Fundamentals #20
Friends’ attitudes concerning Truth, Deceit, pride, plainness in language, dress, and related topics are addressed.
Early Friends concern for “Truth" was central. We would capitalize the word “Truth” when they used it, i.e., the Truth that was the divine entity and living Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth.
John 14:6-7 was very important for Friends: It pointed to Christ Jesus, the living embodiment of that Spirit of Truth. In Greek, the word for "truth" also meant “reality”. In early Quakerism, “Truth” was frequently a synonym for the living embodiment of Christ. They called themselves children of, members of, or followers of Truth.
Regarding Genesis 3:1-7, in the Middle East, the serpent symbolized earthly wisdom. In Genesis 3:1-7 the serpent presents the first instance of deceit with mankind, Adam and Eve. As we have that same proclivity to sin, at some point as we grow up, we each are deceived by Satan and the world he rules.
The phrase “long, dark night of the apostasy” was used by early Friends to describe the many false teachings, misunderstandings and doctrines that crept into Christianity over the centuries. “Orthodox” in Greek means having correct opinions and beliefs.
The sin of pride in Adam and Eve was in wanting to become like gods, by choosing the earthly wisdom of Satan.
One aspect of "plain speech" grew out of early Friends’ concern for truth: The names of the days of the week and months in English are largely drawn from the names of pagan gods and goddesses: In strict adherence to truthfulness, Friends rejected the implied worship of gods and goddesses, and numbered rather than named the days and months.
A second issue of “plainness" was the use of certain pronouns: In older English, the singular pronouns “thou”, “thee” and “thy” were used when speaking to one person (modern: you your). The originally plural pronouns “ye” and “you” were used only for addressing two or more people. But by the mid-1600s, in many parts of England, the plural pronouns “ye”, “you” and “your” were expected when speaking to one person having a higher social rank than oneself (royalty, nobility, a government official, etc.). Friends saw this as status-recognizing, socially egotistical and prideful. Using the singular forms “thou”, “thee” and “thy” with those of higher social status caused much difficulty for early Friends.
Early Friends chose not to be slaves to clothing fashions. Thus, Friends' dress did not change with the fashion of the times. Their dress was a non-frilly, simple, utilitarian version of the clothing of their day. Today, some Conservative Friends do wear traditional plain dress. Among other Conservative Friends, one will not often see frills or loud colors.
Friends refusal to take an oath comes from an understanding that we should always tell the truth, not only when one is under oath.
Since congregational singing means one may be singing words that do not truly reflect the true inward condition, Friends did not do congregational singing. But a song sung as a true personal statement of one’s current personal experience was fine. In his Journal George Fox records having sung multiple times.
For Friends, the Bible is not the "Word of God". Jesus is very clearly called the “Word" in the Scriptures. No writing of the
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