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Friendly Answers |
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1. Who are "the Quakers"? Are they the
same as "the Friends"? |
| 1. Who are "the Quakers"? Are they the
same as "the Friends"? Friends or Quakers - either name will do as they have the same meaning - are most easily described as those persons who belong to Friends meetings and Friends churches. These make up the religious bodies that as a group are known as the Religious Society of Friends. "Quaker" was originally a nickname for the Children of Light or Friends of Truth, as we termed ourselves, Friends of Jesus (John 15:15). We were said to tremble or quake with religious zeal, and the nickname stuck. But in time we came to be known simply as "Friends." Quakerism began in England about 1650 in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation. It was a religious protest again the hollow formalism which, for many, marked the Established Church of that time. Seeking spiritual reality, these early Friends found that we can experience God directly in our lives without benefit of clergy or liturgy or steepled churches. [top of page] |
| 2. What do Friends believe? Do they
have a creed? Quakers do not have a creed as such. No single statement of religious doctrine is accepted by all the regional bodies of Friends that make up the larger Religious Society of Friends. Each of these yearly meetings has its own Book of Discipline or Faith and Practice, which includes statements of belief or doctrine and the uniquely Quaker features: Advices and Queries. There is a link to the Ohio Yearly Meeting Book of Discipline on the home page of this site. The statement on Friends' beliefs by George Fox, also on a link from the home page, is not a creed as such, but represents a general statement of Friends' shared beliefs. George Fox, a troubled and searching young man in Seventeenth Century England, underwent a profound religious experience that he described as a voice answering his need: "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition." The immediacy of Christ became the heart of his message and ministry, the beginning of the Quaker movement. Belief in the Light of Christ (as distinct from the historical Christ), the inward Light, the Seed - belief that there is "that of God in every man," the potential for good in all persons - is central in the faith of the more liberal Friends today. For most American Quakers, the Living (and historical) Christ, God's redemptive Love, faith in Jesus Christ as a personal savior constitute our core beliefs. Most Friends accept most aspects of orthodox Protestant theology, and many Friends are Evangelical. [top of page] |
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3. How can Friends differ so widely in their religious beliefs? Respect for the individual man, woman, child - as each may respond to the Holy Spirit, to the Light Within - has been the basis for a good measure of tolerance among Friends. But our sense of individual divine guidance has also led to sharp differences and continuing tensions between Quakers or widely divergent views and leadings. In the Nineteenth Century, American Quakerism was split by repeated separations that divided many Friends meetings and yearly meetings. The Conservative yearly meetings - Ohio, North Carolina, and Iowa - and Primitive Friends remain the closest in faith and practices to early Friends, while other bodies of Friends have embraced other forms of worship and/or other approaches to faith. Some Quakers term themselves Orthodox Friends, and also maintain the faith and practice of early Friends. The amazing Christian experience and witness of George Fox and other early Friends, their preaching and pamphlets provide the rich and varied heritage of all Friends. [top of page] |
| 4. How does the faith of Friends show in
their personal lives? Love of God and love of neighbor - the greatest Christian commandments - find expression in Quaker worship, in Friends' witness and historic testimonies, in our social attitudes and concerns, our mission and service outreach, our programs of education and action. For Friends, these are the fruits of our faith: the affirmation of the indwelling Spirit and redemptive Love, spiritual realities that we must share with others. [top of page] |
| 5. What forms of worship are practiced by
American Friends? The traditional, early form of Quaker worship continues among Conservative, Primitive, and Orthodox Friends, and with some differences in emphasis and language, among the more liberal Friends. We gather in silence and expectant waiting, without prearranged or programmed singing, Bible reading, prayers or sermon. Our worship proceeds with mystical communion, individual silent prayer, and waiting upon the Lord, with spoken ministry when Friends feel led by the Holy Spirit to share messages we receive. This is often termed unprogrammed worship, and is referred to as "meeting for worship," rather than as a "worship service." Some Friends follow the form of worship practiced by Protestant churches generally, and adopted by many Friends bodies during the Nineteenth Century. Such worship services may include pastoral prayer and responsive reading, hymn singing and choral/organ music, Scripture and sermon. There may also be a time of open or free worship (unprogrammed worship). This type of worship is usual among Friends bodies which employ pastors. [top of page] |
| 6. What are Friends' attitudes toward
sacraments and Scripture? Most Friends do not observe the sacraments in their outward forms. Water baptism is at best a symbol of the true baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire, which is inward without the need of human agency. Communion with the elements of wine (or juice) and bread is at best a symbol of the true communion with the Holy Spirit, which is inward and continual, without the need of human agency. The Holy Bible was very precious to George Fox, and he saw clearly that to understand the Scriptures, one must read them in the same Spirit that inspired those who wrote them. Reliance upon the Inner Light led some Friends in the Eighteenth Century to decreased emphasis upon the Bible. Christian Friends know that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the [person] of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) [top of page] |
