公谊会

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17世纪中期兴起於英国的新教派别。该运动由称为「寻觅者」的英国激进派清教徒发起,他们摒弃了安立甘教会和其他当时存在的新教派别。他们的信仰来自福克斯等巡回牧师,他强调,「内在之光」或对上帝的内在理解是宗教权威之源。贵格会的集会特点是成员在沈默中耐心等待言语的启发。1650年(一位判官为之取名,因为「我们以上帝之名命令他们颤动」)以後该运动进展快速,但其成员常因摒弃国家教会或者拒绝缴纳什一税或宣誓效忠而遭到迫害或监禁。有些人移民到美国,他们在那里受到麻萨诸塞湾殖民地迫害,但在宾夕法尼亚的贵格会殖民地和罗德岛受到包容,1681年在彭威廉赞助下由查理二世授予特许权状。後来成为贵格主义特点的其他标志是:简朴的语言和穿着、和平主义、反对奴隶制度。该团体也强调博爱,尤其是帮助难民和饥荒受害者;1947年,美国公谊服务委员会和(英国)公谊服务理事会共获诺贝尔和平奖。

Friends, Society of

Protestant denomination that arose in England in the mid-17th century. The movement began with radical English Puritans called Seekers, who rejected the Anglican church and other existing Protestant sects. They took their faith from itinerant preachers such as George Fox, who emphasized “inward light,” or inward apprehension of God, as the source of religious authority. Quaker meetings are characterized by patient silence in which members wait for inspiration to speak. The movement grew rapidly after 1650 (when a judge gave them their name because “we bid them tremble at the word of God”), but its members were often persecuted or imprisoned for rejecting the state church and refusing to pay tithes or swear oaths. Some emigrated to America, where they were persecuted in Massachusetts Bay Colony but found toleration in Rhode Island and in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, which was chartered by Charles II under the sponsorship of William Penn in 1681. Other marks that became characteristic of Quakerism were plain speech and dress, pacifism, and opposition to slavery. The group also emphasizes philanthropy, especially aid to refugees and famine victims; the American Friends Service Committee and (British) Friends Service Council shared the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize.