More on Discipline

 In Part 3 I compared Quaker Discipline as found during the period of Quietism to other religious disciplines such as those used in monasticism and among the Amish.  But there are other contexts where people follow a Discipline, or Rule.  And I thought it might be fruitful to see how disciplines function in these other areas; perhaps that will shed light on the meaning of Discipline in a Quaker Quietist context.

 Games are a simple example of Discipline, in…

Interpreting Our Past – Part 3

 The Logic of Withdrawal

 The period of Quietism is marked by a sense of withdrawal from the social sphere.  This should not be exaggerated as Quakers did continue to be involved in various political causes and concerns, notably the abolition of slavery.  Still, relatively speaking, Quakers in the period of Quietism became more inward, more contemplative, and less engaged with the specifically political. 

 I’m not a very learned Quaker…

Interpreting Our Past – Part 2

Discipline

 One of the characteristics of the period of Quietism is that the Quaker community was governed by a code of Discipline, which is to say a code of conduct.  Williams sums up some of the code on page 126 with items that include prohibitions on alcohol, tobacco, cursing, failure to read scripture regularly, and others.  I have read a number of Disciplines from this period in a book called ‘The Old Discipline’ and I think Williams’s…