Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Overview

The Religious Society of Friends arose in seventeenth-century England under George Fox, teaching that Christ speaks directly to the gathered meeting by his Spirit — the Inner Light — and rejecting a separated clergy, prescribed liturgy, and the outward sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper altogether. Modern Friends range from evangelical pastoral meetings that preach Christ and Scripture plainly to unprogrammed liberal meetings that are universalist or non-theistic. AskCredo places Friends in the C-tier: the historic testimony against oath-taking, violence and slavery earned Christian respect, but the denial of the sacraments Christ instituted and the placing of the Inner Light beside or above Scripture are departures the Reformed confessions name directly, and the modern spread of belief means nothing can be assumed of a given meeting.

Confession / Standard

None binding; Faith and Practice varies by yearly meeting

Governance

congregational

Soteriology

mixed

Key Beliefs

• The Inner Light — Christ's immediate teaching of the gathered meeting
• No outward baptism or Lord's Supper
• No separated clergy
• Peace testimony
• Plain speech and integrity

Distinctives

• Rejection of the sacraments Christ instituted
• The Inner Light placed beside or above Scripture
• Universalism and non-theism in liberal yearly meetings

Background

Global · Founded 1652