The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies

Description

Quakerism began in England in the 1650s. George Fox, credited as leading the movement, had an experience of 1647 in which he felt he could hear Christ directly and inwardly without the mediation of text or minister. Convinced of the authenticity of this experience and its universal application, Fox preached a spirituality in which potentially all were ministers, all part of a priesthood of believers, a church leveled before the leadership of God. Quakers are a fascinating religious group both in their original "peculiarity" and in the variety of reinterpretations of the faith since. The way they have interacted with wider society is a basic but often unknown part of British and American history. This handbook charts their history and the history of their expression as a religious community. This volume provides an indispensable reference work for the study of Quakerism. It is global in its perspectives and interdisciplinary in its approach whilst offering the reader a clear narrative through the academic debates. In addition to an in-depth survey of historical readings of Quakerism, the handbook provides a treatment of the group's key theological premises and its links with wider Christian thinking. Quakerism's distinctive ecclesiastical forms and practices are analyzed, and its social, economic, political, and ethical outcomes examined. Each of the 37 chapters considers broader religious, social, and cultural contexts and provides suggestions for further reading and the volume concludes with an extensive bibliography to aid further research. Dedication Contents List of Contributors Introduction • Pink Dandelion and Stephen W. Angell PART I: HISTORY OF QUAKERISM 1. Seventeenth-century Context and Quaker Beginnings • Rosemary Moore 2. Restoration Quakerism, 1660–1691 • Richard C. Allen 3. Quietist Quakerism, 1692–c. 1805 • Robynne Rogers Healey 4. Hicksite, Orthodox, and Evangelical Quakerism, 1805–1887 • Thomas D. Hamm 5. Modernist and Liberal Quakers, 1887–2010 • J. William Frost 6. Five Years Meeting and Friends United Meeting, 1887–2010 • Gregory P. Hinshaw 7. Evangelical Quakers, 1887–2010 • Arthur O. Roberts 8. Conservative Friends, 1845–2010 • Lloyd Lee Wilson PART II: QUAKER THEOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY 9. Quakers in Theological Context • Carole Dale Spencer 10. God, Christ, and the Light • Stephen W. Angell 11. Sin, Convincement, Purity, and Perfection • Nikki Coffey Tousley 12. Quakers and Scripture • Howard R. Macy 13. Quakers, Eschatology, and Time • Douglas Gwyn 14. The Kingdom of God, Quakers, and the Politics of Compassion • Gerard Guiton 15. Quaker Women’s Lives and Spiritualities • Mary Van Vleck Garman 16. Leadings and Discernment • Michael Birkel 17. Worship and Sacraments • David L. Johns PART III: QUAKER WITNESS 18. Ministry and Preaching • Michael P. Graves 19. Travelling Ministry • Sylvia Stevens 20. Mission • Jacalynn Stuckey Welling 21. Quakers, Other Churches, and Other Faiths • Janet Scott 22. Plainness and Simplicity • Emma J. Lapsansky 23. Quakers, Slavery, Anti-slavery, and Race • Elizabeth Cazden 24. Quakers, War, and Peacemaking • Lonnie Valentine 25. Quakers and Penal Reform • Mike Nellis and Maureen Waugh 26. Quakers and Asylum Reform • Charles L. Cherry 27. Quakers and Education • Elizabeth A. O’Donnell 28. Quakers, Business, and Philanthropy • Mark Freeman 29. Quakers and the Family • Edwina Newman 30. Quakers and Sexuality • Petra L. Doan and Elizabeth P. Kamphausen 31. Quakers, Youth, and Young Adults • Max L. Carter and Simon Best PART IV: QUAKER EXPRESSION 32. Quakers and Print Culture • Betty Hagglund 33. Quakers and Visual Culture • Roger Homan 34. Quakers, Philosophy, and Truth • Jeffrey Dudiak and Laura Rediehs 35. Quakers and Science • Geoffrey Cantor 36. Quakers and Ethics • Jackie Leach Scully 37. Global Quakerism and the Future of Friends • Margery Post Abbott Bibliography Index