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Are Quakers Protestants?


  • The Protestants replaced liturgy with a sermon as the center of worship. Friends center worship in the divine presence. Even though Friends disdain outward liturgy, in some sense Quaker worship may be closer to Catholic than Protestant in nature. Both Catholics and Quakers believe in the actual presence of Christ in worship, for Catholics centered in the host and for Quakers spiritually. (See also Friends (Quaker) Worship.)

  • The Protestants were continually disturbed by an inner sense of guilt and original sin, and often felt they were choosing between sins. Quakers balanced the concept of original sin with the idea that redemption and regeneration could actually free humans from sin.

    • Picture Today More Mixed

    Both Friends and the Protestant movement have evolved considerably since the middle of the seventeenth century. Beginning in the nineteenth century, much of Society of Friends has become more mainstream and tends to identify with some of the movements among Protestants. At the same time, some of the key Quaker understandings have become increasingly accepted among many Protestants in the last century. The pentecostal and charismatic movements, which have become a very large part of the Protestantism and have also impacted Catholicism, have some similarities with the early Quaker movement. A diverse Quakerism and a diverse Protestantism can no longer be so easily distinguished as they could be 350 years ago.

    The copyright of the article Are Quakers Protestants? in Quakerism is owned by Bill Samuel. Permission to republish Are Quakers Protestants? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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