etic dancing. Even better………
William J. Seymour
…spiritualistic manifestations, hypnotic forces and fleshly contortions…
sounds quite intriguing....
Richard Riss [describing William Durham and his jerking and quaking as he was “worked” by the spirit at Azusa Street.
“…February-March, 1907), On Friday evening, March 1, …. I jerked and quaked under it for about three hours. It was strange and wonderful and yet glorious. He worked my whole body, one section at a time, first my arms, then my limbs, then my body, then my head, then my face, then my chin, and finally at 1 a.m. Saturday, Mar. 2, after being under the power for three hours, He finished the work on my vocal organs, and spoke through me in unknown tongues.”
BUT here I found shameful evidence that the persecution continues. Read any Christian USA based fundamentalist Internet site comments and they still call this form of practise – ‘the work of the Devil’; or ‘shameful’ or somehow ‘wrong’. The persecution persists ………….
“People falling, violently shaking and levitating, shouting and screaming, making all manner of animal noises, howling, screeching, and laughing hysterically and uncontrollably, creates an atmosphere of physical chaos confusion, in which demonic activity is commonly mistaken for a “wave of the Spirit.”
Here, a totally bizarre statement….
Some people are natural healers...that is not a biblical observation, ………. "Natural healers" are what shamans, witches and mystics claim to be. These peoples are trained in their practice; they are not gifted by the Holy Spirit.
Aaaah ……..the Inquisition lives and it appears to live in the USA……….
The Quakers today
The Quakers as a mystic movement may no longer rely on the sort of direct experience they once did, but the legacy of this experience, one free of dogma and creeds, one which went back to the fundamental teachings of Jesus and one with a strong sense of community and ethical values, lived on and still lives on.
Quakers have over the years made an enormous contribution to many cultures. Many of the men who founded businesses succeeded because they both looked after their employees, - in some cases even providing them with housing, schooling and medical care, - and were honest and ethical in their business dealings. In a sense they lived Christianity as it was intended to be lived. And they were very successful as a result. Examples include
- banking - including Lloyds Banking Group (founded by Sampson Lloyd), Barclays PLC, Backhouse's Bank and Gurney's Bank;
- life assurance - Friends Provident;
- pharmaceuticals - Allen & Hanburys;
- chocolate - Cadbury, Terry's, Fry's;
- confectionery - Rowntree;
- biscuit manufacturing - Huntley & Palmers;
- match manufacture - Bryant & May, [Francis May and William Bryant]
- shoe manufacturing - Clarks.
Quakers were also very prominent in providing schools. In England, many Quaker schools sprang up, with Friends School Saffron Walden being the most prominent.
Later in America they founded both schools and colleges – for example, Wilmington Friends School (1748), Haverford College (1833), Guilford College (1837), Pickering College (1842), Earlham College (1847), Swarthmore College (1864), Wilmington College (Ohio) (1870), Bryn Mawr College (1885), Friends Pacific Academy (now George Fox University) (1885), Friends University (1898), and Whittier College (1901).
Some Quakers in North America and Great Britain also became well known for their involvement in the abolition of slavery.
Quakers are also still against war and campaign ceaselessly against the use of violence in any conflict.
As Jesus said ‘blessed are the peacemakers’.
- Let your words be true – Symbolism of Speaking and Silence amongst 17th C Quakers – Richard Bauman
- The Beginnings of Quakerism – William C Braithwaite
- A Brief Recollection of Remarkable Passages and Occurrences relating to Margaret Fell – Margaret Fell
- The Later Periods of Quakerism – Rufus Jones
- Theology in Post Liberal perspective – Daniel Leichty
- The Quaker way
- The Journal of George Fox – John Nickalls
- Faith and Practise – var