Movements Within Quakerism – Liberalism

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This chapter will historically chart the rise of theological liberalism within Quakerism from the mid-nineteenth century through the last quarter of the twentieth century. It will focus primarily on Britain and North America, giving attention to subjects including Progressive Friends, the Manchester Conference, the Rowntree history series, and the rise of Quaker Universalism and non-theism. During this period a sizable faction within Quakerism shifted from being a distinctive sect of evangelical Christianity to being one of the most visible embodiments of liberal religion. Particular attention will be given to how liberalism was a response to secularizing pressures in Britain and United States. In many cases religious liberalism was a defensive move to forestall religious decline. The mysticism of Rufus Jones in particular represents an effort to make a viable Quaker theology that could be acceptable to both highly secularized skeptics and more theologically orthodox Friends. The chapter will also make two distinctive interventions into the scholarship on liberal Quakerism. First, it will suggest that Quakerism’s embrace of metaphysical religious practices, particularly noticeable with the rise of Spiritualism in the late nineteenth century, is an outgrowth of the movement towards religious liberalism. Second, it will highlight how the embrace of religious liberalism was linked with Quakers developing connections to other groups, such as the American Unitarian Association, the Free Religion Association, and the International Association for Liberal Christianity and Religious Freedom. The goal of both these interventions is to decenter Quaker distinctiveness and show that Quakerism is tied to the broader history of liberal religion.