The Quakers are a fascinating religious group both in their origins and in the variety of reinterpretations of the faith since. Emerging from the social unrest of the English civil war, the Quakers have gone on to have an influence way beyond their numbers: be it their continued stance against war or their pioneering work against slavery. At the same time, Quakers maintain a distinctive worship method to achieve the direct encounter with God which has been at the heart of the movement since its beginning. This book charts the history of Quakerism and its present-day diversity, and outlines its approach to worship, belief, theology and language, and ecumenism.

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'Ben' Pink Dandelion is a Reader in Quaker Studies and directs the work of the Centre for Postgraduate Quaker Studies, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre and the University of Birmingham. He is the author of numerous books on Quakerism including The Liturgies of Quakerism (Ashgate, 2005) and Introduction to Quakerism (CUP, 2007) and edits the journal Quaker Studies.