Some Online Theological Essays
by the Editor of Quaker Theology, Chuck Fager
Articles dealing with Bible study, liberal Quaker history and thought, and recent Quaker theological controversies
The Authenticity of Liberal Quakerism: A concise explanation of why this Friend considers the liberal strand of Quaker history and thought a legitimate heir of early Quaker experience and thought.
Beyond the Age of Amnesia: Charting the Course of 20th Century Liberal Quaker Theology: An article in the journal, “Quaker Theology.”
A Biographical sketch of Chuck Fager
Conservative Quakerism Rising? A Review of Lloyd Lee Wilson’s “Wrestling With Our Faith Tradition.”“Godless For God’s Sake”
The “Core” Quaker Theology: Is There Such a Thing? A reflection on the nature and evolution of religious thought, within Quakerism and affecting it from outside.
A Critique of the Richmond Declaration:The “Richmond [Indiana] Declaration of Faith” has been used by many groups (and strongly rejected by many others) as the equivalent of a formal creed since it was produced in 1887. This essay explains why one liberal Friend can’t accept it.
Four Thoughts on Bible study: Brief pieces on how the Bible can usefully be used and studied among Friends, without literalism or dependence on dogma.
FGC’s “Uniform Discipline” Rediscovered. (Reprinted from Quaker History, Vol. 89, Fall 2000. by Chuck Fager. An introduction to the lost “Rosetta Stone” of 20th Century liberal Quaker religious thought. The Full text of this Discipline is now online, and the link is below, in the next section.
Friends’ Ecclesiology and the ‘Quaker-Wide Web.’Another essay on recent Quaker theology and practice, in “Quaker Theology.”
“A Great Deep”: The Peace Testimony & Historical Realism. A review essay dealing with two landmark books: Walking in the Way of Peace: Quaker Pacifism in the Seventeenth Century, by Meredith Baldwin Weddle; and British Quakerism 1860-1920: the Transformation of a Religious Community, by Thomas C. Kennedy.
An Introduction to Biblical Wisdom: Four short articles about the parts of the Bible often called the “wisdom texts.”
Landmarks & Heroes of Liberal Quaker History: Profiles of three important figures who shaped the modern liberal Quaker tradition: Hannah Barnard, Joel & Hannah Bean, along with a sketch of the crucial Manchester Conference of 1895, when British Quakerism turned from its evangelical past in new directions.
Lucretia Mott, Liberal Quaker Theologian. How a woman minister set the course and the content of most US liberal Quaker theology, and why she has not received her proper recognition as a seminal figure in our religious history.
A “Prophet” among us: Licia Kuenning & her “Farmington Prophecy” of 2005-2006 – Part 1
“Prophecy” Delayed? Or “Prophecy” Failure: The “Farmington Prophecy” – Part 2
Quakers as a “Chosen People.” An Examination of Contemporary Quaker Identity, by Chuck Fager.
Quakers Caught in a Satanic Witchhunt: A shocking report on how a family of British Quakers in the Orkney islands were swept up in the frenzy over purported “satanic cult” activity.
A Quaker Declaration of War: Applying military strategic thought to Quaker peace work.
Quaker Theological Struggles in the 1990s: A Glimpse of the “Realignment” Conference. A call for separation, under the slogan “realignment” shook much of American Quakerism in the early 1990s. Here is a first-hand report from a conference organized by its advocates in 1991.
Quaker Theology: A Progressive Journal & Forum For Discussion & Study.
Reconsidering the Friends Peace Testimony: A critical analysis of the classic 1660 statement of Friends’ pacifism.
A Review of the “Womens Bible Commentary”:An overview of the first major scholarly Bible commentary prepared exclusively by women scholars. This piece follows an excerpt from the book, “A Respondent Spark: The Basics of Bible Study.”
Shaggy Locks & Birkenstocks: Liberal Friends Discover Fox: a paper delivered at a Swarthmore College Symposium on the Legacy of George Fox, October 2002
Speaking Peace, Living Peace:A case study of how one Yearly Meeting struggled to articulate and live the Peace Testimony during the U.S. Civil War, based on their own records.
A Theist Friend’s Appreciation of Quaker Non-theism — Part 1 “The Trouble With God”
A Theist Friend’s Appreciation of Quaker Non-theism —
Part 2
The Trouble With Ministers.A critical examination of the current efforts to re-establish the system of “recorded ministers” among liberal unprogrammed Quaker groups.