"Oh no, it is Not the Scriptures!": The Bible and the Spirit in George Fox

Abstract

"OH NO, IT IS NOT THE SCRIPTURES!" The Bible and the Spirit in George Fox By James L. Ash, Jr.* The origin of the Quaker movement has been a puzzle for historians . None can deny that Quakerism arose in the context of radical English Puritanism during the turbulent Interregnum period, but the precise relationship of early Quakerism to its Puritan milieu has never been agreed upon. Some Quaker historians have connected their religious heritage more with continental mysticism than with its Puritan context. The clearest example of this viewpoint is the work of Rufus Jones,1 who demonstrates theological correspondences between early Quakers and continental mystics. A major problem with such efforts is that they tend merely to document similarity, not influence. Jones does indeed show that Quakers and continental mystics drew on a common pool of ideas, an interesting and significant observation, but one which ultimately does not help us understand the causes and origins of the Quaker movement. Recently in this journal, Donald F. Durnbaugh resurrected Jones' thesis in a more sophisticated and moderate form, calling for more recognition of "the links and contacts across the English Channel."2 Durnbaugh was aware that in questioning whether Quakers could be adequately understood as mere left-wing Puritans, he was challenging an impressive consensus, for the renaissance in Puritan studies during the past fifty years has moved toward strong affirmations of the relationship between Quaker and Puritan. Of course, whether Quakers are considered Puritans or not is in part simply a function of the breadth of the definition of the term "Puritan." To be sure, some older Puritan historians, such as William Haller, are most uncomfortable with Puritans and Quakers on the same pew. They tend to have a narrow view of Puritaines L. Ash, Jr., is a doctoral candidate in the Modem History of Christianity at the University of Chicago. 1.Rufus M. Jones, Spiritual Reformers in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (New York: Macmillan, 1914); his views appear to have changed in his later work, George Fox, Seeker and Friend (New York: Harper, 1930). 2.Donald F. Durnbaugh, "Baptists and Quakers—Left Wing Puritans?" Quaker History 62 (Autumn, 1973), 72. 94 "OH NO, IT IS NOT THE SCRIPTURES!"95 tarúsm that excludes all radical, left-wing sects. Quakers are thus, at most, a perversion or an aberration of Puritanism, definitely beyond the pale, and "wildly heretical."3 Such a view, however, is being replaced by more recent studies which emphasize the Puritan and orthodox characteristics of Quakerism. A significant influence in this trend is the dissertation of Rachel H. King on the theology of George Fox,4 which pictures Fox as a generally orthodox, Christian mystic. Further evidence is provided by George A. Johnson, who explicitly connects Quakers with the left-wing Puritan sect, the Seekers,8 a judgment which virtually all historians of Quakerism affirm to some degree.6 Geoffrey Nuttall sees perhaps the strongest connection, claiming that Quakerism "indicates the direction of the Puritan movement as a whole."7 Hugh Barbour, author of a recent, well received history of the Quakers, brings geographical data to bear on the question. He notes that Quakers were strongest in the more rural areas where Puritans were weakest, and vice versa.8 Quakers are thus located by him at the fringes of Puritanism. A firmer correlation between Quaker and Puritan strongholds is asserted in the carefully documented study of several southeastern English counties by Richard Vann.9 Melvin Endy points to the theological continuity of early Quakers with certain "spiritual" Puritans, notably John Saltmarsh, Gerrard Winstanley, William Dell, and John Webster.10 There exists, then, a considerable consensus among contemporary historians which holds that the Quakers are to be grouped with 3.William Haller, The Rise of Puritanism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1938), p. 17. 4.Rachel H. King, George Fox and the Light Within, 1650-1660 (Philadelphia : Friends Book Store, 1940). 5.George A. Johnson, "From Seeker to Finder: A Study in Seventeenth Century English Spiritualism Before the Quakers," Church History 17 (1948), 299-315. 6.Cf. William C. Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakerism (London: Macmillan, 1912), p. 26: "More often the Quaker message [preached to Seekers...