Description
Book SynopsisThomas D. Hamm (Earlham College) argues that a self-conscious, liberal Quakerism emerged in North America between 1790 and 1920. It had three characteristics. The first was a commitment to liberty of conscience. The second was pronounced doubts about orthodox beliefs, such as the divinity of Christ. Finally, liberal Friends saw themselves as holding beliefs fully consistent with early Quakerism. Stirrings appeared as early as the 1790s. Hicksite Friends in the 1820s, although perceiving themselves as traditionalists, manifested all of these characteristics. When other Hicksites took such stances in even more radical directions after 1830, however, bitter divisions ensued. Orthodox Friends were slower to develop liberal thought. It emerged after 1870, as higher education became central to the Gurneyite branch of Orthodox Quakerism, and as some Gurneyites responded to influences in the larger society, and to the changes introduced by the advent of revivalism, by embracing modernist Protestantism.
Table of ContentsLiberal Quakerism in America in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1790–1920 Thomas D. Hamm Abstract Keywords 1 Introduction 2 Early Stirrings: Ireland, the Hudson Valley, and New England 3 The Hicksite Separation 4 Second Thoughts about Reformation: Hicksites, 1828–1835 5 Progressive Friends, 1835–1860 6 The Triumph of Liberalism among Hicksite Friends, 1860–1920 7 The Complicated Orthodox Path to Liberalism, Part I 8 The Complicated Orthodox Path to Liberalism, Part II 9 Gurneyites and Modernists 10 The Modernist Controversy to 1925 11 Conclusion References
