Nontheist Quakers

Short description: People who engage in Quaker practices but who do not believe in the supernatural

Nontheist Quakers (also known as nontheist Friends or NtFs) are those who engage in Quaker practices and processes, but who do not necessarily believe in a theistic God or Supreme Being, the divine, the soul or the supernatural. Like traditional Quakers, also known as Friends, nontheist Friends are interested in realizing peace, simplicity, integrity, community, equality, love, joy, and social justice in the Society of Friends and beyond.

## Contents

* 1 Beliefs
* 2 Books
* 3 Notable Nontheist Friends
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Further reading
* 7 External links

## Beliefs

Quakers in the unprogrammed or "silent worship" tradition of Quaker practice began to examine the significance of nontheistic beliefs in the Society of Friends during the 20th century. Non-theism among Quakers probably dates to the 1930s, when some Quakers in California branched off to form the Humanist Society of Friends (today part of the American Humanist Association), and when Henry Cadbury professed agnosticism in a 1936 lecture to Harvard Divinity School students.[1] The term "non-theistic" first appeared in a Quaker publication in 1952 on conscientious objection.[2][non-primary source needed] In 1976, a Friends General Conference Gathering hosted a Workshop for Nontheistic Friends (Quakers).[3]

A nontheist Friends' website and nontheist Quaker study groups exist.[4] Os Cresson began a consideration of this issue from behaviorist, natural history, materialist and environmentalist perspectives. Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism is one history. Nontheist Friends draw on Quaker humanist and universalist traditions.[5] The book Godless for God's Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism offers critical contributions by Quakers.[6] Some Friends engage the implications of human evolution, cognitive anthropology, evolutionary psychology, bodymind questions (especially the "relaxation response"[7][8]), primatology, evolutionary history, evolutionary biology, biology and consensus decision-making online, especially in terms of Quaker nontheism.

There are three main nontheist Quakers' web sites, including the Nontheist Friends' Official Website,[4] Nontheist Friends Network Website (a listed informal group of Britain Yearly Meeting),[9] and the Nontheist Friends' wiki subject/school at World University and School,[10] which was founded by Scott MacLeod.

## Books

* Boulton, David (Ed). 2006. Godless for God's Sake – Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism. Nontheist Friends.
* Cresson, Os, and David Boulton (Foreword). 2014. Quaker and Naturalist Too. Morning Walk Press.

## Notable Nontheist Friends

* Piers Anthony
* Henry Cadbury
* Kersey Graves
* Sharman Apt Russell
* Nicholson Baker[11]

## See also

* American Friends Service Committee
* Christian atheism
* Friends Committee on National Legislation
* Nontheistic religion
* Sea of Faith

## References

1. ↑ Cadbury, Henry (1936). "My Personal Religion". https://universalistfriends.org/UF035.html#Cadbury. "Unpublished manuscript in the Quaker Collection at Haverford College; lecture given to Harvard divinity students in 193."
2. ↑ Tatum, Lyle (ed.). 1952. "Handbook for Conscientious Objectors." Philadelphia, PA: Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors.
3. ↑ Morgan, Robert (1976). Report from the Workshop for Non-Theistic Friends – Friends General Conference, Ithaca, NY, June, 1976.. "'The author of this report is 'Workshop for Non-Theistic Friends'. The workshop was led by Robert Morgan (1916–1993), a Friend from Pittsburgh PA.' Morgan was therefore 'recording clerk' for this report)."
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "NontheistFriends.org". http://www.nontheistfriends.org/.
5. ↑ Cresson, Os (September 16, 2010). "Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism". http://www.nontheistfriends.org/article/roots-and-flowers-of-quaker-nontheism-abridged.
6. ↑ Boulton, David, ed (2006). Godless for God's Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism. Dent, UK: Dales Historical Monographs. ISBN 0-9511578-6-8.
7. ↑ Benson MD, Herbert and Miriam Z. Klipper. 2000 [1972]. The Relaxation Response. Expanded updated edition. Harper. ISBN 0-380-81595-8
8. ↑ Benson MD, Herbert. 1976. Steps to Elicit the Relaxation Response. RelaxationResponse.org. From "The Relaxation Response." HarperTorch.
9. ↑ "Non-theist Friends Network". http://nontheist-quakers.org.uk/.
10. ↑ "Nontheist Friends' wiki school at World University and School". http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers?).
11. ↑ Anderson, Sam. 2011. "Nicholson Baker, The Art of Fiction No. 212." The Paris Review (198).

## Further reading

* Boulton, David. The Trouble With God: Building the Republic of Heaven.
* Boulton, David. 2016. Through a glass darkly: A defence of Quaker nontheism. Cumbria, UK: Dales Historical Monographs.
* Case, Nat. 2013. I contradict myself: I am an atheist and a Quaker. Does it matter what I believe, when I recognise that religion is something I need?. London, England: Aeon Magazine.
* Cresson, Os. 2007. Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism. NontheistFriends.org. Jan 23. Accessed online: Dec 30, 2008.
* Crom, Scott. 1972. "The Trusting Agnostic." Quaker Religious Thought. Vol. 14(2): 1–39. Includes two carefully thought out replies and Crom's response.
* Dawkins, Richard. 2002. An Atheist's Call to Arms. Accessed online video: July 17, 2007. Monterey, CA: Ted Talks.
* Dennett, Daniel. 2006. A Secular, Scientific Rebuttal to Pastor Rick Warren. Accessed online video: July 17, 2007. Monterey, CA: Ted Talks.
* Durham, Geoffrey. (ed.). (in Press – Sep 2010). The Spirit of the Quakers. (Contains a nontheistic Friends' perspective by Alpern, Robin). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
* Fager, Chuck. 2014. Remaking Friends: How Progressive Friends Changed Quakerism & Helped Save America. (A second volume provides the source documents he used in his study: Angels of Progress: The Documentary History of the Progressive Friends). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
* Hecht, Jennifer Michael. 2003. Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson. Harper Collins.
* Jackson, Kenneth T. 2007. A Colony with a Conscience: This republic owes its enduring strength to a fragile, scorched and little-known document known as the Flushing Remonstrance. Dec. 27, 2007. Accessed online: December 27, 2007. New York: New York Times online.
* Miles, Jack. 1996. God: A Biography. Vintage.
* Myers, PZ. 2013. The Happy Atheist. Random House.
* Riemermann, James. 2006. What is a Nontheist? NontheistFriends.org. Sep 20. Accessed online: July 17, 2007.
* Rush, David 2002/3 They too are Quakers: A survey of 199 Nontheist Friends, The Woodbrooke Journal No. 11.
* Russell, Bertrand (E. Haldeman-Julius, ed.). 1927. On Why I Am Not a Christian: An Examination of the God-Idea and Christianity. Accessed online: July 17, 2007. Little Blue Book No. 1372.
* Muriel Seltman's books Bread and Roses and Rescuing God From Religion
* Spong, John Shelby. 1998. Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile. New York, NY: Harper One.

## External links

* Official Website Of Nontheist Friends
* Nontheist Friends Network (a listed informal group of Britain Yearly Meeting)

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