Swarthmore Friends Meeting

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Basic Quaker Beliefs

At the very center of the Quaker faith lies the concept of the Inner Light. This principle states that in every human soul there is implanted a certain element of God's own Spirit and divine energy. This element, known to early Friends as "that of God in everyone", "the seed of Christ," or "the seed of Light," means to Friends, in the words of John 1:9, "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

The belief in the Inner Light leads us to our Quaker Testimonies and Quaker Queries.  Queries are open-ended questions that we ask ourselves as a Meeting and as individuals. A selection of the Queries is considered at each Swarthmore Meeting for Business each month.  They are published as the first item in our monthly newsletter.

For further reading, please examine the pages Quaker Theology and The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice.