Quaker Theology

Issue #33, Winter 2019

Issue #33, published during the journal’s twentieth anniversary, examines theology as a force shaping conscience, power, social justice, and institutional division. An essay on Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X compares their responses to racism and political power while confronting white evangelical support for Trumpism. A recovered 1858 sermon by Lucretia Mott proclaims the inward kingdom of God, religious liberty, and respect for conscience. Two reports document the recent “separation generation” of American Friends, focusing on divisions in Wilmington, Indiana, Northwest, and North Carolina Yearly Meetings over LGBTQ inclusion, biblical interpretation, and institutional authority. Together, the issue shows why theology matters: beliefs about Scripture, power, equality, and conscience produce concrete consequences for both public witness and Quaker community.

  • Editor’s Introduction, #33

    By Chuck Fager Twenty years and 32 issues ago, we asked “What is theology, and why should Friends be interested in it?” Good questions. Here’s a true story that happened since, and offers one answer: Several years ago I visited a “Quaker” school in the South, supposedly to talk about peace. The school was expensive,…

  • Faith, Power, and Trump

    The article explores the responses of three major 20th-century religious thinkers—Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X—to racism and social justice in America, especially during the Civil Rights Movement and the Age of Trump. It contrasts their theological perspectives on faith, power, sacrifice, and activism, critiquing white evangelical support for Trumpism and urging…

  • Lucretia Mott — A Sermon

    In this 1858 sermon, Lucretia Mott presents the divine light within every person as the foundation of religion, emphasizing justice, love, and moral action over creeds, ceremonies, and clerical authority. Advocates freedom of conscience, rational interpretation of Scripture, and women’s spiritual independence, while condemning biblical justifications for slavery and war. Calls for abolition, racial equality,…

  • Moment of Truth: Wilmington Yearly Meeting Divides over a Familiar Set of Issues

    The article details the division within Wilmington Yearly Meeting (WYM) over same-gender marriage and biblical interpretation, leading to multiple monthly meetings disaffiliating from the yearly meeting to form independent or new affiliations. It traces the historical controversies, key meetings, and the theological and organizational disputes that culminated in the 2018 separation. The piece also reflects…

  • The Separation Generation

    This post examines a series of recent splits in American Quaker yearly meetings, driven largely by conflicts over LGBT inclusion and theological differences between evangelical and liberal Friends. It details the controversies and expulsions in several yearly meetings including Indiana, Northwest, North Carolina, and Wilmington, highlighting how disagreements over scripture interpretation and affirmation of LGBT…

  • About the Authors, #33

    Stephen Angell is the Leatherock Professor of Quaker Studies at the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana. Chuck Fager is the Editor of Quaker Theology. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. r. scot miller is a social worker and former dairy farmer in Michigan. Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793-1880) was born on Nantucket Island, settled…