The Cambridge Companion to Quakerism

Description

The Cambridge Companion to Quakerism offers a fresh, up-to-date, and accessible introduction to Quakerism. Quakerism is founded on radical ideas and its history of constancy and change offers fascinating insights into the nature of non-conformity. In a series of eighteen essays written by an international team of scholars, and commissioned especially for this volume, the Companion covers the history of Quakerism from its origins to the present day. Employing a range of methodologies, it features sections on the history of Quaker faith and practice, expressions of Quaker faith, regional studies, and emerging spiritualities. It also examines all branches of Quakerism, including evangelical, liberal, and conservative, as well as non-theist Quakerism and convergent Quaker thought. This Companion will serve as an essential resource for all interested in Quaker thought and practice.

Stephen W. Angell is Leatherock Professor of Quaker Studies at the Earlham School of Religion, Indiana. He has published extensively in the areas of Quaker Studies and African-American Religious Studies. Pink Dandelion directs the work of the Centre for Research in Quaker Studies, Woodbrooke and is Professor of Quaker Studies at the University of Birmingham and a Research Fellow at Lancaster University. He is the author and editor of a number of books, most recently (with Stephen W. Angell), Early Quakers and their Theological Thought (Cambridge, 2015).

'The Cambridge Companion to Quakerism is ... the most useful resource on all things Quaker in its breadth and multi-disciplinary approach. It is the most concise, yet comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and up-to-date guide to Quaker faith and practice in its diverse contemporary manifestations.' Carole Dale Spencer, Reading Religion 'This book provides a valuable introduction to Quakerism (the Religious Society of Friends) and its diverse contemporary manifestations ... A key strength of the book is its global focus, which extends to a geographically diverse range of contributors, representative of the reality that the majority of Quakers in the world today live in Africa and other non-North American, non-European areas. Also helpful is the volume's attention to theological diversity among Friends and to shared features that make Quakerism distinctive among the world's religious traditions.' J. H. Sniegocki, Choice