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General Information
The Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, is a body of Christians that originated in 17th century England under George Fox. In 1988 the society had 200,260 members, with heavy concentrations in the United States (109,000), East Africa (45,000) and Great Britain (18,000). Quakers unite in affirming the immediacy of Christ's teaching; they hold that believers receive divine guidance from an inward light, without the aid of intermediaries or external rites.
Although their antecedents lie in English Puritanism and in the Anabaptist movement, the Society of Friends was formed during the English Civil War. Around 1652, George Fox began preaching that since there was "that of God in every man," a formal church structure and educated ministry were unnecessary. His first converts spread their faith throughout England, denouncing what they saw as social and spiritual compromises and calling individuals to an inward experience of God. In spite of schism and persecution, the new movement expanded during the Puritan Commonwealth (1649 - 60) and after the restoration of the monarchy (1660). By openly defying restrictive legislation, Friends helped achieve passage of the Toleration Act of 1689.
In colonial America, enclaves of Quakers existed in Rhode Island, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and western New Jersey. In Pennsylvania, founded by William Penn as a refuge for Quakers and as a "holy experiment" in religious toleration, Friends maintained an absolute majority in the assembly until 1755 and remained a potent force until the American Revolution. Between 1754 and 1776, Friends throughout America strengthened their commitment to pacifism and began to denounce slavery. After the Revolution, Friends concentrated on a wide variety of reform activities: Indian rights, prison reform, temperance, abolition, freedmen's rights, education, and the women's movement.
In a conflict over theology that was complicated by social tensions, the Society underwent a series of schisms beginning in 1827 and ending with the formation of three major subgroups: Hicksites (liberal), Orthodox (evangelical), and Conservative (quietist). During the 20th century, however, Friends have attempted to heal their differences. Many yearly meetings have merged, and most Friends cooperate in organizations such as the Friends World Committee for Consultation and the Friends World Conferences. The rapid growth of pastoral Quakerism in Africa and of silent meetings in Europe makes the Society of Friends an international organization.
The American Friends Service Committee is an independent service organization founded in 1917 to aid conscientious objectors. Today it also provides help to the needy in the United States and a number of Third World countries.
J William Frost
Bibliography
H Barbour, and J W Frost, The Quakers (1988); T D
Hamm, The Transformation of American Quakerism: Orthodox Friends,
1800 - 1907 (1988); E Russell, The History of Quakerism (1942).
The Society of Friends (in full, Religious Society of Friends), is the designation of a body of Christians more commonly known as Quakers. Their fundamental belief is that divine revelation is immediate and individual; all persons may perceive the word of God in their soul, and Friends endeavor to heed it. Terming such revelation the "inward light," the "Christ within," or the "inner light," the first Friends identified this spirit with the Christ of history. They rejected a formal creed, worshiped on the basis of silence, and regarded every participant as a potential vessel for the word of God, instead of relying upon a special, paid clergy set apart from the rest.
In the administration and privileges of the society, no distinction between the sexes is made. Membership qualifications are based on moral and religious grounds and on the readiness of the candidate to realize and accept the obligations of membership. Meetings for worship are held regularly, usually once or twice a week, and are intended to help members to feel God's presence as a guiding spirit in their lives. In these meetings the members measure their insights and beliefs against those of the meeting as a whole. Because the religion of the Quakers was founded as a completely spiritual belief requiring no physical manifestation, the meetings have traditionally had no prearranged program, sermon, liturgy, or outward rites. Today, however, more than half of the Friends in the U.S. use paid ministers and conduct meetings for worship in a programmed or semiprogrammed manner.
In both the unprogrammed and programmed meetings members accept a great deal of responsibility. A group called Worship and Ministry, or Ministry and Oversight, accepts considerable responsibility for the spiritual life of the meeting. Overseers undertake to provide pastoral care for the member or share in that care when a regular pastor is employed. The religious discipline and administration of the society are regulated by periodic meetings known as Meetings for Business. One or more congregations constitute a Monthly Meeting, one or more Monthly Meetings form a Quarterly Meeting, and the Quarterly Meetings within a stated geographical area form a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. The decisions of the Yearly Meeting are the highest authority for all doctrinal or administrative questions raised in any subsidiary meeting within its jurisdiction. Usually no voting takes place in Quaker meetings; members seek to discover the will of God by deliberation concerning any matter at hand. As an integral part of Quaker doctrine, at meetings members are regularly and formally queried on their adherence to Quaker principles. These queries relate to such matters as the proper education of their children, the use of intoxicants, care of the needy, and, on a broader scale, racial and religious toleration and the treatment of all offenders in a spirit of love rather than with the object of punishment. Most American groups of Friends are represented by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), founded in 1917. Originally established to handle many of their philanthropic activities, the organization today is primarily concerned with creating a society in which violence need not exist.
