Posted: February 22, 2021   •   Posted in: Faith

How relevant is the Bible to Quakers today?

Over the winter a group of Friends has been meeting on-line to consider this topic.  What follows is an attempt to capture the essence of our discussions.

We agreed initially to focus on Mark’s Gospel and to consider Jesus’ use of metaphor, parable and story to teach a new way of being; one of challenge, love, peace and compassion.

We began our inquiry using unstructured conversation. We brought a mix of willingness to adventure into the unknown, and to share  our own doubts, questions, certainties and fears.

Our conversations have been wide ranging over the course of our meetings. In particular we have talked of the value of understanding the importance of story-telling and how stories are transmitted across time. We were invited to try to write the obituary of a loved friend.  We realised that knowing that person as a whole relies on all the stories of individual ‘knowings’ which together add up to a more complete, multifaceted and real picture.  We considered how this might be the case too, in trying to get to the true representation of what Jesus said and was trying to say all those years ago.

Sometimes stories need to be told more than once before the fullness of the inner meaning becomes accessible. Such a story is the one where Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees for allowing a woman, thought to have been a prostitute, to oil his feet. As the story has been told sometimes it is said that Jesus is forgiving the woman for her past misdeeds. However, Mark seems to be making a point in his retelling of the story that Jesus tells his disciples that it is because she has already been forgiven by God that she is able to offer the kindness to Jesus. She has been freed from guilt and censure. It changes the emphasis. We are already forgiven! Realisations like this through our conversation circle is balm for the bruisings of the past and present.

We talked about how the language of the stories has changed over time.  We have appreciated the poetic language of the King James bible and the immediacy of up-dated versions which make the stories accessible in modern times.

We enjoyed the simplicity of the message in an illustrated booklet called The Unintentionals.  The imaginary creatures depicted delight in the unexpected that is often under our noses, but we don’t see it because we are too fixated on our own agendas: a delightful representation and reminder of Zen mindfulness and being open to the unexpected.  Is this true of our understanding of the Bible too?

We noted how Quaker Faith and Practice (which is full of stories) is regularly reviewed and updated, honouring the seasoned truths of Quakers across time as well as including new ministry.

We kept returning to the story Mark tells of Jesus and Forgiveness .

We were reminded of the potent, simple truth that Love is the answer.

As we have met fortnightly, we have grown in our trust and knowing of each other. There was no road map for our journey together in our conversations into the unknown. There are some signposts on the way and companions on the road.

At the end of our review evening, a Friend was led to remind us of the first of Quaker Advices :

‘Take heed, dear Friends, to the promptings of love and truth in your hearts. Trust them as the leadings of God whose Light shows us our darkness and brings us to new life’

And all this has been done through the medium of Zoom which has brought us together when we have been unable to meet in person. Because we have been asking the question through conversation: ‘What relevance does the Teaching on the Bible have for me in my life today?’ we have opened a space for the Unknown to reveal itself more fully little by little.

What Friends say:

“I am grateful to the two Friends who set up the winter conversations.  For me it’s been an important way of keeping in touch with the Meeting during difficult times and I have greatly valued the opportunity of listening to others.”

“I am grateful for the breadth of helpful descriptions of experience being offered, as opposed to height or depth of the examples.” 

“I really liked the exercise we undertook at the beginning of the conversation, to write an obituary. It helped to imagine Mark, whoever he or she was, struggling to put a lot of ideas, memories and events into some sort of narrative. We were all able to move on from the Sacred Scripture idea many of us grew up with and thus to read Mark in a different way”.

“I have greatly valued the freedom that a ‘conversation’ has offered us to range far and wide over our personal experiences. The sessions have helped my understanding of myself and of my difficulties with the Bible, and the exploration of story and metaphor have enriched if not revolutionised my approach!”