A Quaker lawyer looks at Friends’ relationship with the American legal system and at Friends’ legal ethics. George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends, admonished his followers against “going to law.” In this fascinating, wide-ranging book, a Quaker lawyer explores the relationship between Quakers and the American legal system and discusses Friends’ legal ethics. A highly influential group in the US both for their spiritual ideals of harmony, equality and truth-telling and for their activism on many causes including abolition and opposition to war, Quakers have had many noteworthy interactions with the law. Nancy Black Sagafi-nejad sketches the history and beliefs of the early Quakers in England and America, then goes on to look at important twentieth century constitutional law cases involving Quakers, many involving civil rights issues. Sagafi-nejad’s survey of 100 Quaker lawyers shows them to be at odds with the adversarial system and highlights a legal practice which must balance truth-telling and zealous advocacy. The Quaker development of extra-legal dispute resolution to solve debates amongst Friends is discussed along with a look at the possible future of mediation.

In 1864 Alida and Calvin Clark, two abolitionist members of the Religious Society of Friends from Indiana, went on a mission trip to Helena, Arkansas. The Clarks had come to render temporary relief to displaced war orphans but instead found a lifelong calling. During their time in Arkansas, they started the school that became Southland College, which was the first institution of higher education for blacks west of the Mississippi, and they set up the first predominately black monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in North America. Their progressive racial vision was continued by a succession of midwestern Quakers willing to endure the primitive conditions and social isolation of their work and to overcome the persistent challenges of economic adversity, social strife, and natural disaster. Southland’s survival through six difficult and sometimes dangerous decades reflects both the continuing missionary zeal of the Clarks and their successors as well as the dedication of the black Arkansans who sought dignity and hope at a time when these were rare commodities for African Americans in Arkansas.

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.

Studying the history of early Quaker preaching, Michael Graves uses careful rhetorical analysis to provide insights into Quaker theology and practice. Situating the movement within the intellectual context of early seventeenth century Europe, he explores both seminal preachers and lesser known figures who were nonetheless important rhetoricians. Through extant sermons he demonstrates that the early Quakers could be a vocal, even “revivalistic,” sect that sought to put into effect world-wide the moral, spiritual, and practical virtues of what they called “primitive Christianity.” Thus, Graves challenges the stereotypes of the early movement and shows the denomination to be theologically innovative and socially important. Well-researched and well-written, Preaching the Inward Light is a timely look backward to these spirited people.

Quaker History is a peer reviewed journal consisting of illuminating articles on Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) contributions to issues such as social justice, education, and literature. The journal also includes book and article reviews and is published by the Friends Historical Association.

Ryan P. Jordan explores the limits of religious dissent in antebellum America, and reminds us of the difficulties facing reformers who tried peacefully to end slavery. In the years before the Civil War, the Society of Friends opposed the abolitionist campaign for an immediate end to slavery and considered abolitionists within the church as heterodox radicals seeking to destroy civil and religious liberty. In response, many Quaker abolitionists began to build "comeouter" institutions where social and legal inequalities could be freely discussed, and where church members could fuse religious worship with social activism. The conflict between the Quakers and the Abolitionists highlights the dilemma of liberal religion within a slaveholding republic.