Quakerism and Christianity

by Edwin B. Bronner

Overview

What does it mean to be a Friend today? I am skeptical of Quakers who smile cozily and say that it doesn�t really matter what you believe, or that you can believe anything and be a Friend. This is a hazy, lazy approach to religion which does a disservice to the individual and to Quakerism.

It is true that we would all agree that there is no single set of beliefs one must accept in order to be a Friend. Most of us would go further and say that there are a number of approaches to the Kingdom within Quakerism, for example, the ones described in American Quakers Today (Philadelphia. 1966), and that we respect the various branches which have evolved during our history. I hope that we would be willing to add that we feel it is important that a Friend adopt a set of beliefs and practices and develop a strong sense of commitment to them.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940149399581
Publisher:	Pendle Hill Publications
Publication date:	04/04/2014
Series:	Pendle Hill Pamphlets , #152
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	30
File size:	94 KB

About the Author

Born and raised on the west coast of the United States, Edwin Bronner received his bachelor�s degree from Whittier College in 1941. Early in his career, however, he journeyed eastward, took his doctorate in colonial studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and set the seal on his transfer from West to East by marrying Marian P. Taylor of Philadelphia. With her, and their four daughters, he now lives on the campus at Haverford College where he is Professor of History and Curator of the Quaker Collection.
Happily he is an historian who looks forward as well as back. Though identified with the Quaker past by such publications as William Penn�s �Holy Experiment,� his eye is presently focused on the coming 1967 World Conference at Guilford, of which he is chairman. And he has recently edited American Quakers Today, an informative collection of essays put out by the Friends World Committee. A contributor of numerous articles on history, he is active in many historical and professional organizations, edits a department in Quaker History (the bulletin of the Friends Historical Association), and serves on the Board of Directors of Pendle Hill.