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John Woolman, a tailor, was a lay Quaker leader in religiously charged 18th century America. Led by his radical apocalyptic beliefs, Woolman encouraged social reforms and critiqued the burgeoning trans-Atlantic economy, slavery, and British imperial conflicts. Kershner argues that instead of the militant apocalypticism commonly associated with radical Christian groups, Woolman utilized Quaker and mystical sources to craft a spiritualized "apocalypse of theheart."
Sommario
- Introduction
- 1 Early Quaker Theology and the Transatlantic Context
- 2 Revelation and the "Principle That Proceeds From God"
- 3 Woolman the Prophet: "His Word Was In My Heart"
- 4 Eschatology: Woolman's Realizing Eschatology
- 5 Perfection
- 6 Judgment
- 7 Influences and Comparisons
- Conclusion
- Appendix
- Bibliography
Info autore
Jon R. Kershner is Honorary Researcher at Lancaster University, UK. His recent publications include a chapter on global Christianity for
The Cambridge Companion to Quakerism and numerous articles and chapters on John Woolman and eighteenth century Quaker theologies of antislavery reform. He serves as co-chair of the Quaker Studies Group at the American Academy of Religion and edits the journal
Quaker Religious Thought.
Riassunto
In 1758, a Quaker tailor and sometime shopkeeper and school teacher stood up in a Quaker meeting and declared that the time had come for Friends to reject the practice of slavery. That man was John Woolman, and that moment was a significant step, among many, toward the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Woolman's antislavery position was only one essential piece of his comprehensive theological vision for colonial American society. Drawing on Woolman's entire body of writing, Jon R. Kershner reveals that the theological and spiritual underpinnings of Woolman's alternative vision for the British Atlantic world were nothing less than a direct, spiritual christocracy on earth, what Woolman referred to as "the Government of Christ." Kershner argues that Woolman's theology is best understood as apocalypticcentered on a supernatural revelation of Christ's immediate presence governing all aspects of human affairs, and envisaging the impending victory of God's reign over apostasy. John Woolman and the Government of Christ explores the theological reasoning behind Woolman's critique of the burgeoning trans-Atlantic economy, slavery, and British imperial conflicts, and fundamentally reinterprets 18th-century Quakerism by demonstrating the continuing influence of early Quaker apocalypticism.
Testo aggiuntivo
A fascinating and original work that will prove indispensable for our understanding of Woolman. Kershner makes a compelling and convincing case for the centrality of apocalypticism in understanding the Quaker prophet's religious vision.
