was sacramental, a symbol of living communion. Giving time & money, energy & thought toward a more just world can be a living symbol of communion commitment.
           A minister friend handed out sandwiches & coffee to the homeless, & felt like he was passing out communion. The encounter was sacramental, & the food & drink signs of communion experience. My Quaker Meeting has a member-made patchwork quilt. The quilt is passed around to whoever needs support, nurture, [& the love reflected in the quilt's making]. The makers may have been deeply changed by the giving. The experience of a close, united community is the start of acts of service & of living for another. The larger the program & the further removed one is from the front lines, the easier it is to lose sight of the main experience, & lose one's hold on the center of what one is about. A deep experience of community leads to the acting out of love & compassion. The act blesses both the giver & receiver, drawing both into a loving, compassionate community & communion.
           In God's Presence—The 3rd strand of communion, closeness to God, embraces the other 2. God is present in my conversations with close, spiritual friends, but when one calls for prayer, we turn openly to listening to the Presence as we have been listening to each other. A conference call with God. Our prayer together regardless of distance, has become sacramental experience. Intimate experience of the Presence may be a quiet opening of an inner door, a blaze of intensity, in wrenching grief or great joy, or it may take us by surprise on a life-plateau.
           "Communion" as Gerald May calls it, flashes of union, remind us that this is what we are all about. [As part of a send-off for my eldest daughter going abroad as an exchange student, my family lay entwined under the stars in a park. I was] cradled in more than family love; universal loving was all around. Where is the Quaker's sacrament of communion? Sometimes it grabs us unexpectedly, sometimes we eagerly anticipate it.
           The Challenge—By looking around in my life and in others' lives I find many communions [involving] community, giving of self to another, & intimacy with God. I had found communion could live within daily life. Sacramental reality, may touch us any time and anyplace. It requires us to live in deep awareness of God's presence and of the planet-wide circle of our family. If life is ablaze with sacramental potential, why do we experience communion so infrequently? How can I take the time to live sacramentally? We must live the specialness of a Christmas or an Easter every day. The challenge is to enlarge our capacity to realize and welcome the communions in our midst. Sacramental living in daily life takes us beyond the 3 strands of the communion sacrament to include a whole pattern of living; it opens us to receive the sacred in life. Sacramental living can be solitary, an individual reaching and affirmation of the sacred bond to God.
           Space to Experience Sacrament—The 1st step is to believe that the potential for sacrament is always present, even in the plodding ordinariness of just another day. The 2nd is to live so that our lives have the space to experience sacrament. Days are stronger when half-filled, rather than well-filled. Half-filled days, with space built in to pause, can in some blessed way be the most deeply filled days of all. A century ago in Quaker com-munities when people visited each other, it was not unusual for a silence to fall [upon the gathering]. There was a space built into their days to receive the happening. We may find it now takes more effort to live our days less than totally filled. The greatest difficulty is taking the bits and pieces of pauses we have and really living them while waiting for: a red-light turning; coffee dripping; a late client; before beginning chores.
           We need to treat community and compassionate service for others as deep spiritual experiences rather than required accomplishments. To pause in our lives and to be spacious with our time is very important. We need to give ourselves physical space. Many people find it helps to be outdoors. Even a view out a window helps, or a piece of nature can still one's heart and bring a rich awareness of Spirit. Little natural things on a place like a windowsill, create a sacred space for me and remind me of the sacredness of all space.
           A Tool which Readies Us—The 3rd step in encouraging sacramental awareness is to create meaningful events which help open us to the sacramental's presence in our lives. [The event creates the space for the sacrament], not the experience of sacrament. Church rituals exist because they have helped bring worshipers into readiness to receive the gifts of sacrament. How would you adapt a part of old familiar ritual so that it is a rich aid to spiritual deepening in your daily life? [Perhaps it involves music, a beautiful picture, a candle flame. Follow whatever image or aid speaks to you. For a ritual to be a window into sacramental experience for you or a group, it is important that it be discussed & alive for all members. Which strand of communion [i.e. community; commitment to service; presence of God] is most central to [the ritual's] & the group's purpose? One Quaker family [enacts at home a ritual strongly reminiscent of the Lord's Supper]. A simple group ritual of joining hands or linking arms in a circle, & being aware of the others as unique containers for the Inner Light, can profoundly bond participants into community; personal story telling also creates a bond. Rituals & group support for a person's call to a special service is valuable for everyone, as in the traditional laying on hands.
           It is an underlying purpose of all religious rituals to bring people nearer to a sense of God's presence. Oddly similar to group silence, the indistinct murmur or music of chanting brings a deep awareness of those others around me who are reaching toward God even as I am; dance and music have similar effect. The creation of such events for ourselves is limited only by what is full of life and meaning for each of us. What kind of rituals could be created for the workplace, for the playing place? What kind of meaningful acts could be created for times of sorrow or times of joy? When the act becomes a dry habit, it is time to unload it [and seek a new one]; keep the old one close at hand, for it could revive years later.
           All of life holds potential that will, as Tilden Edwards says, tilt the balance in God's favor. We can welcome & participate in the gifts of communion through silence & sound, through our stillness & through our actions. The sacramental experiences of communion in our daily lives bring 3 strands mentioned here [into a prominent place in our lives]. Real sacrament of communion is never by rote. It is always being freshly born into meaning, newly born into life. We can live a willingness for communion to happen through us, to us, & in our midst.
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152. Quakerism and Christianity (by Edwin B. Bronner; 1967)
           About the Author—Edwin Bronner received his bachelor’s degree from Whittier College on the West Coast (1941). [He settled his transfer to the East by marrying Marian P. Taylor of Philadelphia]. He is Haverford Professor of History & Curator of the Quaker Collection. He is active in many historical & professional organizations. This pamphlet is from the author’s Stony Run Lecture, delivered at Baltimore YM in August 1966.

           Dearly Beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with the measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided … and fulfilled in the Spirit, not from the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.
           What is Quakerism?/Seekers and Finders—[Seekers asking what we believe are] apt to get the reply, given in ignorance, intellectual or spiritual laziness: “We are a community of Seekers, we don’t have a creed,” or “Read our Book of Discipline.” Traditionally the MM appoints a membership committee to visit applicants. These visits sometimes become perfunctory. Saying it doesn’t matter what you believe is a hazy, lazy approach to religion that does a disservice to the individual and to Quakerism. I hope we would add that it is important that a Friend adopt a set of beliefs and practices, and develop a strong sense of commitment to them.
           Early Friends had often been Seekers, and after listening to George Fox and “to the Spirit of God in themselves,” they became Finders. The orthodoxy of the early Friends was constantly challenged in their own time. A book published in 1873 contains nearly 500 pages of bibliographical notes about those who disagreed with Friends and denounced them. Robert Barclay’s Apology (1676) is the classic contribution to the effort to prove that Friends were truly Christian in their beliefs. I believe that they were in the mainstream of Christianity, although they differed from many of the accepted contemporary manifestations of it.
           Quietism and After—[In the later part of the 18th century], in the midst of quietism, the evangelical movement began to permeate the Society; religious liberalism also began to make some inroads among Friends. The Society was unable to maintain unity in the face of these 3 tendencies. By the middle of the 19th century, there were Hicksite [poor, liberal], Wilburite [middle-class, quietist], Gurseyite [wealthy, evangelical]. All 3 groups regarded themselves as part of the mainstream of Christianity.
