Faith and Practice
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Part I: Friends History, Belief, and Practice
Chapter 1—Historical Summary
A. The Early Movement
The Friends Church arose from a movement of Christian renewal which took place in England during the seventeenth century. George Fox was the major leader in this movement. As a sensitive youth he was repulsed by cold formalism and power politics in the church and by empty pleasure-seeking outside the church. He studied his Bible and longed for authentic faith. He got nowhere until he looked beyond human advisors to Jesus Christ who “spoke to his condition.”
Immediately after his clear consciousness of saving grace, he began to proclaim the power of Christ to free men and women from both the guilt and power of sin in their lives. Thousands of seekers, disillusioned by dry and formal religion during the struggle for religious dominance in England, responded to the evangelical message of Fox and other young men and women the Lord raised up. They proclaimed Christ as present now, by the Spirit, not by biblical record alone or in ritual observance. Through the leadership of George Fox, the early Friends Church made a tremendous impact in England, on the European continent, and in the New Colonies. Thousands of ordinary people, intellectual leaders, and government authorities were intrigued by this new movement. Men such as scholar and writer Robert Barclay and statesman William Penn were early advocates of the Friends movement.
The Quaker Awakening of the church stands among the great revivals of Christianity. It challenged all efforts to establish “official” state religion and refused to treat sin as merely environmental in nature. Instead, it called men and women to freedom of religion, confident in the power of the Holy Spirit to change human hearts as people responded inwardly to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They preferred to be called Friends in accordance with Jesus’ words as recorded in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” Because of their religious enthusiasm they were nicknamed Quakers, a name which was given in derision, but which came to be a symbol of integrity.
Many thousands throughout the British Isles responded to the proclamation by Friends evangelists that salvation does not depend upon the interposing of human authority or the administration of any rite, ordinance, or ceremony. The early Friends movement looked upon this as the completion of Luther’s reformation, for they taught how the Holy Spirit enlightens every person, reveals the need for salvation, and brings new life in Christ to the individual and to the community of believers.
Early Friends bore witness to Christ’s promises of new life and His abiding Presence as our ever-present Teacher. Their message was growth in practical holiness which could be experienced by faithful believers in relationship with Jesus Christ. They preached the sacramental life:
Believers are baptized into Christ by His promised Holy Spirit.
Believers partake of the body and the blood through the spiritual worship of Jesus Christ.
The sacramental life is demonstrated by an ever-present relationship with Jesus.
The early movement consisted of people who were seeking a life-giving faith, rich in relationship with the Christ of Scripture. They were a people who were willing to pay the price for discipleship. Many spent months or years in prisons because of their courage and commitment to live out the commands of Christ. Many were martyred for their faith. They were a people gathered to Christ, baptized with the Holy Spirit, communing with God in vital worship and fellowship, and seeking to witness the good news of the Gospel in a world shattered by civil and religious conflict.
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