| 7. What are the principal concerns and
activities of Friends? The belief that there is potential for good in all persons - as indeed also the capacity for evil - makes Friends sensitive to human degradation, ignorance, superstition, suffering, injustice, and exploitation. Under a sense of concern - inner prompting, divine obedience, urgency - Friends are drawn to humanitarian callings and to programs of education and evangelism, to projects of service and constructive action. Early Friends went out with the Good News of their quickened faith to the American Colonies, and they bore their message of Truth to Czar, Sultan and Pope. With changed perspectives, this missionary witness for Christ continues under several Quaker bodies, in Alaska, in Latin America, in Africa, in Asia. There is a concern, too, for sharing of human resources with the developing peoples, and transnational programs are encouraged. Many Friends today are pressing for social change by nonviolent means; for reform of the present system of criminal justice; for real equality of opportunity in employment, housing and education; for elimination of prejudice and discrimination against minority groups and the underprivileged. These concerns are the continuing expression of historic Friends' testimonies. [top of page] |
| 8. What are the historic and continuing
Quaker Testimonies? The Quaker testimonies - what Friends have stood for publicly as a form of Christian witness - derive from our belief in human brotherhood and essential equality (women no less than men). This has found expression in simplicity of life style (including plainness), integrity in personal relations, and at times controversial stands on public issues. The Peace Testimony is perhaps the most widely know of these. The Religious Society of Friends is strongly opposed to war and to conscription. We seek to remove the causes of war; we try to reconcile factions and nations; we minister to suffering on both sides of conflicts; we help to rebuild at war's end. We witness creatively to the power of nonviolence in the movement for social change. While there have been "fighting Quakers" bearing arms in American wars, most Friends declare themselves conscientious objectors, and others are active draft resisters, refusing to register or in any way cooperate with the war system. Some Friends also resist payment of taxes to support the war system, and willingly accept the legal consequences of this witness. Racial brotherhood is another Friends testimony. Quaker colonists in America were fair and friendly with the Native American neighbors, and they early advocated the abolition of slavery. Today Friends work as friends with and for Native Americans, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and other ethnic groups in the United States and Canada, and with indigenous people in Mexico and elsewhere throughout the world. Some Friends today are non-proselytizing, disinclined to witness verbally for their central religious beliefs. Witnessing for Christ, so earnestly a part of early Quakerism, continues to be an integral testimony for Christian Friends. [top of page] |
| 9. What is the meaning of "the Quaker Way"
and "the manner of Friends"? The Quaker Way is simply the way Friends at our best put into practice our deepest beliefs. One example is the meeting for business (sometimes termed "meeting for worship with a concern for business") conducted after the manner of Friends. Such a meeting proceeds in the spirit of worship and openness to divine leading. Questions are not decided by majority rule. The presiding clerk tries to be sensitive to the meeting's search for truth and unity. Strongly opposed views are often reconciled through suggestion of a Third Way; or in a period of silent worship differences are quietly resolved; or decision is held over to a later meeting, awaiting further insight, information, understanding. No vote is taken. When the clerk sees clearly that unity has been reached, he or she phrases and rephrases what he or she believes to be "the sense of the meeting" - approval is voiced or apparent - the minute is recorded. In ministry and service to others, however disadvantaged, the Quaker Way is to identify with them, to share and work with them in dignity, to approach those who oppose them with openness and faith. When our witness and concern bring Friends face to face with illegal or repressive authority, nonviolence is an essential part of the way Friends' approach the oppressors as persons. [top of page] |
| 10. How do people become members of the
Religious Society of Friends? Each individual Friend holds membership in a particular Friends meeting, and in this way belongs to the Religious Society of Friends. Children born into Quaker homes and brought up in a Friends meeting are in time accepted as adult members. These are termed "birthright Friends." Other persons, who are led to membership and feel themselves ready to become members of a Friends meeting by convincement or conversion, or by transfer from another religious body, are encouraged to apply for membership. Some Friends feel that formal membership is unnecessary, and a departure from the practice of early Friends. Some bodies of such Friends do not maintain formal membership registries. Other Friends may be long-time attenders of a meeting, without requesting membership. Membership is a function of the monthly meeting. Crossroads Friends are under the care of Stillwater Monthly Meeting, and requests for membership should be directed to Stillwater. There is a link to Stillwater on the home page of this site. [top of page] |
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