The Friends were persecuted from the time of their inception as a group. They interpreted the words of Christ in the Scriptures literally, particularly, "Do not swear at all" (Matthew 5:34), and "Do not resist one who is evil" (Matthew 5:39). They refused, therefore, to take oaths; they preached against war, even to resist attack; and they often found it necessary to oppose the authority of church or state. Because they rejected any organized church, they would not pay tithes to the Church of England. Moreover, they met publicly for worship, a contravention of the Conventicle Act of 1664, which forbade meetings for worship other than that of the Church of England. Nevertheless, thousands of people, some on the continent of Europe and in America as well as in the British Isles, were attracted by teachings of the Friends.
Friends began to immigrate to the American colonies in the 1660s. They settled particularly in New Jersey, where they purchased land in 1674, and in the Pennsylvania colony, which was granted to William Penn in 1681. By 1684, approximately 7000 Friends had settled in Pennsylvania. By the early 18th century, Quaker meetings were being held in every colony except Connecticut and South Carolina. The Quakers were at first continuously persecuted, especially in Massachusetts, but not in Rhode Island, which had been founded in a spirit of religious toleration. Later, they became prominent in colonial life, particularly in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. During the 18th century the American Friends were pioneers in social reform; they were friends of the Native Americans, and as early as 1688 some protested officially against slavery in the colonies. By 1787 no member of the society was a slave owner. Many of the Quakers who had immigrated to southern colonies joined the westward migrations into the Northwest Territory because they would not live in a slave-owning society.
During the 19th century differences of opinion arose among the Friends over doctrine. About 1827, the American Quaker minister Elias Hicks became involved in a schism by questioning the authenticity and divine authority of the Bible and the historical Christ; many Friends seceded with Hicks and were known as Hicksites. This schism alarmed the rest of the society, who became known as Orthodox Friends, and a countermovement was begun to relax the formality and discipline of the society, with a view to making Quakerism more evangelical. The evangelical movement, led by the British Quaker philanthropist Joseph John Gurney, aroused considerable opposition, particularly in the U.S., and another schism resulted among the Orthodox Friends. A new sect, the Orthodox Conservative Friends, called Wilburites after their leader John Wilbur, was founded to emphasize the strict Quakerism of the 17th century. It is very small today. The general result of these modifications, both those dealing with doctrine and those pertaining to the relations of Quakers to the world in general, was a new spirit among all the Friends. Most abandoned their strange dress and speech and their hostility to such worldly pursuits as the arts and literature.
Numerically, the Friends have always been a relatively small group. In the early 1980s world membership totaled about 200,000, distributed in about 30 countries. The greatest number of Friends is in the U.S., where, according to the latest available statistics, the society had about 1100 congregations with about 117,000 members. The Yearly Meetings in Africa, with about 39,000 members, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with about 21,000 members, are the next largest groups. Other groups are located in Central America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The Friends World Committee for Consultation is the international organization of the society.
Edwin B. Bronner
Known also as Quakers, the Society of Friends can best be understood through the lives of the early leaders. The founder was George Fox, whose youth saw the rule of Charles I and his marriage to a French princess who was a Roman Catholic, the Petition of Right, Archbishop Laud's harsh rules for Nonconformists, the Puritan emigration to America, and the meetings of the Long Parliament. His public career coincided with the defeat and execution of Charles I, the Puritan Commonwealth under Cromwell, the Stuart Restoration and the rule of James II, the Bill of Rights, and the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688. Some of his contemporaries were Locke, Hobbes, Milton, Dryden, Bunyan, Cromwell, Newton, Harvey, Baxter, and Ussher.
In 1647 Fox experienced a profound change in his religious life. In 1652 he said that he had a vision at a place called Pendle Hill; from that point on, he based his faith on the idea that God could speak directly to any person.
