Preaching the Inward Light: Early Quaker Rhetoric

Chapter 2 Presuppositions of Early Quaker preaching

61 chaPTer 2 PRESUPPoSITIoNS oF EARLY QUAKER PREACHING The way in which an individual or group characteristically communicates , or thinks about communication, both reveals and depends upon a worldview, for it emanates from human ends, which it may be said to reflect. Allowing for individual, isolated, idiosyncratic deviations from a group’s belief structure, most group members communicate a core of common beliefs, which constitute the philosophical underpinings of its rhetoric. This chapter will lay out the framework of seventeenth-century Quaker presuppositions about human nature, society, and epistemology, each comprising a part of the contextual background helpful to a full understanding of the development of Quaker rhetorical theory and preaching practice over the second half of the seventeenth century. Immature groups differ from mature groups in that the latter set more rigid parameters around the individual’s attempts to communicate , while the former accept a great deal of dynamic and mutual influence between the individual’s communication and the group’s worldview. This book examines Quaker writings about preaching and their preaching practice during their first fifty years. This scope of years bridges the initial period of individual experimentation within the group and a later period when more consistency was expressed and stressed. By the time the sermons dealt with later in this book were presented, the dynamic, idiosyncratic effect of individuals’ rhetorical expression upon the group had abated, and the dampening effect of the group belief structure on the individual had become more obvious . It is, therefore, not surprising that the actual sermon texts present a fairly consistent picture of Quaker belief.1 This abbreviated examination of Quaker presuppositions will be illustrated, as far as possible, from primary sources, including the 62 PREACHING THE INWARD LIGHT sermon texts themselves. The reader should bear in mind, however, that my purpose is not to present a definitive or detailed statement with regard to the topics of this chapter, but to provide further contextual background for better understanding the rationale and development of Quaker impromptu preaching theory and practice. huMan naTure: fallen, enliGhTened, and sancTified Early Quakers accepted the account of the fall of the first man and woman through temptation and disobedience as presented in the old Testament Scriptures. They saw humans as having been created in the image of God but having marred that image through an act of willful disobedience. In the words of George Fox, Adam and Eve “came into ye Curse, Lost ye Light, & came into Darknesse: Sould under Sin in Transgression.”2 Each individual human, according to Barclay, “is fallen, degenerated, and is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the serpent. . . . Man, therefore, as he is in this state, can know nothing aright; yea, his thoughts and conceptions concerning God and things spiritual, until he be disjoined from this evil seed . . . are unprofitable both to himself and others.”3 Rejecting the view of extreme Calvinism, which saw some humans as elected by God to salvation and others to damnation, the early Quakers argued for the existence of “an evangelical, saving Light and grace in all.”4 They took literally the teaching of the Apostle John when he referred to Christ as “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world”( John 1:9).5 According to early Friends, every person could come to the knowledge of God through the Light. The concept of the Light merits some consideration, since it infuses Quaker thought and directly defines the early Quaker conception of human nature and also human language use. The nature of the Light was a constant topic of contention between early Quakers and their religious competitors. It continues to be of interest and debate among today’s Friends.6 Examination of early Quaker literature reveals that early Friends understood that the Light was wedded to the basic Christian tenet that grace was bestowed to humans through Christ. They often use the phrase “light and grace” in their sermons to indicate that the Light is a phenomenon which works upon humans, rather than existing as a part of human nature. Light is a gift of God to humans in the same sense that grace and faith are seen as God’s gifts. “Light” is repeatedly used in their sermons along with “Christ,” PRESUPPoSITIoNS oF EARLY QUAKER PREACHING 63 “Seed,” “Word,” “truth,” and other terms to signify the same basic phenomenon—God’s work in persons. Stephen Crisp often refers to...