Quaker Roots

Handout provided at a talk by Gene Hillman,
given May 23, 2004
at Wilmington Friends Meeting

Theories of origin of Quakers based in part on Wilmer Cooper in his essay in Practiced in the Presence.

·         Mystical Christianity: a theory advanced principally by Rufus Jones who saw antecedents in neo-Platonism and Continental mysticism going back to Meister Eckhart. (see Jones's New Studies in Mystical Religion (out of print) and other works).

·         Radical Puritanism: a theory advanced by Hugh Barbour, Geoffrey Nuttall, and by Frederick Tolles. Natural outgrowth of “spiritual Puritans” (Puritans being those who would purity the church from non-scriptural accretions). (see Barbour's The Quakers in Puritan England). 

·         New Foundation: after Lewis Benson understanding of Catholic Quakerism which sees Quakerism as a unique third form (fourth in his own numbering system, in which he includes Liberal Quakerism - see below) of Christianity combining covenant and prophetic understandings. (see Benson's Catholic Quakerism, see also Doug Gwyn's Apocalypse of the Word).

·         An eclectic view advanced by John Punshon sees Quakerism arising out of a time of political (civil war and commonwealth), economic (enclosure act: Diggers and Levelers), and social crisis; as well as religious turmoil (aftermath of the Reformation, mystics as well as Puritan pietists) conditions in mid 17th century England. I would add an Anabaptist element to the religious conditions mentioned. (see Punshon's Portrait in Grey, also Christopher Hill's The World Turned Upside Down on that period of English history though not on Quakerism per se).

Benson speaks of another understanding of Quakerism, liberal Quakerism, arising out of the wide latitude in beliefs allowed in our non-creedal faith. I suggest it is a more recent (20^th century) variety, but the Quaker Universalism to which it owes much goes back to at least the second generation of Quakerism (see below) in the writings of William Penn. Jones, while a Christian, through his mystical understanding of Quakerism demonstrated for some the affinities Quakerism has with the mystical element in other religions, thereby supporting the liberal universalist understanding.

George Fox in 1652 preaches on Firbank Fell and gathers Friends of the Truth from among the Seekers. This is the event from which Howard Brinton (Friends for 300 Years (Pendle Hill 1952: updated by Margaret Hope Bacon and republished in 2002 as Friends for 350 Years.)) dates the Quaker movement. I recommend this work as an introduction to Quakerism.

The first generation of Quakerism included George Fox, Margaret Fell, James Nayler, and the Valiant Sixty. The second generation, those entering the movement after the restoration (1660), included Robert Barclay,  Isaac and Mary Pennington, and William Penn. The quietist period, from the eighteenth century into the nineteenth to varying degrees in the different branches included John Woolman, Samuel Bonas, Job Scott, and John Wilber. Joseph John Gurney, in the Orthodox branch, began the evangelical period in North America (he was British) among Orthodox Friends in the nineteenth century.

June 13, 2004

1827 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting splits into Orthodox and Hicksite. The following year several other yearly meetings (Baltimore and New York in particular) split over the question of which Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to recognize.

The Hicksite Yearly Meetings only had one short lived split over the slavery issue. In 1900, after years of cooperation, came together and formed Friends General Conference in 1900. The term Hicksite would no longer describe these meetings, but they were liberal and held to the traditional form of silent worship.

In 1845 the still Orthodox New England Yearly Meeting had its own split between followers of Joseph John Gurney (English Evangelical), and John Wilber (Rhode Island conservative). In 1854 Ohio followed suit, then Iowa (1877) and North Carolina (1904) as the Orthodox Yearly Meetings adopted Wesleyan, Holiness and Evangelical theology and practice (programmed worship in particular). New England has reunited (absorbing some unaffiliated meetings of a liberal nature) but the other three smaller Yearly Meetings (Iowa, NC and Ohio) constitute the Conservative Yearly Meetings (the larger Iowa and NC being in Friends United Meeting (FUM), and Ohio now being Evangelical Friends Church/ Eastern Region)..

David Updegraff, a minister in Ohio Yearly Meeting (Gurneyite, now EFC/ER) was baptized, and partly in response to that challenge, in 1887 the Orthodox (Gurneyite) Yearly Meetings (London, Ohio and Philadelphia sending observers) gathered in Richmond, Indiana and produced the Richmond Declaration. In 1902 The Five Years Meeting (now FUM) was founded.

1889 was the year The College Park Association of Friends was formed, after Joel Bean had his recording as a minister rescinded by Iowa Yearly Meeting (Gurneyite). This was the start of the western independent Yearly Meetings (Pacific, North Pacific and Intermountian). In 1971 several Evangelical Yearly Meetings (not FUM) formed the Evangelical Friends Alliance.

In the second half of the 20th Century several Yearly Meetings reunited. As Philadelphia orthodox was never part of FUM, Philadelphia remains solely within FGC. New England never had a Hicksite branch, but when they reunited they did join FGC and so are member of both FGC and FUM, as are Baltimore, Canadian, and New York Yearly Meetings which their Hicksite and Orthodox branches had been members of respectively. Southeast Yearly Meeting is the only new yearly meeting to opt to join both. At present about 2/3 of Quakers are of the programmed variety in North America. As a result of missionary activity by FUM and Evangelical Yearly Meetings, most Quakers in the third world (Central America, Bolivia, Kenya and the African Great Lakes region) are programmed.

See http://www.pym.org/worship-and-care/arebibli.htm for bibliographical information on recommended readings.