Margaret Fell and the End of Time: The Theology of the Mother of Quakerism

Margaret Fell and the End of Time offers an unprecedented interpretation of the life and theology of one of the central figures of the seventeenth-century Quaker movement. While Fell has been the subject of some historical research, until this book she had not been studied as a religious author or theologian in her own right. Taking her seriously as a prophetic and practical theologian, Sally Bruyneel systematically analyzes Fell’s writings on both Quaker and orthodox Christian subjects, ranging from the Inward Light to eschatology to the Trinity. In doing so she demonstrates that Fell was deeply influenced by Biblical apocalyptic literature and the strong eschatological expectations of her time—which became central to her work with the Jews, for her defense of the spirituality equality of women, and for her promotion of the Quaker testimony of peace.