Liberal Quaker Research Articles

The Quaker Renaissance and Liberal Quakerism in Britain, 1895–1930: Seeking a Real Religion by Joanna Dales

The Quaker Renaissance and Liberal Quakerism in Britain, 1895–1930: Seeking a Real Religion by Joanna Dales

London Yearly Meeting’s Response to the Richmond Declaration, 1887: A Case Study in the Avoidance of Religious Schism

London Yearly Meeting’s response to the Richmond Declaration of 1887 was neutral in that it neither endorsed nor rejected it. The Declaration was seen by British Friends in a variety of ways. These included it being viewed as either an affirmation or not of existing Quaker beliefs, a document that was more relevant to the American Quaker context, a useful statement of beliefs or an attempt to impose a creed. While failure to accept the Declaration has been interpreted as a move towards supporting an emerging liberal Quakerism, the decision to also not reject it has often been overlooked. An evaluation of the discussions about the Declaration that took place at the Yearly Meeting in London, May 1888, and which were reported in the Quaker journals The British Friend and The Friend (London), highlights the wide range of views that were held. It is proposed that the complex set of relationships that existed between different groups within London Yearly Meeting and the role played by key individuals determined a nuanced response to the Declaration which was sufficiently acceptable to all sides. Paradoxically, this unity was founded upon a collective acceptance of theological discordance within London Yearly Meeting. Consequently, schism was avoided as evangelical, conservative and liberal Quaker narratives were able to coexist alongside a non-committal response to the Declaration.

The Quakers: LGBTIQ+ Activism and Institutional Cohesion

Liberal Quakerism’s engagement with the public sphere acts as a mechanism for producing social solidarity within the movement. This argument is demonstrated through an examination of Quaker engagement with Queer social issues in the UK, US and Australia. The social activism of Quakers sustains their identity as a liberal religious organisation sympathetic to progressive causes and nurtures a sense of common purpose within the movement that subsumes internal differences. It is argued that, while Quaker orthopraxis within the Society binds internal diversity together, this can also include Friends’ activist engagement with the secular world. This focus on the dialectical relationship between Quakerism’s internal culture and external social processes suggest that a dynamic relationship exists between contemporary secularism and liberal religious groups.

Quakers

Liberal Quakerism’s engagement with the public sphere acts as a mechanism for producing social solidarity within the movement. This argument is demonstrated through an examination of Quaker engagement with Queer social issues in the UK, US and Australia. The social activism of Quakers sustains their identity as a liberal religious organisation sympathetic to progressive causes and nurtures a sense of common purpose within the movement that subsumes internal differences. It is argued that, while Quaker orthopraxis within the Society binds internal diversity together, this can also include Friends’ activist engagement with the secular world. This focus on the dialectical relationship between Quakerism’s internal culture and external social processes suggest that a dynamic relationship exists between contemporary secularism and liberal religious groups.

An Exploration of the Existence and Utility of a Quaker Literary Aesthetic in the Poetry of Philip Gross and Sibyl Ruth

Quakers have had an ambivalent historical relationship with creativity, initially placing taboos around its creation and reception, but they now actively make and enjoy literature. This article explores what might constitute a Liberal Quaker Literary Aesthetic (QLA), and tests a theoretical model through an analysis of the poetry of British Quaker poets Philip Gross and Sybil Ruth. The QLA, it is suggested, consists of seven key features: openness, ambiguity and seeking; dialogical engagement; ethical rather than moral writing; creative attention; Quaker sensibility; an apophatic approach to the Divine; silence as presence and force. I argue that this QLA, while partially displayed by other writers of faith or none, is fully demonstrated by these writers, as a development in this context of particular values and the silent, apophatic approach found among British Liberal Quakers brought over into literary writing. I demonstrate that this QLA is a distinctive expression of Liberal Quakerism. I discuss its utility and suggest future avenues of research in comparison with other branches of Quakerism and other faith traditions and none.

