Lost in Translation, pt 1

[cpt_fantastic]

With Easter recently passed it's caused me to pause and think about how the Quaker perspective on Christ and Christianity differs from the mainstream of Christianity. For one thing being a Quaker and having been raised a Quaker i tend to take for granted just how important holidays such as Easter are to mainline Christians. Rather, i tend to think

Comments

[woyce]

Hey Ted,

I've always thought that Quakers didn't care that much about Jesus at all - it always seems like they're mostly talking about God. Then again, I've always been a little confused as to how Quakerism can be a Christian religion without teh Jesus (but I find it much more comfortable than other Christianities for that reason). Have I gotten it completely wrong?

Joyce

[cpt_fantastic]

A good question. There are of course almost as many forms of Quakerism as there are Quakers. Quakerism can described in some forms as almost exclusively about the process of connecting with divine presence. Consequently you get Buddhist Quakers, Jewish Quakers, and other types.

The older tradition of 'Conservative' Friends though (in which i'd place myself) certainly places a lot of importance and relevance of teh Jesus. The conservative harkens back to the roots of Quakerism which were solidly Christian (and has nothing to do with politics. There are evangelical friends and friend's churches but these are a whole nother kettle of fish). Teh Jesus has a different kind of importance for the tradition of Conservative friends than most mainline evangelical christians. At the risk of over simplifying Friends see Christ as a the teacher, the ultimate expression of living in the light, and the light living through someone, and tend to de-emphasize the image of Christ as supranational savior.