‘Many early Advices promoted behaviour that supported commercial success.’ Photo: Coalbrookdale by Night, by Philip James de Loutherbourg (1801), a site of Quaker industrial activity
Why were early Quakers successful? Andy Fincham has business with history
‘The history of Quakerism is just as vulnerable to mythology as any other history.’
by Andy Fincham
21st April 2023
The history of Quakerism is just as vulnerable to mythology as any other history. This is surprising, perhaps, because our testimony to Truth might be thought sufficient to ensure that claims about our Society are accurate and valid. But Quakers are required to challenge ourselves: the evergreen Advice 17 asks us to ‘Think it possible that you may be mistaken’. This should apply as much to our history as to our faith in practice.