Liberal Quakerism in America in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1790–1920 by Thomas D. Hamm

Reviewed by: Liberal Quakerism in America in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1790–1920 by Thomas D. Hamm S. Spencer Wells Liberal Quakerism in America in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1790—1920. By Thomas D. Hamm. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2020. 97 pp. Notes, and bibliography. Paper $91.18; ebook $85.00. Just what defines religious liberalism? Such is the question which numerous scholars from Gary Dorrien (The Making of American Liberal Theology) to Amy Kittlestrom (The Religion of Democracy) have increasingly asked in recent years. Yet, few studies have specifically probed Quaker contributions to the growing subfield. Thomas D. Hamm’s recent work Liberal Quakerism in America in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1790–1920 seeks to rectify this lacuna in the literature—and does so with remarkable precision. For Hamm, the growth of Quaker liberalism is defined by Friends’ growing commitment to four distinct ideological tenets: a modernistic belief that God proved “immanent in the world,” faith in the ability of scientific rationalism to explain the divine’s purpose, an allergy to Calvinism, and a deep-seated suspicion of doctrines or actions which tended to [End Page 92] erode an individual’s freedom of conscience (p. 2). The spiritual genealogy which Hamm lays out to explain the genesis and flowering of such a faith is largely convincing. He begins his story with the proto-liberal Hannah Barnard, disowned by Hudson Monthly Meeting (NY) in 1801 for—among other things—arguing that parts of the Hebrew Bible which condoned war were inaccurate. Hamm argues that Barnard walked a pioneering path which other, more organizationally savvy individuals, would soon follow. In clear and concise prose, Hamm charts the ways in which the first stirrings of liberal Quakerism took partial root in Hicksite Quakerism, and the Progressive Friends, while finally maturing as a growing number of Gurneyites imbibed and expressed liberal sympathies in the later nineteenth century. Of particular note is the way in which the trajectory of Quaker liberalism does not come across as a foreordained fait accompli. Hicksites, while arguing that the “Bible was not the ‘Word of God,’” for instance, also continued to hold to other, more traditional, beliefs (p 18). When a number of Hicksites championed working-class or abolitionist movements, they often found themselves on the short end of the budding organization’s disciplinary stick. While Gurneyites eventually embraced religious liberalism, in Hamm’s reading this was the work of decades. Religious liberalism, Hamm rightly argues, was historically contingent, taking numerous detours, and circling varieties of intellectual cul-de-sacs in the process. While Hamm succeeds in laying out the major mile-markers on the road to liberal Quakerism, there are moments which could use broader contextualization. Take, for instance, the notion of the Right of Private Judgment. Throughout the monograph, those Friends pushing the religious envelope along liberal lines are, by and large, seen to be the sole believers in freedom of conscience vis-à-vis their more conservative coreligionists. Yet conservative Protestants throughout the early modern era spoke articulately and often about conscience. To many, freedom of conscience meant the ability to interpret scripture privately as one wished. Even into the nineteenth century many Protestants did not necessarily agree that freedom of conscience gave individuals leeway to publicly air their religious disagreements in contradistinction to the “church’s mind.” While religious liberals—including liberal Friends—argued that such conceptions of freedom of conscience were, in reality no protection to conscience at all, this does not mean that they alone held a monopoly on the concept writ large. [End Page 93] Still, it is all too easy to be over-meticulous as a reviewer. And, while Liberal Quakerism could use a wider historical awareness, the work as a whole is seasoned with more than enough real insight and historiographical heft to make up for such minor critiques. In the final analysis, the work should be seen as essential reading for anyone seeking to trace the experiment in religious liberalism which large parts of Quakerism have long espoused. S. Spencer Wells Southern Utah University Copyright © 2021 Friends Historical Association

The Quaker Renaissance and Liberal Quakerism in Britain, 1895–1930

Abstract Many Quakers who reached maturity towards the end of the nineteenth century found that their parents’ religion had lost its connection with reality. New discoveries in science and biblical research called for new approaches to Christian faith. Evangelical beliefs dominant among nineteenth-century Quakers were now found wanting, especially those emphasising the supreme authority of the Bible and doctrines of atonement whereby the wrath of God is appeased through the blood of Christ. Liberal Quakers sought a renewed sense of reality in their faith through recovering the vision of the first Quakers with their sense of the Light of God within each person. They also borrowed from mainstream liberal theology new attitudes to God, nature and service to society. The ensuing Quaker Renaissance found its voice at the Manchester Conference of 1895, and the educational initiatives which followed gave to British Quakerism an active faith fit for the testing reality of the twentieth century.