           John Wilhelm Rowntree & Rufus Jones worked on producing a history of Quakerism. Rufus Jones saw a strong element of mysticism in the early Friends & wrote 2 volumes: Studies in Mystical Religion (1909), & Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th Centuries (1914). Rufus Jones was a dedicated practitioner of mystical religion, & regarded it as integral to Christianity. He said: “Jesus Christ holds a commanding place in history. He still dominates conscience, by the moral sway of His Life of Goodness, as does no other person who has ever lived.” In recent years, especially in response to neo-orthodoxy, there has been a tendency to question the emphasis on mysticism of Rufus Jones, and to see early Quakers as more clearly related to Puritanism. John Yungblut defends Rufus Jones’ position and says: “The last word has not yet been said on this subject.”
           In the Mainstream/A Separate Christian Movement—There is no single interpretation of Quakerism which stands the test of time; several different approaches to Quakerism exist within 1 body, even in Quakerism’s early period. The Religious Society of Friends is in “Christianity's mainstream”; I don’t interpret this phrase in traditional terms. Those who try to live in accordance with Jesus’ life & teachings are in Christianity’s mainstream. We must recognize that of God in other faiths. We shouldn’t have the belief that all religions are the same.
           There is a tradition in the Society of Friends that the Quaker way represents a 3rd strand alongside of Catholicism & Protestantism. Others, [especially evangelicals] feel they are a part of Protestantism, & are uncomfortable with contrary suggestions. Few so-called liberal Quakers would want to place themselves outside Christianity. They regard themselves as Christ's followers who are attempting to live in accordance with Christ’s teachings.
           Rejecting the Christian Label—There are those in the Society of Friends who feel they are God’s children & Quakers, but don’t wish to accept the “Christian” label or be associated with the Christian church. [Such] Friends have been vocal in London YM & in Europe. Similar American Friends haven’t spoken out. They may be tender towards Friends who believe Quakers should be in mainstream Christianity; they may [doubt] their divine leading; or they may [prefer] to [live & act on] their religion & leave theological controversies to others.
           Quakerism: A View from the Back Benches (1966) omits all reference to Christ & Christianity. The American Quaker Today’s essay “Unaffiliated Friends Meeings” stresses the need to live up to Quaker testimonies, refers to God’s Spirit, but makes no mention of Christianity. Henry J. Cadbury [denied] that Quakerism & Christianity are mutually exclusive, & suggested that Quakerism is “a foci of an ellipse; Christianity goes around us in great big swings outside our immediate focus… You don’t have to choose between being Christian & Quaker.”
           How should we Respond?/ Witness into Action—How should we respond to “non-Christians” with the Society of Friends? None of us should say that they aren’t Quakers. It could be said that some are more faithful to Christ’s teachings than many carrying the Christian label. We must face the fact that what these Friends have seen of Christianity hasn’t convinced them to be a part of the Christian church. We must be responsive to them while we remain true to our own conviction. London YM writes: “We shall need to put ourselves beside our hearers, & use active imagination in the use of words… We must always be willing to learn … trusting always the Spirit of God, in the belief that He is still speaking both to ourselves and to those whom we would reach.” It is up to us to maintain that relationship, and make this relationship meaningful to those who do not recognize it.
           We can carry our Christian witness into action in the Society of Friends. [We can witness without judgment]. Everett Cattell said if we truly accepted Christ in our lives we can let Him judge others, & needn't go around denouncing those who disagree. We must become more sensitive to the gap between our society's affluence & the world’s needs. While Great Britain & European Friends have a concern in this area, American Quakers are just beginning to understand that the western world's affluence carries with it a burden of responsibility for God’s children in the earth's other parts. We must take responsibility for carrying out our testimonies.
           Christ Can Make a Difference—Douglas Steere said: “I think that the Religious Society of Friends will meet the religious needs of its present and its future members only when it lives in the Christian stream of life and when it crosses the Society’s accent on personal experience of the Inward Teacher with what is going on in the universe ... The Quaker experience of the centuries, joined with that of other Christians over the years has found this windowing of God’s own nature in Jesus Christ of compelling significance.”
           Elton Trueblood writes: “Quakerism is at its best when it is passionately loyal to the Church Universal, yet fully aware that it isn’t identical with that grand totality, but is an order in the great Church coming into being.” Thomas Kelly writes: “The Inward Christ is the center & source of action, not the endpoint of thought. He is the locus of commitment, not a problem for debate. Practice comes 1st in religion, not theory or dogma.
           On the Use of Words/Not in Our Own Power—The mouthing of Jesus Christ & familiar terms, will not prove sufficient in themselves. There were Friends who were reluctant to use the name of Jesus, or of God, especially in the quietist period. It isn't the use of words, or the lack of the use of words which is important. What is important is that we discover that we can't get along without [knowing] Christ's presence in our lives.
           [One] cannot save one’s self or bring the Kingdom of God on Earth one’s self. We need the transforming power of the Christ Within, both to give us strength, and to change the hearts of those we would persuade. Men and women of good will [believe now and have believed in the past] that they can change society in their own might and make it in their own image. It takes a certain amount of humility to recognize that we cannot change the world by our own efforts. How many of us can love our enemies without guidance and support from the Christ within? We need the all encompassing love in our lives, and in the lives of those around us.
           The Society of Friends need not: demand a creedal statement from members; require the same belief from all; refuse membership to those who find it impossible to declare their allegiance to Christ. I believe that the Society of Friends has no real future in God’s plan unless it maintains its position in the Christian faith. We need to hold firm to the Christian Faith which has been at the center of our beings through more than 3 centuries.
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402. Christianity and the Inner Life (by Margery Abbot; 2009)
           About the Author—Margery Abbott is a "released Friend," writing & traveling in ministry among Friends for 20+ years [out] of her Multnomah MM in Portland OR; her ministry has been minuted. Marge served as clerk of Friends Committee on National Legislation. This her 3rd Pendle Hill Pamphlet [#323. An Experiment in Faith: Quaker Women Transcending Differences; #375. Quaker Views on Mysticism]. This pamphlet is an invitation to spiritual receptivity, & emphasizes “yes” & connection, rather than separating into different beliefs.
           21st Century Reflection on Early Friends' Words—Most of my life I was oblivious to the inner world. [My tongue was quiet; my mind wasn't]. The spiritual dimension wasn't part of my consciousness. A profound experience of being held in God's arms tumbled me into intellectual disarray & gave me a strong new direction in life. I receive a call to ministry. I was "converted," yet there wasn't impetus for me to name Jesus as my Savior. I came to appreciate how much what Friends value now are underpinned by the early Quaker view of Christianity. This essay points to how we may learn from tradition, whether we are Christian or not.
           Christ, present & alive among early Friends, was their true Guide. This was heresy to those seeing Bible & priests as truth purveyors. Immersion in the inner, spiritual reality of Jesus' message is very hopeful & freeing; it opens other links to knowing God's ways. Early Quaker practice of Christianity differs from "negative" Christian practices & experiences we have had. The "Accepting Jesus as Lord & Savior" phrase causes cringing [in many].
