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Why Did the Quakers Fail?
The Quaker movement was founded 350 years ago. It had striking similarities with the principal teachings of the Urantia Papers. An offshoot of Christianity, the Quakers were dedicated to living in accordance with the "Inward Light," meaning a direct inward apprehension of the God-Within--our Thought Adjuster. They operated without creeds, clergy, or other ecclesiastical bodies. Their founding leaders believed that this experimental approach to the discovery of God would eventually lead to the purification of all of Christendom.
Their accomplishments included leading the movement for the liberation of slaves in Britain and America, prominence in their opposition to social ills such as brutality in prisons and insane asylums, the oppression of women, militarism, and war.
Ideally their emphasis on the direct relationship between the believer and the God-Within bordered on being absolute for the individual. But at their meetings this concept was moderated. These meetings were usually held monthly to worship God and await his word--and were open to anyone who wished to attend. Worshippers remained in silent contemplation until, ideally, someone felt they had reached a new understanding that needed to be proclaimed. That person then spoke or prayed, thus ministering to the meeting which listened, weighing the "testimony" and assessing it by comparison with their own experiences of God.
Quakers rejected a formal or salaried clergy as a "hireling" ministry. They believed that if God can provide living testimony at their meetings, then the Bible can take a subordinate place and creeds and sacraments dispensed with.
The basics of Quaker-ism and its expectations are similar to what many readers might feel are revealed in the Urantia revelation. But after 350 years of trying, their impact upon Christianity and other religions of the world is close to zero.
The Urantia Papers contain this exhortation: "The religious challenge of this age is to those farseeing and forward-looking men and women of spiritual insight who will dare to construct a new and appealing philosophy of living out of the enlarged and exquisitely integrated modern concepts of cosmic truth, universe beauty, and divine goodness. Such a new and righteous vision of morality will attract all that is good in the mind of man and challenge that which is best in the human soul. Truth, beauty, and goodness are divine realities, and as man ascends the scale of spiritual living, these supreme qualities of the Eternal become increasingly coordinated and unified in God, who is love." (43)
The Revelators have provided us with a revised version of the Fourth Epochal Revelation. And in both the Thought Adjuster Papers in Part 3, and in their comments on the Thought Adjuster's role in Jesus' life, are they not indicating the same hope as the founding leaders of Quakerism--that our experimental discovery of the God-Within will lead to the purification of Christianity and other earthly religions? They state:
"What a service if, through this revelation, the Son of Man should be recovered from the tomb of traditional theology and be presented as the living Jesus to the church that bears his name, and to all other religions! Surely the Christian fellowship of believers will not hesitate to make such adjustments of faith and of practices of living as will enable it to "follow after" the Master in the demonstration of his real life of religious devotion to the doing of his Father's will and of consecration to the unselfish service of man." (2090)
How do we differ from the Quakers and how can we improve our chances for success?
One difference appears to be in the way the Quakers perceive, not the actuality of the indwelling presence of God, but in the way they relate to that Presence. In their meetings it is through the stilling of their minds that they hope to become conscious of the Presence and to receive inspiration.
The Papers reveal a different kind of relationship to that Presence-Within: "During this year Joseph and Mary had trouble with Jesus about his prayers. He insisted on talking to his heavenly Father much as he would talk to Joseph, his earthly father. This departure from the more solemn and reverent modes of communication with Deity was a bit disconcerting to his parents, especially to his mother, but there was no persuading him to change…" (1360)
And in the Thought Adjuster Papers: "Children, when first learning to make use of language, are prone to think out loud, to express their thoughts in words, even if no one is present to hear them. With the dawn of creative imagination they evince a tendency to converse with imaginary companions. In this way a budding ego seeks to hold communion with a fictitious alter ego. By this technique the child early learns to convert his monologue conversations into pseudo dialogues in which this alter ego makes replies to his verbal thinking and wish expression. Very much of an adult's thinking is mentally carried on in conversational form." (996)
Later, they recommend the use of this alter ego method for relating to our indwelling God-Spirit as an older Jesus related to his: "Enlightened prayer must recognize not only an external and personal God but also an internal and impersonal Divinity, the indwelling Adjuster. It is altogether fitting that man, when he prays, should strive to grasp the concept of the Universal Father on Paradise; but the more effective technique for most practical purposes will be to revert to the concept of a near-by alter ego, just as the primitive mind was wont to do, and then to recognize that the idea of this alter ego has evolved from a mere fiction to the truth of God's
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