Essays for Tihleigh: Part III - What do Friends Believe?

Like most religious groups, it is hard to say, “This is what all Friends believe.” Given the focus on individual spiritual development which is a hallmark of Friend belief, this becomes even more challenging. I’ll try to give you the basic ideas behind the movement, however.

First, Friends believe in a personal connection with divinity. George Fox taught that mankind needed no intercessors like priests of ministers to allow approach to the Christ. Today, while most Friends still keep a Christ-centric focus in their worship, many others feel that this direct connection is with God itself and that, while Christ was an important teacher, even his intercession is not necessary in order to commune directly with the divine spirit.

Friends also tend to have a more liberal view of the Bible. While some Friends traditions still claim it to be the literal “Word of God,” the majority of Friends believe it to be an important spiritual work with many truths, but not the final revelation of divinity. Friends believe in a very living, present God and it makes no sense that such a divinity would write one book some two thousand years ago and not allow for at least its alteration. Friends also realize that it was written, in the end, by mankind. Perhaps its writers were channeling directly from divine inspiration, perhaps not. However, since its inception, it has undergone numerous translations and retellings by men not acting under the will of any diety, so it is hard to credit with being straight from the horse’s mouth. Instead, the Bible (and many other spiritual works from other religions) are viewed as active agents. One should read these works in the Spirit in which they were written and then allow that same Spirit to speak directly to you and decide what relevance or meaning it holds for yourself in particular.

Friends also believe in That of God in all of us. In our creation, God endows us all with a certain measure of divine light. As we progress along our spiritual journey, both inwardly and externally, we can come to understand That of God in ourselves and grow it to its full potential. The Christ (and many other spiritual leaders and prophets) are seen as examples of people who understand this inner light completely and have embodied it wholly. This is one of the central precepts of Friends belief and from it stems the familiar Friends stances on equality of all, pacifism and social action and reform. If we all contain God within us, then we must all, on some level, be fundamentally equal so we must treat one another as equals. Further, if God resides in all of us, to harm another, by word or deed, is to directly harm God. Therefore pacifism is paramount in the actions of Friends.

There are two types of Friends meetings, the Meeting for Worship and the Meeting for Business. The Meeting for Worship is generally silent and is perhaps more akin to meditation rather than the usual Sunday services many people are used to. The belief is that, if we wait quietly, then sometimes through our connection with God, we can hear the divinity directly. There are no sermons or readings or even singing. People may speak when they feel called to, there’s no prohibition from it, but most Friends tend to observe the silence and use it as a time for reflection and quiet waiting. While some Friends meetings have moved away from this “unprogrammed” Meeting for Worship style, most still observe it at least in part. The Meeting for Business attempts to direct this “opening” towards the voice of God regarding specific issues or questions. From a pamphlet by Russell Nelson: When they meet for business Friends strive to obtain the ``sense of the meeting'' from those present before taking action for they recognize the light as a force which creates unity among all who respond to it or who ``answer it in one another''. It does not follow that a majority is always right; a prophetic role is a lonely one and, if a concern is deeply felt and continues to be raised, the Meeting will continue to hear it and may later come to recognize its validity.

As I mentioned, Friends view our faith and our God as alive and direct. Religion isn’t just memorizing rules and regulations and living by dogma, but directly experiencing divinity and living one’s life as a constant unfolding revelation of one’s own individual spirituality. God or divinity is constantly present in one’s life, so one’s whole life becomes holy and an act of worship. Therefore, one should work to affirm the presence of God in all one does. The full path of the spiritual journey, then, has both inward and outward components. Friends have traditionally been very outspoken because of this, particularly in matters of social reform and equality. Thus, to Friends, faith and religion is very “hands on” with one’s daily actions being just as important as showing up at meeting every Sunday.

The Religious Society of Friends is one of the three traditional “Peace Testimony” churches, along with the Bretheren and the Mennonites. For Friends, this opposition to war, violence and overcoming others stems from the belief in the unifying inner light of God in all of us. Friends tend to integrate various viewpoints into a higher level understanding and practice. When we seek to appeal to the light in another, we also appeal to the light within ourselves and may understand that their viewpoint is “right” while ours was “wrong” or that, ultimately, such terms may be meaningless in that particular situation.

This is a very brief overview of some of the general beliefs of the Religious Society of Friends. In practice, many Friends believe many different things and one of the truly compelling points of the faith in general is that, instead of being renounced as “not part of the faith”, these viewpoints are examined and incorporated as other individuals see fit and the amazing diversity of human experience and belief is celebrated, rather than condemned. Truth and wisdom can come from many sources and Friends are always willing to share their own experiences with others from other faiths as well as learn from the spiritual journeys of others in the hopes that the inner light within all of us will help us synthesize a higher level of understanding and connectedness between all people, regardless of their specific beliefs and traditions.