Religion

BEYOND KNOWING

Like it or not, science is the hotbed, the nursery, the arbiter, and the repository of knowledge. We need to bear this in mind as we ponder the roots of our beliefs. Many of the new atheists Dan Seeger discusses in his essay (Friends Journal January 2010) are scientists with convictions rooted in a profound incoherence shared by many Friends. They believe that any reasonable belief must be something known, and hence proven or provable. No human being behaves in a manner that accords with this conviction. That is why it is incoherent. Many, including prominent Quaker scientists such as Arthur Eddington and Kenneth Boulding, share this conviction. That is why it is worth examining.

EASTER 2010

Easter is a celebration of resurrection. It is a celebration of the spirit of love and reconciliation that survives crucifixion or assassination – that is, the spirit that survives the death of its exponents and exemplars. The season of Easter is also, for most of us in the northern hemisphere, the time of the resurrection of the living earth, green again after months of hibernation. Here in Western New York the most noticeable change is in the woods – the trees remain bare, but much of the ground is filled with the thin green sprouts of the wild leek, which will flush out to a carpet of green by Easter morning. It was a stroke of genius, from our local perspective, to arrange for the Resurrection to be celebrated just when the earth, too, is coming to life again.

Like it or not, science is the hotbed, the arbiter, and the repository of knowledge.  We need to bear this mind as we ponder the roots of our belief. Many of the new atheists Dan Seeger discusses in his essay (Friends Journal January 2010) are scientists with convictions rooted in a profound incoherence shared by many Friends.  They believe that any reasonable belief must be something known, and hence proven or provable.  No human being behaves in a manner that accords with this conviction.  That is why it is incoherent.  Many, including prominent Quaker scientists such as Arthur Eddington and Kenneth Boulding, share this conviction.  That is why it is worth examining.

ARE WE CHRISTIAN?

In his book Why Friends are Friends Jack Willcuts claims that the first thing to say about us Quakers is that we are Christian. That would not have occurred to me. I have no doubt that thousands of Quakers agree with Friend Jack Willcuts. These Friends identify themselves with the Christian tradition as opposed to other religious traditions, they accept some or most of the core beliefs spelled out in the Christians creeds, and they may believe that pastors have a special relation to God. Nothing revealed in the light given to me leads me to such a sectarian identity.