           I received a call to find language to speak of experiencing Eternal Presence [to as broad a Quaker audience as possible]. Early Friends gave me language & context, an understanding I wasn't the only one so transformed. Isaac Penington & others spoke of "true Christianity" in passages I use. They [open the way] to open the soul, & to separate illusions from the Light's work. They show how Bible & sacrament were part of inward knowledge.
           "True Christianity"—Isaac Penington was son of the Lord Mayor of London; he risked all that status & fortune when he took up Quaker customs. Once someone has known the pain of facing a private interior darkness and the release found in the life of Christ, [one is] "a true Christian [and] very precious ... Everlasting happiness and salvation depends upon true Christianity. Not Christian [in name] only, or professing ... Christian doctrine; but having the nature of Christianity, being renewed by ... receiving ... walking in ... bring forth fruits ... of the Spirit of Christ ... [Such a one is] without a doubt a true Christian ... one that lives, and believes, and obeys from a holy root of life ... Life ... Love ... the Lamb's meekness ... and all grace springs up in [one]."
       Penington echoes my increasingly stale, prideful prejudices about those people who make such a big deal about being Christian. Friends' faith is an entire way of being, not simply a matter of showing up at church. The Spirit gives life, not correct doctrine. The words of Penington have opened a way for me to understand my experience and my faith. He reassures me that mystical Presence is steady, [even when I fearfully deny it].
           Our History As Radical Christians—For early Quakers and their contemporaries, religion was often literally a matter of life and death. [Reading the Bible in English was a new thing]; individuals could read Scripture for themselves. They were among the most articulate critics of state religion, and offered an alternative way for people to worship together and build a community of faith. This faith was an extension of the Bible. While they were careful not to deny the basics of orthodox Christianity, they paid little attention to many aspects of it, such as virgin birth, and explained at length knowledge of the living Christ.
           The letter to the Governor of Barbados highlights 2 crucial, distinctive assertions of Friends: Christ is come, is guiding us today and rules in our hearts; we are cleansed, made perfect and whole in the Light's covenant and God's sight. These 2 dimensions have evolved into an assertion of "that of God in everyone," an inner sense of guidance, and of the natural goodness of each person. For many Friends, "that of God" is entirely separate from Christ Jesus. I fall somewhere in between the early and modern perspectives. I know my belief has a more universal flavor than that of my spiritual ancestors. Living a life grounded in mercy and justice is most fully expressed by Jesus. The fact that I tend to speak of him as a man, and am happy to leave unresolved the question of his divinity, sets me outside of Christian orthodoxy.
           Experiential Knowledge of Christ—The reality of Christ Jesus was the experience he knew: the one true guide and monitor. How would Fox respond to my belief that the birth and death of Jesus is not essential to salvation? Fox 's experience of a voice saying, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition," was one of intense seeking and ongoing learning, punctuated by "openings" to the direct teachings of the Light, and to significant shifts in growth. [Different levels and forms of ministry mark individual spiritual passages].
           Human beings without this Guide were separated from God, caught up in greed & self-will, at the mercy of emotions. The Light was Christ's Light, & not inherently human. Fox knew a Christ who comforted him, guided every action, judged every response. I experienced during worship arms around me which comforted me in grief & let me know changes were needed. I sensed a new dimension; my senses were enhanced. Reality had touched my life & it would never be the same. I see my own experience echoed in other religious & spiritual contexts.
           The Cross is the Power of God—In Margaret Fell's writings, the word "power" jumps out at me: "obedience to the cross is God's power." There are few who haven't found some assertions about Jesus' cross to be irrational or offensive. Jesus sent to die for our sins is one problem. Believing that being the only way to heaven is another. Fell's words helped with my reaction to the cross: "The obedience to the light of Christ Jesus is the obedience to the cross of Christ ... This is God's wisdom [not teachings] which are man's wisdom, dark inventions, imaginings, & studies ... The chief end of the gospel's ministry is glad tidings to the poor, liberty to the captive."
           I sense that the cross is about the discipline & faith of setting aside self-will & listening for holy guidance. We are made open to a power beyond human capacity, a wisdom which confounds our comprehension, breaks our selfishness, & releases compassion & humility. [The world will hate you for it]. Without fear of death & pain, they spoke truth & walked with certainty & power difficult to imagine. Fell & others affirm the rightness of actions in the joy that they could perceive, even in the stink of prisons; man's threats held no power. The threats I face are internal taunts of insecurity & the 2 temptations: to believe my words are world-changing or worthless.
           Early Friends used "taking up the cross" as part of their discernment process. If an action was a thing they didn't want to do, then it must be a leading of the spirit; such reasoning can lead us astray when applied absolutely. Taking up the cross can be a good reminder & excellent counter to the modern tendency to be led by emotions & to focus only on that which we think we want to do. In the 21st century, Tom Fox, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq, was captured & died as a result of obedience to divine leading. He wanted no violence used to free him, & no stereotyping of his captors; his writings mirrored writings of his early Quaker ancestors.
           The Light of Christ—Light is the instrument of convincement. It makes possible honest confrontation with the admirable and the ugly parts of the human condition and opens our way to becoming complete, sturdy, joyful beings. T. Canby lists and I summarize the primary qualities of the Light as written of by George Fox:
           Christ is the Light of the world and enlightens all;/ Light is within you;/ standing in it gives power to forsake evil;/ Light reveals evil thoughts, words, deeds;/ Light Teaches, checks, corrects;/ Wait [for Light] to know the mysteries;/ Light will raise up a daily cross, and watch over your thoughts, and help you resist temptation;/ in Light, know joy and comfort to your souls;/ Light teaches worship of God in Spirit and truth.
           My description of Light is "a bloody searchlight." I look to early Friends' description of Light [& compare them to modern teachers of other religions]. "The Light will show you all Righteousness & unrighteousness ... [your actions] ... evil thoughts, vain words, & ungodly deeds" (Fox). "Rather than hiding our mistakes from our-selves & others, we ... declare them ... Thus the habits of self-deception & guilt [can be avoided], ... & wither away" Pema Chödrön; 2005). Chödrön & early Friends desire to come into the truth. Waiting within for the Light, receiving what it reveals "is the 1st step to true Peace ... to receive Power to shake the earth." The Light at once reveals truth and opens mysteries. Here is one more paradox to add to the long list I hold inside.
           The more I speak with Friends about our spiritual experiences and journeys, the more I sit with other Friends in silence, and speak about spiritual experiences and journeys, the more convinced I am that the Light works gradually in most souls, transforming the heart and mind bit by bit. Many terms were used interchangeably in the 17th century; these words were drawn from the Bible. Christian Quakers long for words in worship that echo Bible stories, and that recall layers of biblical meaning and a love of Scripture.
           Gospel Order & Meeting Community—Friends sometimes think that we can't say no, or do anything to cause anger or disrupt harmony. George Fox said: "... do nothing in strife, but in love, that edifies the body of Christ." Peace testimony isn't about hiding conflict, but engaging it openly, creatively, & with love. Isaac Penington asks one in conflict within the meeting: "How are the thing or things, which thou has against [one], fully so, as thou apprehendist?      What evil have you seen in [one] or break forth from [one]?      How has thou ... dealt with one, mourned over one, [appealed] to the Lord, & [tenderly, lovingly, meekly] laid the thing before one? If thou has let in hardness of spirit or reasoning ... God's witness won't justify thee in that."