Some of the first converts of Fox were called "Friends" or "Friends in Truth." The term "Quaker" was described by Fox as follows. "The priest scoffed at us and called us Quakers. But the Lord's power was so over them, and the word of life was declared in such authority and dread to them, that the priest began trembling himself; and one of the people said, 'Look how the priest trembles and shakes, he is turned a Quaker also.'" According to Fox, the first person to use the term was Justice Bennet of Derby. Among the early converts were English Puritans, Baptists, Seekers, and other Nonconformists. The work spread to Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Quakerism took on certain characteristics such as simplicity in the manner of living, encouraging women to be ministers, spiritual democracy in meeting, absolute adherence to truth, universal peace and brotherhood regardless of sex, class, nation, or race. Quakers refused to remove their hats to those in authority and used the singular "thee" and "thou" in their speech, while the common people were supposed to address their betters as "you." In turn, they influenced the thought and social ethics of the English - speaking world far out of proportion to their numbers. Fox was imprisoned eight times during his life, but he pioneered care for the poor, aged, and insane, advocated prison reform, opposed capital punishment, war, and slavery, and stood for the just treatment of American Indians.
George Fox died in 1691, and the movement went into a quiet period. The center shifted to America. The first Friends to visit American were Mary Fisher and Anne Austin, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1656. They were sent away by the magistrates, but others arrived after them. In 1659 William Robinson and Marmaduke Stephenson were hanged on Boston Common, as was Mary Dyer the following year.
Probably the best known historical figure in the Society of Friends was William Penn. Born in 1644, he became a Quaker in 1667 and was an embarrassment to his father, Admiral Penn. King Charles II gave young William a grant of land in American to repay a debt to his father, and thus was launched Pennsylvania, a "holy experiment." By 1700 there were Friends meeting in all of the colonies.
Penn's tolerant policies attracted immigrants from many places. Difficulties arose from the fact that the Quakers wanted only to be at peace, while the British expected them to support the colonial wars against the French and Indians. A similar situation arose when the colonists revolted against the British in 1776.
A division occurred in the Society of Friends about 1827, with one group supporting the views of Elias Hicks, who believed that one should follow the inner light. The other group was influenced by the evangelical movement and put great emphasis on belief in the divinity of Christ, the authority of the Scriptures, and the atonement.
Friends were also active in the antislavery movement. John Woolman, Anthony Benezet, Lucretia Mott, and John Greenleaf Whittier were involved in such activities as the underground railroad and the Colonization Society. Benjamin Lundy's ideas were presented in The Genius of Universal Emancipation.
The tradition of caring for others carried on through the American Civil War, and the American Friends Service Committee was formed in 1917. The purpose of the organization was to provide young conscientious objectors with alternative service opportunities during wartime. A red and black star was chosen to symbolize the group.
The Society of Friends are optimistic about the purposes of God and the destiny of mankind. Their ultimate and final authority for religious life and faith resides within each individual. Many, but not all, seek for this truth through the guidance of the inner light. They believe that they are bound to refuse obedience to a government when its requirements are contrary to what they believe to be the law of God, but they are willing to accept the penalties for civil disobedience. They practice religious democracy in their monthly meetings. After discussion of an issue, for example, the clerk states what appears to be the mind of the group; but if a single Friend feels that he cannot unite with the group, no decision is made. Their stand for religious toleration is symbolized by the inscription on the statue of Mary Dyer across from Boston Common: "Witness for Religious Freedom. Hanged on Boston Common, 1660."
The Society of Friends has no written creed. Their philosophical differences can be seen in the fact that Richard Nixon was born into the group, while Staughton Lynd joined because of their teachings. They do have an interest in education, with the founding of Haverford, Earlham, Swarthmore, and other colleges. The teaching by example has caused some to ask why Quakers do not preach what they practice. Their ideal is to pursue truth at all costs, and it is hard to imagine a higher calling here on earth.
J E Johnson
Bibliography
H Barbour, The Quakers in Puritan England; W C
Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakerism and The Second Period of
Quakerism; R M Jones, The Later Periods of Quakerism; E Russell,
The History of Quakerism; D E Trueblood, The People Called
Quakers; M H Bacon, The Quiet Rebels; A N Brayshaw, The
Quakers: Their Story and Message; H H Brinton, Friends for Three
Hundred Years; W R Williams, The Rich Heritage of Quakerism.
quakers
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