Liberal Quaker Christologies in the Swarthmore Lectures: Two Studies in Theological Method

This paper argues that the flexibility inherent in Liberal Quaker theology allows for multiple interpretations of two key Christological issues: the relationship between Jesus and humanity, and the...

Theology from Listening

Abstract This publication explores the changes and continuities in liberal Quaker theology over the long twentieth century (1895 to 2019) in multiple English-speaking Quaker communities around the world. A close analysis is conducted of Quaker theologising through multiple modes: formal, corporate methods; material produced by individuals and small groups within Quaker communities; and writing by individuals and small groups working primarily within academic or ecumenical theological settings. It is concluded that although liberal Quaker theology is diverse and flexible, it also possesses a core coherence and can meaningfully be discussed as a single tradition. At the centre of liberal Quaker theology is the belief that direct, unmediated contact with the Divine is possible and results in useful guidance.

Liberal Quakerism in America in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1790–1920

Abstract Thomas D. Hamm (Earlham College) argues that a self-conscious, liberal Quakerism emerged in North America between 1790 and 1920. It had three characteristics. The first was a commitment to liberty of conscience. The second was pronounced doubts about orthodox beliefs, such as the divinity of Christ. Finally, liberal Friends saw themselves as holding beliefs fully consistent with early Quakerism. Stirrings appeared as early as the 1790s. Hicksite Friends in the 1820s, although perceiving themselves as traditionalists, manifested all of these characteristics. When other Hicksites took such stances in even more radical directions after 1830, however, bitter divisions ensued. Orthodox Friends were slower to develop liberal thought. It emerged after 1870, as higher education became central to the Gurneyite branch of Orthodox Quakerism, and as some Gurneyites responded to influences in the larger society, and to the changes introduced by the advent of revivalism, by embracing modernist Protestantism.

Liberal Quaker Reconciliation Theology: A Constructive Approach

Abstract This work brings the fields of Christian theologies of atonement and reconciliation and Liberal Quaker theology into dialogue, and lays the foundation for developing an original Liberal Quaker reconciliation theology. This dialogue focuses specifically on the metaphorical language employed to describe the relationship of interdependence between humans and God, which both traditions hold as integral to their conceptions of human and divine existence. It focuses on these areas: the sin of human division and exclusion; atonement and reunification of humans and God as a response to sin; and the metaphors Liberal Quaker use to describe this interdependent relationship, specifically the metaphor of Light. This unique approach develops an original model of reconciliatory interdependence between humans and God that is rooted in both Christological and Universalist Liberal Quaker metaphorical and theological categories and utilizes the Liberal Quaker language of God as interdependent Light towards a new theology.

Rufus Jones Never Did Establish that Quakerism is a Mystical Religion

Rufus Jones holds a place in history as the thinker who established the idea of the mystical origins of Quakerism and thereby invigorated the theological basis of Liberal Quakerism at a critical juncture. Yet Jones rejected the mystical tradition. This article investigates this paradox using mainly the evidence available in the two seminal works that presented Jones’ interpretation and an early statement of his theology from 1904. The proposed resolution is that Jones effected something of a theological conjuring trick: the heart of his religion was essentially a religious humanism comprising a rational ethics allied to a powerful social gospel. To this he appended a redirected definition of mysticism that he named ‘affirmation mysticism’. The result of this conclusion is a suggested caution in referring to Quakerism as a mystical religion, together with a question mark over what then does constitute the theological basis of Liberal Quakerism.

The Meaning of Nonviolence: Exploring Nonviolence as a Cultural Resource for Liberal Quaker Subjects

This article reports on eight in-depth interviews conducted with Liberal Quaker subjects in the Boston area. Subjects spoke about two things: their relationship to the peace and nonviolence elements of Quakerism and their personal, spiritual journeys. Subjects tell stories, perform their social positions, and participate (or talk about participation) in communal ritual. I identify nonviolence as a cultural resource used in these processes (storytelling, social position performance, and ritual) to constitute existential meaning. Existential meaning has three different iterations that correspond to the three respective processes. In storytelling, subjects constitute life purpose. In social position performance, subjects constitute subjectivity (who they really are). In communal ritual, subjects constitute solidarity (where they belong). Nonviolence is not the only cultural resource used to constitute these three forms of existential meaning, and is combined in a myriad number of ways to suit the unique exig...

