Any thoughts on the Quakers?

[Moogy]

The group Shane described sounds like the “programmed Quakers.” The non-programmed Quakers have silent worship, unless a person feels moved by the Spirit to say something. That is the group that has no rituals—no baptisms, no communion. They are anti-war and often politically liberal. (Nixon was a programmed Quaker.)

My college roommate was and is an Quaker of the unprogrammed variety. My husband and I were married in her Quaker meeting house. (My mom didn’t think it was scriptural to have weddings in the COC building, so we didn’t get married at my home congregation or at my college-town COC).

My son attended a Quaker college (Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana). When the parents and students went to a meeting while dropping off our new freshman students, we had a really LONG period of silence, with some randomly spaced song (solo)/poems/rambling statements. This wasn’t even a worship service, just a college meeting! I couldn’t see my son from my seat, and I was afraid this would totally freak him out. It didn’t. After a few years at that school, he told me he had experienced numerous periods of silence at various college committee meetings.

My daughter-in-law and her mother are Quakers of the silent worship variety. If there was a meeting near me, I would visit. The nearest meeting is 140 miles from me. But I would miss congregational singing and communion, so I think I couldn’t become a Quaker.

[Cootie Brown]

There are Quakers and Shakers, but the Shakers are almost extinct now, because they believe all sex is sinful.(seriously) So they don't reproduce within their family units.

They have to survive by recruiting new members outside their faith, but since they believe all sex is sinful I imagine it's pretty tough to recruit new members.

At least the Catholics encourage sex for their members and apparently lots of it, and they prohibit birth control. So maintaining positive growth isn't a problem.

[Moogy]

There are Quakers and Shakers, but the Shakers are almost extinct now, because they believe all sex is sinful.(seriously) So they don't reproduce within their family units.

They have to survive by recruiting new members outside their faith, but since they believe all sex is sinful I imagine it's pretty tough to recruit new members.

At least the Catholics encourage sex for their members and apparently lots of it, and they prohibit birth control. So maintaining positive growth isn't a problem.

Last I heard, their were only two Shakers left. Or maybe just one.

[FinallyFree]

That silent service and no rituals does not sound good to me.

[agricola]

It can be very peaceful. Sort of a meditation.

[teresa]

I know of some Quakers who are dedicated to the idea of peaceful relations. When making business decisions (as business partners) they did their best to come to an agreement that would work for everyone, with some compromise. In a situation where there was anger, they arranged for mediation to try and bring about understanding and healing to the relationship. They are on the liberal end of the spectrum, I am pretty sure.

[ena]

My Mother's dad had Quaker parents. The were dead by the time I was born. Her Dad was raised Quaker but was Methodist and Church of the Nazarene. The Gospel of Matthew said that Jesus was supposed to be called a Nazarene. It is nowhere inside Jewish literature. Notice spoken not written. Grasping for prophetic straws.

Matthew 2:23 KJV And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

[ena]

Why do Scotsmen wear kilts?

[zeek]

Why do Scotsmen wear kilts?

What does this have to do with the topic at hand?

[agricola]

My Mother's dad had Quaker parents. The were dead by the time I was born. Her Dad was raised Quaker but was Methodist and Church of the Nazarene. The Gospel of Matthew said that Jesus was supposed to be called a Nazarene. It is nowhere inside Jewish literature. Notice spoken not written. Grasping for prophetic straws.

Matthew 2:23 KJV And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

there are several places in the NT where there is some kind of 'as the prophet wrote' statement, including some prophecies which are supposed to apply to Jesus being the messiah.
In SOME cases, those are 'known' passages with Christian interpretations.
BUT is other cases, the NT quotes a totally unknown (to us today) prophet. It is generally assumed by scholars that the canon of prophets, so to speak, had not been firmly decided at that point, and the early Christians (or late Second Temple Jews or some Jewish groups) had written scrolls which they considered to be prophets, but which were not GENERALLY accepted, and therefore those books did not make it into the Jewish canon (which wasn't set until the third and fourth centuries CE), and those books have since been lost to history.

Maybe some future archeological discovery will turn up a scroll which turns out to the be the source of those 'as the prophet wrote' passages - including 'he will be called a Nazarene' bit, which is - frankly - a very odd one.

Nothing in KNOWN Jewish prophetic books mention anything about the messiah (or anybody else) being a Nazarene. AND, as it happens, people from Nazareth weren't knows as 'Nazarenes' anyway. It's a different word entirely - just sounds similar.

In other words, Matthew was reaching there. Reaching really hard. All the gospels are pretty clear that he was called Jesus Of NAZARETH, not 'Jesus the Nazarene'.
A Nazarene (a nazir, in Hebrew) was someone who had taken certain particular vows, including avoiding wine and never cutting their hair. Jesus certainly is not depicted as avoiding wine. I don't recall any mention of hair length - but it seems very unlikely that he had taken Nazir vows. It wasn't that common, and therefore WOULD HAVE been mentioned, by somebody, at some point, if he had.

A Nazir has nothing to do with the town of Nazareth.

______________________________________

I think unprogrammed Quakerism sounds appealing, and I guess if you are used to it, you don't miss singing and praying and sermons. In some situations, I might be quite HAPPY to skip the singing and praying and sermons!