I want to talk about sin. Depending on what type of Quaker you are, this may seem a very un-Quakerly thing to do. The Quakers I know in Britain hardly talk about sin at all, and the first Quakers of 17th century England were very wary of anyone putting too much emphasis on sin, like the Puritans. Quakers accused Puritan ministers of “preaching up sin,” weighing people down rather than directing them to the liberating Light of Christ. I’m not a Puritan, but in this post I write about sin, and about how deeply it dwells in our flesh, so deep that escape in this life is very unlikely. I hope my Quaker forebears can forgive me.
Tag: bible
God doesn’t require suffering: a message for St Patrick’s Day
I believe that God can bring good out of evil. God can take the worst things and grow something good from that soil. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us finding meaning and hope in our suffering. But that’s a different thing entirely to saying that God requires evil and suffering in order to bring about good. That isn’t the God I worship. The God of Jesus Christ wants us to have abundant life and wipe away every tear from our eyes. This God doesn’t hurt us and tell us it’s for our own good.
Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Ch 3: Beginning, end, and new beginning
In May 2019, the annual Swarthmore Lecture was given by Eden Grace, a member of New England Yearly Meeting and Director of Global Ministries for Friends United Meeting (FUM). Eden’s lecture was entitled ‘On earth as it is in heaven: The Kingdom of God and the yearning of creation.’ I’m blogging my reflections on the lecture, chapter by… Continue reading Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Ch 3: Beginning, end, and new beginning


