The Testimonies
About the Testimonies
From early Quakers to today “Let your life speak!” is an exhortation recognizing that our actions speak about and reveal our spiritual perspectives and experiences. They testify to what we value spiritually, what matters. These shared values are identified and examined in the Quaker testimonies.
The testimonies are not creedal. They are not belief statements. They are not mere principles. Nor are they exclusively Quaker. Other organizations, faith communities, and individuals share many of these perspectives.
For Quakers, the ideas embodied in the testimonies are more than good principles to live by. They are corporate witness statements of our experience of the Light Within and our commitment to its fruits—faith in action right now.
Each testimony focuses on a particular value, enabling Quakers to examine that value more fully. Yet the ideas overlap and intermingle. Ultimately, they are not separable. They form the warp and woof of faith in action, the affirmations that everything in our lives cannot be separated from our spiritual ground.
The scope and substance of testimonies have changed over time. For example, as concern for our planet’s health and its consequences for life on the Earth has risen, sustainability now is often identified as a separate testimony. Some see sustainability as part of the testimony of stewardship. However, the naming of testimonies is not the issue. The rising Quaker awareness of environmental concerns is. Quakers are declaring that we are called to support sustainability as a matter of faith in action.
In order to emphasize the unity of the testimonies, the testimony of integrity (“wholeness”) is often the first one cited, as wholeness characterizes the testimonies taken together.
Further, the Testimonies are sometimes referred to as the “Quaker S.P.I.C.E.S.” as an mnemonic device.
The Quaker Testimonies
Simplicity
The Quaker testimony of simplicity denotes an inward centeredness that is responsive to the Divine. As we become centered, we are drawn away from the complexity and clutter of secular life and led toward the purity and simplicity of truth to which Friends aspire.
Friends regard church rituals and material trappings as having the potential to hinder our attention to God’s word. We gather in unadorned meeting houses and wait in holy silence for the Divine Spirit to guide our worship.
Peace
Friends are widely known for our efforts to bring about a more peaceful world. We shun violence in word and deed, holding that war is inconsistent with God’s will. Early Friends steadfastly refused to participate in wars, preferring imprisonment and persecution to harming other children of God.
Mindful of the presence of evil in the world, Friends attempt to counter it by using nonviolent means of preventing harm to others while bearing in mind that the perpetrators are also children of God.
Integrity
Perhaps the most fundamental testimony of Friends is that of integrity. This testimony calls us to a way of life aligned with the will of God as revealed by the Light within us, reflecting our devotion to truth, honesty, authenticity, and wholeness. We endeavor to become whole within ourselves, and to make our actions reflect our words and beliefs. We strive to hold to a single standard of truth, saying what we mean and doing what we say.
Community
The testimony of community is central to Friends’ practices. We worship together in order to be receptive and responsive to God’s Light, and we minister to all members of our meeting community.
As Quakers, we believe that we are called to be responsible and accountable to each other. A Quaker community offers loving support, guidance, comfort, and inspiration to all of those who become a part of it. It also serves as a foundation for our witness to other communities of which we are also a part.
Equality
The testimony of equality is based on Friends’ belief that there is that of God in everyone. We regard outward differences between people as less significant than the spiritual equality of all human beings. Quakers have always regarded men and women as equally worthy in God’s eyes.
Quakers accepted and upheld the equality of people of different races, classes, and sexual orientations earlier than most of the rest of society, and have worked toward economic equality and social justice. In our meetings we strive to create an environment in which all of those attending feel fully welcome.
Stewardship
Quakers consider all possessions and resources to be gifts that God has entrusted to our loving care. As individuals and as a community, we are called to selflessly consider whether our lifestyles and daily practices are consistent with this understanding.
In prayerfully reflecting on how we obtain and use our possessions and resources, we are likely to discover the seeds, not only of war, but also of oppression, self-indulgence, injustice, and ecological damage. Faithful stewardship consists in sincere efforts to remedy those ills. Each of us is called to consider what changes we can make in our lives, lifestyles, and relationships to better support the earth and all its creatures, and then to make those changes as best we can.
The testimonies represent our highest values as Quakers. Learning to live in accordance with them is challenging. We often fall short, but we continue to strive.
-excerpted and adapted from the text of Faith and Practice: Illinois Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, approved by the Yearly Meeting in Sixth Month, 2019
Further Viewing
These videos—produced by our Friends at QuakerSpeak—offer additional perspectives on important topics related to the Religious Society of Friends.
