Quaker Theology

Issue #20, Winter-Spring 2012

Focuses on two forms of conflict confronting contemporary Christians and Friends: division within the church and participation in national warfare. Several contributions document the approaching split in Indiana Yearly Meeting over LGBTQ inclusion, biblical authority, congregational autonomy, and institutional control, portraying the separation as a painful Quaker “divorce.” A second group challenges the alliance between American evangelical Christianity and militarism through reviews, excerpts, and an interview with antiwar theologian Laurence Vance, who condemns religious support for the warfare state. The issue also presents Michael Birkel’s translation of Robert Barclay’s historical defense of Quakerism, connecting present disputes with the tradition’s long history of theological controversy. Together, the issue examines how Christians justify conflict—and whether faith can instead sustain conscience, peace, and integrity amid profound disagreement.

  • Editor’s Introduction: Divorce in Indiana – Quaker Style

    The article examines the ongoing division within Indiana Yearly Meeting over issues related to LGBTQ+ inclusion, highlighting the conflict between liberal and orthodox factions. It explores historical precedents, scriptural justifications, and the potential outcomes, warning of a likely schism akin to a church “divorce.”

  • Christianity and War, and Other Essays Against the Warfare State.

    This post reviews Laurence M. Vance’s book *Christianity and War, and Other Essays Against the Warfare State*, which critiques the deep entanglement of American evangelical Christianity with militarism. Vance argues from an orthodox, fundamentalist perspective against the theological justifications for U.S. wars, exposing “American War Christianity” as a dangerous and idolatrous mindset that conflates national…

  • An Excerpt from “Christianity and War:” Are You a Christian Warmonger?

    This post critiques the justification of the Iraq War by some Christians who use Scripture to endorse violence and war. It includes a self-assessment test designed to reveal the extent to which a Christian may support war and militarism, challenging readers to reconsider their beliefs about Christianity and violence.

  • From the Editor, #20

    This is a compact, but packed issue: it opens with a new dispatch by Associate Editor Stephen Angell on the ongoing saga of approaching division in Indiana Yearly Meeting. This is our third update on the situation, and there has been plenty of action and discussion since our previous effort. And while there is plenty…

  • The Full text of Barclay’s Observations, translated from the Latin by Michael Birkel

    Some Christian Observations on the Theological Disputation of Nikolaus Arnold, who proclaims himself a Doctor and Professor of Most Sacred Theology, Concerning Quakerism, and a Brief Refutation of It, by Robert Barclay Preface To everyone in all of Belgium and in particular to the doctors, professors, and students of the Academy of Franeker, Robert Barclay…

  • The Impending Split in Indiana Yearly Meeting

    By Stephen W. Angell As we reported in Issues #18 (Fall-Winter 2010-2011) and #19 (Spring-Summer 2011), Indiana Yearly Meeting, after anguished discussion in an all-day Representative Council Meeting on October 1, 2011, agreed on a year-long process of “Deliberative/Collaborative Reconfiguration.” The roots of this momentous decision lay in a minute, approved in June of 2008,…

  • An Interview With Laurence Vance Author of Christianity and War

    QT. Please tell us something about your own background: where you were born, brought up, etc. And where you were educated; your brief bio speaks of degrees in history and theology – where did you study, and what fields did you concentrate in? LV. I am a semi-native Floridian. I was brought up on the…

  • Appendix

    February 3, 2012 Dear Friends of Indiana Yearly Meeting, As the Reconfiguration Task Force of Indiana Yearly Meeting, we are writing to invite your input to the early part of the reconfiguration process. As you may recall, at the called meeting of the Representative Council on October 1, 2011, Friends approved “Model 5 — Deliberative/Collaborative…

  • About the Contributors

    Stephen Angell, is the Leatherock Professor of Quaker Studies at Earlham School of Religion, Richmond Indiana. Michael Birkel is Proessor of Religion at Earlham College. Chuck Fager is Director of Quaker House in Fayetteville, North Carolina.