           1st, I need to say I disagree, or even that the other is wrong & one's actions must stop. [For those of us raised in an "always-polite-never-direct" culture], this is a great challenge. Speaking tenderly & meekly as an equal, particularly in ["meeting for worship with attention to business"] is more difficult than the 1st. Learning to notice when [my Inward Guide indicates] that I am off or on target in conflict, has been central in my spiritual maturity.
           Discernment—The initial message was clear: I was to learn to communicate my faith to others, [& ensure the truth of my ongoing message] through a clearness committee & professional counseling. Sorting out the dark corners of one's mind & heart can be an ugly thing; fear emerged as enemy & experience twister. [Through this experience's difficulties], we might speak to all conditions & know the "ocean of light which flows over an ocean of darkness." Penington writes: "Be no more [or less] than God has made thee. Give over thine own willing, give over ... running, give over ... desiring to know or be anything, & sink down to the seed which God sows in thy heart & let that be in thee, grow in thee, breathe in thee, & act in thee ...Watch against selfish wisdom ... that it deceive thee not with a likeness, a shadow, making it appear more pleasing ... than the substance.
           My head is heavily inclined to rationalizing what I want, or making excuses why I can't possibly do the right thing. Inner chatter is fueled by habit & fear ... self-depreciation can be as egotistical as arrogance ... Remembering ... moments ... of God's presence relieves the heaviness within & makes space where one can sink down to the seed. This discipline is my version of inner purification, of turning again & again of heart, mind, body, & soul back to the Light. The inward warring diminishes as we learn to distinguish between Light & our rationalizing & temptations; a new internal integration may be felt in the settled-ness of the heart. There is a period of tension between the instant of vision & the extended process of moving into [& realizing] that vision; this tension can be hard to traverse with a light & firm heart. [Others walking with us reminds us of feelings surrounding the initial opening]. I went from "building maintenance consultant" to one that others came to with matters of the soul. Journal writing, meditation, & feedback from willing listeners were essential to realizing this gift.
           Scripture & the Sacraments—Scripture was alive to those who said it must be read in the same [Holy] Spirit which had given it forth & was a dynamic force in their lives. Scripture & leadings of the Light can't be in contradiction, if Scripture were read in the Spirit by which it was inspired. James Nayler writes: "Concerning Jesus Christ ... he leads up to God, out of all the ways, works, & worships of the world, by his pure light in them ... which Christ I witness to be revealed in me in measure ... Scriptures, ... are a true declaration of the word which was in them that gave or spake them forth ... profitable ... for instruction in righteousness ..." Concerning Baptism, it is truly of the Spirit, with the Holy Ghost & with fire ... Concerning the Lord's supper, it is truly the spiritual eating & drinking of the flesh & blood of Christ ... Concerning the Resurrection ... it is raised a spiritual body ... They who can't witness the 1st resurrection within themselves know nothing of the 2nd but by hearsay."
           The Scripture is to be read in the Light, not in human frailty. Friends' reading of Scripture give rise to testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, & equality (s.p.i.c.e.), & led them to worship outside dictates of the church. Early Friends knew that "Christ Jesus is come now," [with leadings &] living in the kingdom now. Friends were certain of the sacraments' reality, but saw outward symbols of water, bread & wine as a stumbling block. True communion opened the Christ's teaching, & one couldn't go back to behaving [contrary to them].
           I find sitting with a passage & noting which phrases pull at me & offer illumination for my state can provide surprising insight, new thought patterns, & responses. I'm not a Biblical scholar, nor do I want to be. Once I saw with absolute clarity the meeting room filled with glasses of wine, different vintages, different levels of wine in the glasses. I have known a searing of the soul. The encounter with Holy Spirit is an engagement with awe & is accompanied by trauma. I prefer the image of a wound being cauterized. In resurrection, there is inward renewal—rebirth, if you will. My early attitude is what happens to us after we die isn't worth worrying about. Our job is here on earth; there is plenty of experience of heaven & hell in this world; this attitude still works for me.
           True Religion—George Fox often juxtaposes pure, undefiled religion, which is "from above," and its practical expression, which is visible in modesty, virtue and reproof of all that is counter to the truth. Let everyone wait upon the Lord in his power and spirit. Fox tells us reprove actions counter to the truth. Today we are not sure there is a single truth, and we are mostly certain that no one has the authority to reprove anyone else. Fox writes: "Standing in reproving of [that which] is contrary and walks not in the truth, let this be done in all your meetings ... by his power and spirit and wisdom ... So watch over one another for good ... you watch for good, to feel good stir in you, for the evil must be thrown out."
           I dread the idea of some one declaring me not part of the meeting, or that my soul is in danger from unbelief. I also know individuals in community who have been physically & emotionally threatening to others. Friends' way doesn't lend itself to easy rules, simple delineation, or flat statements of faith. By "answering that of God" in the other, we may awaken & call forth something buried. Friends wrote myriad pamphlets defending themselves against charges of blasphemy & proclaiming themselves as Christian; they charged others with being "professors" of Christianity without inner knowledge of Christ. Friends refused validity of creeds; creeds allowed outward profession, [mere words] of Christianity without inward encounter with Christ Jesus. 17th century Friends voiced objection to priests being necessary to mediate God's, & to the Bible as ultimate authority.
           Quakers' peculiar Gospel reading brought them to reject widely accepted, outwardly oriented Christian premises. Their Eternal-experience led them to affirm God's work in the hearts of all people & the potential for all to find acceptance before God. Light of Christ being available to all is the thread leading to our universalist understanding. Distinctive readings of Jesus' teachings [led to Friends' strict adherence to truth telling] & provided a framework for the beliefs of many modern unprogrammed Friends & for our peace & justice emphasis.
           My framework for understanding faith is Christian; my reference texts are often early Quaker writings. It is inward knowledge of Christ, not Christian orthodoxy, that shapes & informs the faith that I am part of today. How can we do Quaker practice if we don't listen for a spiritual Guide?      How is it essential or not essential to accept Christianity to be a Friend?      How can people answer to that of God in every person & yet disavow God? But then my concept of "God" isn't particularly "orthodox." We can reach for truth, move in it, but it is hard to articulate for those who haven't tasted it. I must assume that those who made a group decision faithfully attempted to exercise obedience to the Light as they understood it, even if I know I must try to change it. The Light is visible in each person who is open to it, in their passion for justice, in the odd mix of fierceness & gentleness of heart they demonstrate in their day. Guidance arises from a gentle motion in the soul. Grace is a wonder. It opens the heart, carries us across chasms in our own understanding, & across rough places in the world.
           "True Christianity" still lives. [Biblical wisdom], Quaker journals, today's mentors all help point to the truth, but are not the truth themselves. All is tested against an Inward Authority or the Inward Light of Christ. I rarely use Christian language in my normal conversation, or even in my prayers. The more time I spend with the Bible the more I see new layers of meaning in the practices and the faith which we have inherited and which informs, tests, and expands my inner knowledge. Transformation is central in our practice and faith. Why are unprogrammed Friends so often embarrassed by our heritage and reluctant to claim that our faith is an outgrowth of a particular understanding of Christianity?
