[Updated 7/16/19, 7/22/20.]
Following is the first part of the introductory material for my Quaker Faith and Practice for the Twenty-first Century.
A page called “Faith & Practice Book,” which now appears as a tab in this site’s main menu, comprises a Table of Contents (TOC) in which the installments of the book are hyperlinked. A PDF version is available there as well.
I. Introductory Material
1. About this Manual
Audience
A manual of Quaker faith and practice is a book used by a group of Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, as a brief guide to Quaker life. Generally, a Faith and Practice is written and approved for use by a regional body called a Yearly Meeting. Sometimes, however, individuals or groups of Friends may desire a book that speaks more directly to their condition; this manual is offered to such Friends.
This book is intended primarily for use by Quakers in what is known as the liberal tradition. Liberal Friends, while accepting of broad theological diversity, tend to maintain some connection with early Quaker thought and to preserve the historic practices of silence-based, unprogrammed worship and free ministry. Today, liberal Quakers’ views range from traditional Christian theology to spirituality without belief in God. Many Faith and Practice books, however, were composed when the Society was more united in a traditionally Christian theological perspective. Revisions of those books have not always been able to reach the heart of that which still unites us as Quakers. It is hoped that this manual can serve as a resource for discussion and development of ways of expressing our faith that are true to both the original Quaker genius and contemporary experience. For that reason, the manual will focus on basics, encouraging Friends to elaborate the insights expressed here and their applications in various circumstances.
Approach
This manual uses a variety of brief excerpts from the writings of earlier Friends, particularly of the first generation, as well as passages from the Bible. One reason for that is that liberal Friends today continue to turn to early Friends and (if less often) to scripture for inspiration or to explain or justify a belief or practice. But the principal reason is that the founding Friends, as they tell us in their own writings, were led by scripture to a radically world-changing spiritual power.
If we wish to understand and share in that unique power, we must do our best to set aside our preconceptions and to allow those first Friends, and the scriptures that guided them, to speak to us across the centuries. But that is not to say that we must attempt to believe exactly as early Friends, or early Christians, did. Their writings, although conditioned by time and culture, reflect something much deeper and more self- and world-changing than a belief system: they point us to a dynamic spirit of just and peaceable relationship that is crucially important for our time.
In our postmodern era, which is characterized by distrust of all-encompassing myths and systems that profess to liberate but end up oppressing human beings, we are rightly suspicious of truth-claims, whether theistic or not. That does not mean that we deny the existence of truth, but that we recognize that truth is not absolute: we see that any way of understanding the world is conditioned and tentative. In these times, Quakerism, a voluntary way of relating rather than a creed-based, authoritative system, can have an important role. For what Quakers have meant by “Truth” is not an ideology but the spiritual wisdom and power that Friend John Woolman, known for his gentle but persistent work against slavery, called “universal love.” Quakerism calls us to go beyond our perceived limits, to allow our beliefs and presuppositions to be illuminated, questioned, and transcended by that love’s light. When thus enlightened, we are led to just and peaceable living and empowered for the sacrifices such a life entails. The primary purpose of this manual is to help Friends discover and live that wisdom and power.
Format
After this introduction, a section called “The Life of the Spirit” presents the spiritual basis of Quaker faith and practice. That may be followed by a brief treatment of Quaker history. Although I originally planned to include additional sections, I have decided that these three sections will cover the material I am most interested in presenting.
Succinctness is a goal for all sections: it is my hope that the core material presented here will provide starting points for further exploration.
[Next: Introduction, Part 2: “A Basic Theology for Friends”]
[Table of Contents]
The Postmodern Quaker 
If there is no Spirit, but only Matter and Energy in an vast amoral cosmos, how can there be any “spirituality without belief in God. spiritual wisdom and power that Friend John Woolman, known for his gentle but persistent work against slavery, called “universal love?”
I realize that you speak of postmodernism, but even in that denial of the Enlightenment, all words, as empty as they are, must have agreed on meanings for us to communicate.
Can there be the color red, if color doesn’t exist? Can love exist if there is no reality of love?
Daniel, your questions appear to be rhetorical, so I take your comment as a complaint. But I don’t understand your purpose in complaining — or the basis for your assumptions. I can say, however, that if you want to argue about theism, this is not the place.
Nope, I didn’t want to argue here. (I’m so tired of debates and disagreements…life disagreements seem to never end, but my life will end sooner than later. Just this week I was trying to discuss ethics on the Internet, and realized that I’ve been doing this for 55 years now, ever since coming up against Calvinists in 1963.)
I am honestly still trying to understand how a thinker can state that there is “spiritual” without spirit. Honestly, as a retired literature teacher, the semantics puzzle me. How can you think there is love if there is no love in existence?
But I’ve read many of your posts over the last 5 years or more, so maybe there is no understanding possible.
I still don’t understand.
But since, my thoughts aren’t wanted here, “exit, stage right” as a cartoon used to end when I was growing up;-)
Daniel, again I don’t understand the basis of your assumptions. But the fact that I don’t understand you, don’t agree with you, or am not willing to argue certain topics does not mean that your comments, assuming that they meet the published criteria, are not welcome here. However, I will suggest that if you have been reading here for years and still don’t understand, then I am probably not the one who will be able to open these things for you. There are plenty of much better minds you could consult: the “religious turn” in postmodern thought is well-represented.
George, have you seen Freedom Friends Church’s F&P, “Open”? Not your traditional discipline, and not liberal per se, but worth considering.
Thanks. I hadn’t seen it. It looks like a good resource.
George,
My meeting has been piloting less form and organization for several years now, so that the Spirit is able to freely lead us as a community where it would have us be. We have reduced committees, become more egalitarian (no elders), eliminated the requirement for membership in order to fully participate in the life of the meeting (even for clerk and Trustee), immediately accept newcomers into full participation in the life of the meeting, doing more discernment as a whole meeting (instead of using committees to ‘steer’ the meeting), shying away from formal presentations (instead opting for spontaneous sharing around a topic), and have eliminated a designated ‘closer’ for worship (instead we are allowing the Spirit to choose our closer each Sunday – what wonderful surprises we’ve had with who it has chosen). We are a work in progress with good results: more new ones and more ‘Love and Light’ among us, as we have all become more genuine with each other.
Basically, we have concluded that the very earliest Quakers (first generation) likely had it right. But, perhaps the 1600’s wasn’t the best time to implement their Spirit-led vision; so too much Quaker form developed by the early 1700’s – which is now a turn-off for modern seekers. We think the twenty-first century might just be the right time for the vision of these very earliest Quakers, and certainly the right time for liberal Quakers. If we make the operation of our meetings as simple and genuine as our worship, we will attract and keep modern seekers. If we don’t, we will shrink into non-existence by the next century.
I have been reading “The Journal Of John Woolman.” His views, expressed in the archaic English of the mid 18th-century, give pause to the hectic and overpowering life I have been living for the last month or so. I have befriended a Quaker, who has me going to meetings. I find Woolman’s views pertinent to my character as it has developed, bringing out obscure and hidden aspects of my thinking and behavior. His ideas about truth are certainly genuine and more than sincere. He is helping me see where my integrity lies today. (I am 76).