In 1959, American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) provocatively wrote, “The basic difficulty of the church is that it is not facing the central moral problems of our era . . . It embroiders life with its little amenities, but it does not change the pattern.”[1] Sadly (but perhaps not unexpectedly), this diagnosis is ubiquitous in the historical annals of the church. One can easily find other concerned critiques (throughout the centuries) of the church lapsing into cold-hearted apathy or rationalized abuses in the works and writings of St. Paul, Ambrose of Milan, Berno of Cluny, Teresa of Avila, Jan Hus, Martin Luther, George Whitefield, and so on. In eighteenth-century America, many in Christian society also lamented that the church had once again slid into sinfulness and dysfunctionality, with numerous heralds (from all denominations) calling out for sincere reflection, repentance, and restoration of proper Christian morality in the lives of God’s chosen people.
One such harbinger was Quaker preacher and activist John Woolman (1720–1772), who tirelessly shared his Christian cultural convictions with many congregations and communities along his journey through the colonies and into the borderlands of the American frontier. In his journal, Woolman wrote, “While I was on this journey, my heart was much affected with a sense of the state of the churches in our southern provinces; and believing the Lord was calling me to some further labor among them, I was bowed in reverence before him, with fervent desires that I might find strength to resign myself to his heavenly will.”[2] He felt called by God to apply his Christian convictions in all areas of social existence and injustices that violated his sacred Quaker beliefs.
For Woolman, far too many colonists had adopted an unacceptable way of life and ungodly attitudes for those calling themselves, “Christian.” He bemoaned, “but for lack of steadily regarding this principle of Divine love, a selfish spirit takes place in the minds of people, which is attended with darkness and manifold confusions in the world.”[3]Instead, Woolman sought to share his inward sense of God’s loving, holy direction for himself and his brothers and sisters in Christ. He testified, “Words were spoken to my inward ear, which filled my whole inward man: they were not the effect of thought, nor any conclusion in relation to the appearance, but as the language of the Holy One spoken in my mind; the words were: Certain Evidence of Divine Truth.”[4]
In particular, Woolman addressed the problems that he personally observed in American colonial life—specifically regarding the overall hostility of his countrymen, the evils of the slave trade, exploitative taxation, and unreasonable conscriptions. Woolman noted in his journal,
It appeared to me, that through the prevailing of the spirit of this world, the minds of many were brought to inward desolation; and instead of the spirit of meekness, gentleness and heavenly wisdom, which are the necessary companions of the true sheep of Christ, a spirit of fierceness and the love of dominion, too generally prevailed.[5]
This fierceness was no better perceived than in the mistreatments, oppression, and apathetic Christian acceptance of the African slave trade in America. Woolman wrote, “Conduct is more convincing than language; and where people, by their actions, manifest that the slave-trade is not so disagreeable to their principles but that it may be encouraged, there is not a sound uniting with some Friends who visit them.” Moreover, Woolman added, “If the white people retain a resolution to prefer their outward prospects of gain to all other considerations, and do not act conscientiously toward them [the slaves] as fellow creatures, I believe that burden will grow heavier and heavier, until times change in a way disagreeable to us.”[6] Woolman’s prediction was remarkably-yet-regrettably found to be true as evidenced by the American Civil war, nearly a hundred years later.
Regarding the taxation imposed upon the colonists by the British Empire for their hegemonic pursuits, Woolman confessed, “A few years past, money being made current in our province for carrying on wars, and to be called in again by taxes laid on the inhabitants, my mind was often affected with the thoughts of paying such taxes; and I believe it right for me to preserve a memorandum concerning it.”[7] Being a Quaker, Woolman found the prospect of his taxes funding any warfare vexatious to his religious scruples. Although he had no outward desire to rebel against the British government, “To refuse the active payment of a tax which our Society generally paid, was exceedingly disagreeable; but to do a thing contrary to my conscience, appeared yet more dreadful.”[8]
Taking it even one step further, Woolman thereafter advocated the more noble, godly path of pacifism, explaining, “It requires great self-denial and resignation of ourselves to God, to attain that state wherein we can freely cease from fighting when wrongfully invaded, if by our fighting, there was a probability of overcoming the invaders.”[9] According to Woolman (and many others), “They could not bear arms for conscience-sake; nor could they hire any to go in their places, being resigned as to the event of it.”[10] Thus, as for conscriptions, Woolman confessed, “I was fully convinced that the proceedings in wars are inconsistent with the purity of the Christian religion; and to be hired to entertain men, who were then under pay as soldiers, was a difficulty with me.”[11] He knew this would not sit well with the British military, but he was more concerned with first pleasing God.
In all these important social affairs, Woolman demonstrated his heartfelt beliefs that in the business of life, by embracing “a sympathizing tenderness with the sheep of Christ”—and by obeying the dictates of our Heavenly Lord over the demands of our earthly lords (regardless of the social difficulties brought about because of one’s convictions)—“True unity may still be preserved among us.”[12] Ultimately, Woolman’s final admonition in chapter six of his journal offers a divinely beneficent and accomplishable path toward healing and holiness in American society—mainly because it depends more upon God’s power and wisdom than our own.
Woolman concludes:
If we humbly meditate on his perfections, consider that he is perfect wisdom and goodness, and that to afflict his creatures to no purpose, would be utterly averse to his nature, we shall hear and understand his language, both in his gentle and more heavy chastisements; and take heed that we do not, in the wisdom of this world, endeavor to escape his hand by means too powerful for us.[13]
Woolman’s understanding of Christianity (and the world) was true in the darkness of his own culturally chaotic era and, some two hundred and fifty years later, it still stands true today.
Regarding the “operations of divine love,”[14] Woolman’s applied apologetic can perhaps be best summed up by the chorus in Gene MacLellan’s song, “Put Your Hand in the Hand,” composed in 1970 and sung by Canadian vocal artist Anne Murray:[15]
Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water,
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea,
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently,
By putting your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.
As so often espoused by John Woolman, God’s way for His people is the only way for true peace and harmony because it was, is, and will always be the best, holiest way. Any other mortal recourse can only lead to increased “judgment, oppression, discord, envy and confusions.”[16]
Bibliography
MacLellan, Gene. “Put Your Hand in the Hand.” In Honey, Wheat and Laughter (LP). Toronto: Capitol, 1970.
Niebuhr, Reinhold. “The Weakness of the Modern Church.” In Essays in Applied Christianity: The Church and the New World. Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1959.
Woolman, John. The Journal and Writings of John Woolman. Ebook: Friends Library Publishing, 2024.
[1] Reinhold Niebuhr, “The Weakness of the Modern Church,” in Essays in Applied Christianity: The Church and the New World (Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1959), 69–70.
[2] John Woolman, The Journal and Writings of John Woolman (Ebook: Friends Library Publishing, 2023), 54.
[3] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 57.
[4] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 61.
[5] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 70.
[6] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 67.
[7] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 76–77.
[8] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 78.
[9] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 81.
[10] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 84.
[11] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 85.
[12] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 95.
[13] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 96.
[14] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 14.
[15] Gene MacLellan, “Put Your Hand in the Hand,” in Honey, Wheat and Laughter (LP) (Toronto: Capitol, 1970), Track A1.
[16] Woolman, The Journal and Writings, 97.