始于静默也终于静默的贵格会

Quakers: Beginning and Ending with Silence

Andres S. TANG

As the most neglected Christian community in the field of Church history study, Quakers are always identified as one of the spiritualists. This paper understands Quakers in the context of the English reformation as a product emerging out of the separationist movement in the seventeenth century. Being the most minimal version of the believers' church, Quakers are well known by their un-programmed worship in silence based on various theological grounds. Although in the nineteenth century Quakers were divided into three branches (conservative, evangelical and liberal), silence remains the center of their worship. In order to have an in-depth grasp of the Quakers' conception of silence in worship, this paper investigates how they understand the nature and use of language in terms of realism, semi-realism and non-realism. The use of silence and the reflection of theological language are two significant issues Quakers contribute to the churches of the reformation, with a view for further reformation.