RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Friends of God Friends, Society of
them that the secret messenger passing between him and the Great Friend had died the previous year. Many expeditions were sent to search for the Great Friend, even as late as 1390 In later times the Great Friend was identified with Nicholas of Basel, a layman who, having spread the heresies of the Beghards (see Beghards, Beguines) through the country around Basel, was burned at the stake in Vienna (]395); also with John of Chur, a pious hermit who lived in a cell on the Riitberg in the canton of St. Gall. In his writings everything is vague, and there are many contradictions. He has no definite doctrines and no more knowledge of theology than any other devout layman. An account of a pilgrimage to Rome in 1377 is certainly a fiction. The Great Friend must have been an invention; no one could see him or could carry on a correspondence with him except through Merswin, and when Merswin died all trace of him suddenly vanished. It is then almost certain that Merswin himself invented the whole story of the Great Friend, a conjecture that is strengthened by the close correspondence in matter and style between his own writings and those attributed to the Great Friend.
(Philipp Strauch.)
Bibliography: On the Friends of God consult: K.Schmidt, Johannes Tauler von Strassburg, pp. 161 sqq., Hamburg, 1841; idem, Die Gottesfreunde im 14. Jahrhundert, Jena, 1854; Rohrich, in ZHT, x. 1 (1840), 118 sqq.; W. Wackernagel, Kleinere Schriften, ii. 146 sqq., Leipsic, 1873; idem, Altdeutsche Predigten und Gebete, pp. 381 sqq., 583 sqq., Basel, 1876; M. Rieger, Die Gottesfreunde im deutschen Mittelalter, Heidelberg, 1879; KL, v. 893-900. For the works and life of Merswin consult the editions of the " Book of the Nine Rocks " by K. Schmidt, Leipsic, 1859; by B. Waalkes, Leeuwarden, 1882; by Strauss, in Zeitschrift filr deutsche Philologie, xxxiv (1902), 235 sqq.; and further, J. G. V Engelhardt, Richard von Si. Victor und Johannes Ruysbroek, pp. 345 sqq., Erlangen, 1838; K. Schmidt, in ZHT, ix (1839), 61 sqq.; idem, in Revue d'Alsace, vii (1856), 145 sqq., 193 sqq.; A. Jundt, Hist, du pantheisme populaire au moyen age, pp. 211 sqq., Paris, 1875; R. A. Vaughan, Hours with the Mystics, i. 224, 321, 336, 8th ed., London, n.d. The extensive literature upon the question of the " Great Friend of God " is indicated in Hauck-Herzog, RE, xvii. 203.
FRIENDS OF LIGHT. See Free Congregations in Germany.
FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF.
I. Origin and History. Wilburite Movements
George Fox (§ 1). (§7).
Rapid Growth (§ 2). Missionary Work (§ 8).
Friends in the Ameri- II. Doctrine and Practise.
can Colonies (§ 3). Distinctive Creed (§ 1).
Persecution (§ 4). The Ministry (§2).
Later Development (§5). Worship (§ 3).
Differences. The Hick- III. Educational Institutions,
site Separation (§6). IV Organizations and Sta-
The Gurneyite and tistics.
The Society of Friends originated in England in the seventeenth century and spread thence to the English colonies. A few small congregations have existed at times in other countries (France, Germany, Norway, etc.), but practically the history of the Society is confined to England and America. The popular name " Quakers " is said to have been given by a local judge at Derby, Oct. 30, 1650 (cf. L. Muggleton, The Acts of the Witness oj the Spirit, pp. 94-95, London, 1699; cf. DNB, xx. 119).
I. Origin and History : The rise of the Friends is one of the most noteworthy events in the religious
history of England in the seventeenth century. In the midst of the efforts then made to rescue the Church from the corruptions which had grown up around it, there were men who felt that Luther and Cranmer had not gone far enough, and that there was still much sacerdotalism to be purged away, before the original simplicity of Christianity could be restored. Such men found a leader in George Fox (q.v.). He and his followers announced as their aim the revival of primitive Christianity; and this phrase remains as the best definition of their work. The privilege of direct access to God, without the intervention of human priest or rite, was revealed to Fox's soul. Having found one, " even Christ Jesus, who could speak to his condition," he longed to impart Iris discovery of the spirituality of true religion to others, and in 1647 began his labors in public ministry, going forth through England on foot, and at his own 1 George cnarSes- His message appears to Fox. have been mainly to direct the people to the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, who died for them, and had sent his spirit into their hearts, to instruct and guide them in the things pertaining to life and salvation. " I was sent," he says, " to turn people from darkness to the light, that they might receive Christ Jesus; for, to as many as should receive him in his light, I saw that he would give power to become the sons of God, which I had obtained by receiving Christ. I was to direct people to the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures, by which they might be led into all truth, and so up to Christ and God, as those had been who gave them forth." To the illumination of the Holy Spirit in the heart he turned the attention of all, as that by which sin was made manifest and reproved, duty unfolded, and ability given to run with alacrity and joy in the way of God's commandments. He preached repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and showed that one became a true disciple not by a bare assent of the understanding to the truths contained in the Bible, nor by any outward rite, but by a real change of the heart and affections, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The inward light became not merely a mystical communion with God, but also a source of strength and guidance in the practical affairs of religion.
The soil was ready for the seed, and the rapid spread of Fox's doctrines was surprising. All classes flocked to his preaching; and among his converts were persons of the best families in the kingdom, priests of the Established Church, and ministers of other societies, and many men of wealth and learning. For four years
Growth ^ox was *^e onty minister of the society; the second preacher was Elizabeth Hooton (d. 1672). In the fifth year there were twenty-five preachers; in the seventh, upward of sixty. Within eight years, ministers of Friends preached in various parts of Europe, in Asia, and in Africa, and heroically endured persecution in Rome, Malta, Austria, Hungary, and other places. Among the noteworthy preachers in the earlier years, Francis Howgill, John Audland, and Samuel Fisher had been clergymen; George Bishop, Rich-
Friends, Society of