Quakers

Definition and Meaning

The Quakers are a branch of Protestantism that arose in England in the mid-seventeenth century. Their official name is the Religious Society of Friends; in Korea they are also called Chinuhoe ("the Friends") or Quakeogyo ("Quakerism"). The word "Quaker" means "one who trembles." The name is generally understood to have been coined in mockery by opponents, in reference to reports that members trembled before the power of God during worship. Adherents prefer the name "Friends." Their practice of calling one another "Friend" is drawn from John 15:14.

Quakers place great importance on an experiential faith in which God speaks directly to each person, commonly referred to as the "Inner Light." They are known for worship without a fixed order of service, in which worshipers wait in silence, and for pacifism. Theological positions vary widely from meeting to meeting, and today a range of affiliations coexist, from evangelical Friends churches to progressive meetings.

Biblical and Historical Background

George Fox (1624–1691), the foremost early leader, was born the son of a weaver in Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, England. During the English Civil War he wandered for several years in search of spiritual answers. He came to teach that Christ speaks to people directly, rather than through church institutions or clergy. His followers were at first called "Children of the Light" and "Friends of the Truth"; the name "Friends" became established later. Quakers generally regard 1652 as the beginning of the Society of Friends. In that year Fox had a vision on Pendle Hill in Lancashire of "a great people to be gathered." In the same year the household of Judge Fell embraced the movement, and their home, Swarthmoor Hall, became a center of the early movement.

Having emerged during the Puritan Revolution, the Quakers refused to attend Church of England (Anglican) services, to swear oaths, or to pay tithes. As a result, more than 15,000 members are reported to have been punished between 1662, when a law aimed at Quakers was passed, and 1689, when the Act of Toleration was enacted. The movement was organized around monthly meetings and yearly meetings. In Friends for 300 Years, Howard Brinton wrote that one yearly meeting had warned against the purchase of Black slaves from 1696 onward.

In the Korean Church

Quakers in Korea are very few in number. The principal gathering is the Seoul Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Seoul Quaker Meeting); a news feature based on a visit to the meeting put its size at about twenty people. The Seoul Meeting has at times issued statements in its own name on social issues.

The figure most often mentioned in connection with Korean Quakerism is the thinker Ham Sok-hon (1901–1989). He is said to have first learned of the Quakers in 1921, while studying at the Osan School, through reading Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, and to have gone on to read Fox's Journal. After the May 16 military coup, he reportedly visited the United States and met with Quakers there. He also worked to introduce Quakerism to Korea, notably by translating Brinton's Friends for 300 Years into Korean. In his later years, however, he lectured on Laozi and Zhuangzi and did not bind himself to any particular denomination. For this reason, some dispute characterizing him solely as a Quaker.