Quaker Studies

“'The Government of Christ': A Colonial North American Vision of Isaiah's Peaceable Kingdom”

by Jon R. Kershner

In 18th Century colonial North America post-millennialism was gaining popularity over pre-millennialism.  Many... more In 18th Century colonial North America post-millennialism was gaining popularity over pre-millennialism.  Many viewed the revivalism of the “Great Awakening” as undisputed proof that the millennium would occur before, not after, the parousia.
At the same time, Quaker tailor and minister John Woolman (1720-1772) proclaimed himself to be in such a state of intimacy with God that he understood, and could enact, God's purposes on earth.  He did not preach a millennium per se, but the eventual and inevitable inclusion of all people into God's kingdom. Woolman used Isaiah's peaceable kingdom (Is. 11:1-9) as one of his primary texts.  His eschatology was creation-centered, and emphasized a state of right-relationship with God and the created world.  In this state, God would govern human affairs in a way reminiscent of the pre-lapsarian “harmony.”  The telos of God's purposes, Woolman implied, would occur within historical time.  There would be no flash and bang, but the realization of God's purposes spreading throughout the world. 
Most colonial theological and historical scholarship has focused on the ascendency of post-millennialism in the 18th Century, but other visions existed.  I argue that Woolman articulated a realizing, amillennial, Creation-restoration eschatology.  Similar to many post-millennialists, Woolman's this-worldly eschatology expected a redeemed state of world affairs on earth; however I contend that Woolman believed the “government of Christ” to be a direct, albeit spiritual, parousia.  This paper explores a divergent eschatological vision and its implications for the study of colonial North American religion.

Intro to Quakering Theology

by David Johns

This is a draft of the Introduction to my book, Quakering Theology, that will be published by Ashgate Publishing.

'The Webb Family and Quaker Printing,’ The Oxford History of the Irish Book. Edited by James Murphy. Oxford University Press, October 2011.

by Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre

This Silence Gets us Nowhere: Key Symbols and Anglo-American Quakerism (circa 1988, revisions 1990, 2012)

by Ronald Helfrich, Jnr.

Quaker Dress, Sexuality, and the Domestication of Reform in the Victorian Novel

by Suzanne Keen

"The Inner Light": The Immediacy of God in Early Quaker Spirituality and Practice

by Jon R. Kershner

“A Good Degree of Resignation”: “Natural Inclination,” “the World,” and Spirituality in John Woolman's Ethics

by Jon R. Kershner

Quaker tailor and abolitionist John Woolman (1720-1772) lived during the era of Quaker history scholars call ‘the... more Quaker tailor and abolitionist John Woolman (1720-1772) lived during the era of Quaker history scholars call ‘the Quietist Period’ (late-Seventeenth to mid-Nineteenth Centuries). Broadly put, Quietism emphasized personal transformation through an 'annihilation of self' and a disavowal of the 'natural' and worldly, instead individuals aspired to the supernatural. Scholars argue that quietist Quakers, concerned over external pressures and suffering from an uncertain theology of sanctification, focused their energy inwardly on the preservation of the purity of the Quaker remnant as a critique of societal worldliness. However, in attempting to understand the theological dimensions of Quakers in the 18th Century, I argue, scholars have over-generalized the individuality in which John Woolman applied spirituality and theological ethics to the pressing issues that confronted his Society, and society at large.
In my paper I explore the foundations of Woolman’s spirituality, which I argue are grounded in an ethical mysticism that contained integrated inward and outward dimensions. Woolman, I contend, expressed the Pauline dualisms of inward/outward and natural/spiritual not as a retreat from the world but as a remaking of it. I argue Woolman shared many correlations with the broad category of Quietism, but in taking a microhistorical approach Woolman the individual reveals the unique application of an ambiguous and discontinuous relationship to ‘nature,’ ‘the world’ and society within the scope of human activity and ethical activism. This paper analyzes Woolman's relationship to the world around him through an examination of his Journal, anti-slavery essays, and essays critiquing the trans-Atlantic marketplace.

Getting to “the Government of Christ”: Methodology and Sources for John Woolman's (1720-1772) Apocalyptic Theology

by Jon R. Kershner

“His word was in my heart:” John Woolman's Prophetic Self-Identification

by Jon R. Kershner

In mid-18th Century Philadelphia Quakers maintained tight control over social norms and church polity through the... more In mid-18th Century Philadelphia Quakers maintained tight control over social norms and church polity through the theological idealization of unity.  “Singularity” was a charge to be avoided.  However, the value of unity was paired with a belief in God's continuing revelation to the individual and society, which could result in dissenting voices.  This tension between unity and dissent frustrated and eventually silenced some would-be Quaker reformers while simultaneously creating a legitimized process for theological challenge to the status quo.
In 1760, John Woolman (1720-1772) struggled with the discrepancy between his interpretation of God's will against slavery and the seemingly ambivalent feelings of other Quaker ministers:  “Though in this thing I appear singular from many...  I do not repine at having so unpleasant a task assigned me, but look with awfulness to him who appoints to his servants their respective employments and is good to all who serve him sincerely.” 
Woolman navigated the twin Quaker values of unity and dissent by adopting the persona of a prophet, and looked frequently to the Old Testament to justify his struggle.  His conviction of divine revelation, both personal and social, provided confidence of divine authorization.  The strength of divine calling as he understood it inspired him to persevere in the midst of conflict with his community.  Occasions of conflict and the difficulties of challenging group unity contributed to a sense of redemptive suffering that in turn reinforced his confidence in the divine revelation and his prophetic task.

