This time we’re talking about the Quaker peace testimony. We’re combining three sections of the book Traditional Quaker Christianity here. We start out with talking about the historical context (coronation of Charles II) in which Quakers first wrote the peace testimony. The peace testimony is basically like “Dear king: we believe violence is a sin, […]
Category: Episodes
Lamb’s War
Following last episode’s introduction to the Book of Revelation, we’re talking about the Lamb’s War, which comes directly from that book. It’s also the next bit in Traditional Quaker Christianity. This also means that, in general, we’re talking about spiritual warfare this time. Ok, first off, the lamb in the Book of Revelation is Jesus. […]
Book of Revelation
We had a listener request to talk about the Book of Revelation. We figure this would be a good intro before we dive into the Lamb’s War next time. The Book of Revelation is the only book on which George Fox wrote an entire treatise (PDF, go to page 127 as labeled at the top, to […]
Quaker Testimony
Welcome to season 4! We’re on the final section of Traditional Quaker Christianity! Chapter 7A is on Quaker testimonies. Or Quaker testimony. We’re going to talk about the implications of those two. Quaker Testimony Testimony has two primary definitions: evidence in support of a fact, proof a public declaration regarding a religious experience Second things […]
Eldering and Oversight
Chapter 6G in Traditional Quaker Christianity is on eldering and oversight. Those correspond to roles that come from the New Testament, and they’re called various things in different Christian traditions. Eldering and oversight are also interpreted very differently in different Christian traditions. Eldering Sometimes eldering is described as “nurturing ministers.” We’ve talked about the position […]
Spirit-led Teachers
This time we’re looking at section 6F in Traditional Quaker Christianity, which is really just a quote from Barclay’s Apology. The section is titled “Spirit-led Teachers.” The quote reflects the semi-Gnostic perspective the early Quakers found in the Gospel of John. Gnosticism makes a strong distinction between spirit (good) and material (bad). Really, the point […]
Advices and Queries
This time we’re talking about advices and queries, which is section 6E in Traditional Quaker Christianity. British Friends have a little red book called Advices and Queries. Other Quaker groups don’t tend to publish them separately—they’re a section in the Book of Discipline or the Faith & Practice. Advices The first advices came from the […]
Business process
Section 6D in Traditional Quaker Christianity is called “Clerking: an Aid for Decision Making,” meaning it’s about business process. Quaker business process is generally pretty much the same at least across the Western world. We’re less certain about how it’s done in Africa and Latin America. The book makes several assertions about business process that […]
Recording worship
We’re going off-book this time, because we felt like it. There’s a taboo on recording worship during waiting worship. This is especially the case with photography. This comes up most in regard to Quaker weddings. In non-Quaker weddings, it’s really common to have photography all throughout the wedding. Non-Quakers couples often have photos of themselves […]
Individualism and community
This time around we’re discussing individualism and community in the Quaker tradition. Section 6C in Traditional Quaker Christianity quotes heavily from William Penn’s True Spiritual Liberty. The opening paragraph of this chapter is gold: Western individualism, which elevates individuals above the group, destroys community, eats away at our concern for others’ welfare, and too often […]