Creeds and Quakers : what's belief got to do with it?

by Robert Griswold

Paper Book, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

CP 377/1

Publication

Pendle Hill (2005), Pamphlet

ISBN

0875743773 / 9780875743776

Local notes

Pendle Hill Pamphlet 377

Description

Quaker spiritual authority lies not in belief systems and in creeds, but in the direct communion between individuals and the Divine Spirit. The pamphlet’s author asserts that Friends too often hold Quaker testimonies as ideals, as ends in themselves, rather than as fruits of the Spirit. Without spiritual grounding, testimonies become creeds.

User reviews

LibraryThing member QuakerReviews
This excellent pamphlet explains clearly, gracefully, and wisely the original and current Quaker witness against creeds. Please note that this does not mean that you get to believe anything you want. Griswold lays out the earliest Quakers' experience of faith as direct experience of communion with
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the divine Teacher, involving giving up one's own concepts, beliefs, desires, expectations, hatreds, etc., and then the ways in which creeds have crept back into Quakerism.
He explains the reasons for the witness against creeds, that include that creeds contribute to a false sense of self, and thus can lead away from the genuine direct experience of the divine. Creeds can screen us, make us blind to the spiritual reality that we experience. Creeds lead us to judge others rashly while we are blind to our own faulty thinking. Reality is something to be aware of, not to be believed. This important Quaker witness arises from a subtle but powerful awareness of spiritual reality.
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Call number

CP 377/1

Barcode

103
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