The Quakers: A Brief History (Religious Society of Friends) 

Better to read the works of early, emphasis early, Quakers: George Fox's Journal, his works, and his letters to the congregations are about as good a start of any writing other than scripture itself.

The kingdom of heaven will not come with signs to be seen, neither will anyone say 'lo here' or 'lo there', for the kingdom of heaven is within you.

😭

@@daviddubbetter to do what James 1 told his sons in the basilica doron,we need to read Gods words, not mens to get understanding!

As I learn more about the original Quakers, I am finding validation for my own experiences and beliefs, as well as for my work. The core Quaker belief was that God is Love and we can directly connect to Love/Light/God through our own Hearts. And I realize the truth in this, because I've had experiences with it, since going through a grieving/healing process in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since then I have felt that when we release the suppressed pain that blocks our Hearts, we automatically connect more deeply with Love/Light/God. This is why my work has focused on embracing our feelings and healing our Hearts, in order to bring more Love and compassion into our world. Many people have put me down and thought I was crazy. So, I am glad to be able to back up my realization with a stand for people who had also found the same reality many centuries ago - the original Quakers. I feel much less alone now, even though I do not know if any of the Quakers had realized how people can deepen their direct connection to God, through focusing on healing their own Hearts - through focusing on releasing the suppressed emotional pain that blocks Hearts and avoiding feeling numbing pharmaceuticals and other substances that block our Hearts from Love/God.

I have nothing but love for the Quakers. I can’t do the math for me, but my grandmother was descended on both her mother and fathers side from the original Quakers in England and America, and were Quakers up until my Granny married a catholic. Though I think her dad had been raised by a Calvinist, it was a recent conversion. It’s a part of my history and honestly, I’m proud to be descended from them.

I’m seriously considering leaving the Lutheran Church and becoming a Quaker. It meshes more with my own personal beliefs.

Derek, I came in contact with Quakerism only recently, but I am deeply interested in learning more. Any tips?

@@anq6887 Advices and Queries is a good place to start if you haven't read it. qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/1/ Or just go to a meeting! Sit in silence for an hour and then you can ask people questions afterwards. Quakers love answering questions!

My students seem to like the Quakers but don't know where to feed them. Is it still in existence?

RU-vid is a wonderful resource, Quaker Speak is a great channel On it and contains a lot of contemporary Quakers that explain what we are about.

I'm a Jewish Israeli, and this is very interesting! There's a Quaker colony in Ramallah??!? Will you give me a tour??

@@LilachLavy Hi. You know the West Bank is under occupation right now. It is not the best time to visit. I live in the USA. I pray that you are working for peace for both sides. Its is distressing what is happening there.

@@lmansur1000 True spirituality is beyond state and national interests.

@@LilachLavyGod will not forgive what your people are doing to His children in Palestine.

Wonderful news Steven.

This is a high compliment! It's a pleasure to be able to inform people.

I guess I am like an old dog, always learning a new trick (Knowledge) in the positive side of the Internet. So much good things to learn out there.

Modern Quakers (and Quaker schools) tend to focus on the shared ethics contained within the “Spices.” S = Simplicity P = Peace I = Integrity C = Community E = Equality S = Stewardship www.sffriendsschool.org/quaker-values/quaker-testimonies

Yeah - I would say not entirely balanced for the reason you mention. This is a good description of Britain Yearly Meeting and FGC Friends, but ignores that the majority of the Quakers in the world are quite different - and live in Africa.

Oh that is cool. I did know there was a difference between programmed and unprogrammed. I have heard of Quakers opening up to other religions, not just Christians. That can potentially form more groups.

I am as atheist as one can get, grew up in very secular western Europe and am very critical of organised religion. The Quakers however have my utmost respect for their opposition to slavery/some Quakers involvement in the underground railroad.

Hello! Via the Reed family you and I might be related! Does your Reed family branch include ties to Founding Father Benjamin Franklin’s common law wife, Deborah Read/Reed? She and I are 1st cousins 9 times removed.

Hey a Hughes!

Hello, possible Cousin!

From the Quaker community I come from we do have the two kinds... - the programmed and unprogrammed. One was Sunday and the other was Thursday meetings. Strangely, even though we were quakers, my father worked for the Lutherans, in his capacity as a doctor, as they provided a mobile clinic which dad used on his visits to the villages. I appreciate the fact that I was born into Friends society in Palestine and only later found out who they really were. I thinjk children pick up the vibe of the community. For the past years, I have studied Buddhism and learnt meditation as I felt it harmonizes with and complements the Quakers. Life is interesting.

@@lmansur1000 you’re saying there’s Quakers in Palestine? I’m learning a lot here!

Thanks for the elaboration.