           Unprogrammed Friends [could] recognize and affirm that the core truth of Jesus' message is not confined to Christianity; we welcome other expressions of this truth among us. Remembering [the s.p.i.c.e.] testimonies grow out of Jesus' teachings can open our hearts to those in the Christian world whom we sometimes find quite difficult and can help us to engage them as we live out the Sermon on the Mount's challenge. "[One] that knows God comes into the immediate presence; [one] that daily lives in God lives in the immediate life; and the true faith leads to this, giving the soul such a touch and taste of it at first, as makes unsatisfiable without it."
           Queries—How do my reactions to religious terms affect my spiritual life in positive or negative ways?      What do I believe in the depths of my soul?      How do I believe/know in the depths of my soul?      How do I name and experience the Source of Love and Truth?      How do I know who Jesus is?      What does it feel like to speak about my faith?      How do I respond to others' expression of faith that seems very different from my own?      How do emotions, attitudes, reactions, and not listening deeply enough interfere with the motion of the Spirit within me?
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426. But Who do you say that I Am: Quakers and Christ Today (by Doug Gwyn; 2014)
           About the Author—Douglas Gwyn grew up in the pastoral stream of Friends in Indiana. After experiencing a call to ministry in 1968, he attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he began to know unprogrammed Friends better. His ministry has been as a Friends pastor, a writer for the American Friends Service Committee, and as a teacher at Pendle Hill and Woodbrooke. Doug has coined the term "bispiritual" to describe Friends like himself who are engaged and nurtured by pastoral and unprogrammed Friends.
           [Introduction]—Some Friends maintain the traditional Quaker-Christian faith. They identify the Light within as Christ's presence in each person, & that Christ is somehow one with Jesus of Nazareth. At the spectrum's other end are non-theist Friends, who reject Christ's divinity, & divinity in general. Jesus may have something to tell us, but only as one among many sources. Many don't know what they believe about Christ. All perspectives on Christ are increasingly muted in the meeting for worship, in deference to those who hold other views.
           Christ has become "the elephant in the living room" we hesitate to acknowledge. Jesus asks his disciples Who do people say that I am? and Who do you say that I am? Simon blurts out: "You are the Messiah." Even "the right answer" about Jesus raises profound and troubling new questions, After centuries of "Jesus is the answer," he is free at last to be the question again. After centuries in the gilded cage of officially sanctioned religion, Jesus is free to be subversive again.
           My Own Testimony—I write with a conviction grounded in life-changing experiences & 40 years of Christian devotion & ministry. My vision comes from experiences in early adulthood. I grew up in a comfortable but not very challenging pastoral Friends meeting in the Midwest. I had nothing to rebel against & not much to kindle my spirit. I was probably mostly a nature mystic. In 1968, in college, I received a distinct call to ministry, [even though my plans were to become a scientist]. I began to realize that ministry named some gifts I might have and called me to grow into them. I was not yet a Christian when I was called to be a minister.
           I understood ministry in the idiom of the pastor. I trained for ministry at Union Theological Seminary. With my science background, I was interested in historical critical methods of interpreting the Bible. In 1974, in the Spirit, I embraced the risen Christ & understood that everything he had done & had suffered was in love for me. [Both this & my call] occurred at moments of crisis in my young life. It gave me the conviction to follow the call wherever it led, which has included periods of pastoral ministry, scholarship & writing, travel in ministry, & teaching. I was open to the experience and understanding of people of other religious convictions, or of none.
           Given my encounter with Christ, it would be disingenuous of me to stifle Christian identity & understanding for the sake of fitting in. There is something absolutely unique in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, a crystalline expression of the love, wisdom, & will of God for all creation. Yet he is also universally human, as common as a carpenter's son from Galilee. His divinity & his humanity are one, inseparable—& so are ours.
           In 1977, I had begun reading George Fox and was struck by his highly experiential way of interpreting the Bible. Lewis Benson was a key mentor to me as I began my own journey of independent scholarship. I discovered a theological tradition that answered the Christian-universalist paradox of my own experience. Early, traditional Quaker Christian faith holds to both the biblical Christian meaning of the Light within and the universal extent of it in human experience. It has been one central concern of my ministry over the years to help Friends understand this paradox and to resist opting for one side or the other of its bewildering truth.
           Testimony of Early Friends—A free mysterious Christ has been at Quaker faith & practice's center from the beginning. Fox said: "Christ has come to teach his people himself, & bring them off the world's ways & religions ... You will say, Christ saith this, apostles say this; what canst thou say?" Margaret Fell responded: "We are all thieves, we are all thieves; we have taken the Scriptures in words & know nothing of them in ourselves."
           In the 19th century, Friends in both Britain and American were drawn into conversation with other vital streams in their culture. Some engaged with evangelical Christians, some with Unitarians and other humanists; [both groups remodeled their faith and practice accordingly]. Friends merged their Quaker-Christian understandings with either the Protestant Reformation or the liberal Enlightenment. We responded to the question: Who do people say that I am?" We lost something rare and precious when we stopped speaking in the Quaker voice, [when we stopped asking and answering the question]: "But who do you say that I am?"
           The challenge for Friends today is to witness to Christ as Paul did: "From now on, therefore we regard no one from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything has become new" (2 Corinthians 5:16-17). To be "in Christ," one passes beyond the confused human conversation about Christ and begins to live in conversation with Christ. We find ourselves together in nothing less than a new creative process, in a divine wisdom beyond all reckoning. Early Christians experienced Christ as a new collective reality. The sign of the cross served as a perpetual reproach to Rome and any power that represses the free movement of the Spirit among all the peoples of the earth.
           Only as Christ became the "Christ" of the creedal formulations of later Church councils did this profoundly humanistic faith become a "religion" that alienated men & women from the presence & power of God among them. "Christ" became mythic, an explanation & justification for why the world is & must be: violent, unjust, exploitive, unloving. The ["Holy Roman] Empire" appropriated the Church. The desert fathers & mothers fled into the wilderness in order to revive & preserve Christ's free Spirit. Celtic Christianity's creative synthesis of pagan & Christian beliefs & practices in western France, Britain, & Ireland may well have been a subliminal influence in the rise of early Quaker movement in northern England in the 17th century. I recognize that there are variations within each of the Quaker perspectives on Christ on Christ characterized here. Some Friends may not feel accurately portrayed. I hope this general mapping of the current Quaker landscape will serve a useful purpose. 63 l
           Foundationist & Conservative Friends—Some Friends have rediscovered & embraced the Christian vision of early & traditional Quaker faith & practice. Typically, they have found it by reading early Quaker writings or through contact with Conservative Friends. Friends in this stream generally fall into the foundationist & Conservative Friends categories. Foundationists have been inspired by the radical, prophetic, early Quaker writings, which have remarkably integrated biblical language with personal experience. For these Friends, foundational Quaker faith is the measure by which all subsequent Quaker witness is tested—and usually found lacking.
           While the Protestant Reformers had tried to renew early Christianity through chapter-and-verse reconstruction from the New Testament, early Friends immersed themselves in the power of the Spirit and let it re-invent the Church organically among them. I have devoted many years to research and writing on early Friends in order to recover the integrity and power of their witness and relate it to today. While there is much we can learn from early Friends, we cannot simply repeat their words and expect them to have the same effect today. Early Christians [eventually] began to know themselves as a new, universal humanity in Christ, a subversion of the vast, oppressive power of Rome. For early Friends in the 17th century, the crisis was the outcome of the English Civil War. Any Christian renewal will prove regressive if it gets lost in its 17th century frame of reference. My query to foundationist Friends is: What is the crisis of our time?      What world is ending?      Who do you say Christ is in this situation?      Where is the creation unfolding?
