A Quaker Approach to the Bible - by Henry Joel Cadbury

A QUAKER APPROACH TO THE BIBLE

by Henry Joel Cadbury

© 1953, Guilford College. Reprinted by permission.

INTRODUCTION

A long generation has passed since Henry Joel Cadbury, then Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard University and one of the eight translators of the American Standard Revised Bible, delivered the 1953 Ward Lecture at Guilford College (Guilford NC). Liberal Quakerism, under the influence of the egalitarian revolutions that began in the 1960s, has undergone substantial changes. But Cadbury’s lecture, A Quaker Approach to the Bible, remains a vital exposition of what might be called a Quaker distinctive, a way of distinguishing the Religious Society of Friends from other religious bodies rooted in the Christian tradition. This Quaker distinctive was first seen in one Samuel E. Fisher, Quaker and author of A Rustic Alarum to the Rabbles which Christopher Hill has called the most radical Bible criticism of the 17th century.*

For people raised in one part of the Judeo-Christian tradition seeking some understanding of another part, a natural opening question is, What does the Bible mean to you? A thoughtful answer may elicit dismay, enlightenment, or no more than mild interest. We think Cadbury will enlighten many.

The Quaker Universalist Fellowship is a body within the Religious Society of Friends committed to seeking out and making known the commonalities between Friends and people of other faiths. We sponsor this reprint because questions about the Bible continue to be asked, and time has proven Cadbury’s answer timeless. We hope our decision will be of help to those seeking to understand Quakers and their ways of thinking about the divine spark in all of us.

QUF is especially grateful to Guilford College and the Ward Lecture Committee for granting us permission to reprint this important lecture.

Kingdon W. Swayne, clerk
Publications Committee

*The World Turned Upside Down, Christopher Hill (London 1972), pp. 186-207.