Exploring Isaac Penington: Seventeenth-century Quaker mystic, teacher and activist, by Ruth Tod
Author: Ruth Tod. Review by Jonathan Doering
Isaac Penington was one of Quakerism’s earliest, most articulate spokespeople, working deeply with images of the Inner Light and the seed. The son of a prominent Puritan, Penington spent his early adulthood carousing with the smart metropolitan set. Yet these fast times and high living didn’t lead to the mountain top that he realised he wanted to reach; so began his spiritual searching. Like so many seekers, he and his wife Mary encountered the sheer power of the Quaker message and worship. It was as if their eyes had been scorched by the sun. Everything had changed, and so had they. As Ruth Tod explains in this book on Penington’s life and teachings, neither of them wanted to jump onto any old bandwagon, but when they became convinced they dedicated themselves utterly.
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