           Conservative Friends share an interest in early Quaker witness; they are drawn more to the classical Quaker faith and practice of the 18th and 19th centuries. While the new Conservative Friends are Christ-centered in their faith, they are often most drawn to traditional practices: deeper meetings for worship, a more worshipful and disciplined business method, the leadership of recorded, non professional ministers, the authority of elders to mentor Friends into a deeper spiritual life a more courageous lived testimony, and explicit answering of the Quaker queries. Without participation in the transcendent personality of Christ, in whom differences are reconciled and sins forgiven, we are simply too self-interested, too brittle and short-sighted, to thrive together. My Conservative Friends queries are: Who do you say Christ is?      How do you find his personality revealed in good Quaker process?      What is the heart that beats in the midst of a truly gathered meeting for worship?      What is the mind that guides the meeting for business at its best?
           Ecumenical & Interfaith Friends—The 1st generation of Friends saw themselves on the vanguard of God's redeeming work in history & believed that the rest of the world would soon follow them into new intimacy with Christ and with one another. They were forced to adopt a more hedged, sectarian posture. [We have seen what most inspired foundationist and Conservative Friends]. Many other Friends find spiritual riches in other traditions, some with other Christian churches, some with non-Christian groups. These ecumenical and interfaith Friends are motivated by a variety of leadings and concerns that deserve our appreciative but critical attention.
           Ecumenical Friends engage locally, nationally, & internationally in dialogue & collaborative action with other churches. Friends have official membership in ecumenical organizations nationally & internationally. They also engage in a variety of local & regional collaborations with churches. These Friends are willing to put aside Quaker criticisms of the Christian mainstream & recognize that different churches speak to different personality types & cultural preferences. Quaker faith engenders spiritual hospitality that "makes room at the table" for all. But we aren't practiced in witnessing to Christ to others, or even among ourselves, even when our faith is ardent.
           Even with our closest spiritual cousins, Friends can be surprisingly shy theologically, preferring story telling and quoting spiritual autobiography over doctrinal propositions. In the 1980's Friends were forced either to opt out of the World Council of Churches or make the case for their unique approach to baptism, eucharist, and ministry. British Friends published To Lima, With Love (1987), which contributed to the WCC's acceptance of the exceptional position of Friends. My ecumenical Friends queries are: Who do you say that Christ is to your Christian sisters and brothers?      How do you tell the story of your faith as you serve the poor and witness for peace and justice alongside more doctrinally and liturgically minded Christians?
           Interfaith Friends are often involved in ecumenical work as well, but the 2 concerns are not identical; interfaith work arises from a different complex of concerns, such as seeking avenues of understanding to prevent future violence after the Holocaust and the "War on Terror." Judaism and Islam are faiths that have and respect strong identities and particular convictions. True interfaith dialogue does not begin until Friends speak from the depths of their own tradition; all 3 are strongly dialogical faiths. When we fail to keep up our side of the dialog, we may be viewed as either confused or patronizing.
           [Part of the reason we fail] is the decline in recorded ministry among Friends. Ministers found biblical stories and truths confirmed in their own lives. With university education, the traditional spiritual authority of the humble Friends minister, who might not be formally educated at all, was gradually displaced by the articulate religious ideas of MAs and PhDs in the meeting. Jews and Muslims do not hear a partner in dialog, but instead oblique remarks from Friends hesitant to speak for Friends generally; this can be interpreted as evasion.
           A different subgroup of interfaith Friends typically engages in conversation with Hindus and Buddhists. In particular, many Friends today find energizing affinities between Buddhist and Quaker practices. Where the traditional metaphors "wait upon the Lord," "stand still in the Light," or "sink down to the Seed," are no longer understood or embraced, Friends may understandably find themselves at loose ends in Quaker worship. There is a growing Quaker-Buddhist phenomenon, in which Friends meld the 2 traditions, combining what they find useful, ignoring the rest. There is also: Quaker-pagan; Quaker-Wicca. They can be fruitful for individuals, but they are often based on a limited acquaintance with Quaker faith and practice.
           Queries—Who do you say Christ is, to those who have suffered violence and exclusion by so-called Western Christians?      Who do you say Christ is to the people who gave birth to and nurtured Jesus?      Who do you say Christ is to the followers of Mohammed, who recognized Jesus as a great prophet and reached out to Jews and Christians, seeking unity?      Who do you say Christ is, in contrast to the western, imperialistic Christ?      What has this Christ to say to Krishna and the Buddha? 
           Universalist & Non-theist Friends—From the beginning, Friends [believed in a paradoxical Light]. It was a Light one with the person of Jesus of Nazareth, whose [teachings] lay the groundwork for Quaker social & peace testimonies. This same Light is in everyone, in people who don't believe the gospel, who have never heard it preached. It is a paradox modern Friends have found difficult to hold together. We tend to embrace either the Christian meaning or the universal extent of the Light. Some evangelical Friends deny the universal presence of the Light; some liberal Friends wish to shed Christian faith as an atavism we moderns can leave behind.
           It started early in the 20th century with Rufus Jones and John W. Rowntree reframing "Quakerism" as a mystical religion, a religion of experience. The personal experience emphasis gained more humanistic and cross-cultural overtones as the century progressed. By the 1970's, there was the Quaker Universalist Group in Britain and the Quaker Universalist Fellowship in America. There was useful conversation between universalist and Christian Friends, though they often talked past each other.
           By the beginning of this century, a non-theist voice emerged more clearly among universalist Friends. Secularization brackets "God" into smaller corners of our consciousness, away from public view & polite conversation. The news media has promoted stereotypical images of Christians & Muslims as fundamentalists & political reactionists. David Rush quotes several statements revealing caricatured & prejudiced views of Christians among non-theist Friends. Other non-theists address the journalistic stereotypes of Christian & Islamic fundamentalism that have come to represent theism generally. Jonathan Dale suggests that Friends have been "seduced by the age's dominant intellectual spirit [which is] pursuing self interest under skies swept clean ... of all transcendence." He models & advocates a social transcendent life that is the basis of a transcendent faith [as did] Paul, where "there is no longer Jew or Greek ... slave or free ... male & female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
           The Religious Society of Friends today must beware of its middle-class, educated frame of reference. Some non-theist & universalist Friends still hold to a modernist sense of progress, [& to unlimited human destiny], often couched in a scientistic outlook. They too, sought to discover "the real Jesus." A group of academics, teachers, found that Jesus was a teacher too; [i.e. they saw what there was of themselves in Jesus]. Albert Schweitzer writes: "The very strangeness & unconditionedness in which He stands before us makes it easier for individuals to find their personal standpoint in regard to Him ... He will reveal Himself in toils, conflicts, & sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship ... they shall learn in their own experience Who He is." Servanthood—pouring ourselves out in a form less dignified but more useful—puts us in Christ's form in the world.
