By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
(Hebrews 11: 8-10, New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition)
The Orthodox Christian philosopher and theologian David Bentley Hart, prompted by a query from one of his readers, recently offered his thoughts on Quaker faith and practice as it relates to Christianity. “To begin with,” he observes, “its connection to Christianity is simple enough, inasmuch as it is a Christian tradition and has never been anything else.”
“It also succeeds far better than many of the more historically prominent communions in placing fidelity to the teachings of Jesus ahead of any ambitions for institutional power. I have a great affection for George Fox and considerable admiration for many Quaker figures throughout history, especially those who have stood against the gravest injustices and violences of ‘Christian’ societies. If all Christians were more like the Quakers at their best they would also be more like Christ.”
Some contemporary Friends would challenge Hart on that first point.
Yes, of course, the argument runs, George Fox and other early Quakers clearly sought to recover the essence and power of “primitive Christianity.” They strove to reignite a light they saw as dimmed by more than a millennium of the codification of ecclesiastical authority and hierarchy. They unequivocally identified that Light with the resurrected Christ, and so did generations of Friends after them.
And, for all that time, Quakers had always believed that followers of other spiritual traditions could perceive the Light, even if they didn’t recognize its Christlike nature. But what if Christianity didn’t constitute the final answer? What if something more universal, perhaps, or perennial lay beneath both the non-Christian’s encounter with the numinous and the Christian’s?
Over the last century or so, that idea has gained currency among some members of the Religious Society of Friends. It has shaped, in subtle and not so subtle ways, the way some modern Quakers speak about the numinous or the divine—now sometimes called “the Divine” by people whose predecessors would refer to “God” or “Christ” without hesitation. Even at our most non-theistic, however, Friends have rarely strayed from extolling the virtues of the compact with God that Jesus came forward not to introduce but to reinforce: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.
All this put me in mind of something I’d read by another commentator, Stephen Freeman, an Orthodox priest who writes online as “Fr. Stephen.” He goes so far as to say that “Christianity is not a religion,” and in his definition of religion I believe I can recognize the sort of conformist institutions that perturbed George Fox so greatly in his day and continue to vex us in ours. (We might even recognize, though it would pain us to do so, a Quaker meeting or two.)
So what does Christianity mean to Fr. Stephen?
He calls it “a spiritual path towards union with God,” and like many Orthodox theologians puts prayer at the center of that path. Elaborating on the goal of such prayer, he cites Paul’s advice to the Philippians, to “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” who “emptied himself [and] humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.”
That level of self-sacrifice requires great faith—the type of faith, Paul reminds us in his letter to the Hebrews, that Abraham showed, following God’s call without any certainty about where it would lead. And when Abraham reached his destination, Paul continues, God had not laid out everything for him perfectly. Abraham didn’t even have enough for a permanent dwelling, so he and his wife lived in tents—and their sons didn’t fare any better. But they stuck with it just the same.
Abraham emptied himself, giving his life over to God’s plan. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point not only of his own death, but to that of his son Isaac’s as well. And God rewarded Abraham’s loyalty by granting him a family that would grow into a great people, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:12, quoting Genesis 22:17)
Abraham looked forward to the city God would build upon the foundation of his faith. Likewise, for nearly four centuries, Friends have striven to give themselves over to the same mind that was in Jesus, so that God (or, some might say, whatever put that mind in Jesus) might build a blessed community upon their testimony. As individuals, and as social institutions, we have not, perhaps, shed all ambition for worldly power. Yet we continue, through our own form of expectant worship, to offer our souls to the Light.
Delighted that no lesser a theologian than David Bentley Hart doesn’t think we Quakers have completely lost the plot, Jesus-wise. One small correction — there’s pretty much universal agreement that Paul was not the author of Hebrews.
Oh, right! Thanks for the correction — that’s what I get for waiting until the night before to find my thoughts! 🙂
Hey Ron, Loved this piece today and many others I’ve read. Is this your personal blog or one that is connected with a Meeting? I think you articulate the simple complexity of where Quakers are rooted in the saga of “Christianity” in the West. I don’t understand how people can read or maybe not read – just assume – about George Fox and not see how firmly he is rooted in the biblical narrative that is ultimately the fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis 3:15, and how we are all invited back through the flaming sword into the garden where we are close to our God and listen to that voice. I did a blog called Catholic-Quaker for some years but have not added to it in a long time. I’ll send a link. Thank you. Hu
Thanks, Rene! These messages aren’t connected with a meetinghouse, but I do consider them part of my vocation with Friends Publishing. I’ll be sure to check out your blog!
I notice that the new Pendle Hill pamphlet by Pamela Haines “Showing up in service to the sacred” that she uses The Sacred in much the same way as you mention The Divine. I haven’t read it yet but it does look quite delicious.
My own message is that “It is meant to fit together” and her method helps us to put these moving parts together beautifully.
As a student and learner of many faiths and their cultures, I am always amazed how there is much common ground, BUT the language used often separates us. For example, God, Allah, Source, the Divine, and the Universe are a few names for whatever it is that we know is there, but we may not know what it truly is.
When I read this, I translate the meaning into pan-Asian wisdom, whether it be philosophy, poetry, or religion.
