The Friends Church arose
from a movement of Christian renewal, which took place in England during the
seventeenth century. George Fox (see George Fox) was the major leader in this movement. As a sensitive youth
he was repulsed by cold formalism and power politics in the church and by empty
pleasure-seeking outside the church. He studied his Bible and longed for
authentic faith. He got nowhere until he looked beyond human advisors to Jesus
Christ who “spoke to his condition.”
Immediately after his clear consciousness of saving grace,
he began to proclaim the power of Christ to free men and women from both the
guilt and power of sin in their lives. Thousands of seekers, disillusioned by
dry and formal religion during the struggle for religious dominance in England,
responded to the evangelical message of Fox and other young men and women the
Lord raised up. They proclaimed Christ as present now, by the Spirit, not by
biblical record alone or in ritual observance. Through the leadership of George
Fox, the early Friends Church made a tremendous impact in England, on the
European continent, and in the New Colonies. This new movement intrigued
thousands of ordinary people, intellectual leaders, and government authorities. Men such as scholar and writer Robert Barclay and statesman William Penn were
early advocates of the Friends movement.
The
Quaker Awakening of the church stands among the great revivals of Christianity. It challenged all efforts to establish “official” state religion and refused to
treat sin as merely environmental in nature. Instead, it called men and women
to freedom of religion, confident in the power of the Holy Spirit to change
human hearts as people responded inwardly to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
They
preferred to be called Friends in accordance with Jesus’
words as recorded in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”
Because of their religious enthusiasm they were nicknamed Quakers, a name which was
given in derision, but which came to be a symbol of integrity.
Many
thousands throughout the British Isles responded to the proclamation by Friends
evangelists that salvation does not depend upon the interposing of human
authority or the administration of any rite, ordinance, or ceremony. The
early Friends movement looked upon this as the completion of Luther’s
reformation, for they taught how the Holy Spirit enlightens every person,
reveals the need for salvation, and brings new life in Christ to the individual
and to the community of believers.
Early
Friends bore witness to Christ’s promises of new life and His abiding Presence
as our ever-present Teacher. Their message was growth in practical holiness,
which could be experienced by faithful believers in relationship with Jesus
Christ. They preached the sacramental life:
-
Believers are baptized into Christ by His promised Holy Spirit.
-
Believers partake of the body and the blood through the spiritual worship of
Jesus Christ.
-
The sacramental life is demonstrated by an ever-present relationship with
Jesus.
The
early movement consisted of people who were seeking a life-giving faith, rich
in relationship with the Christ of Scripture. They were a people who were
willing to pay the price for discipleship. Many spent months or years in
prisons because of their courage and commitment to live out the commands of
Christ. Many were martyred for their faith. They were a people gathered to
Christ, baptized with the Holy Spirit, communing with God in vital worship and
fellowship, and seeking to witness the good news of the Gospel in a world
shattered by civil and religious conflict.
