Doctrinally open membership is becoming more accepted by Friends. What is this method of arriving at membership decisions? How does it affect other areas of Quaker life and what does this imply for the future of the Religious Society of Friends? The Method Consider a typical Friends meeting. Members gather in silent worship. They cooperate [...]
About Os Cresson
Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism
PART I: ROOTS OF QUAKER NONTHEISM Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â This is a look at the roots of Quaker nontheism today. Nontheist Friends are powerfully drawn to Quaker practices but they do not accompany this with a faith in God. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Nontheist is an umbrella term covering atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, pantheists and wiccaists. You can combine nontheist [...]
Chanticleer’s Call: Religion as a Naturalist Views It
(from Godless for God’s Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism, David Boulton ed., Dent UK: Dales Historical Monographs, 2006, pp. 43-48; available at quakerbooks.org) We move. Sometimes we are moved and sometimes it results from our earlier movements. Some movements are private, only noticeable to the person moving. Some barely feel like motion. Talking and remembering [...]
Henry Joel Cadbury: No Assurance of God or Immortality, With Added Notes
What follows is a biographical essay about Henry Cadbury plus notes that are mainly excerpts from his writings. The essay, without notes, is in “Godless for God’s Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism” edited by David Boulton, published in 2006 by Dales Historical Monographs (ISBN 0-9511578-6-8). That book is available from the publisher (Hobsons Farm, Dent, Cumbria LA10 5RF, [...]
On Quaker Unity
Unity during meeting for worship for attention to business is familiar to Quakers. It is a commitment to move forward together and, significantly, it does not mean we have to hold the same views. This method of doing business has long been characteristic of Quakers.
The NTF dove
It would be nice to know who else uses our dove logo. Happily, it appears on a page about a peace fair at Buckingham Friends School (http://home.comcast.net/~buckinghamfriends/peacefair.htm). The dove was found in the public domain in 2004 by Crystal Hashmet when she created the first NTF website at www.quaker.org. Let’s see where else this little [...]
Notes for “David Duncan and the Free Friends of Manchester”
Here, after a brief introduction, are excerpts from the writings of the Free Friends of Manchester, England. These are meant to accompany the chapter, “The Making of a Quaker Nontheist Tradition,” in Godless for God’s Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism. The original text will be posted on this website in March 2007, but not before [...]
Notes for “Chanticleer’s Call: Religion as a Naturalist Views It”
These notes are keyed to the paragraphs in my chapter, �Chanticleer�s Call: Religion As A Naturalist Views It,� in Godless for God�s Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism. The original text will not be posted on this website until March 2007 so as not to interfere with book sales as we attempt to recover the costs. [...]
“Quakers from the Viewpoint of a Naturalist,” with notes
(published in Friends Journal, March 2006, pp. 18-20) The text of the Friends Journal article follows, and then notes expanding on several cryptic statements in the article. At the end is a brief reading list. I grew up loving nature and feeling part of it – dirt, bugs, people, and everything. It was, and still [...]
Carl Sagan’s Great Demotions and his religion for the future
Carl Sagan saw that humans of undergone a series of demotions during the last five centuries and are still struggling with them. He also called our attention to a religion for the future. Quaker nontheists have a place in this process.
Stages in a Journey
“Os, at Radnor Meeting we accept atheists!” This was during an interview when, at 18 years of age, I was asked me to confirm my Quaker membership. God had no place in my personal religion but honesty did and I was fumbling with the questions that touched on Quaker doctrine. The kind Friend’s comment sustained [...]
Seeking a Religion of Daily Life
For some Quakers, religion is primarily about daily lives and living as well as possible in ones meeting community and in the wider world. This is Quakerism with an emphasis on our lives rather than an emphasis on talk about these lives. Standing on a rock in Firbank Fell in 1652, George Fox called out, [...]
Quaker in a Material World
From Quaker Theology, #8 Spring-Summer 2003
Read full story · Comments are closed
