James Nayler and the Quest for Historic Quaker Identity


Book Description

An exploration of Quaker origins and historiographical traditions concerning James Nayler, this study advances significant new theses regarding this radical religious group and its import to wider historical practice.




James Nayler and the Quest for Historic Quaker Identity


Book Description

Scholars continue to dispute the foundations of Quakerism. James Nayler, his prophetic Bristol 'sign' of 1656, and George Fox's relation to him have been of especial interest in defining the movement's identity. Conventionally, historians and theologians have taken either a 'traditional' approach, which assesses Nayler by the standards of orthodoxy, or a 'revisionist' one, which absolves him by the standards of early Quaker relativism and Christology. This study by Euan David McArthur mediates between these positions, finding that Nayler and Fox developed an ambiguous theology, but adopted a consistent approach to Quaker performances. The latter dissuaded against performances such as Nayler's 'sign'; Nayler is argued, instead, to have diverged from other Quaker leaders following disputations between 1655 and 1656. The lessons his person and actions hold for us are concluded to be complex, but worthy of study for a wide range of historians and thinkers.




The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus


Book Description

A diverse group of scholars charts new paths in the quest for the historical Jesus. After a decade of stagnation in the study of the historical Jesus, James Crossley and Chris Keith have assembled an international team of scholars to envision the quest anew. The contributors offer new perspectives and fresh methods for reengaging the question of the historical Jesus. Important, timely, and fascinating, The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus is a must read for anyone seeking to understand Jesus of Nazareth. Contributors Michael P. Barber, Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology, United States of America Giovanni B. Bazzana, Harvard Divinity School, United States of America Helen K. Bond, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom James Crossley, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society, Norway, and Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements, United Kingdom Tucker S. Ferda, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, United States of America Paula Fredriksen, Boston University, United States of America, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Deane Galbraith, University of Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand Mark Goodacre, Duke University, United States of America Meghan R. Henning, University of Dayton, United States of America Nathan C. Johnson, University of Indianapolis, United States of America Wayne Te Kaawa, University of Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand Chris Keith, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society, Norway John S. Kloppenborg, University of Toronto, Canada Amy-Jill Levine, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, United States of America, and Vanderbilt University, United States of America Brandon Massey, University of Münster, Germany Justin J. Meggitt, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Halvor Moxnes, University of Oslo, Norway Robert J. Myles, Wollaston Theological College, University of Divinity, Australia Wongi Park, Belmont University, United States of America Janelle Peters, Loyola Marymount University, United States of America Taylor G. Petrey, Kalamazoo College, United States of America Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa, Canada Rafael Rodríguez, Johnson University, United States of America Sarah E. Rollens, Rhodes College, United States of America Anders Runesson, University of Oslo, Norway Nathan Shedd, William Jessup University, United States of America, and Johnson University, United States of America Mitzi J. Smith, Columbia Theological Seminary, United States of America, and University of South Africa, South Africa Joan Taylor, King’s College London, United Kingdom Matthew Thiessen, McMaster University, Canada Robyn Faith Walsh, University of Miami, United States of America Matthew G. Whitlock, Seattle University, United States of America Stephen Young, Appalachian State University, United States of America Christopher B. Zeichmann, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada




James Nayler, 1618-1660


Book Description

"The Puritian victory in the English Civil War occasioned a relgious as well as a political revolution. Freed from the restraints of the Anglican faith, the country erupted into a multitude of new sects and religious persuasions threatening religious anarchy ... From the muddle of beliefs, many individuals came to prominence. Some were branded lunatics, self-appointed messiahs ... Others were thoughtful men, dedicated to the search for religious truth and destined to establish lasting movements, as the founders of Quakerism, one of the few sects of the period which survived ... The Quakers, or the Society of Friends, grew out of the turmoil of the interregnum beginning with the ministry of George Fox, cobber turned itinerant preacher, in 1647 ... James Nayler was an early adherent of the Quaker movement in which he soon gained a prominence second only to the acknowledged founder, George Fox. His preaching and publishing activities were of paramount importance to the early growth of the movement, and events in his later career, particularly those culminating in his trial by the Second Protectorate Parliament, are among the most widely celebrated, and most often misinterpreted, in early Quaker history. His significance reaches both the religious and constitutional history of the period"--P. 1-2.




The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus


Book Description

Damrosch gives a clear picture of the origins and early development of the Quaker movement, elucidating the intellectual foundations of Quaker theology.




The Life and Times of James Nayler, the 'Quaker Jesus'


Book Description

'In the opinion of this biographer, James Nayler was not a blasphemer, a heretic, a sower of discord, a fool or a madman, but a genuine Quaker prophet who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.' Tried by parliament, whipped, branded and bored through the tongue in the winter of 1656, James Nayler remains the most controversial figure among the early Quakers. Simon Webb's new biography sets the Yorkshireman's story in the context of his turbulent times, and incorporates recent discoveries about the life of the 'Quaker Jesus'.




James Nayler: the Quaker Jesus


Book Description

'Some more particular account I may give from what I have really observed and understood relating to him, his testimony, temptation and restoration.' One of the most important early Quakers, James Nayler remains a controversial figure among Friends today. This book contains George Whitehead's Impartial Account of his friend's life, published sixty years after Nayler's spectacular fall from grace in 1656.




"Inward" and "outward"


Book Description




The Clouded Quaker Star


Book Description

Vera Massey offers a compelling, sometimes inventive, perspective on James Nayler's ministry before and after his trial and conviction for blasphemy by the British Parliament. It's all here: Nayler's power and faith, his torment, his stormy relationship with George Fox. In this new biography of Nayler, Vera Massey adds her own sense of character and drama to draw the reader into this fertile time of Quaker history -- the friendships, the falling-outs, the sacrifices, and the courage -- of the men and women who gave birth to the Religious Society of Friends.With Sessions Book Trust