The truth is the truth, and no one religion or group can counter it in the market. Check out the Tao te Ching, The Great Learning of Confucius, Rumi, the Gita, and much more.
Being new to studying the Quaker faith, I am quite confused as to what the Quakers really believe. I was always under the impression that all Quakers are Christians. Yet, oftentimes, instead of the Quakers referring to Jesus as Lord or Savior, or Christ – they mainly refer to Him as the Light. I watched a couple videos on the Quakers on a Quaker website: One person said the Light could refer to different dieties. Another man said he was a Quaker but was Jewish practicing Buddhism. Either the Quakers are truly Christian or they are not, and simply accept people who want to be Quakers and at the sametime want to worship their own diety whether it is just the Father, or Budha, or something else and are welcomed to do so as Quakers. All this seems very misleading to me and confusing about the Quaker Faith and beliefs. Please be assured that I am not trying to criticize – I am only very confused of what the Quakers were once portrayed as solid Christians, and now portrayed as “anything goes” and you can call yourself a Quaker. I am looking for the truth of what Quakers really believe concerning Christianity as well as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (who I hear little mentioned about. All I am asking is for help in understanding the faith. Anyone is welcome to respond and advise me. Thank you and God bless you.
Hi James — thank you for your query! It’s one that comes up a lot when people begin to learn about Quakers, and one that I’ve approached from various angles over the course of these messages. One way that I’d put it is that maybe we shouldn’t think encourage people to think of “the Quakers,” as if we were a uniform organization, because we aren’t! Different Friends have different beliefs, and you’ve put your finger on one of the big issues where you’ll find a range of opinions within the Religious Society.
Historically, the earliest generations of Friends considered themselves “solid Christians,” perhaps the only “solid Christians” around to hear some of them tell it! But Quakers have always been more concerned with the nature of God’s message than the nature of God, and we’ve never required anyone to declare their belief in terms of a creed, Nicene or otherwise. (In fact, it might be said that declaring yourself a Christian on the basis of adherence to doctrine or creed is one of the least Christian things you can do!)
Privately, George Fox once wrote to someone to basically assure him, don’t worry, we do believe all that stuff, we just don’t make a big deal out of it. He was probably right about that, 400 years ago, and it may be largely true even today; worldwide, the majority of Quakers practice a faith that Fox and other early Friends would recognize as “Christ-centered.” But you’ll also find many Friends, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, who embrace a more universalist point of view.
Then again, you’ll also find many American and British Quakers who’ve held firmly to the Christian timbre of their faith—especially in meetings that are associated with Friends United Meeting. Try contacting Western Yearly Meeting in Plainfield, for example; they may be able to help you find a meeting closer to Sparta!
Sharing my thoughts, or basically what I’ve learned from my exposure to the teachings of Divine Truth (www.divinetruth.com)
Early last year I became aware of Quakers and their testimonies. I was very attracted to these, and also to the people I met, for their seriousness, their respect for others, and how they try to live according to these testimonies. But one thing that has troubled me is the tendency of many to refer to God as the light, or the source, or the divine, as you have mentioned. Many might not see this as a problem but to me one cannot go ahead with a relationship with God who is not a living, loving being with a personality and nature while one’s concept of God is so abstracted. So I was encouraged by your article, particularly in reading Father Stephen’s point of view.
In my long-held desire for a real connection with God, I have been taught that God is always ready and willing to fill me with love, a particular personal love that is different in quality to the natural love we all have to varying extents, and that therefore my not receiving this love can only be due to my own unwillingness. In exploring reasons for this unwillingness (and there are many, because, like for everyone, my concept of love is tainted) I have recently come to the thought that yes, it would help me greatly to actually come to accept that my life will be overturned, my priorities will change, all that feels safe and familiar to me may no longer be, essentially that I must throw myself into the unknown as a part of opening to God’s love. You mentioned Abraham emptying himself and giving himself over to God’s plan. In the same way Jesus gives us the parable of selling everything to buy the treasure in the field.
This is something I had not fully grasped until recently, and something I need to remind myself of, so I appreciate your highlighting it in your article.
Karen Pronk
Hi Ron, I was raised on the belief that one had to believe in Jesus ‘as stated in the Gospels’, and believe in the ‘Nicene and the Apostles’ Creed.’ I don’t hold a concrete position on those things other than ‘I do believe in Jesus’ but not necessarily as I have been raised to believe. I do however believe in the light; that presence of God within everyone. I am in the hopes that that is enough, but I really can not be sure of that. But at the same time, I see a beauty in that.
In your article, you made mention of Paul’s advice to the Philippians, to “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” who “emptied himself [and] humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.”
I take that a bit further, and say that Jesus was obedient, even after God had forsaken him. “Why has thou Forsaken me,” i believe were his words. And yet even after that, Jesus was committed to doing the right thing. That situation has been an example to me that following that part of God within us, and doing ‘what we perceive is right’ should be more important that any promise of reward here, or of any reward in the life here after because we just don’t know where it is going to lead. I could end up in Hell for all I know on account of what most Christian ‘s would consider a lack of faith and an act of outright rebellion. But if I am right. If those whose follow that light are right, of that light is sufficient, we might just win when the final trumpet blows. Even Jesus spent three days in hell prior to his resurrection as I understand it.