oecarb
01-26-2008, 04:49 AM
Any Quakers (Society of Friends) on the forum?
I find I am becoming more and more fascinated by the Quakers - their philanthropism, their good works and stances (work towards the abolition of slavery, women's rights, human rights, anti-war stance etc).
Any comments?
Quaker history
Like many Christian groups, Quakers never intended to form a new denomination. Their founder, George Fox, was trying to take belief and believers back to the original and pure form of Christianity.
Fox was born in July 1624 in Leicestershire, England, and died in 1691, by which time his movement had 50,000 followers.
As Fox grew up he was puzzled by the inconsistency between what Christians said they believed and the way they behaved. He became a religious activist at the age of 19, and was imprisoned eight times for preaching views that annoyed the religious and political establishment of his time.
Fox and social issues
Fox got into political trouble because of his idea that there was something "of God in every person".
This was a revolutionary attack on all discrimination by social class, wealth, race and gender and it had worrying implications for the social structure of his time.
The political establishment did not take this lying down. Quaker refusal to take oaths, to take off their hats before a magistrate, and their insistence on holding banned religious meetings in public led to 6,000 Quakers being imprisoned between 1662 and 1670.
Fox and religious issues
Fox's aim was to inspire people to hear and obey the voice of God and become a community "renewed up again in God's image" by living the principles of their faith.
Fox believed that everyone should try to encounter God directly and to experience the Kingdom of Heaven as a present, living reality. He objected to the hierarchical structure and the rituals of the churches of his time, and rejected the idea that the Bible was always right.
But Fox went even further. He argued that God himself did not want churches. Churches were either unnecessary to get to God, or an obstruction (Fox often referred to churches unkindly as "steeple-houses"). Since believers should have a direct relationship with God, no one (priests, for example) and nothing (like sacraments) should come in between.
Not surprisingly, these views infuriated the mainstream churches, and Quakers were persecuted in Britain on a large scale until 1689.
Famous Quakers
Chocolate manufacturers Joseph Rowntree and George Cadbury were both Quakers[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
George Fox (1624-1691) - founder of Quakerism[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
William Penn (1621-1670) - friend of George Fox, founder of Pennsylvania[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
John Woolman (1720-1772) - an American Quaker involved in the abolition of slavery[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
John Dalton (1766-1844) - British scientist who invented the atomic theory of matter[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Edward Pease (1767-1858) - first Quaker member of Parliament[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) - British prison reformer[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
John Bright (1811-1889) - British politician[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Joseph Rowntree (1837-1925) - Chocolate manufacturer[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
George Cadbury (1839-1922) - Chocolate manufacturer[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Arthur Eddington (1882-1944) - physicist[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Paul Eddington (1927-1995) - actor[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
James Dean (1931-1955) - actor[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943) - astronomer, discoverer of pulsars[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Bonnie Raitt (born 1949) - popular musician[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Tom Robinson (born 1950) - popular musician[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions ... rs_4.shtml (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/quakers_4.shtml)
I find I am becoming more and more fascinated by the Quakers - their philanthropism, their good works and stances (work towards the abolition of slavery, women's rights, human rights, anti-war stance etc).
Any comments?
Quaker history
Like many Christian groups, Quakers never intended to form a new denomination. Their founder, George Fox, was trying to take belief and believers back to the original and pure form of Christianity.
Fox was born in July 1624 in Leicestershire, England, and died in 1691, by which time his movement had 50,000 followers.
As Fox grew up he was puzzled by the inconsistency between what Christians said they believed and the way they behaved. He became a religious activist at the age of 19, and was imprisoned eight times for preaching views that annoyed the religious and political establishment of his time.
Fox and social issues
Fox got into political trouble because of his idea that there was something "of God in every person".
This was a revolutionary attack on all discrimination by social class, wealth, race and gender and it had worrying implications for the social structure of his time.
The political establishment did not take this lying down. Quaker refusal to take oaths, to take off their hats before a magistrate, and their insistence on holding banned religious meetings in public led to 6,000 Quakers being imprisoned between 1662 and 1670.
Fox and religious issues
Fox's aim was to inspire people to hear and obey the voice of God and become a community "renewed up again in God's image" by living the principles of their faith.
Fox believed that everyone should try to encounter God directly and to experience the Kingdom of Heaven as a present, living reality. He objected to the hierarchical structure and the rituals of the churches of his time, and rejected the idea that the Bible was always right.
But Fox went even further. He argued that God himself did not want churches. Churches were either unnecessary to get to God, or an obstruction (Fox often referred to churches unkindly as "steeple-houses"). Since believers should have a direct relationship with God, no one (priests, for example) and nothing (like sacraments) should come in between.
Not surprisingly, these views infuriated the mainstream churches, and Quakers were persecuted in Britain on a large scale until 1689.
Famous Quakers
Chocolate manufacturers Joseph Rowntree and George Cadbury were both Quakers[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
George Fox (1624-1691) - founder of Quakerism[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
William Penn (1621-1670) - friend of George Fox, founder of Pennsylvania[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
John Woolman (1720-1772) - an American Quaker involved in the abolition of slavery[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
John Dalton (1766-1844) - British scientist who invented the atomic theory of matter[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Edward Pease (1767-1858) - first Quaker member of Parliament[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) - British prison reformer[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
John Bright (1811-1889) - British politician[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Joseph Rowntree (1837-1925) - Chocolate manufacturer[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
George Cadbury (1839-1922) - Chocolate manufacturer[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Arthur Eddington (1882-1944) - physicist[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Paul Eddington (1927-1995) - actor[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
James Dean (1931-1955) - actor[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943) - astronomer, discoverer of pulsars[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Bonnie Raitt (born 1949) - popular musician[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
Tom Robinson (born 1950) - popular musician[/*:m:1d5dlww4]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions ... rs_4.shtml (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/quakers_4.shtml)