All the essays in this issue
are copyright © by the respective authors,
and all rights are reserved by them.

The views expressed in articles in Quaker Theology are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the Editors, or Quaker Ecumenical Seminars in Theology.

Editor’s Introduction #4

By Anne K Riggs, Associate Editor In this issue of Quaker Theology we highlight concerns of peace and violence, ecclesiology and theological method, or ways of thinking and talking about theological subjects – about God, about ourselves in relation to God and to one another in a worshiping community, and as people who worship and who live …

A Report on the North American Launch of the World Council of Churches’ Decade to Overcome Violence

By Ann K. Riggs. April 23 to 25, 2001, I was one of those representing Friends at the launch of the Decade to Overcome Violence of the World Council of Churches (2001-2010). We met at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, Tennessee, a retreat and education center associated with the United Methodist Church. The lovely setting, with …

Friends’ Ecclesiology and The Quaker-Wide Web

By Chuck Fager Ecclesiology, the nature of the church, is a bubbling issue among American Friends today, at least of the unprogrammed variety. Almost anywhere you care to look, Yearly Meetings are struggling with their structures, worrying about staff or no staff, laying down or propping up committees, taking corporate sabbaticals, and so forth. This …

What Can The Bible Teach Us About Peacemaking?

(Originally presented at the Quaker Peace Roundtable 2001) By Ron Mock I. Introduction I have been asked to bring to the 2001 Quaker Peace Roundtable a reflection on what the Bible teaches about peacemaking. I accepted the task with some reservations. For one thing, among the peace churches (at least) the subject has gotten a little …

The Bible & Peacemaking — A Response

By Chuck Fager Are there other ways of looking at the Bible and what it may have to teach us about Peacemaking? In particular, are there other ways to take the Bible seriously, on this topic? Ron Mock invites his readers to develop alternative approaches, and here I’ll attempt to sketch one. Following Ron’s example, …

A review of “Anabaptist Theology in Face of Postmodernity: A Proposal for the Third Millennium”*

Reviewed by Thomas Finger1 Western systematic, or constructive, theology has developed largely within “mainline” communions– most notably, Reformed, Lutheran and Catholic. Since about 1970, however, a broadly postmodern atmosphere has encouraged explicit theologizing among more particular, often marginalized, groups: blacks, women, Hispanics and many others. And since about 1980, these have been joined by “believers’ …

“Refiner’s Fire: A Religious Engagement with Violence”* a Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Gros An African American Womanist Perspective on Violence The African American “Womanist” perspective, developed in this volume, is an important explication from within a culture that has been the recipient of violence. It provides both a critique of society’s violent culture and of those whose advocacy of nonviolence emerges from a dominant …

A Reflection: This Is a Start

Core Beliefs of Quakers By Dana Kester-McCabe Recently I attended a weekend gathering to study Quaker theology. It was an introduction to the terms and the traditions used in exploring this topic. The event was hosted by Chuck Fager and Ann Riggs. It was intended to inspire more people to explore and discuss what the …

About the Contributors

Chuck Fager is Editor of Quaker Theology. He was also Co-Clerk of the 2001 Quaker Peace Roundtable. His newest book is The Harlot’s Bible: Quaker Essays, forthcoming from Kimo Press. Thomas Finger, Mennonite World Conference, author of Christian Theology: An Eschatological Approach (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985) and Self, Earth & Society: Alienation & Trinitarian Transformation (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1997) is currently engaged in …