           Christ took all of God into human form, even to death on the cross. It was the reconciliation of God & human in the reconciliation of human & human. The forgiveness Jesus preached from the beginning of his ministry reached its ultimate expression in the cross & is realized as we forgive one another & find common purpose in serving and freeing others. In rising from the dead Jesus became a living presence to many different kinds of human beings in the next few years; his new life is undeniable, even if it was not empirically observable. For "through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20). None of this could be without the death of God. Christ is free again to move at large in surprising & liberating ways. But only those who see past the world's wisdom will re-cognize his form & follow his movements. God is dead and we are fools, but we see the irony in it, we feel the infinite joy in it, we know the immeasurable riches of fellowship with Christ and with one another in service.
           John Lampen writes: "To apply the term 'God' is to say that we perceive intuitively a connection between the marvels of the natural world, the moral law, the life of Jesus, the depths of the human personality, intimations about time, death, and eternity, human forgiveness and love. Denying existence of "God" is to say we cannot see such connections. The word "God" is not an essential tool for grasping [the connection]."
           Queries—Who is the Christ you have outgrown or find incredible?      Are you judging Christ according to caricatures of Christians?      Have you really encountered this Christ in the gospels or your heart?      What canst thou say [of your experience of Christ]?
           The Banished Host—Jesus reached out to the poor and a variety of social & religious outcasts. Spiritual transcendence and social transcendence were intimately woven together in the movement Jesus catalyzed in the few short years of his recorded ministry. His scattered contact with people outside the ethnic boundaries of his people pre-figured the wider mission of the movement that followed his death. And he was in no way inclined to sacrifice those at the center, [whose authority he challenged,] even at the risk and eventual loss of his own life.
           The ethic of Jesus can thus be understood as one of radical hospitality. His parables constantly invite people into fellowship, sharing, & mutual forgiveness. He trained 70 disciples in itinerant preaching & entering the doors opened to them. The fatal conflict of Jesus' ministry took place at the Jerusalem temple. The central religious institution of the people had become ["a marketplace,"] an inhospitable place. The "house of the Lord" [was at its heart] an indeterminate space of mutual hospitality in Spirit. Handing Jesus over to the Roman occupation broke with the spirit & code of hospitality. The international Christian movement that followed Jesus' death replicated & expanded his ethic of hospitality in a variety of ways. In being merciful to strangers they were no longer strangers to the God they now experienced in their midst. Radical hospitality crosses the boundaries that society holds as sacrosanct. [In following their god], they were accounted as atheists and soon persecuted for it.
           The early Quaker movement can be compared to the early Christian movement. Radical hospitality is one. The chief conflict of the early movement was against the inhospitality of a state-enforced Church & its enfranchised clerical class. George Fox [noticed & reacted to a similar state in England in the 17th century]. By [comparison], the Quaker movement was a grassroots phenomenon gathered through networks of hospitality & mutual aid. The doors that opened to itinerant preachers became places where hospitality exchanged with a free gospel message. [Persecution drew them together for encouragement, counsel, & aid. The testimonies we today call simplicity, equality, community, peace, & integrity were forged through the experience of answering that of God in all. As they befriended the living Christ within, they found friendship extending outward in all directions.
           Just as Jesus engaged & never forsook the center of his Jewish faith tradition, Friends must not turn their backs upon the wider Church. Our witness to the wider Church must remain prophetic and challenging but also collaborative wherever we find common cause in service and social action. Quaker faith and practice can be compared and combined with a wide variety of other traditions. Friends are present-day pioneers in a stream of radical hospitality that continues to open new doors of friendship and cooperation. Jesus opened that door to us [and welcomed us in]. Let us not banish the host.
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250. Jesus, Jefferson, and the Task of Friends (by Newton Garver; 1983)
           About the Author—Newton Garver was born in Buffalo in 1928. He burned his draft card in 1947. He refused to register for the new military draft and was sentenced a year and a day. He has been a member of Buffalo Meeting for 22 years. He has clerked Peace and Social Action Program. The main theme of this essay has matured over many years, through Quaker activities, Quaker ministry, and university lectures. This essay [began] as a lecture given at Oakwood School in April 1982.
           I—Friends are concerned to realize the kingdom of heaven Jesus spoke of. There are and can be bits of this kingdom in this world, and it is those bits we mean to make manifest through our work. The kingdom is a special community of souls; there are no conflicting interests. One must either suffer or work in relationship with other persons, in a certain spirit, in order to enter this kingdom. Activities of groups like American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), and the Quaker UN Organization (QUNO) are in the world not of it. Politics and economics are clearly in the worldly realm. How does one distinguish between politics and religion? I want to share how my thinking about Jesus and Jefferson has helped toward an answer to this query, and what it says about our tasks.
           II—There is much that I do not understand about Jesus’ life. The way was opened for Jesus by his purification in the wilderness, partly through fasting and partly through his rejection of the temptations. One point of view is that it doesn’t matter so much what is offered as who is offering it. I want you to consider that it does not matter who is tempting Jesus, and that he must overcome the temptation of what is offered to him. The temptations are: turning stone into bread; avoiding personal injury; ultimate political power. In the sweeping form in which they are offered to Jesus, they constitute the power to completely alter human existence. I do not understand how rejecting these temptations opens the way; I accept that it does.
           The other passage has to do with the Son of Man coming in his glory and revealing to the right-hand men that they ministered to him when they ministered to the needy. The identification of the Son of Man with the humblest of human sufferers remains powerful and puzzling. Is suffering something divine? It is only those who serve, not those who just suffer, who are said “enter and possess the kingdom.” [There is no focusing on the “deserving” poor or “unjustly” imprisoned. The mere fact of human misery and suffering overrides all notions about justice and merit. [I still need to have] considerations of justice and merit in my daily life. I remain deeply moved by the simplicity and straightforwardness of the message.
           Taken together, these 2 passages are all the more puzzling. The sufferings of those we are called on to serve are the result of those same brute facts which the tempter offers Jesus power over. Yet the way opens by refusing to attack the sources of human suffering, and the way is followed by loving attention to the sufferers. We might say that service to others, when they are in need and when we are not remunerated, establishes a relation between souls; attacking the sources does not affect souls. To deny that religion and politics lie in separate domains therefore seems to involve a denial of the example of Jesus.
           III—I have found some of Thomas Jefferson’s life and thoughts pertinent to the theme I am developing. Jefferson was aristocratic rather than humble, honored rather than reviled, and primarily a political rather than a religious figure. Garry Wills argues that Jefferson was more an intellectual than a politician. There are ways in which Jefferson’s ideas limit the domain of politics. It is the reluctance of his participation in politics and his sense of the superior significance of things outside politics which make him an interesting figure for Friends.
           His Declaration of Independence [seeks limitation of England’s governing of the colonies]. Limitations are quite distinct from powers. It isn’t the ordinary activity of politicians to limit the powers which they are seeking to win. Jefferson was more active in articulating the limitations on the government’s just powers than he was in fighting the War or exercising the powers of the new government [e.g. the Bill of Rights]. Jefferson’s epitaph mentions the Declaration of Independence, Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom, & the founding of the University of Virginia. He sometimes dismayed citizens as governor by taking no action in a crisis, “seeing inevitability where they saw crisis.” Jefferson had a keen sense that there are things of more importance than politics.
