'What we have in common with early Quakers is our humanity and its inherent spirituality.' Photo: George Fox preaching in a tavern, c1650 (by E. H. Wehnert (1813–1868)
Body language: Barney Smith has words
‘Quoting the spiritual experience of early Friends is not enough.’
by Barney Smith
5th January 2024
Contemporary Quakers tend to put early Quakers on pedestals. This has been important as a way of separating Quakerism from evangelical Christianity of the Victorian era. Evangelicals and early Quakers did after all use the same biblical language, even if they made very different uses of it.
