Thee Quaker Podcast What Do Quakers Believe? (re-release)
Nov 18, 2025
Fritz Weiss, a longtime Quaker and former presiding clerk, shares insights on experiential faith and the concept of direct access to the divine. Jennifer Kavanagh, involved in Britain's Quaker Faith and Practice committee, discusses the anthology's role in guiding Quaker beliefs and practices. They explore the diversity within Quakerism, emphasizing how experience, not creed, unites members. There's a deep dive into how different Quaker groups express their beliefs and the importance of listening across differing practices.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Experience Over Creed
- Quakers often reject a fixed creed in favor of ongoing, experiential revelation.
- They emphasize equality, connectedness, and sacramentality in everyday life.
Wide Theological Range
- Quaker identity spans theists, non-theists, Christians, and those practicing other faiths.
- That theological diversity makes a single definition of 'what Quakers believe' elusive.
American Diversity Example
- Tom Hamm points out American Quakers now include the full span of the religious spectrum.
- He traces that diversity back to interpretive openness in 17th-century Quakerism.