Articles and Publications

Articles and Publications Christopher Densmore and Barbara Addison An annotated bibliography of the titles listed below is available at the Friends Historical Association website: www.haverford.edu/library/fha Alice Southern, "The Rowntree History Series and the Growth of Liberal Quakerism," Quaker Studies, 16.1 (Sept. 2011), 7-73, puts forward the thesis that Quakers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century used history to construct a liberal view of Quakerism. Keeping Us Honest, Stirring the Pot: a Festschrift in Honor of H. Larry Ingle, edited by Chuck Fager; associate editor: Becky Ingle (Fayetteville, NC: Kimo Press, 2011), includes scholarly essays on Quaker history, reminiscences about Larry Ingle, a selection of his shorter works, and a complete bibliography of his writings. John Woolman and the Affairs of Truth: the Journalist's Essays, Epistles, and Ephemera, edited by James Proud (San Francisco, CA: Inner Light Books, 2010), gathers together in one volume all the known writings of John Woolman (excluding the Journal) which were intended for general readers, including previously unpublished texts. Jon Kershner, "The (Com)Motion of Love: Theological Formation in John Woolman's Itinerant Ministry," Quaker Religious Thought, no. 116/117 (Dec. 2011), 23-36, provide another perspective on Woolman. Dear Friend: Letters & Essays of Elias Hicks; edited by Paul Buckley (San Francisco: Inner Light Books, 2011), includes letters and essays by Hicks as well as notes by the editor. Historical Dictionary of the Friends (Quakers), Margery Post Abbott et al. (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2012), is an expanded second edition. Geoffrey Durham, The Spirit of the Quakers (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), is an overview of Friends and their beliefs through selected writings including passages from the journals of George Fox, John Woolman, Mary Penington and Pierre Ceresole. The first generation of Quakerism continues to be a major interest. Hillary Hinds, George Fox and Early Quaker Culture (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011), examines the distinctiveness and cultural practices of early Quakerism. David L. Wykes, "Early Religious Dissent in Surrey after the Restoration," Southern History, [England] 33 (2011), 54-75, examines the treatment of Quakers and other dissenters under the Act of Conformity from 1662 to 1672. Other works include Carme Font Paz, "'I Have Written the Things Which I Did Hear, See, Tasted and Handled': Selfhood and Voice in Katherine Evans' and Sarah Cheevers' A Short Relation of Their Sufferings (1662)," Sederi-Yearbook of the Spanish and Portuguese Society for English Renaissance Studies, 20 (2010), 27-56; Erin Bell, "The Early Quakers, the Peace Testimony and Masculinity in England, 1660-1720," Gender & History, 23.2 (August 2011), 283-300; La Tonia Winston, No Sex in the Soul: Proto-Feminist Theology in 17th [End Page 39] Century British Quakerism - Toward Egalitarian Relationships Between Women and Men in Ministry (Thesis (M.A.) — Regent University, 2010); James Mawdesley, "Quakers, Tithe Opposition, and the Presbyterian National Church: the Case of Cartmel, Lancashire, c. 1644-1660," Journal of Historical Sociology, 24.3 (Sept. 2011), 381-408; Krista J. Kesselring, "Gender, the Hat, and Quaker Universalism in the Wake of the English Revolution," The Seventeenth Century, 26.2 (Oct. 2011), 299-322; and Richard Bailey, «Muggletonian-Quaker Debates,» Quaker Studies, 16.1 (Sept. 2011), 74-84, focusing on theological understandings of the nature of Christ. Leslie Forster Stevenson, Open to New Light: Quaker Spirituality in Historical and Philosophical Context (Exeter [UK]; Charlottesville VA: Imprint Academic, 2012), is about the "the meaning of life" or "the spiritual quest" from Socrates to Kant, George Fox and Robert Barclay. The Experience of Revolution in Stuart Britain and Ireland: Essays for John Morrill, edited by Michael J. Braddick and David L. Smith (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), includes two Quaker-related essays: "On Shaky Ground: Quakers, Puritans, Possession, and High Spirits" by Tom Webster, and "The Cromwellian Legacy of William Penn" by Mary K. Geiter. Recent Quaker interpretations of the importance of seventeenth century Friends include Anne Adams, "The Vision of Early Friends," The Friends Quarterly, 39.3 (Aug. 2011), 34-40; David Ian Hamilton, "Formed in the Will of Life: Isaac Penington and Spiritual Growth," The Friends Quarterly, 39.4 (Nov. 2011), 41-46; and Lu Harper, Plow Up the Fallow Ground: a Meditation...

