Society of Friends

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Does anyone else on this board belong to the Religious Society of Friends?
Just curious!
 
How come people believe in new sects such as that one which was established in the 17th century !!!🤷
 
The difference is that many miracles accompanied Christianity, so it convinces others to believe in it, while that 17th century sect did no miracles, so it’s illogical to believe in it, the same thing applies to Islam…
 
The difference is that many miracles accompanied Christianity, so it convinces others to believe in it, while that 17th century sect did no miracles, so it’s illogical to believe in it, the same thing applies to Islam…
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Mmm, in my experience, and from history, Quakers seem to have a very high rate of taking the Gospel seriously and living it. There’s a reason people trusted food produced and sold by Quakers, before we had strict regulations on safety and quality. There’s a reason people still feel so positively toward the Fry’s and Cadbury’s and Rowntree’s brands, even though they’ve all been bought out by multinationals now: excellent people to work for.

I would be very surprised to see a Quaker wander into a thread on a message board about whether there were any other contributors who were Catholic, and start criticising Catholics. I am sadly resigned to see a Catholic wander into a thread on a message board about whether there were any other contributors who were Quaker, and start criticising Quakers.

Obviously we don’t think they have the fullness of the truth, but Quakers usually have actually spent quite a while deciding what they believe and why, and developing their spirituality. If you want to ask what they believe and why, then you are free to start a thread asking that. I expect there will be some Quakers on here who would be glad to answer such questions, in an appropriate thread. But ambushing Quakers simply for saying they are Quaker is not Christlike.
 
Interesting fact about the Irish and the Quakers I discovered researching my family history.
Many Irish converted to the Society of Friends in the 19th century because, the story goes, only the Catholic Church and the Quakers came to the aid of starving Irish during the Great Hunger. I found a few Irish with my last name buried in Quaker cemetaries.
 
As I am reconstructing my family’s history, I beleive I have found out why my great-grandfather seemed to pop out of nowhere in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (then called Pittsburg) in 1888.
I tracked him back to England where, apparently, his parents fled Ireland during the Hunger sometime in the late 1840s or early 1850s. My great GREAT grandfather (GGGF) and his family fled through Scotland to England, where the only work available for them were the workhouses, cotton mills. My GGF worked as a cotton spinner as a teen and learned blacksmithing. All the girls stayed in England, while the boys went to America for a better life. My GGF was the youngest and came over in 1886.
As for my GGGF, the trail goes cold before 1851.
I assume the caos of the time prevents even the most adept geneaologist from discovering any facts.
 
Sam_777 said:
The difference is that many miracles accompanied Christianity, so it convinces others to believe in it, while that 17th century sect did no miracles, so it’s illogical to believe in it, the same thing applies to Islam…
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Your faith is based on belief in miracles? 🤷
 
You live in Saudi-Arabia? Well, that is an inconvenient place to become Christian.
 
You wouldn’t expect to find a lot of Quakers on “catholic.com.” They tend not to engage in a lot of debate and disputation. And they’re not Catholic – perhaps the least “catholic” of all the Christian denominations in terms of hierarchy, liturgy, sacraments, etc., etc.
 
Greetings All,

I am a Quaker and would be happy to answer any questions you all may have. I can tell you as a general matter, in response to an earlier post stating that Quakers are the least like Catholocism of all of the demoninations, I disagree.

Because Quakers believe that the real, actual presence of God is with us at meetings, this places us quite similar to Catholics and very different from the other denominations. Much like the Catholic belief in the real presence contained in the Eucharist, Quakers are one of the only other religions to believe in the real presence at our meetings. I can tell you from personal experience, the presence is very real.

When I attend Mass with friends, I get the same feeling, and can feel the true presence of God in the Eucharist. This is just further proof that if we stop and remain still and silent, it is easy to see that we all worship the same beautiful, loving God, even though we might see Him through different lenses at times.

In Peace and Love,

Steve
 
You seem to have a thorough knowledge of the famine, are there any books that you would recommend on this subject?
 
smkessl1978 said:
Greetings All,

I am a Quaker and would be happy to answer any questions you all may have. I can tell you as a general matter, in response to an earlier post stating that Quakers are the least like Catholocism of all of the demoninations, I disagree.

Because Quakers believe that the real, actual presence of God is with us at meetings, this places us quite similar to Catholics and very different from the other denominations. Much like the Catholic belief in the real presence contained in the Eucharist, Quakers are one of the only other religions to believe in the real presence at our meetings. I can tell you from personal experience, the presence is very real.

When I attend Mass with friends, I get the same feeling, and can feel the true presence of God in the Eucharist. This is just further proof that if we stop and remain still and silent, it is easy to see that we all worship the same beautiful, loving God, even though we might see Him through different lenses at times.

In Peace and Love,

Steve
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Hi Steve and welcome to CAF. I’ve corresponded with my friend Publisher who has always been so kind in answering questions so either one of you can take this one. But since you’re new and in your very first sentence said you would be happy to answer questions about the Society of Friends, I’ll address this one to you.

Do Quakers believe the real, actual, physical presence of God in body and blood is present as Catholics? Or as I believe Lutherans do. And as I believe Episcopalians officially do. Or are you speaking of His real spiritual presence? Or do you mean His body is present since all of you are part of His body? Or something else? Thanks so much. God bless you and peace be with you.
 
TypesAndShadows said:
Mmm, in my experience, and from history, Quakers seem to have a very high rate of taking the Gospel seriously and living it. There’s a reason people trusted food produced and sold by Quakers, before we had strict regulations on safety and quality. There’s a reason people still feel so positively toward the Fry’s and Cadbury’s and Rowntree’s brands, even though they’ve all been bought out by multinationals now: excellent people to work for.

I would be very surprised to see a Quaker wander into a thread on a message board about whether there were any other contributors who were Catholic, and start criticising Catholics. I am sadly resigned to see a Catholic wander into a thread on a message board about whether there were any other contributors who were Quaker, and start criticising Quakers.

Obviously we don’t think they have the fullness of the truth, but Quakers usually have actually spent quite a while deciding what they believe and why, and developing their spirituality. If you want to ask what they believe and why, then you are free to start a thread asking that. I expect there will be some Quakers on here who would be glad to answer such questions, in an appropriate thread. But ambushing Quakers simply for saying they are Quaker is not Christlike.
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:clapping: Amen. Nor do I necessarily believe would be “ambushing” others Christians for that matter. God bless and peace.
 
George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends (or Quakerism), was a Christian mystic of the highest order and an accomplished contemplative in the tradition of the mystics preceding him both Catholic (ie the Fathers, Bernard of Clairvaux, Eckhart and the Rhineland mystics, Ruysbroeck, the Franciscans etc.) and Protestant (ie Jacob Boehme). He followed in this tradition and yet adapted it and transformed it to fit the situation which he found himself in during the 17th century, bewildered by an array of divided churches which he believed were obsessed with ritualism and ultimately were corrupt. He thus founded his own community after a spiritual experience of Christ after reading the Bible, based upon the “Inner Light” of the Lord.

He was a fascinating man and Quakers are wonderful people who follow a religious tradition which has much in common with our dear Catholic mystics.

The key difference between a Quaker and a Catholic is that Quakers do not believe, as far as I am aware, in the necessity of actual water baptism or any other outward sacraments. Nevertheless, given their obvious Christian virtues, I am willing to believe that many of them will have (from the Catholic perspective) baptism by implicit desire given their love for God above all things and adherence to his will as known to the dictates of their conscience.

The great Quaker mystic John Woolman was an early abolitionist (opponent of slavery). There are Orthodox Quakers and more liberal ones.
 
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