There are now different types of "Quakers", but only one authentic type; It appears that the Quakers continued being targeted in covert ways. It appears that they have been being pushed aside and infiltrated and some of them even manipulated into becoming more like the traditional forms of Christian religions - the ones where the preachers teach and lead the people instead of people being lead by their own direct connection to God. The result of this is the various types of "Quaker" groups that exist today. But there is only one genuine Quaker group, and it is the one that has held strong to the old original Quaker ways of worshiping and living. How many real authentic Quakers still exist? I do not know. It is probably very few. So, I'd like to help bring back the original Quaker values, because they honor our own natural spirituality and the Love that we ALL need far more of in our troubled world. The original authentic Quakers had silent meetings where they meditated. In these meditations some focused on deepening their connection to the Light/God/Love within their own Hearts, and some waited for the connection to happen. Those whose Hearts were not too blocked to make the connection, automatically felt more Love and compassion toward their fellow human beings. Consequently authentic Quakers were often leaders in movements that called for world peace and the abolishment of slavery and many other humanitarian efforts to help poor and suffering people. According to my research the following things are the core of the original Quaker ways. I am surprised by how identical they are to my own beliefs and values... 1. Forming a direct connection to God, through our own Hearts, and following God/Love, instead of only blindly following human leaders. This is the most important core of real Quakerism. And its something ALL people can do. Some people's Hearts are open enough to do it easily. And some people, like myself, have to go through a grieving/healing process, in order to deepen our connect to God/Love/Light. At this point in time, it appears that humanity has been so wounded that a lot of healing has to take place in most people, in order to connect to the levels of Love and Light that are needed in our world. The following Quaker values are all things that people automatically feel strongly about after we have a deep connection to the Love/Light/God in our own Hearts... A. Equality; Authentic Quakers felt that All people are equal. They saw no difference between the rights of Native Americans vs new settlers, between men vs women, between poor people vs rich people, between "black" people vs "white" people, between Christians vs Jews or Buddhists or Quakers...etc. B. There is Good in ALL people; Authentic Quakers saw the good in all people. They believed that ALL people were God's children and that even the worse criminal types could heal and choose better ways. C. Peace on Earth; Authentic Quakers were anti-war. They believed in using only positive, peaceful and non-violent ways to resolve problems. The authentic Quakers refuse to fight and kill, in the wars. Some people viewed this as them being weak or cowardly, but they were just being more kind and compassionate. D. Freedom for ALL Human Beings; Authentic Quakers were against slavery and believed that all human beings should be free to live their lives the way they choose to. This includes freedom of religion. E. Living a Simple and Humble Lifestyle; Authentic Quakers lived a simple lifestyle. This was reflected in their original clothing, which the Amish copied after the Quakers invited them into Pennsylvania. Interestingly, the Quakers stopped wearing that type of simple clothing after the Amish copied them. In a way, the Amish replaced the Quakers in Pennsylvania and other places, but they are complete opposites in the most important spiritual and humanitarian issues. F. Social Reform; Authentic Quakers cared enough about humanity to want to help make things better for ALL people. Consequently they often participated in things like better treatment of the Native Americans, and the abolishment of slavery and protests against violent wars and getting laws passed to give women the right to vote...etc. G. Humanitarian Aid; Authentic Quakers did what they could to help the poor and suffering people. H. Love thy Enemy; Authentic Quakers did not seek vengeance. They treated their enemies with compassion. And this list could go on. The original authentic Quakers had more Love/Light/God in their Hearts and so were genuine humanitarians. There are many people throughout the world, who are not Quakers, and who exist both inside and outside many different religions and cultures, who also have deep direct connections to God/Love/Light in their own Hearts. Most just do not realize it or do not view it as a connection to "God." They are the people whose Hearts have not been too blocked to feel deep levels of Love. They too are authentically compassionate and humanitarian types of people. People can have a deep connection to Love/God/Light without ever even believing in God or Jesus and without ever following any religion. I have deeply felt this truth, to the core of my own heart and soul, since the early 1990s. People who have open Hearts automatically care about people and want peace and freedom and feel Love for ALL people. Its actually not just a Quaker trait, its a natural human trait that exists in everyone whose Heart is open enough. God is Love and we can ALL feel that Love through our own Hearts. I view the original authentic Quakers as people who had found and honored, the most important part of the natural spirituality that ALL human beings are born with - the Heart - the Love - the Light - the God that exists within us all. And they aimed to show the rest of humanity this natural human capability, which is why they were targeted.

Convulsive actions? I've never heard nor witnessed that. Could you be confusing Quakers with Shakers?

@@convincedquaker I heard of Shakers. They did not believe in carnal relations between husband and wife. Their group died out rather quickly. 😂

Just had my tree done and I have a lot as well.