           He comments on Shay’s Rebellion in MA: “[Economic] uneasiness has produced acts absolutely unjustifiable; but I hope they will produce no severities from their governments. Those characters where fear predominates over hope may apprehend too much from these irregularities. They may conclude too hastily that man is insusceptible of any government than that of force, a conclusion not founded in truth, nor experience.” Unjustifiable acts do not justify a government using “any means necessary.” Later in the same letter he writes: “I hold it that a little rebellion now & then is a good thing, & as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” Government ought to hold to a patient and hopeful view about long-term outcomes in their response to crisis.
           Jefferson notes the importance in government of not allowing fear to predominate over hope. The 1st thing to say about the hope which Jefferson urges on us is that it must be distinguished from a certain sort of optimism. Hope connotes that things in general will work out; optimism is hope made specific, focused on some specific program. Scientific & technological expertise is relevant to optimism, not to hope. [Jefferson’s life reflected hope]. It is plausible to be optimistic that one can jump a 6-foot chasm. In the case of a 30-foot chasm, one has a duty not to suppose that one can succeed in jumping it. Optimism suppresses both realism & creativity. [Realism allows for less than perfect or even negative results; creativity allows for a search for alternatives. Jefferson’s hope on the other hand, is that the future will work out even though we lack knowledge & control of its detail.
          What can hope be based on? Jefferson writes: “Man was endowed with a sense of right & wrong, relative to society ... The moral sense, conscience, is as much a part of man as his arm or leg ... it may be strengthened by exercise.” The hope which should predominate over fear is based on faith in human nature, which is designed to harmonize human community. Jefferson believed in “common sense,” the beliefs or conclusions that persons arrive at when they work out something together. He saw that a rebellion would throw a new set of people into the attempt to work things out; more conscience & common sense would come into play. [Where] “fear predominates over hope” [is the province of politics] Politics lives on fears. Fears of what happens with loss of power; fear of what happens if the other stays in power. Jefferson believed the natural course of human events would be harmonious if everyone could participate, being thus freed from the need for either controls or fears, [which were to be replaced with hope].
           IV—We live in a world full of agonies & brutalities, full of individual interests & desires, full of political schemes & promises. George Fox writes: “Sing & rejoice, ye children of the day & of the light; for the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that may be felt ... Never heed the tempests nor the storms, flood nor rains, for the seed Christ is over all, & doth reign. Be of good faith & valiant for the truth; the truth can live in jails.” How can we be in the world & not of it? Upon what basis are we to act; what is it that we are called to do?
           Our tasks are founded on vision and faith rather than documentation. When I have a hard time discerning that of God in myself or in some other, I do not doubt its presence; I doubt the sharpness of my discernment. The foundation from which we act in the world must be a faith in God and a vision of God’s presence and glory. When faced with claims [of looming, powerful enemies, subversion, and pending disaster if a program is abandoned, we should insist on documentation, and look with skepticism at so-called “iron-clad proof.”
           Our tasks are founded on hope, not fear. In religious witness we need to build on hope, and avoid trying to motivate each other [with fears of what] will happen if our projects fail. Hope is not based on the idea that there may cease to be any darkness at all; light shines in the midst of the darkness. Wonderful things can occur within a terrible world; there are tasks we are called to which will touch people’s souls. Our tasks are founded on love. Love is rewarded by thoughtful conscientious action on the part of others. When love is our motive, we have the right foundation for action. [Hate, reform, or justice are not valid motives for our work].
           Love is an inclusive sentiment, a positive intention to draw others into the kingdom. Love alone is a conciliatory & unifying motive. Love alone respects the moral sense & dignity of others, that of God in them. Our tasks are founded on conscience, not authorization or approval. In 1966, New York YM (NYYM) Friends were called to witness to the brutalities of war & human suffering in Vietnam by sending medical relief to all parts of Vietnam, through the Canadian Friend’s Service Committee. The Treasury Department [threatened] them with the Trading with the Enemy Act. NYYM sought an export license until it was clear it wouldn’t be issued or denied & sent the aid without a license.
           Our tasks are founded on witness, not results. Is the action a testimony to the presence and glory of God? We must believe that by visiting prisoners and nursing the wounded we are testifying to the presence of God. Witness is as inappropriate in politics as tough calculation of consequences is as a basis for religious witness. These are the foundations on which we tend to our religious affairs and initiate actions as Friends.
           Our 1st task is to love one another, to be valiant for the truth upon the earth, and to remain attentive to the true spirit in all that we do. It is an act, but a manner in which to do all things. Openings for witness cannot or will not be seen by those who do not practice seeing them in daily affairs. The 2nd task is to minister to the suffering: the hungry, the poor, the lonely, the naked, victims of all sorts of violence. The AFSC and other similar organizations, whether at home or abroad remains the simplest and most direct way to submit to the injunction of Jesus in his final message. Service projects will be seen by many as mere band-aids; they will recommend challenging the causes of suffering. We should reject this criticism firmly, for these words are those of the tempter in modern voice. We should direct our politicians toward the causes where they are known and where necessary resources can be mobilized; the specifically religious side of the matter is to treat the symptoms.
           A 3rd task is that of listening to others at the deepest level we can reach. Sometimes listening will just be a soothing balm to someone’s loneliness; we also need to listen [past the time and temptation to let the details take care of themselves]. “God is in the details.” Quaker agencies offer specialized listening in tense and worrying situations. We are called to this listening task, whether or not it has the fortunate consequence of conciliation. A 4th task is to delimit the domain of politics. Peace testimonies certainly protest the powers which most governments believe that they have. Refusing oaths, and in particular loyalty oaths is a related testimony. Loyalty is that sort of thing which ought to characterize one’s fundamental commitment to God and truth, not to pragmatic arrangements of political government. Civil disobedience against segregation laws and legalized discrimination, and NYYM’s sending medical aid without a license [are examples] of limiting the domain of government. It requires sensitivity, prayerful consideration, [and seeking clearness with others] for a proposed action to make sure it is from religious conscience rather than political protest. The kingdom of heaven is not a political one and we can build it only in those spaces in our lives which are left free from political control.
           A 5th task is to nurture hope in these times of darkness. All around us we find that people are suffering from great fears. [There is the fear of some that] a particular course will be followed, & equal fears about what will happen if it isn’t followed. It becomes a crisis & governance becomes “crisis management,” be it in politics, business, or universities. The antidote for these fears is faith in the glory of God, [displayed] through the conscience or moral sense in each person. It is conquering fears by becoming a member of the blessed community and entering the kingdom prepared for us. It is only through trust in that of God in all persons that hope can thrive. Encouraging this hope is one of the most urgent tasks before us, in order to create companions in the kingdom.
           V—My words are, no doubt, inadequate to my message. They are addressed to Friends, but they aren’t meant to exclude others. Since each person is endowed with what Jefferson calls moral sense & Friends call divine light, these tasks have an appeal which stretches far beyond the Society of Friends. We must be ready to confirm & celebrate those attracted to conscientious action, whoever they are, wherever it appears. I haven’t meant to imply that Friends should avoid political action. Political positions & political actions are divisive & lack conviction & finality; they aren’t inherently evil. What I have said involves hypothesis, theory, & abstraction; it involves words. Since it depends on words, it involves concepts, which encourage generalizations past the point where they contribute usefully to understanding and communication. If my concepts and theories obscure [rather than enhance] a reader’s vision, put them aside and focus in other ways on the life and words of Jesus.
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