Doctrine of the "inner light": its European development immediately prior to the foundation of the Society of Friends, and in that society from the time of George Fox to the present day

Abstract

The individual character of most religious groups takes its rise in some dominant idea or distinctive mode of conduct: it may "be a question of theology, a theory of organization, or a combination of both. In the Society of Friends it has "been the doctrine of the "Inner Light" - the belief that all men everywhere have been endowed by God with some emanation from himself. The following study will address itself to the task of showing how this doctrine was a determining one in the formation of the Society and has continued to be a central tenet in it up to the present time.

Because, so often, a religious genius is indebted to his contemporaries and immediate predecessors, in his particular field of interest, for something of his mind content and religious predisposition, and to show the historic connections by which the Society at its inception was linked up with similar movements, the study commences with a rapid survey of the mystical ideas and movements, both on the Continent and in England, which prior to and in the time of George Fox, most probably influenced his thought and certainly provided the conditions in England which made possible the more rapid. spread of Quakerism.

George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, not only left an indelible impression by the exercise of his personal influence upon the Society, but also profoundly influenced its thought by his own conceptions of what the doctrine of the "Inner Light" entailed. His Journal is a most comprehensive volume and from a study of it it is possible to arrive at an ordered idea of the implications of his conception of the "Inner Light." So it is that a detailed examination of that Journal, in this respect, is regarded as the logical starting place for a study of the development of the doctrine in the Society from his time to the present.

Fox attracted to the movement men of varying ability, but none so capable as the three to whom we have applied the term scholastics - Barclay, Penington, and Penn. The importance of Fox's Journal from an historical standpoint cannot be over-emphasized, but it was Barclay f s famous "Apology" which set the standard for the interpretation of Fox's main idea for nearly 200 years. It would be unfair, however, to isolate the "Apology" from the works of Barclay's contemporaries, Penington and Penn, in essaying the work of discovering what was the general view of the time regarding the "Inner Light."

Much of the passion with which the work of propaganda and organization was carried forth during the first years of Quakerism's expansion v/as undoubtedly due to the drive engendered by its ideas, but some of it was a natural reaction to the persecution directed against Dissenters, /hen the conflict between the State and Dissent was decreased by the passing of the Toleration Act in 1689 it brought some lessening of the heroic spirit in Quakerism, and inaugurated a gradual withdrawal of Quaker interest from the sphere of ordinary social life to a gradual concentration upon the more personal nature of their mystical faith. In this way there followed the barren period of quietism in the study of which we shall notice the changed emphases in the doctrinal interpretations which it produced.

During the first period of the Evangelical revivals, due to the work of the Wesleys and Whitefield in the I8th. century, the isolation of Quakerism was proof against any breach being made in their theological positions by the doctrines of the Evangelical party. But the theology of Evangelicalism did, at the end of the century, begin to percolate into the Society, and by the beginning of the I9th. century had started definitely to affect the outlook of many influential friends. Between the fundamental positions of mysticism and the doctrines of Evangelicalism there is a definite opposition, and the period in which the Evangelical theology found some supporters in Quakerism was also the time of separations. Both in England and the United States of America deep-seated divisions of thought made their appearance and soon led to schisms in the Society like that caused by the "Beacon" controversy in ^England and the Hicksite trouble in America. The main contention was of necessity that concerned with the doctrine of the "Inner Light". We shall briefly examine the causes which led to the advent of Evangelical doctrine among Friends, note the divisions which occurred, and proceed to study the expressions of Quaker faith at this time.

Quakerism became, however, open to all the influences of contemporary life and thought. As a consequence of the separations of the Evangelical period it was in a more receptive mood to extraneous ideas than hitherto, but also less prone to dogmatism in the matter of interpretations of its own faith. It was in this spirit that it moved out of the difficult times of separations into the period of modern thought beginning towards the close of the 19th century. The great advances in the realms of theological, philosophical, psychological, and scientific thought have "been welcomed by modern Quakerism; so much so that it is a difficult task to evaluate the more general attitude of modern Friends to contemporary viewpoints. Such an openmind -ed attitude and democratic spirit characterize this period that within the "body many and varied interpretations of the doctrine of the "Inner Light" find currency. In consequence the study of the modern period is both stimulating and fruitful after the painful episodes of the Evangelical period and the barrenness of the ^uietist times. Our study will tend to show, what is the author's conviction, that all through the history of the society of Friends the one distinguishing doctrine has been that of the "Inner Light" and all other peculiarities of belief and conduct have arisen out of an interpretation or application of the same.