Stephen A. Kent and the mysticism of the early Quakers

Abstract

Abstract Kent's ( Religion 1987, 17 , 251–274) contention that William James reduces mysticism to psychology rests on partial evidence; Kent underestimates the mysticism of George Fox and the early Quakers; the same kind of mysticism that occurs among early Quakers can be found in St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), Pascal (1623–1662) and the Sufis. Consequently, the content of the mysticism of the early Quakers is not culturally bound by the context of mid-17th-century England as Kent suggests. Moreover, these instances render it unlikely that the mysticism of the early Quakers is due to relative deprivation. The Quaker meeting for worship as a vehicle for mysticism and prophecy, and mysticism as a factor in the spread of early Quakerism are discussed.