To All the Nations
Stuart Masters continues his series on early Quaker tracts and pamphlets. This week he considers To All the Nations under the Whole Heavens by George Fox.
The opponents of early Friends often wrote lurid accounts of charismatic behaviour taking place within their Meetings in order to portray the movement as an outrageous and dangerous example of religious enthusiasm. Initially, therefore, the label ‘Quaker’ was given to Friends as a term of abuse. In response to this, early Quaker leaders felt the need to defend the practice of quaking. One example is George Fox’s 1660 tract To All the Nations under the Whole Heavens. Using examples drawn from the Bible, he argues that, throughout history, the true people of God have always quaked and trembled in the power of the Lord and that those who condemn quaking do not truly know God. Below is a simple summary of Fox’s message:
Throughout history, God’s people have always trembled – All the true prophets and teachers of the Bible had an intimate relationship with God. Those who have not known the same experience of the Spirit that the apostles knew cannot properly understand the way of God. Those who lack this intimate relationship with God deceive people and prevent them from experiencing the Spirit of God within them. This is extremely serious, because it prevents people from knowing salvation.
The Bible provides many examples of holy people shaking in the power of the Lord – Drawing on the Bible, Fox provides a range of examples of holy people trembling and shaking when they encounter God:
- Ephraim was a Quaker! Ephraim was a great and respected man in Israel but, when he spoke God’s word, he trembled (Hosea 13:1).
- Likewise, through the prophet Joel, the Lord proclaims that at the Day of the Lord, all the inhabitants of the earth will tremble (Joel 2:1). God expects everyone to be a Quaker!
- The prophet Ezekiel was a Quaker! The Lord commanded him to eat his bread with quaking and drink his water with trembling as a sign to the people of Israel (Ezekiel 12:18-19). Through the prophet, the people were commanded to tremble in awe before God (Ezekiel 38:20).
- The prophet Daniel was a Quaker! He trembled, became breathless and lost all his strength when the angel spoke to him (Daniel 10:10-17).
- The prophet Habakkuk was a Quaker! When he heard the voice of God, his belly trembled, his lips quivered and he shook all over (Habakkuk 3:16).
- Solomon says that, at the Day of the Lord, those who watch over the house will tremble and the strong men will bow down. Everyone must experience this quaking in the power of the Lord if they are to enter the kingdom of heaven (Ecclesiastes 12:3).
- Isaac was a Quaker! He trembled violently and he was a faithful servant of the Lord (Genesis 27:33).
- Moses was a Quaker! He quaked in fear when God spoke to him in the burning bush and when he pleaded to the Lord on behalf of his people (Deuteronomy 9:19/Hebrews 12:21).
- The people of Moab trembled in the face of God’s chosen people (Exodus 15:15/Acts 7:32). Those who disobey the Lord will shake like a leaf and lose all their power (2 Samuel 22:7-8). Therefore, no-one should criticise those who quake in the power of the Lord.
- King David was a Quaker! In the psalms he stated that, when God heard his cry, the earth trembled and quaked (Psalm 18:6-7). The heavens and the earth shake in the presence of God (Psalm 97:3-5). David also proclaimed that his flesh trembled in fear and awe of the Lord (Psalm 119:120). David was a Quaker who loved the testimony of God in his heart. Eventually, everyone must come to this experience even if they don’t yet know it.
- Isaiah tells us that God looks favourably upon those who are humble, who recognise their wrong-doing and who tremble at the word of the Lord (Isaiah 66:2 and 5). So, the Lord looks favourably on all humble and contrite Quakers!
- In the Book of Job, we are told that Eliphaz the Temanite trembled and his hair stood on end when God spoke to him (Job 4:14-15). And Job himself states that in the power of the Lord the pillars of the earth tremble (Job 9:5-6). We are all called to be Quakers. Those who are wicked and scoff at us for Quaking will come to realise this in the end.
Those who condemn quaking have never really known God – Despite the large number of examples given above, many people still want to condemn quaking. Clearly this means that they haven’t really experienced God’s Spirit working within them. Such people should beware, because the Day of the Lord is coming and they are estranged from God. When this day arrives, the earth will quake and all people will tremble. Christ, the seed has replaced the outward law and all the old ways and he will turn everything upside-down. The earth will tremble, the heavens will be pulled apart and water shall fall from the skies (Judges 5:4).
Christ has come to overcome evil and establish the kingdom of heaven – Christ is far stronger than the strongest men (Matthew 12:29). He has come to overcome the darkness and evil within people. If you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must allow Christ to overcome the strong man in you. In this process, you too will have an experience of quaking, as your salvation is worked out in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). When this happens, you will no longer despise Quakers. Instead, you will become one of them. When God raises us up in glory, those who scoff will be proven wrong.
It might be argued that, based on their quaking, signs and wonders, the early Quaker movement was a precursor of contemporary charismatic Christianity. In her book Holiness: The Soul of Quakerism: An historical analysis of the theology of holiness in the Quaker tradition, Carole Dale Spencer traces the links between early Friends and the modern Pentecostal churches via the Wesleyan tradition. These links are also made by Paul Alexander in his essay ‘Historical and Theological Origins of Assemblies of God Pacifism’ in the journal Quaker Theology (number 12, Fall-Winter, 2005/6). In the context of severe persecution, it would seem that early Friends began to discourage charismatic behaviour, as they focused on managing their public image and lobbying for religious toleration. Quaking was sacrificed in favour of public respectability.
The charismatic aspects of the early Quaker movement can seem somewhat alien to us today; however, they live on in the faith and practice of contemporary Quakers in various parts of the world, particularly in the Global South. Recently, members of the US-based Quaker group Friends of Jesus Fellowship have begun to explore and reflect upon the charismatic and Pentecostal dimensions of the Quaker way and this has included incidents of speaking in tongues. Has our practice in Western Liberal Quakerism become a little too inward-looking, disembodied and passive? Might we benefit from a re-engagement with the more expressive, embodied and animated aspects of the faith of our founding mothers and fathers?
Stuart is senior programme leader at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham.
The original tract can be found in the Earlham School of Religion Digital Quaker Collection: http://esr.earlham.edu/dqc/