My biggest takehome for this video is George Fox. I knew he was the founder of the Quakers. Yet hearing about him and his life is incredibly compelling. He even became one of my favorite people of Christian history. I have four favorites. Christianity has historically had a tyranny problem.. The bloodshed on the olden days is my pet peeve. So all my favorites rebel against tyranny in some way and make Christianity better.. Martin Luther is my top favorite.He is the only famous one. He rebelled against the tyranny of extremist Catholics. He focused on freeing people by offering the Bible as well as freeing them from economic exploitation. Martain Luther was mainly known as the founder of Protestants. However he didn't go as far as many other Protestant founders. Comparatively speaking, he even resembles Catholics relativly speaking. It is ironic. I like that. Both sides have thier benefits, but I do see Catholics as being a bit better. I got to admire Luther for showing reasonable restraint. If the channel has any videos on this guy, I would like to see them. Two other favorites are Roger Williams and Anne Hutchenson. They really go together in my mind. Both lived in colonial Rhode Island, and both went against the Puritans. So both essentially rebelled against extremist Protestantism. Since Protestant is the weaker side, it can use two rebels instead of one. Roger Williams focused more on freedom of religion and separation church and state. Anne Hutchenson focused more on freedom of lifestyle and improving Calvinism. The channel has a video for each one, and the videos are awesome. George Fox was a rebel too, but in a different way. He essentially rebelled against both sides. The English Civil War is horrendous. It is agonizing enough to read about that. Thier is a lot of factions competing for power. So there is a lot of violence and bloodshed. It is just like Game of Thrones. One group I greatly admire is the Anglicans. They engaged in both sides. This is a realist approach in a way. The Anglicans had this idea of via media. They tried to find some happy medium between Catholic and Protestant. There is a nice way to approach this. On one hand, they can have all the cool stuff of the Catholics. There can be ceremonies, and imagery and all that. On the other hand there can be certain freedoms that the Protestants get. There are things like freedom of divorce, an English Bible and freedom for the Pope. I do feel sorry for the Anglicans at the time of thier formation and war. They were caught in the middle.. On one hand they have to deal with the tyranny of the Catholics. Henry the Eight may be a hot mess, but his love life is none of the pope's buissinesss. He even had a really good reason for breaking ties with his first wife. On the other hand, the Anglicans had to deal with the radicalness of Puritans. It may seem that Anglicans were the tyrants who bullied the Puritans. However Puritans became tyrants themselves once they fled to America. Then they provoked the rebellion of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchenson. So yeah, the English Civil War was a mess. This is when George Fox came in. He found a way in between both. He rejected both and did his own thing. He has an apathetic approach. This is the opposite of the realist approach 9f the Anglicans. Both groups are somewhere in between, and both are amazing. The Catholic and Protestant fight in itself is a form of tyranny on both sides. George Fox rebelled against the fight entirely. That led him to forge his own path and find his own spiritual discoveries. To oppose the war, there was things like peace, love and friendship. The more direct approach to God brings freedom for all. If everyone is free, then nobody can gain control and power. So they wouldn't have the power to fight, even if they want too. The value of peace is really refreshing because it goes against all the religious bloodshed. Quakers are mainly like Protestants due to freedom from clergy as well as a plain aesthetic. Yet there is a slight similarity to Catholic. Monotheism is something that tends to be abused. People fight and kill over who's God is the right God. Protestants really focus on monotheism,, and that is a downside.. Toning this down can take some homocidal incentive away. Multiple forms of divinity can help. Catholics use saints as multiple manifestations of divinity. Different Catholics can focus on different saints and potentially coexist in peace. It reminds me of polytheism. Quakers don't have saints. However they have multiple manifestations of divinity in having the divine inner light in everyone. Respecting the divinity of others can allow for more peace in a group. It reminds me of pantheism. Both Catholics and Quakers tone down the harsh monotheism of Chrisitanity. I just thought of something. Quakers are essentially the Hippies of the Christians. Think about it. There are two opposite groups fighting over who is better. There is some selfish motivation on showing one's way is better. Then some rebel by going against the fight. They become chill and friendly. They are all into peace and love.

Glad you said it first..I feel very much the same!

Much appreciation for your support! I expect to have a video on the Pennsylvania Colony coming out right on the heels of this one.

Someone looked up the Quakers in an encyclopedia and decided to go with it. True story!

Quakers ran their businesses honestly, so the people who founded the company used the Quaker brand to make their products seem more trustworthy.

Amnesty International, Barclays Bank, Cadbury Chocolates, Clark’s Shoes, Greenpeace, Johns Hopkins University, Nike, Sony, Waterford, etc. are all *real* Quaker companies & organizations, but others saw the utility of using the Quaker name & its association with honesty & quality, & thus appropriated it for their own purposes. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Quaker_businesses,_organizations_and_charities Quakers are also responsible for the business practice of using price tags rather than dishonestly charging customers different prices for the same item. aeon.co/videos/how-the-quakers-became-unlikely-economic-innovators-by-inventing-the-price-tag

The man who started quaker oats thought they were wholesome and simple so he named his oats after that. It's really weird like??? Would you like some babtist cerial? Presperterian wheat?

