FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF

also called Friends Church, byname Quakers Christian group that arose in mid-17th-century England, dedicated to living in accordance with the Inward Light, or direct inward apprehension of God, without creeds, clergy, or other ecclesiastical forms. As most powerfully expressed by George Fox (162491), Friends felt that their experimental discovery of God would lead to the purification of all of Christendom. It did not; but Friends founded one American colony and were dominant for a time in several others, and though their numbers are now comparatively small, they continue to make disproportionate contributions to science, industry, and especially to the Christian effort for social reform. also called Friends Church, byname Quakers, Christian group that arose in the mid-17th century in England and the American colonies, advocating direct inward apprehension of God without creeds, clergy, or other ecclesiastical forms. Quakerism represents the extreme left wing of the 17th-century English Puritan movement. The three chief emphases of its founder, George Fox (162491), were the immediacy of Christ's teaching and guidance, the consequent irrelevance of special buildings or ordained ministers, and the application of Christ's teaching to the whole of life. The early Quakers gathered for worship without liturgy or prearrangement of any kind, or any appointed preacher, believing that out of an energetic and expectant silence God might use any one of the worshipers as a minister. The rapid spread of Quakerism in the north of England was followed by a vigorous expansive movement to London and the rest of England, to Scotland and Ireland, to the continent of Europe, and to North America. The main centres of Quaker missionary activity in the New World were New England, New Amsterdam and Long Island, Maryland, Virginia, and the West Indies. Almost everywhere they went, the Quakers met with persecution for what were considered unconventional Christian practices. Although the Toleration Act (1689) brought an end to the worst violence of persecution in Great Britain, many disabilities long remained. During the 18th century, Quaker thought felt the influence of two conflicting tendencies. Quietism, on the one hand, advocated passivity and self-abnegation in deference to divine direction, while the energy and theology of Wesleyanism and other evangelical movements inspired a new fervour. This tension precipitated several separations within Quakerism in the 18th and 19th centuries, most notably in the United States, where followers of Elias Hicks established a number of regional meetings. With the adoption of revivalist methods, of a worship pattern with hymns and set sermons, and of paid pastors, it was inevitable that opposition by traditionalist Friends should lead to further divisions. By the beginning of the 20th century there were thus (1) a group of orthodox or evangelical yearly meetings in fellowship, (2) a group of conservative yearly meetings in fellowship following the traditional Quaker patterns of worship, speech, and dress, and (3) a group of Hicksite yearly meetings, rigorously separated from all other Quaker groups for 70 years, increasingly interested in modern thought and suspected by other groups of being Unitarian in theology. During and after World War I the barriers of suspicion were broken down and cooperation and reunion among different branches ensued. The Quaker system of church government has remained substantially unaltered since the time of George Fox. The principal unit is the monthly meeting, a body usually meeting once a month and responsible for all matters of membership, for finance and property, and for deliberation on concerns raised by individual members or referred to it by superior meetings. The extreme austerity characteristic of early Quaker worship services has been modified in many areas with the adoption of hymn singing, set prayers, and prepared sermons. Almost alone among Christian bodies, Friends have no form of outward observance of the sacraments. They believe in a spiritual baptism and a spiritual communion. Additional reading Good introductions to Quakerism may be found in Friends World Committee for Consultation, Handbook of the Religious Society of Friends, 5th ed. (1967); and in the interpretation by D. Elton Trueblood, The People Called Quakers (1966, reissued 1971). The standard histories are William Charles Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakerism, 2nd ed. rev. by Henry J. Cadbury (1955, reissued 1970), and a companion volume, The Second Period of Quakerism, 2nd ed. rev. by Henry J. Cadbury (1961, reissued 1979); and Rufus M. Jones, The Quakers in the American Colonies (1911, reissued 1966), and The Later Periods of Quakerism, 2 vol. (1921, reprinted 1970). More specialized works include Elizabeth Isichei, Victorian Quakers (1970); Richard T. Vann, The Social Development of English Quakerism, 16551755 (1969); Jack D. Marietta, The Reformation of American Quakerism, 17481783 (1984); Barry Reay, The Quakers and the English Revolution (1985); and Mary Maples Dunn and Richard S. Dunn (eds.), The Papers of William Penn (1981 ), with 4 vol. published by 1987. The masterpiece of Quaker theology is Robert Barclay, Apology for the True Christian Divinity (1678, reissued 1967; originally published in Latin, 1676). William Charles Braithwaite, Spiritual Guidance in the Experience of the Society of Friends (1909, reissued 1941), best explains how Friends' polity should work. See also Gladys Wilson, Quaker Worship: An Introductory Historical Study of the English Friends' Meeting (1952); and Clarence E. Pickett, For More Than Bread: An Autobiographical Account of Twenty-Two Years Work with the American Friends Service Committee (1953). Quaker social thought on contemporary issues may be found in Stella Alexander (comp.), Quaker Testimony Against Slavery and Racial Discrimination: An Anthology (1958); and Towards a Quaker View of Sex: An Essay, rev. ed. (1964, reprinted 1976), published by the Friends Home Service Committee. Richard T. Vann