Facts About Friends
by Ted Hoare
member of Australia Yearly Meeting
Welcome to our Meeting
This leaflet provides a brief introduction to the Religious
Society of Friends and we hope it will stimulate requests for further
information which is available in other publications.
Our Christian Background
The origins of the Society are found in the seventeenth
century in England, a time when many were questioning the established
beliefs of the age.
George Fox (1625-1691) did not find answers to his questions
in any of the churches of his day. Out of his searching came the
spiritual message which swept a large part of the country and which
resulted in the formation of the Religious Society of Friends.
Friends witnessed to an Alternative Christianity quite
distinct from the churches of the time. As a result they were
persecuted both by Cromwell's Puritan government and by the restored
government of Charles II. Fox did not intend to start a new sect.
He wanted to persuade the church to return to what it had been in the
days of the Apostles. He proclaimed the early preaching of Peter
(Acts, chapter 2 and 3) that Jesus, who had been present in the
flesh, had risen from the dead and was now come in the Spirit. That
Jesus acted in the hearts of his followers purifying and empowering them.
Pursuing Peter's teaching, Fox called for a radical,
egalitarian, spirit-filled Christianity that would not be oppressive
of people on account of race, sex, or class. He maintained that the
message of the early church had been lost when the church became
institutionalized and believed that he, and others with him, could
stand in exactly the same state as Apostles, with the same power to
teach, to heal, and to prophesy that the Apostles had.
The Ministry of All Believers
George Fox challenged the belief of the Roman Catholic and
Episcopal churches in the necessity for, and the authority of, a
hierarchical structure of Priests and Bishops. He claimed that
everyone was able to have a personal relationship with the living
Jesus without having to depend on the intercessions of a Priest or
Minister. He taught that there is one, Jesus Christ, who can speak
to each person's condition and the responsibility for ministry
therefore rested upon all.
The Place of the Bible
Friends hold that the words of the Bible should not be taken
as the final revelation of God. The Books had been written by men
who were acting under the power of the Holy Spirit and it was
necessary to read the words in the power of the same spirit and to
listen to what the Spirit then spoke in your heart. The words were
active agents in the sense that, when read in the Spirit at the
appropriate time, they would spring to life for the reader and take
the reader forward on his or her spiritual journey.
The Light Within
George Fox preached the Good News that we were all children
of God and that, as children of God, we had inherited powers from
God. Each of us was given a measure of this power or light and in
accordance with how we used it, so more would be given to us. Jesus
had possessed this power or light, without measure so that he became
the Light and the Light within is Jesus Christ.
The Inner Voice
Friends believe that if they wait silently upon God there
will be times when God will speak to them in the heart. The silent
Meeting of Friends is therefore the sacrament of communion with God
during which Friends lay themselves open to the leading of the
Spirit. George Fox often wrote about his ``openings'', meaning
revelations and it has been the experience of Quakers over the
centuries that ``openings'' will occur in the mind of that ``a way
Openings can come to individuals when they are alone or may
come out of the silence of a gathered Meeting for Worship. It is a
perennial question as to whether a leading comes from God, from one's
own ego, or from another power and it is the practice in the Society
of Friends to test a leading or a concern in a meeting with others.
When they meet for business Friends strive to obtain the
``sense of the meeting'' from those present before taking action for
they recognize the light as a force which creates unity among all who
respond to it or who ``answer it in one another''. It does not
follow that a majority is always right; a prophetic role is a lonely
one and, if a concern is deeply felt and continues to be raised, the
Meeting will continue to hear it and may later come to recognize its
Equality before God
From the beginning Friends gave women and men equal status,
for the fact that we are all children of God bestowed an equality
upon all. This concept led to the testimony that one person should
not set himself above others through human honors and distinctions
which were meaningless in the sight of God. From this came the
Quaker practices of simple living, plain dress and plain speech.
The Inward and Outward Journeys
One of the most important messages that Quakers have to offer
is that religion, or belief, is experiential. It is not just a
matter of accepting words or practices but of experiencing God for
The fact that God is always present means that the whole of a
person's life is sacramental; Friends affirm the need to practice
the presence of God in all activity. It follows, therefore, that
Friends emphasize the importance of combining the inward and outward
journeys. To take the inward without the outward will lead to
selfishness. You go inward to wait upon and receive the word and
support of God and then take this out to action in the world. To
take the outward journey without the inward leads to ``burn out''
because the essential support is not there to be called upon. The
Inward/Outward Journey is the practical application of Jesus' summary
of the Law: ``Love God and your neighbor as yourself.''
It is the inward/outward process that has led Friends into
pioneering social action such as reforms of prisons, schools and
mental institutions, improving conditions of employment, supporting
refugees and others in need, providing an ambulance service in
wartime and examining the consequences of proposed legislation.
The Peace Testimony
As a Peace Church, the Society of Friends has always played a
leading part in opposing preparations for war. The Peace Testimony,
which is a very important Quaker principle, arose out of the belief
in the in-dwelling Light or ``that of God'' in people. If that of
God was a reality within oneself it would be denying the inner Spirit
to take up arms against another.
Quaker practice does not permit the overcoming of some
persons by other persons but tends toward the integration of various
points of view into a new and higher level, for they recognize the
Light as a force which creates unity amongst all who respond to it or
answer it in one another. In appealing to the Light within another we
also appeal to the Light within ourselves; as a result, we may find
that the other is right and we are wrong. The Light is a source of
unity. Force may create a superficial unity but it cannot provide
Over the years the practice of Quakerism has developed in
different ways in different regions. Members of the Society have
been affected by varying influences such as the greater awareness of
Eastern religions, the growth of psychology and the development of
scientific knowledge. Since the Society is non-creedal, the spectrum
of belief held by Friends has widened and different opinions may be
held in different places or cultures. When one considers the
diversity in other denominations, the differences between Friends are
less remarkable. Friends Meetings may be either unprogrammed or
programmed, the latter normally being led by a pastor.
Friends and other Faiths
Quakers have always taught that the Light of Christ has been
given to all people everywhere. They maintained that many persons who
never heard the historic Christ have had experiential knowledge of the
Christ within and would hold, with Paul, that the Eternal Christ was
known before the historic Christ. However, Friends are prepared to
receive insights from wheresoever they may come and agree that there
are things to be learned from contact with other religions. Friends
are therefore ready to dialogue with people of other faiths and to
share with them insights from our respective inheritances. However,
Quakerism remains rooted in the Christian faith and the centrality of
Jesus is paramount, although his sovereignty is not unanimously
The Religious Society of Friends is an Alternative
Christianity which emphasizes the personal experience of God in one's
life. Quakers understand the necessity of first listening to God
before working in the world. They affirm the equality of all people
before God regardless of race, station in life, or sex and this
belief leads them into a range of social concerns.
Being "Children of Light" they find recourse to violence intolerable.
Quaker thought is both mystical (waiting upon God) and prophetic
(speaking truth to power). Friends believe that God's revelation is
still continuing, that God is not absent or unknowable but that we
can find God ourselves and establish a living relationship thus being
able to live in the world free from the burden and guilt of sin. It
is the search for a closer relationship with God that is the Way.
Religious knowledge, like the appreciation of beauty, is not
attained by a logical process of thought but by experience and
feeling. Quakers maintain that the teaching of Jesus is a practical
method for the guidance of the world today, that religion is
concerned with the whole of life, and that, beyond a certain point,
definition becomes a limitation.
Last modified: Fri Sep 15 14:36:23 EDT 2000