Theology from Listening: Finding the Core of Liberal Quaker Theological Thought

Theology from Listening: Finding the Core of Liberal Quaker Theological Thought

Author: Rhiannon Grant

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-04-28

Total Pages: 99

ISBN-13: 9004431551

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In Theology from Listening: Finding the Core of Liberal Quaker Theological Thought, Rhiannon Grant explores the changes and continuities in liberal Quaker theology over the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries in multiple English-speaking Quaker communities around the world. The work involves a close analysis of material produced by Quaker meetings through formal, corporate methods; of material produced by individuals and small groups within Quaker communities; and of writing by individuals and small groups working primarily within academic or ecumenical theological settings. It concludes that although liberal Quaker theology is diverse and flexible, it also possesses a core coherence and can meaningfully be discussed as a single tradition. At the centre of liberal Quaker theology is the belief that direct, unmediated contact with the Divine is possible and results in useful guidance.


The Spirit of the Quakers

The Spirit of the Quakers

Author: Geoffrey Durham

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2010-11-16

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 0300167369

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Who are the Quakers, what do they believe, and what do they practice? The Religious Society of Friends—also known as Quakers-—believes that everyone can have a direct experience of God. Quakers express this in a unique form of worship that inspires them to work for change in themselves and in the world. In The Spirit of the Quakers, Geoffrey Durham, himself a Friend, explains Quakerism through quotations from writings that cover 350 years, from the beginnings of the movement to the present day. Peace and equality are major themes in the book, but readers will also find thought-provoking passages on the importance of action for social change, the primacy of truth, the value of simplicity, the need for a sense of community, and much more. The quoted texts convey a powerful religious impulse, courage in the face of persecution, the warmth of human relationships, and dedicated perseverance in promoting just causes. The extended quotations have been carefully selected from well-known Quakers such as George Fox, William Penn, John Greenleaf Whittier, Elizabeth Fry and John Woolman, as well as many contemporary Friends. Together with Geoffrey Durham's enlightening and sympathetic introductions to the texts, the extracts from these writers form an engaging, often moving guide to this accessible and open-hearted religious faith.