The Rowntree History Series and the Growth of Liberal Quakerism

This study explores how some leading Quakers in the period 1895–1925 promoted liberal views within the Religious Society of Friends in Britain and the USA. It focuses on the use of denominational history as a medium through which to transmit these ideas, in particular on the Rowntree History Series. It is argued that the Rowntree History Series played a vitally important role in the construction of Liberal Quaker identity throughout this period, focussing on the attitudes of influential Quakers John Wilhelm Rowntree, Rufus Jones and William Charles Braithwaite, in order to demonstrate that the Rowntree History Series was presented to enable Liberal Quakers to affirm Quaker tradition while at the same time justifying fundamental theological changes. The study concludes that the Rowntree History Series can be primarily understood as an intended resource for education and preparation for ministry.

“The Blessed Community”: The Mutual Influences of Friends General Conference and the New Meetings Movement, 1915–1945

In 1939 Thomas Kelly envisioned “the blessed community,” a community of people gathered by God who combined a mystical, non-dogmatic religion that could potentially transform both individuals and society. While this community certainly transcended Quakerism, Kelly hoped that it would inspire and transform his own religious society.1 This paper uses the phrase as a way to describe the appeal of Quakerism to newly convinced North American Friends who began to form new unprogrammed meetings in the period between the two world wars. These new Meetings significantly expanded and transformed Quakerism, and Friends General Conference, the primary umbrella organization for unprogrammed North American Quakerism, in particular. Thomas Kelly grew up among and worked primarily with “Orthodox” Friends, one of the two major branches resulting from the Hicksite-Orthodox schism begun in 1827. Yet Kelly’s vision of a blessed community attracted Friends who often professed an ecumenical desire to move beyond the old division of Friends. The same holds true for the vision of Rufus Jones, another Orthodox Friend who enthusiastically envisioned a Quakerism that drew many adherents to Friends’ Meetings. Some joined established Meetings, while others formed new Meetings. Many of these new Meetings eventually affiliated with Friends General Conference, the organizational outgrowth of the Hicksite branch. Yet this inspirational description of what Quakers might become, which was articulated by Kelly and Jones, remains a common heritage of both of these major branches of Quakerism. The new Meetings that began forming in the period between 1915 and 1945 came to organizational maturation and wider Quaker affiliation primarily after World War II. This paper focuses on the rise of these new Meetings and, in particular, the role of Friends General Conference in nurturing them. It is part of a larger project tracing the transformation of FGC and liberal Quakerism in the twentieth century.

Shaggy Locks & Birkenstocks: Early Explorations in American Liberal Quaker History and Religious Thought (review)

Shaggy Locks & Birkenstocks: Early Explorations in American Liberal Quaker History and Religious Thought (review)

Life and Death, War and Peace: A Liberal Quaker Perspective

Quakers are enjoined to listen to the promptings of the “Inner Light” and to answer “that of God in every one.” This article looks at two interlinked aspects of Liberal Quaker practice: the Quaker attitude to death and dying and the Peace Testimony. Because many British Quakers—perhaps the majority—are unsure or doubtful about the possibility of any kind of personal survival after death, they concentrate on ministry to those who mourn rather than speculating as to the fate of those who have died. Similarly, the injunction to answer “that of God in every one” has led inexorably to the Quaker tradition of pacifism. But neither of these is simple or unproblematical; and the Peace Testimony, in particular, still exercises the consciences of Friends—and leaves considerable room for private judgment.

