Universalism, Christianity and Quakerism

George Fox and other early Friends radically challenged both secularism and mainstream Christian. By looking at their writings, and the scriptural references they used, we can deepen and sharpen our understanding of their radical message. Early Friends felt they knew Christ in spirit as "the Light that lights everyone who comes into the world," as the Word spoken at the moment of creation, as the manifestation of God in the human heart. They were confident that the same direct, inward encounter with the divine that they had experienced was possible for everyone, regardless of outward condition, culture, religion, or even history itself. Jesus had offered salvation to all people, they argued, and this must include those who had lived before his time as well as those who came after. They were both expansively universalist, and deeply Christ-centered.

For us, however, as for the early Friends, the most important question is: “What Canst Thou Say?” In this workshop we will use the insights offered by early Friends primarily as a framework for exploring what we ourselves believe, based on our own inward experience. We will delve into Quaker theology not as an intellectual exercise, but as a way of articulating what we know first-hand. All perspectives will be welcome. If it feels deeply real to you, others will benefit from hearing about it. We may find that the words that divide us are less substantial than they seem, and that the issues we are truly called to engage with lie so deep that we have not yet put them into words.

This workshop will include presentation, discussion, worship sharing and at least half an hour of open worship each day. About five pages of reading material will be distributed each day as preparation for the next day's session. No advance reading is required, but Friends may find the following helpful as preparation:

Philip Gulley and James Mulhollland, If Grace Is True;

That Thy Candles May Always be Burning: Nine Pastoral Sermons of George Fox, edited by Max Skinner & Gardiner Stillwell;

Robert Barclay, Apology for the True Christian Divinity;

Daniel Seeger, "The Place of Universalism in the Religious Society of Friends"