Living in virtue, declaring against war : the spiritual roots of the peace testimony

This is a wise and personal exploration of the peace testimony, and of the differences between principle pacifism and testimony pacifism. After reviewing early Friends' words on the peace testimony, and his own early experiences in trying to live by it, he pursues an understanding of its source.

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The peace testimony is not a general philosophical principle, but is the expression of changed lives, the fruit of personal spiritual transformation. Friends' testimonies are not judgments of the mind but voices of the heart, and the behavior that comes from this personal transformation. "Profess no more than you are," said Fox. When one yields to the Christ within, right action flows naturally.
He observes however that people are often drawn by attraction to what they take to be the principles or values of Quakerism, and with faithful spiritual discipline, they move to a deeper experience of the power and work of God in their heart, and thus to testimony Quakerism.

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