(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Quaker history begins in the mid Seventeenth Century. This period saw the
political revolution in England that subsequently leads to our Civil War.
The scientific revolution follows, with change occurring in the religions
and thinking of humanity, we learn to question our leaders’ thinking. Science
produces Galileo’s wisdom of the ancients to the world. Aristotle studies
the sky’s mechanics and celestial bodies while Ptolemy studies the motion
of the planets. And yes the entrenched thinking of the church was threatened
with these discoveries of science. The church tried to suppress these findings.
The year was 1620 when a group of religious dissenters from Holland sailed
to America in the “Mayflower.” Historians have called this the “Century of
Dissent,” a period in history that saw people not willing to accept the established
authority’s dictates. Rather, they claimed the right to investigate for themselves
what the truth is. So we see in science and in religion that personal experiences
as the observer were coming forward in the mind of humanity. Dissatisfied
with the Church and unable to dissent freely, Quakers formed small groups
meeting to worship and talk. They became known as Seekers. Leaderless at
this time, the loose knit group of believers lacked inspiration. The leader
arrived by the name of George Fox.
When George Fox arrived in 1652 it became known as the “birth of Quakerism.”
Traveling around the country, preaching for five years and spreading his
message, he was welcomed by some but opposed by others. He was jailed in
Derby on charges of blasphemy and treated harshly. He did not start any movement
at this time. In May of 1652 in Lancashire he hiked up to Pendle Hill, near
Clitheroe. Hiking in those times was not done for leisure or fun, and the
site George Fox picked to hike to was well known as a haunt for witches back
then. Fox was an unpredictable individual though and found the view from
the summit of Pendle Hill inspiring. Then he had a vision of “a great people
to be gathered.”
A significant visit occurred at Swarthmore Hall in a large house occupied
by Judge Fell and his wife Margaret. Both liberal in outlook regarding religious
matters, Margaret Fell welcomed George Fox into their home and was quickly
converted to his teaching. Meetings followed in the Hall and because of Judge
Fell’s position of authority in the county, the group meetings were not harassed
by the Law, a common practice in those days. Swarthmore Hall became the headquarters
of the Quaker movement. From here, the early Quaker “missionaries,” in small
groups, spread the new message to other parts of the country.