Quakers are:
...referred to as both Quakers and Friends.
...members of the Religious Society of Friends
....Christians
.....self proclaimed pacifists interested in social equality, integrity, and simplicity.
History:
Quaker's religious groups were formed in the 1600's when there was much turmoil in England.
Quaker's were formed as a means to restore "original Christianity" that was not corrupted by the church.
Quakers, like many other Christians, were imprisoned, tortured and executed for their beliefs.
Quaker's were separated into 3 groups in the 19th century:
a) Liberal: maintain the traditional practice of meetings based on expectant silence but most have abandoned Christianity to pursue various universalist philosophies
b) Pastoral: neo-Protestant Pastoral Quakers introduced hired priests and programmed (pre-planned) worship services. They are very similar in look, practice, and belief to typical Protestant churches.
c) Conservative Quakers: rejected both departures from the original vision and still retain the Christian beliefs and the waiting silent worship practiced by the original Friends.
None of the surviving groups retain the wholeness of the original Quaker witness, which was a balance between relying on the Inward Light, identitifying the historical Jesus as the eternal Christ.
There are 300,000 Friends worldwide today, most fall into the Pastoral group.
Beliefs:
We believe that God is accessible to everyone-- now, today, here--and that Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word of God, the Inward Light, is willing to teach us individually how to come to Him and how to live our lives.
We believe that because the Holy Spirit is willing to speak to us, personally, that it is our highest duty to listen. It is then our immediate obligation to act in accordance with His will.
Conservative Quakers (which is where I'll be attending) identifies the Light as both the historical, living Jesus, and as the Grace of God extended to people that simultaneously makes us conscious of our sins, forgives them, and gives us the strength and the will to overcome them.
The Light might be explained as the outpouring of the loving influence of God, extended to all people as the means of their potential salvation. Quakers also see the Light as "That of God in every man," that measure of the Holy Spirit given to us that is sufficient to work our soul's salvation, if we do not resist it.
Because all people-- Quaker or not-- have always had direct and immediate access to God, we believe that all other sources of religious understanding are inessential and subordinate, including scriptures, church authority, tradition, reason, and formal religious education.
Quaker's believe that it is the Spirit Himself who is the first authority of truth, not the writings of His human interpreters, however faithful. If not resisted, the same Spirit will guide all of us individually, and will provide a personal relationship with God based on direct experience of His presence, guidance, and love.
Conservative Quakers believe in complete integrity in worship and in life. All of life is sacramental, every day is holy, and the details are important. Because they are unnecessary to God and historically have distracted people from genuine communion with Him, we dispense with rites and ceremonies, ritualized sacraments, sacred books and buildings, creeds, clergy, and holy days.
Quaker's manner of daily living is an expression of worship in everything they do, and they are directed to seek divine guidance for their everyday activities. Simplicity and absolute honesty are religious expectations.
Sources:
Friends Historical Society of Philadelphia Volume XI; 1922