Rachel Dole growing up in a Quaker meetinghouse, I heard the words “simplicity” and “plain” constantly, bcuz we keep simple lives & wear simple attire, and basically its simple for us to know god without any translators or preachers etc...so I see why they wanted the Quaker belief to represent the oats

Christians are given the Holy Spirit to have direct communication with God. However we are not to become schismatics and separate ourselves from the one apostolic Church established by Christ. We are to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3.

Luther did NOT come up with that concept. Gotta go way back before him to find the source: Jesus, Paul, Anthony of Egypt, Origen and on and on.

Depends on what social practices. They could be very insular and fail to live up to their ideals, but they also saw women as full members (and many of the early suffragettes were Quaker), were anti-slavery as a body by the 1750s, and refused to engage in warfare.

Keep in mind that religions are internally diverse and religions change and are reinterpreted by members all the time. 3 Things Everyone Should Know About Religion ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-K2GxRSW8DAE.html&index=

Old Quakers did a lot of terrible things they did some great things but they did very bad things to that's the case with every religion

Good question

Probably because we’re too quiet about our services and our general lack of converting. Doesn’t quite draw in crowds when nobody really knows about us.

The outcome of the Civil War proved that the Quaker belief of ending oppression through acts of non-violence did not work in all cases.

WE NEED THIS

Those would be the Unprogrammed Liberal Quakers, who are actually the minority of Quakers worldwide. Most Quakers are in Africa and represent a more conservative, programmed, and evangelical/pastoral branch of Quakerism.

Haha love that video

Aloha Toa! You're quite welcome!

That's interesting. I wonder if there are different issues of it. I can almost swear that the note that I had didn't have any identifying information on it...

Tom Richey Elizabeth Fry on the £5 comes in at 3:24 in the link below. Check it. (I’m surprised you didn’t go into the real reasons she’s on the note.) vimeo.com/110877004

Im irish and i have had these beliefs my whole life i think it comes from us being farmers and having access to mushrooms

One great thing about quakers is they record and minute EVERYTHING with a little searching their's tons of info

They very likey flead religious prosection

@lemon grab thank you, I appreciate it.

The early Quakers probably did quake or shake under the power of the Holy Spirit as do modern day Pentecostal and charismatic Christians. Quakers need to seek once again the fullness of the Holy Spirit that they may quake under the power of God.

@lemon grab There should be times of silent worship before the Lord but also times of speaking forth a prophetic word or singing a song in the Spirit. In all things we should be guided by the Holy Spirit who will guide us to worship in Spirit and in Truth.

@lemon grab Modern day Quakers have exalted their tradition above the Holy Spirit. They no longer worship God in Spirit and in Truth. In the Gospel, John 4:23, 24, Jesus tells us the true worshipers must worship the Father in the Spirit and in Truth. Quakers must return to ecstatic worship in the Holy Spirit characterized by quaking and speaking in unknown tongues of the Spirit.

SpiderNerd Gaming I went to school with Johnny Hopkins... Sloan Kettery too.. 😂😂

^^^Listen to this comment. I have been misled personally because I did not test the spirits. I could have stopped it sooner if I did so. Not every voice is God speaking to you. I even had one imply it was Jesus without actually saying it by giving me the verse Acts 9:5.

There is only 1 creed needed, I believe God, I study his words like a workman ( his words given through prophets) I believe I need to do his commandments, There are no shared values Just Gods!

I think you could do a better job choosing your heroes... but thanks! :D

Because they are a Christ based group. Those who believe in Christ do not believe that he was simply a human prophet, but the son of god/one with god, an eternal being. The very beginning aim of George Fox in founding Quakerism was to have a direct experience with Christ, to restore pure Christianity. There is no way around the fact that it is a Christian group, with a belief that Jesus is the only way to god, as it says in the bible. Not as a human being, but as a heavenly high priest interceding for us to god. This is why Fox believed there was no need for an earthly ordained clergy, as he already saw one in Jesus. The god with whom they strove to have a personal relationship was the god of the bible, the god of the children of Israel, of the apostles, not an unknown deity simply comprised of love. God cannot be separated from Jesus in this context, unless you deny the new testament, as seen in Judaism, or you believe in a different version of the creator, which is not what they did.

Jesus is not just a prophet but is above all the Messiah, who is both human and divine. Jesus came to restore our connection to God through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. He gives us the Holy Spirit that we may have a direct connection with God who becomes our Father in heaven and we become His children.

Completely different belief systems. Puritans hanged Quakers for practicing and sharing their beliefs in Massachusetts.