Quaker Women's Mission: Into the Public Sphere

Résumé du document

Women played a conspicuous role in disseminating the Quaker message. Ecstatic when lost in their sense of oneness with the divine, they spoke and acted when the Lord moved them. They endured many hardships to enlighten people and accomplished the most remarkable deeds trying to help people. Yet, they did not consider their action as miraculous. They merely behaved the way God told them to, being the Lord's instrument on earth. 'The existence of a pure divine light in the heart of every human being' was at the core of the doctrine of the Inner Light. The notion of Inner Light was central to Quaker religious ideology. Yet, this concept was strongly criticised by seventeenth-century contemporaries, like John Milton, who declared that such a religious conviction would inevitably lead to spiritual anarchy. In the Familist tradition, Quakers asserted that Christ was manifesting Himself to every single believer. Moreover, Quakers borrowed and perpetuated the Familist belief that the Spirit was above the Scriptures, therefore uneducated men and women could have access to the Truth. The Inner Light was thus the light of Christ universal, which could be known by anybody of either sex, and this Light helped people find their way to God, as well as to their salvation. Women were as capable as men of receiving the Truth and spreading it throughout the world since God communicated with every soul.

Extraits

[...] Such a wide range of female activities, totally invading the public world, were looked upon with contempt by fellow Englishmen who made clear that "sweeping the house, and washing the dishes was the first point of law to [woman]."[52] Enlightened by the divine Light, prophetesses strove to change the world, propagating a message of peace and tolerance. Liberty of conscience and love for one's fellow humans constituted their manifesto. Providing every necessity for the supposed dregs of society, Quaker women's objective was thus to heal and improve the world. [...]

[...] To realise their aim, it was not enough to cauterise the wounds, they also had to fight against the cause of infection: the tormentors. G. Fox, Gospel-Truth Demonstrated p in WTUD, p M. Phyllis, Visionary Women: Ecstatic Prophecy in Seventeenth-Century England, University of California Press, Berkeley p Even if the phrase "Inner Light" was not commonly used by seventeenth- century Quakers, I will use this phrase rather than "Light Within" throughout my work. WTUD, p Idem, p G. Fox, in Nick. Jnl, pp. [...]

[...] 33-5. C. E. Stephen, Quaker Strongholds, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., London p E. Bathurst, The Sayings of Women, which were spoken upon sundry occasions, in several places of the Scriptures, Andrew Sowle, Shoreditch p WTUD, p E. Stirredge, Strength in Weakness Manifested in the Life, Various Trials, and Christian Testimony of that Faithful Servant and Handmaid of the Lord, Elizabeth Stirredge, Philadelphia p E. [...]

[...] They ( ) provided hot victuals, meat and broth, for the weather was cold; and ordering their servants to bring it, with bread, cheese and beer, came themselves also with it; and ( ) gave notice to us, that it was provided for those that had no others to provide for them, or were not able to provide for themselves.[44] Figure 9. Engraving of A Quaker Woman in Action by Geoffrey Makins, as illustrated by Makins, a Quaker woman performed numerous activities, taking care of their fellow citizens. [...]

[...] Usually, Quaker women travelled in pairs, a young woman accompanying a more mature one. "[M]oved soe ( ) yt ye truth may be sett fre",[25] Elizabeth Hooton, aged sixty-one, travelled to the New World in 1661 accompanied by the younger Joan Broksopp of Derbyshire, and intended to preach the message of a direct relationship between God and human beings.[26] Hooton's "message for the Lord was to beare witnesse to his Truth against those persecuting people who fled from the Bishops because they would not suffer."[27] However, Puritan officials constantly thwarted their attempts. [...]