“The Lamb's War” or “the peaceable government of Christ”? John Woolman (1720-1772) and Quaker Apocalypses

by Jon R. Kershner

Scholarship on colonial New Jersey Quaker tailor John Woolman (1720-1772) has tended to neglect his eschatological... more Scholarship on colonial New Jersey Quaker tailor John Woolman (1720-1772) has tended to neglect his eschatological vision of the “government of Christ” establishing the Kingdom of God through human-divine co-agency.  While Woolman's theological framework has elements of the apocalypticism of 17th Century British Friends, the rhetoric is different.  Where the first generation of Quaker's used a vocabulary of war and violence to describe their socio-spiritual experiences, Woolman employed a language of immediate divine governance of world affairs that would be realized in history.  This paper argues that while Woolman shared an apocalyptic understanding of socio-spiritual confrontation with 17th Century Quakers, Woolman's apocalypticism privileged language of reformation and transformation over that of the “Lamb's War.”  This research suggests that Quaker theology changed with their visions of “harmony” according to individually and historical circumstances and thus offers greater insight into the complexity of Quaker apocalyptical theology across time.

The Valiant Sixty-First? John Woolman's (1720-1772) Apocalyptic Theology and the Restoration of the Lamb's War

by Jon R. Kershner

Colonial Quaker tailor and abolitionist John Woolman (1720-1772) has been described recently as the 'Apostle of... more Colonial Quaker tailor and abolitionist John Woolman (1720-1772) has been described recently as the 'Apostle of Abolition' and as a key figure in the Quaker 'Reformation.'  While Woolman's historic role among 18th Century Quakerism has been studied, there is a gap in the literature regarding the theological motivations that inspired Woolman.  My paper argues that Woolman's abolitionism and reform impetus is usefully understood through the lens of theology and in turn that this theological lens can illuminate broader tropes in the history of Quaker theology.
Woolman viewed Quakers of the mid-18th Century to be at a cross-roads.  The outbreak of the French and Indian War in Pennsylvania, the death of 'The Holy Experiment,' the 'Crisis of 1755,' small pox, and immigration contributed to Woolman's urgency and theological vision.  My paper explores Woolman's ethical theology through the key themes of eschatological fulfillment and protological restoration.  Following what he discerned to be the active and immediate guidance of the Spirit Woolman traveled thousands of miles, I argue, in the self-understanding of a prophet of God, proclaiming the message of 'the coming of [God's] kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.'  Woolman, I contend, embodied an eschatological theology in a way that can be understood in terms of an 18th Century restoration of the Lamb's War, especially in regard to proclamation of impending judgment, the victory of Truth over chaos, a perfectionism that lead to engagement with the world, and the realizing of a new created order in the context of a battle against apostasy and its consequent social evils.

“Strangers in the Land:” Antislavery Voices in 18th Century Colonial America

by Jon R. Kershner

Book Review: Jane Calvert, Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson

by Jon R. Kershner

On Rawls's failure to preserve genuine (freedom of) religion

by Rupert Read

Draft only (comments welcome!)

‘Political liberalism’ claims to manifest the real meaning of democracy, including crucially the toleration of... more ‘Political liberalism’ claims to manifest the real meaning of democracy, including crucially the toleration of religion – it is through the history of this toleration that it acquired its current form and power. Political liberalism is however, I argue, more hostile to religion than was ever dreampt possible in the philosophy of avowedly anti-clerical Enlightenment Liberalism. For it refuses point-blank ever to engage in serious debate with religion. It considers it of no consequence. It allows religion only to be ‘outward forms’, meaningless ceremony. Political liberalism annihilates religion.
The time has come for Western intellectuals to re-assess their allegiance to a tacit (or indeed explicit) secularism, and to overturn the annihilation of religion. Religion or spirituality that brings forth the best of humanity may well in fact be essential to addressing the cultural crisis of our times. Political liberalism is the most extreme fundamentalism of them all, in its insistence upon every political claim being purely political, and not at all religious. Political liberalism considers genuine religion seditious. The way beyond the clash of fundamentalisms need must be genuinely open to (genuine) religion. If that involves ‘sedition’, then so be it.

John. Smolenski, “From Men of Property to Just Men: Deference, Masculinity, and the Evolution of Political Discourse in Early America,” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 3, no. 2 (2005): 253-285.

by John Smolenski

'Anie Gospell Way': Religious Diversity in Interregnum Scotland

by Scott Spurlock

Records of the Scottish Church History Society, 37 (2007), pp. 89-119

Persecution and Divine Wrath in Early Quaker Literature

by Ralph Keen

presentation given to the religious studies department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on 13 Oct 11. not for circulation, distribution or publication.

Gender, Integrity, and Spirituality

by Petra Doan

Published in Friends Journal: Quaker Life and Thought Today,
January 2002

The Spiritual Side of Gender Journeying

by Petra Doan

Pacifism in the Early Church

by Daniel Keeran MSW

by Daniel Keeran

The message of peace and nonviolence was believed in the early church until the claim of Constantine's vision was... more The message of peace and nonviolence was believed in the early church until the claim of Constantine's vision was endorsed by Eusebius and Lactantius. Scriptures and quotes from early church writers are reviewed, and thought questions challenge the reader.