Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day the deposit I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
(2 Timothy 1:8-14, New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition)
“There is something of God in every one, that would receive God’s truth if it should.”
Katherine Evans, an early Quaker minister, wrote that. To modern Friends, it probably reads as an ordinary proposition of Quaker faith, as does the text that follows:
“…but all that is not of God in every one doth strive and fight against it, and doth persecute and imprison till death God’s Messengers, which he hath endued with power from on high, and hath given them gifts and graces, and spiritual mercies of divine vertue [sic], to preach to the Poor and to the captives, to the exiled and banished, and to sow the seed of Righteousness, that God might receive the fruits of holiness among his People.”
It may run a bit long, but nothing in that passage ought to shock or surprise contemporary Friends. In late seventeenth-century Europe, however, Evans’ message would have landed like a bombshell, not least of all because a woman was delivering it. So Evans had good reason to dwell on those who “persecute and imprison till death God’s Messengers.” At the time of writing, the Inquisition were holding her and her companion Sarah Cheever prisoner on the Catholic-ruled island of Malta.
“[I] am a Sufferer for God’s eternal Truth,” Evans declared:
“which is my Joy, my Glory, and my Crown: Magnified be the Name of the Lord God of Life and Power, who hath counted me worthy, not only to believe unto Salvation, but also, to suffer for the Sake of my blessed Saviour and perfect Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ; to whom be Glory for ever, world without end, Amen, Amen.”
Meanwhile, in Italy, the Vatican had had John Perrot committed to an insane asylum.
Though he spoke no other languages besides English, Perrot had decided to go to Rome and personally convince the pontiff, Alexander VII, and make of him a Friend. “If the Pope have the Spirit of God in him,” Perrot said confidently, “he will understand what I shall deliver.”
It did not go well. Now, in fairness to the Vatican, they did say Perrot could leave the asylum at any time if he would just go back to England, or to his native Ireland. But he hung on to his sense of purpose for several years, and in the end the pleas of other Friends did more to secure his release than any change of heart on his part.
“I was held in most cruel Bonds,” Perrot would write afterwards, “cruelly and inhumanely tortured, bruised, and exceedingly wounded in my fleshly Body; for none other cause… but honestly, simply, and purely, for Righteousness sake[,] because I Exhorted All men to Repentance.”
Of course, Friends back in England did not have it much easier. Many of the men and women in the first generation of the Religious Society of Friends—from George Fox and Elizabeth Fell to Francis and Mary Howgill, plus James Nayler, Mary Fisher, and countless others—spent time imprisoned for challenging the intertwined religious and political power structures of their homeland. Like Evans and Perrot, they often bore such persecution fortified by their faith. They recognized that Spirit had called on them to serve as heralds and apostles and teachers, just as God had called on Paul centuries before.
When you take on the world’s ruling powers, persecution comes with the job.
We have Friends with us in the United States today old enough to have been jailed for their participation in the civil rights movement and for protesting the Vietnam War. Those Friends had the living example of Bayard Rustin and others who went to jail rather than fight in the Second World War. And they knew Friends who resisted serving in the First World War, and those Friends probably rubbed shoulders with elderly abolitionists.
Right now, in Portland, Oregon, the Trump administration has arrested a young Friend named Jacob Hoopes, dragging him out of his home, and is prosecuting him for allegedly assaulting a federal officer during a demonstration outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, a protest against the brutal crackdown on undocumented migrants (which has, in practice, extended into harassment of many people of color, including U.S. citizens). He has pled not guilty and will face trial in just a few weeks. I think, in the months ahead, we may see many other Friends facing similar situations.
Living out Quaker testimony puts us at odds with the gods of this world at the best of times, and we left the best of times in our rearview mirror quite a while ago. We should all be asking ourselves whether we stand ready to suffer, to whatever degree our circumstances warrant, for the gospel that Spirit has shared.
(Many thanks to W. Clark Gilpin’s The Letter from Prison: Literature of Cultural Resistance in Early Modern England, which introduced me to the stories of Katherine Evans and John Perrot.)
This is so abhorrent for a Quaker to be falsely accused of attacking someone using violent means, when Friends are known for their pacifism and refusal to do violence to any one or any thing. I will keep my thoughts on the trump administration curtailed, lest I frenzy. We need to let that judge know, the lawyers, and the jury know that as a Friend, Jacob Hoopes is the last one to harm anyone. We need to get the word of the SPICES out there, so that the average American has a minimum of understanding of who we are and what we stand for. 20 years ago, the UCC said “God is still Speaking.” Let us as Friends explain how the Society of Friends “SPICE S” up their lives. Let us rely on the Light to aid us.
A very moving peace. I read somewhere that John Parrot was with another Friend (just can’t remember his name) when they visited Pope, but he was released. It is so difficult to fight the dark forces of this world to have Light. Holding prayers for the young Quaker Jacob Hoopes that God will bring the miracle of freedom pn his side.
Unfortunately, one of the other Friends who made the trip to Rome with John Perrot, John Love, died under torture. But I do think you’re correct, that there were other members of the party who were not imprisoned or tortured.