MOST INSIGHTFUL BOOKS ON FRIENDS/QUAKERISM

1. FIRST AMONG FRIENDS by Larry H. Ingle
2. THE HISTORY OF QUAKERISM by Elbert Russell
3. QUAKERS IN CALIFORNIA: The Effects of 19th century revivialism on western Quakerism by David C. LeShana
4. FRIENDS FOR 300 YEARS by Howard H. Brinton
5. AN INTRODUCTION TO TO QUAKERISM by Pink Dandelion
6. QUAKERS IN CONFLICT: The Hicksite Reformation by Larry H. Ingle
7. THE QUAKERS IN AMERICA by Thomas Hamm
8. THE BAPTIST-QUAKER CONFLICT IN 17TH CENTURY ENGLAND: PRIMITIVISM, RADICALISM, AND THE LAMB'S WAR by T. L. Underwood

First California yearly meeting of Friends
Gardiner, R. H.: photographer
1895
A group of people stands before Founders Hall at Whittier College (Calif.). [Printed on paper attached to matboard] First California Yearly Meeting of Friends Church. R. H. Gardiner, Arist. [Handwritten] March 1895. [Followed by lists of names from various states.]"
8.
9.
10.

Joel and Hannah Bean, from Iowa Yearly Meeting
College Park Association of Friends

From Friends Historical Library:
"Joel Bean (1835-1914) and his wife, Hannah Elliott Bean (1830-1909), were prominent Quaker ministers in Iowa Yearly Meeting in the mid-nineteenth century when Quaker settlements were expanding in Iowa. Joel Bean was born in Alton, New Hampshire, in 1825, the son of John and Elizabeth Hill Bean, and educated at Friends Boarding School in Providence, Rhode Island. He migrated to Iowa in 1853, and taught school at West Branch, Iowa, from 1850 to 1861. In 1859, he married Hannah Elliott Shipley in Philadelphia. Hannah was the daughter of Thomas and Lydia Shipley of Philadelphia. Joel Bean was appointed Clerk of Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1867, and he and Hannah traveled in Europe from 1872 to 1873. The Beans opposed the extremes of revivalism, but declined to join the Conservatives in withdrawing from Iowa Yearly Meeting. After their move to California, they joined a group of Friends who were initially affiliated with Iowa Yearly Meeting. They helped to form the College Park Association of Friends. However, Joel and Hannah were deposed as ministers by Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1893 and disowned by them in 1898. This action caused a strong reaction among Quakers outside of Iowa Yearly Meeting, particularly among English Friends. The Beans were subsequently received by New England Yearly Meeting as members and ministers. The Bean Papers consist primarily of the writings and correspondence of Joel Bean, although some material by Hannah Bean is also present. Joel Bean's writings include accounts of the Iowa separations, sermons, religious writings, school lessons, poetry, historical writings, memorials, and personal reminiscences. Over 1600 letters and 57 volumes of diaries
complete the collection"
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
https://web.archive.org/web/20050908150331/http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/friends/ead/5012bean.htm


In the Light,
Dan Wilcox
seaquaker@gmail.com

In the Midst of Quaker Meeting Fragmentation

How can a transcendent movement seeking the true,
the good, the just, the right, the compassionate
be an active witness of "truth to power" and to billions of humans in the midst of more severe trials
and crises,
if its own
center
doesn't hold?


How can we bring peace to others if we are caught in the mire of conflict?

How do we 'wrestle' in a loving way with others who understand differently?

Spiritual movements including organized religion, both formal
and informal, traditional and creedal, and revolutionary
and inclusive, indeed ALL human philosophies, lifestances,
worldviews of serious thought and action,
seem given to divisive fragmentation--
to one extreme or another; almost always
leaving us unbalanced, often distorted in our quest for truth.

Yet the Quaker movement itself swings back-and-forth-and-diagonally to 4 sides--
4 different poles of Light, seldom seeming to walk in wholeness.

An excerpt by Howard Brinton:
--

CHAPTER 10
Quaker Thought and the Present

"Through the three centuries of Quaker history the four primary elements present
in all religion have at different times
exerted their influence in varying degrees."

"During the first century an a half mysticism and evangelicalism were
in balance in the group as a whole though many individuals tended to stress one or the other;

during the nineteenth century mysticism and evangelicalism were in conflict,
each pressing the other to extremes
in the group as a whole, though in many individuals the two were in balance;

and during the past half century rationalism and humanitarianism
have assumed greater prominence, sometimes becoming dominant,
though here again there
are some individuals in whom the four tendencies are in balance."

