After reading some of the books on our website, many people contact us with questions about the present day Society of Friends (Quakers), wanting to know if such a group of Christians exists today, or if there is any way to connect with them. Others have already searched online and found a great discrepancy between the principles of early Quakers and the modern “liberal” Quakers, and are confused about the real beliefs and practices of Friends. This article is meant to briefly address these questions.
In the view of the creators of this website, the work of the Lord in and through the early Society of Friends of the 1600’s was a return to the original life, light, power, and purity of the gospel that was proclaimed by Christ and the apostles, and is described in the pages of the New Testament. Quakers were not starting something new; they were returning to something very old. They were turning with all their hearts to the life-changing, Spirit-led Christianity of the first century, desiring nothing more than to glorify God by knowing and living the truth as it is in Jesus.
Friends maintained a great degree of faithfulness and purity for many decades, even amidst great persecution, and for a long time it was common to hear even believers of other denominations commenting that, of all of the Christian societies and persuasions, the Quakers were the most wholehearted and unflinching in their commitment to Christ. But sadly, by the 1820’s and 30’s, many in the Society of Friends had slid far off their original foundation. Most of the members at this time had been born into the Society, inheriting their membership from their parents. And as time had progressed, fewer and fewer were found among them who had joined the society because of their own first-hand experience of the heart-cleansing light and grace of Christ, which, in the words of William Penn, was “their fundamental principle, and the root of the excellent tree that grew and branched out from it.” There was still a living remnant of faithful members and ministers even at this late date (men and women like Daniel Wheeler, Thomas Shillitoe, Sarah Lines Grubb, John Barclay, Ann Branson, Christopher Healy, etc.), but “the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things” had already opened up many inroads for the assaults of the evil one, and his schemes were well-calculated for the tearing down of what remained.
As early as 1819, a man by the name of Elias Hicks began to spread new and unsound doctrines throughout the Society of Friends in America. Though he spoke much of an “inner light,” and alleged his teachings to be in agreement with early Quaker principles, they were in fact very much at odds with the long-established beliefs of the Society (and Christianity in general), and so were rejected and disavowed by the experienced and faithful. His eloquent sermons exalted a sort of spiritual religion that spoke much of love, justice, abolition of slavery, and other right-sounding concepts, but he led his followers into a total disregard for Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, and many fundamentals of the Christian faith—such as the incarnation, virgin birth, and divinity of Christ, the atonement by the cross, the existence of Satan, etc. He taught that Jesus Christ was no more than a man who followed the “inner light,” and was thereby endowed with divinity, often saying, “The same power that made Christ a Christian must make us Christians; and the same power that saved him must save us.” Eventually, Hicks and his followers caused the first of two great divisions in the Society of Friends, disassociating from “orthodox” Quakers, and initiating their own separatist society of “Hicksite” Quakers in 1827.
In an evident (and understandable) attempt to distance themselves from these errors, and to avoid the false “light” preached by the Hicksites, Quakers in England soon began to separate themselves from many of the original principles and practices of early Friends, especially those having to do with the Christian’s dependence upon an inward experience of the Spirit of God. Greatly influenced by the preaching and writings of Joseph John Gurney, many who had not been seduced by Hicksism began to conform to a more traditional and formal Christianity that no longer emphasized the light and grace of Christ as the teacher and transformer of the heart, and the source of all true worship and ministry. Over the course of several decades, these so-called “Gurneyite” Quakers progressively departed from many of the precious Christian testimonies that God had restored to His church at the bright commencement of the Society of Friends. So that, by the end of the 1800’s, Friends had become a small, degenerate, and divided body, and the largest two camps (Hicksites and Gurneyites) bore little resemblance to the faithful men and women who had turned the world upside down by their faithful adherence to “the Truth in the inward parts” (Psa. 51:6).
Today, the great majority of people and groups who use the name Quaker have little or nothing in common with the original Society of Friends of George Fox, William Penn, Robert Barclay, Isaac Penington, etc. It is not our desire to offend modern Quakers by saying so, but a simple comparison of the books, doctrines, practices, sermons, and lives of early Quakers and those of today speaks clearly for itself. Early Friends were not social activists. They were sincere, Bible-believing disciples of Jesus Christ, who first experienced their hearts greatly cleansed from sin by a total submission to the grace of God, carrying their daily cross; and then, being changed and led by the Spirit of Truth, were men and women whose lives manifested the righteous nature of their Savior in all that they did, both in private and in public. This, of course, led them to testify openly against oppression, slavery, persecution, and war, because such things are contrary to the Spirit of Christ. But in our view, the “liberal Quakers” of today are seeking (in various ways, and to various degrees) to appreciate and uphold some of the conspicuous outward fruits of the early Society, without knowing or abiding in its Living Root. These talk much of social justice, equity, integrity, peace, love, etc., and these are doubtless beautiful words and ideas. But even a glimmer of true Light shining in the heart is enough to see that man’s version of these things not only falls short, but often opposes the perspective and purpose of God. It is an immutable truth, as Christ has taught us, that “No one is good but One, that is, God.” Early Friends, therefore, understood and preached that all the real good that a man can know or do must be the fruit of God’s Spirit—fruit that grows in hearts that turn from self and sin, and follow Christ in the way of the cross.
In making the Friends Library website and app, our aim has not been to resurrect the Society of Friends, or to rescue the name Quaker from those who misunderstand it. Names meant virtually nothing to early Friends; they were a people who cared about things more than names, substance more than words. In fact, the name Quaker was giving to them in derision when George Fox bid a magistrate to tremble before the living Word of God. There is a very simple motive behind our efforts in this project, and our attachment to these publications, which is just this: we believe that early Friends knew the true gospel of Christ—the light, life, and love of God—and learned to live in it. And we have found that their writings, and even more so their lives, preach hope and help to the present generation of seekers who are laboring and heavy laden under the weight of sin, confusion, and lifeless religion.