Words, faith and action: Testimony
Stuart Masters concludes his series of reflections on three books looking at aspects of contemporary Quakerism
‘The task of testimony is the task of speaking and doing God’s truth, of coming to the light and walking in the Light…’
- Rachel Muers in Testimony: Quakerism and Theological Ethics
In her book, Testimony: Quakerism and Theological Ethics, Rachel Muers offers a fascinating and important exploration of Quaker testimony. Although the writing is academic in style, it is eminently readable and offers a rich feast to any Friends willing to make the effort to engage with it. To begin with, she proposes five essential characteristics of testimony. She states that it is an individual and collective response to God’s leadings; something shared, sustained, communicated and developed over time; located in everyday life; action that seeks to communicate, challenge and transform things within a particular context; and ‘experiential’ knowledge that is tested by the community and always open to revision.
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