Suffrage Days: Stories from the Women's Suffrage Movement (review)

Reviewed by: Suffrage Days: Stories from the Women’s Suffrage Movement Jacqueline R. deVries (bio) Suffrage Days: Stories from the Women’s Suffrage Movement, by Sandra Stanley Holton; pp. xiv + 309. London and New York: Routledge, 1996, £50.00, £16.99 paper, $65.00, $24.95 paper. A handful of books and articles have appeared in the past several years which open up innovative new lines of research on the women’s suffrage movement in Britain. Ranging in focus from men’s support for women’s suffrage (The Men’s Share?, edited by Angela V. John and Claire Eustance [1997]) to the cultural production of militancy (Wisps of Violence, by Eileen Sypher [1993]), scholars of the suffrage movement are engaging ever more interesting interpretive frameworks to interrogate this familiar topic. Sandra Stanley Holton’s work has been invaluable to these ongoing discussions, and her new book, Suffrage Days, is another welcome contribution. While not quite as provocative as some of her previous work (especially her 1994 article in the American Historical Review), it makes accessible a wealth of new information and demonstrates that there are still fruitful lines of investigation for this important topic. Holton’s purpose is to reconstruct “stories that have become largely hidden in the patterns formed by previous history-making” (2), as well as to challenge the existing narratives of suffrage history between the 1860s and 1920. In keeping with her goals, Holton has adopted a hybrid methodology. At the core, her book is a collective biography of seven individuals whose contributions to the movement have been neglected: Elizabeth Wolstenholme, Jessie Craigen, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Hannah Mitchell, Mary Gawthorpe, Laurence Housman, and Alice Clark. Drawing on their autobiographical writings, as well as an impressive array of unpublished materials (some previously unexamined), Holton reconstructs the kinship and friendship circles that undergirded the movement and reveals the ways in which suffragism became a lifestyle for these figures, informing both their personal lives and public commitments—whether to property reform, trade unionism, socialism, or Irish Home Rule. Through their stories, Holton dismantles once and for all the myth that the movement was dominated by only a few luminous personalities. Suffrage Days also expands well beyond the boundaries of a collective biography. Holton frames each of her biographical sketches with an examination of some wider theme, thereby providing useful analyses of some lesser-known organizations and currents in the movement. Her most illuminating discussions focus on the 1880s and 1890s, a period much neglected in suffrage history. Whereas many scholars (David Rubinstein is one notable exception) tend to treat this period as one of quiescence, Holton sees it as a period when suffragists pursued important new organizational directions and consolidated new, ever-widening constituencies. For example, Holton investigates the continuities between nineteenth-century radicalism and twentieth-century suffrage militancy in her chapter on Elizabeth Wolstenholme, an independent, fiery woman, who left a teaching position in Manchester in the 1860s to campaign for women’s suffrage (as well as a host of other causes, including women’s education and property rights, secularism and republicanism, and sex reform.) In a move that caused great friction among her suffrage colleagues, she lived in a free union with Ben Elmy before marrying him in 1874 when she was five months pregnant. In other chapters, Holton explores emerging sexual and gender identities in her narrative on Laurence Housman; interrogates the relationship between socialism and suffrage in her chapter on Hannah Mitchell; and, in her examination [End Page 517] of Alice Clark, uncovers how women with considerable social and economic stature in their communities, even ones raised in liberal Quaker traditions, could “long to go and break some windows” (161). One significant point emerging from Suffrage Days is that the roots of militancy extend much further back than previously acknowledged. Holton chronicles the near-forgotten Women’s Franchise League, an organization founded in the 1880s that reflected the perspectives of two generations of Radical suffragists who desired a single measure that would give all women, married and single, the vote, and who were willing to use aggressive methods to obtain it. Though the organization gradually gave way to the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies...

Earlham College: A History, 1847-1997

Foreword Acknowledgments 1. Friends Boarding School, Near Richmond, Indiana, 1832-1859 2. Earlham's Surrender to the Larger Culture, 1859-1895 3. Quakerism, Modernism, Professionalism, Professor Russell, and President Kelly, 1895-1915 4. Trials of Liberal Quakerism, 1915-1946 5. Creation of Modern Earlham, 1946-1958 6. The Sixties, 1958-1973 7. Earlham and the Culture Wars, 1973-1996 Notes Bibliography Index