"The best type of religion is one in which
the mystical,
the evangelical,
the rational and
the social
are so related that each exercises a restraint on the others.

Too exclusive an emphasis on mysticism results in a religion which is individualistic, subjective and vague;

too dominant an evangelicalism results in religion which is authoritarian,
creedal and external;

too great an emphasis on rationalism results in a cold, intellectual religion which appeals only to the few;

too engrossing a devotion to the social gospel results in a religion which,
in improving the outer environment,
ignores defects of the inner life which cause the outer disorder."

"In Quakerism the optimum is not equality in rank of the four elements.
The mystical is basic."
To purchase this powerful book check with Quaker Books--
https://quakerbooks.org/products/friends-for-350-years-3445

Brinton goes on to warn against "vitalism which worships the life-force
in its biological sense"
and the other distortions of
true enLIGHTenment.

About the only point where I disagree with Brinton is when he says
the 4 qualities "each exercise a restraint on the others."

Look instead at the four poles--that when most bathed in the Light,
the 4 different aspects,
(parts of true spiritual reality, the Transcendent), can bring reconciliation,
giving a redeeming uplifting of each other
and are the Seed of essential fulfillment,
the true purpose and goal of human beings.

Read Friends for 300 Years or the book's update, Friends for 350 years

Be not only intellectually enlightened, but raised up in the Light
to bring reconciliation, justice, and truth to the world!

In the LIGHT,

Daniel Wilcox

Howard H. Brinton's Insights and Warnings: the Modern World/Quaker Movement 64 Years Later

"Unless man [humanity:-*] can develop his[her] interior dimensions in such a way as to form a dyke against the floods from the world without, he will become engulfed in the world of nature and sink back to the subhuman level whence he long ago emerged."
Howard H. Brinton, Friends for 300 Years, 1952

How true this warning has become. In his brilliant book in 1952,
Friends for 300 Years, Brinton demonstrated not only insight
but prophetic foresight as to the future dangers of lopsided and
even delusionary philosophy/religion/ethics.

Surely, I need not document in detail more than I already have
(in the past few months of commentaries and reflections on this
blog) how modern American society--despite a few advances
including upholding rights for all humans--has seeped tragically
into relativism and subjectivism in ethics,
how so many smart educated humans
now claim that ethics are only
"personal preferences."

As bad as the 1950's were in many ways, most Americans including
Friends thought that there was objective good and evil, ultimate
truth, and that the Light is real, not a subjective experience.
Not so for many now in the darkening end of 2015.

Whew...that's the bad news.

But Brinton in the book offers
the complex answer of the Good News
as well.

According to Brinton, there are 4 key essentials in true religion:
"The best type of religion is one in which the mystical, the evangelical, the rational, and the social are so related that each exercises a restraint on the others.

--Too exclusive an emphasis on mysticism results in a religion which is individualistic, subjective, and vague;

--too dominant an evangelicalism results in a religion which is authoritarian, creedal, and external;

--too great an emphasis on rationalism results in a cold intellectual religion which appeals only to the few;

--too engrossing a devotion to the social gospel results in a religion which, in improving the outer environment, ignores defects in the inner life which cause the outer disorder.

In Quakerism the optimum is not equality in rank of the four elements. The mystical is basic. The Light Within occasions the acceptance or rejection of a particular authority, reason, or service." (pages 203-205, Friends for 300 Years by Howard H. Brinton, Pendle Hill)
--

While agreeing with Brinton so much in this book, I do disagree with his last statement--that "The mystical is basic. The Light Within..."

I'm not disagreeing with him or any other thinker in the sense that ultimate reality doesn't precede the rational but that for so many Quakers and other humans now, "mystical" has become another "empty-bucket" word which means a million different things. And has become primarily to mean something individualistic and postmodern.

If everyone were to use the term "mystical" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary sense, then I would agree:
"Full Definition of mystical
1
a : having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence...
b : involving or having the nature of an individual's direct subjective communion with God or ultimate reality..."


In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

--
*How dated 60-year-old books seem now with their un-egalitarianism language. It isn't surprising when one sees it in most books, but to see the old usage in a Friends' seminal work does shock, since Friends have emphasized equality to one degree or another for over 365 years. On the other hand, the "man," and "he's" were linguistic convention, probably something that Brinton didn't even notice.