Quakers Research Paper

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Quakers The Quakers, also known as the Society of Friends is a religious group which was founded in the 17th century. This group started off small, by one man who had high hopes for these new beliefs that began during a time period of great change. They gained members gradually and had gained attention from other religious groups due to their questionable philosophy that at times had others on edge. Quaker beliefs and religion as a whole had people taken aback at its particularly new way of carrying out a loosely governed religion. Quakers originated in England in the year 1652, during a time referred to as the Century of Revolution. This revolution brought about changes in areas of religion and spirituality, therefore people began to incorporate personal experience into their spiritual beliefs. (Murray-Rust) This idea influenced the founder of the religion—George Fox. Fox traveled for five years spreading the message of Quakerism. During this time, people thought his ideas of this new religion were bringing about anarchy to the Bible and traditional teachings that were already established. …show more content…

The Inner Light is the most significant belief in their religion, it refers to the Christ within and each member withholds a special connection inside of themselves that links them to God on a deeper level. (Kline) The Inner Light establishes membership to the Quaker religion, and those who have this quality may be considered part of their church. While they lack a formal day of meeting and a specific location, they attend meeting houses where the Inner Light is “used as motivation for worship.” (Kline) Quakers meetings “typically last three hours, could take place anywhere and were characterized by large amounts of preaching interspersed by silence.” (Dandelion) Due to these characteristics, it made praying and worship easy to access since it could be done at any