A Crash Course in Quaker History
In this week’s video, Quaker educator Tom Hoopes gives a three-minute crash course in the origins of Quakerism.
In 17th-century England, Quakerism rose during a period of political and religious upheaval. Early Quakers spoke plainly and refused to defer to religious, social, or political hierarchy, leading to imprisonment. Yet in prisons their numbers only grew as their message continued to spread. Ultimately, to quell the peaceful rebellion for the Truth launched by this Religious Society of Friends, King Charles II sent them across the Atlantic to the New World.
Filmed and edited by Michael Candelori
https://www.michaelcandelori.com
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Transcript
TOM HOOPES
The original Quakers in England in the 1600s identified themselves as the religious society of friends of the truth. And by truth, they meant the divine truth. And so that got shortened to friends. And so that has come down to us over the centuries. And the truth that we are friends of is the truth of the reality of the universality of spirit and the equality of all people.
[BUMPER]
TOM
Quakerism emerged in England in the 1650s at the time when England was falling apart at the seams.
There were many splinter religious groups that were emerging. Quakers got their hands on some of the earliest printed Bibles. The King James Bible had just been printed a few years earlier. And they actually read the original writing of the Bible, which until then only clergy had been able to get their hands on. And Quakers read it and they were like, wait a minute, we’ve been lied to. This is not what we’ve been told.
And so Quakers in the 1650s and 1660s courageously stood up for their understanding of the teachings of Jesus as they understood them. They were the early Christian church, the pre -Christian church revived. And in many ways, they got the message of Jesus much more directly and accurately than many of the established churches of the time.
At a time when… The Thames River froze over for the first time in anyone’s memory, and the King of England was overthrown. This was a time when people believed that the world was ending. So the book of Revelations, the last book of the Christian Bible, seemed to be pretty relatable at that moment. Because if the king was overthrown and the river froze, what’s next? Quakers stepped into that space with courage, conviction, and open -heartedness. And many people picked up the message.
A big way that Quakerism spread in the beginning, in the 17th century, was through the prison system. Because Quakers were imprisoned in England because they refused to take off their hats to the gentry and they refused to honor the priests of the Church of England who were telling them what to do and what to think.
And so they were thrown in prison and they went to prison and guess what happened? They started to convert prisoners. So Quakerism grew quickly through the prison system of 17th century England. to the point where they were becoming a tremendous threat and a nuisance.
And so they actually were encouraged and made to go to a worthless piece of real estate across the Atlantic Ocean, which we now know as Pennsylvania.