Fundamental Beliefs of Conservative Friends #15 A Brief Synopsis ... Artwork

Ohio Yearly Meeting's Podcast

This is a podcast of Ohio Yearly Meeting. We are a collection of Conservative Quaker Meetings based primarily in Ohio. By conservative, we do not mean politically conservative. Conservative Friends are known for their commitment to conserve the Original message of the first generation of Quakers. These Quakers, in turn, saw their movement as a revival of primitive Christianity. We hope the installments of our podcasts will present the understandings of Conservative Quakerism.

So, if thee is interested in learning the differences between Conservative Quakers and other Quakers, or would like to understand differences between Quakers and other Christians, thee may well be at the right place. On the other hand, the Conservative Quaker perspective is so strikingly unique in contemporary society, that it will be a balm to many seeking spiritual fulfillment. To assist these seekers is the true intent of publishing our podcast.

A good many of the podcast installments will be presented by Henry Jason. Henry is knowledgeable in the Greek of the New Testament and has a fascinating way of tying the meaning of the original words with the writings of early Friends. Listening to him provides a refreshing view of scripture and is an excellent way to learn about original Quaker theology. Henry's podcasts are usually bible classes and so they are often interspersed with discussions, questions and insightful comments by his students.

The music in our podcasts is from Paulette Meier's CDs: Timeless Quaker Wisdom in Plainsong and Wellsprings of Life available at paulettemeier.com.

Find out more about Ohio Yearly Meeting at ohioyearlymeeting.org.

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Ohio Yearly Meeting's Podcast

Fundamental Beliefs of Conservative Friends #15 A Brief Synopsis ...

April 13, 2022 • Henry Jason

The focus of this podcast is a brief examination of the approximately first half of the document: “A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends”. The document was created in 1912 and also shows the minutes of adoption from the seven then-existing Conservative Yearly Meetings Friends: Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, New England, Canada, Kansas, Western. It was printed in 1913, and was created in order to communicate in the rapidly-changing world of the early 1900s (especially with the rapid acceptance of “Higher Criticism”) how the beliefs of Conservative Friends were very close to those of the original, early Friends of the mid and latter 17th century.

As a side note, Henry notes that Joel Bean, had been a member of the Gurneyite Iowa Yearly meeting, and while he did not call himself a Conservative Friend, appears to have presented himself as one, and was one of the founders in College Park Meeting in San Jose, California and which is credited as later becoming the beginning of Pacific Yearly Meeting.
The document covers Conservative Friends' beliefs: God, God as a Spirit, Jesus Christ as His only begotten Son (in Greek, “unique”), atonement through Christ and remission of sins through Him, Christ through His death destroyed death, Christ manifested as a man, baptism (repentance and regeneration), life after earthly life, divine worship, ministry of the gospel (an unpaid ministry), the lack of need of seminary training to be a true minister of the gospel, and finally (in this session) the Spirit alone can open the mysteries contained in the Holy Scriptures.

When Jesus suffered, the Godhead part of Him did not die, but the human part did die.

It would really be more appropriate if instead of thinking of and speaking Jesus Christ as one name, He should really be seen as Jesus, the Christ.

The discussion moves to the development of the Nicene Creed and Friends’ approach to it. Early Friends were much less interested in arguing over theology and arguing over the meaning of words than they were that their lives, hearts and spirits needed to be changed from within. They wanted to get beyond the literalist wording of things.

There is a discussion of the “sing-song” form of spoken ministry that could be often heard among Conservative Friends ministers in the 19th Century and early 20th Century.

Documents:

A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends

Word Reference:

Cristos: “the anointed one”. In Hebrew, Mesiach, “the anointed One”
Worship “in truth”

A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.

To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org.

Those interested in exploring the distinctives of Conservative Friends waiting worship should consider checking out our many Zoom Online Worship opportunities during the week here. All are welcome!

We also have several Zoom study groups. Check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website.

Advices read in these podcasts can be found on page 29 in our Book Of Dicipline.

We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website.