Identity and diversity
The question of whether Quakers are Christians, and whether it matters, has stirred passionate discussion within our Religious Society for generations. As our community has evolved and diversified, this conversation has grown more complex and vital to our collective discernment.
George Fox and early Friends emerged from seventeenth-century English Christianity, seeking to restore authentic Christian faith. They spoke of Christ as their immediate teacher and emphasised direct revelation, understanding themselves as recovering primitive Christianity.
Today’s Quakerism encompasses a remarkable theological spectrum. Many Friends identify strongly as Christians, finding in Christ their saviour and guide. Others draw from multiple spiritual traditions or identify as universalist, humanist, or nontheist Friends. This diversity reflects both our principle of continuing revelation and our commitment to spiritual freedom, yet raises questions about Quaker identity’s boundaries.
The question affects our worship and ministry. When we gather in expectant silence, what are we expecting? How we understand divine presence shapes both our waiting and our speaking. It influences our sense of religious authority. Traditional Quaker Christianity locates authority in Christ’s immediate revelation, while non-Christian Friends may look to reason, experience, or other frameworks.
Our identity also affects relationships with other religious communities. Are we a Christian denomination, an interfaith community, or something uniquely our own?
Perhaps the question is not whether Quakers are Christians, but how we maintain spiritual unity while embracing theological diversity. Our tradition suggests focusing on practice rather than belief: the discipline of expectant waiting, the commitment to integrity and simplicity, and the call to work for justice and peace unite Friends across theological differences.
We can embrace continuing revelation itself as common ground. Whether we understand this as Christ’s teaching, the Spirit’s movement, or truth’s unfolding, we remain open to new understanding. This openness, rather than any theological position, may be distinctively Quaker.
All this is not a problem to be solved but a creative tension to be lived. Our diversity challenges and enriches us, keeping us spiritually vital. What matters most is not unanimous agreement, but whether we can seek truth together in love.
Early Friends trusted that sincere seekers, gathered in worship and committed to faithful living, would be led into truth. This same trust must guide us today. Perhaps our identity matters less than our faithfulness to the Light, and to the community that nurtures us.
Sungsoo Kim
Peacemakers
With regard to the news that the Peacemakers organisation is becoming a national one (News, 12 September), I’d love to hear more of this initiative and of Peacemakers in general.
I designed and wrote lots of educational materials while working for World Vision Australia (WVA) and Oxfam Australia in the late 80s and 90s. I had some trouble from the management of WVA because I refused to promote their Christian evangelicalism, but successfully resisted by simply saying that Australian state education is free and secular. They had no argument against that but were openly hateful towards my peace education and activism stance. I just kept quietly beavering away.
Eventually all the hoo-hah died down. James Nayler advised that we ‘weary out contention’. I followed his wise advice from the start.
Gerard Guiton
