Henry initiates this podcast (which is a continuation of the previous podcast (#13) on the Friends’ peace testimony) by telling the attenders about “Quaker cannon”: In the 1600s & 1700s, piracy was a common practice. One deterrent that Quaker sea captains often used was to have devices that looked like real cannon (but were fake) mounted on their decks in an effort to deter pirates from taking advantage of the Quaker-piloted ships on the open seas.
Quakers are part of the well-known “peace churches”, including Quakers, Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren. However, it is clear from reading early Christian writers of the first 200 years after Christ, that all of Christianity was a “peace church”. Robert Barclay lists the locations of about 25 places that mention the pacifism of the early Christians. There was a major shift in Christianity away from pacifism after the Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 312 B,C. and Constantine made Christianity the official church of the Roman Empire. There are many books available on early Christian pacifism which can be found by Googling “early Christian pacifism”. Sadly, most Christians today are completely unaware of the uniformly pacifist stance of early Christianity. Henry then goes on to read both from the Holy Scriptures and Robert Barclay to help underscore the consistent pacifist witness followed by early Friends…
Discussion then ensues over the previous readings and personal experiences of the participants.
Credits:
The words to our music are from Margaret Fell’s Letter to the King on Persecution in 1660. The music was composed and sung by Paulette Meier. Paulette’s work can be found at Paulette meier.com
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Advices read in these podcasts can be found on page 29 in our Book Of Dicipline.
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