The founders of the Society of Friends, who began to preach throughout England about the middle of the seventeenth century, acknowledged divine revelation as the sole source for their doctrines. Like Paul they "conferred not with flesh and blood" but followed "the heavenly vision." The Bible was held to be a secondary source, for the Scriptures could only be interpreted correctly through the Divine Light of Truth shining in the soul, the same Light through which the Scriptures were originally written. "These things," wrote George Fox in his journal regarding his early "openings" or revelations, "I did not see by the help of man nor by the letter, though they are written in the letter, but I saw them in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ and by his immediate Spirit and Power."
There can be no doubt that the New Testament was the principal external influence in creating Quaker pacifism. Though it was through the inward Christ that the sayings of the historical Christ were to be interpreted, the Society of Friends believed that Christ's Spirit, as revealed in their hearts, would not be at variance with the same Spirit as revealed in the Scriptures. They were constantly assuring the Puritans, who were scandalized by this assignment of a secondary role to the written word, that they did reverence the Scriptures and held them to be true. These Scriptures were in fact constantly used by the Quakers to defend their religious position. As they obeyed Jesus' command not to swear, so in controversies with opponents they took seriously such sayings as "Love your enemies," "Blessed are the peacemakers," "Resist not evil," "Whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also," "All they that take up the sword shall perish with the sword," "If my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight."
