Ecclesiology (quakerism)
This article describes the ecclesiology of the Quakers .
Understanding of membership
Beginnings
The question of who is a member or what makes someone a member is e.g. Sometimes discussed controversially. Historically, the following forms and understandings of membership can be found. In the beginning there was membership by convincement , since Quakerism only developed and differentiated itself in a process from other seeker movements. That’s the way to be a Quaker because you professed (and lived) a certain conviction. With the founding of the monthly, quarterly and annual assemblies towards the end of the period of persecution, a constitutional conception of membership also formed.
To date, Quakerism has been one of many revival movements that - like others - claimed to have rediscovered true Christianity . Quakers be or not to be , was synonymous with being a Christian or not Christian . This is evident, for example, in the writings of William Penn when he writes:
- " From this insight, which is given to you in your sad apostasy from original Christianity, and in the true cause of it, - which consists in nothing other than your neglect of the daily cross of Christ, - it will be easy for you, To make yourself a clear idea of the means to your restoration, for you must also go back in to the same door from which you went out, or: as you did by lowering the daily cross and yourself to it withdrew, have deprived you of your happy state, just as your resumption and your daily enduring wearing of it must restore you. It is one and the same means by which sinners and apostates are made disciples of Jesus; [...] "
That means: not the confession or the external ritual baptism make a person a member of the church, but his way of life and conviction. And so he comes to the conclusion:
- For just as there was an external, legal Jerusalem at that time, there is now an evangelical, spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of God, which consists of believers.
In the established community
With the establishment of the structures of the Quaker community, it then became customary for members to be accepted through a monthly meeting. The procedure for this was laid down in the " Order of Coexistence " ("THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE"). However, it was not about inquiring about creeds, but primarily researching whether the way of life corresponded to a - in their understanding - Christian conviction. The four Quaker certificates (peace certificate , simplicity, integrity, equality) had to be complied with, but moral behavior (no alcohol, no tobacco, no pleasure, no extramarital sexual intercourse, etc.) had to be shown. Wearing a beard could be an obstacle to membership in the 18th century. JB Bevan, among others, cites the reason for this new procedure in a paper from 1792:
- Regardless of whether we consider it necessary to keep the testimonies entrusted to us and to maintain peace and good order in society, those who we accept as our members may for the time being be convinced of the teachings that we have consider essential; so we do not require you to formally sign any article, neither as a condition under which you become a member, nor to enable you to serve the church. We therefore prefer to judge people according to their fruits, relying on the help of him who through his prophets promised 'a spirit of the right to be the one who sits in judgment'. Without such things, it is dangerous to join a society, [...]
Just as the annual meetings worldwide have different " orders of coexistence ", the admission procedure can be different in the details. As before, however, in no wing of Quakerism is a (religious) baptism customary, a priest or pastor necessary or the speaking of a certain creed. The German annual meeting , for example, has the peculiarity that the members are not accepted by the monthly meeting, but by the quarterly meeting (in German "district meeting") and by the annual meeting as members. This is due, among other things, to the fact that many cannot attend a monthly meeting regularly. In the German-speaking area there is also a widespread double membership .
Special forms of membership
At some point Birthright Membership became natural, i.e. membership through birth in a Quaker family. Also about this was and is z. T. still argued. Most Quaker communities in North America and Europe do not have this membership status.
The term “friend of friends” is used to designate people who are very close to the Quaker community but who are not formally members of a congregation. In the order of coexistence, for example at the Ohio Yearly Meeting , there are other terms of membership: "Waiting Membership", "Affiliate Membership" and "Full and Active Membership". With “young friends” we mean teenagers and young adults who are closely related to the Quaker community, be it through youth groups or Quaker parents.
Perception and assessment of the environment
In the early days of the Quaker movement, outsiders often had great difficulty distinguishing Quakers from other - in their eyes - sects. In continental Europe and especially in Germany there were a number of inflammatory pamphlets against Quakers in the 17th and 18th centuries in which they were attacked for things alien to them, for example " polygamy ", which was never an issue among Quakers.
They were often confused with Mennonites or put on an equal footing with them. For years there was a dispute among historians as to which denomination the emigrants under Franz Daniel Pastorius could be assigned to.
“There was a heated discussion about this emigration. The question was which denomination the emigrants could be assigned to. In terms of the history of science, the discussion is of interest to both Mennonite and Quaker researchers [...]. Christian Neff opened the discussion [...] with the essay 'Die Quäker in Kriegsheim bei Worms' (1911) [This was followed by a long exchange of blows in which: W.Hubben with three essays (1926, 1928, 1938), W. Hull and SW Pennypacker (1927), F. Nieper and D. Cattepoel (1937), W. Fellmann, W.Niepoth (1953) and finally Boecken (1982)] The disputes at that time influenced the scientific relationships between the two churches, which in Germany only maintain a few mutual contacts, unfortunately permanently disturbed. In terms of the history of science, it should be noted that Hull's error cannot be corrected, only recently the emigrants from Krefeld were mistakenly referred to as Mennonites again by renowned sources. "
To this day, some - especially evangelical - groups deny Quakerism to be a Christian community. On the one hand, the lack of confession, the lack of baptism and the understanding of justification are criticized . Since - as already described above - the way of life is a decisive criterion for the admission of members, the idea of work justice is criticized here .
glossary
For the technical terms used in the article, see also the article " Glossary Quakerism ".
Individual evidence
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↑ For example in the article
- "Quaker", No. 5 Sep./Oct. 2008 - 82nd year (misprint: inside is printed on pages 4/2008), ISSN 1619-0394 , Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) German Annual Meeting eV
- "Opposition to an article about membership", Olaf Radicke, October 13, 2008, www.the-independent-friend.de
- ↑ William Penn, "No Cross No Crown", Engl. "No Kross No Krown", 1825, Chapter 2, § 10, wikisource.org
- ↑ §. 12. Chapter six. "Without a cross, no crown", William Penn wikisource.org
- ↑ vg. Claus Bernet, Research on Brandenburg and Prussian History ", ninth episode, volume 18, 2008, issue 1, page 44
- ↑ Claus Bernet, 2007, "Deutsche Quäkerschriften. Volume 2: Deutsche Quäkerschriften des 18. Jahrhundert" , ISBN 9783487134086 , ISBN 348713408X , page: 30–31, "Outline of the history, teaching and breeding of friends", JB Bevan ( 1792)
- ^ "THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE" of the Ohio Yearly Meeting
- ↑ See also Sünne Juterczenka: About God and the World - End Times Visions, Reform Debates and the European Quaker Mission in the Early Modern Age. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008, ISBN 978-3-525-35458-2 .