quaker glossary

For Quakers, an individual’s Inner Light is their most powerful spiritual guide, providing clarity and illumination to them individually, but also to the community as a whole when they share guidance or revelation that their Inner Light* has provided. In using the term “continuing revelation,” Quakers often refer to the ongoing spiritual guidance that their Inner Light reveals, sometimes after quiet reflection in spaces such as Meetings for Worship.

In the early days of Quakerism, the practice of continuing revelation led to the development and adoption of the six primary Quaker testimonies, or the most sacred values of our Quaker principles.

But the idea of continuing revelation also means that spiritual beliefs may be evolutionary and changing for each of us throughout our lives—there may not be one rigid dogma that guides us eternally, as we are continuously seeking truth. This means we can be flexible, we can change our minds, we can come to another mode of thought and belief. “One example that was shared with me,” says Director of Community Engagement Guybe Slangen, “is if you look back on your life, what you thought to be ‘true’ at various times may have evolved or changed all together.” Truth can be revealed through ourselves and others, and for Quakers, answers are dynamic, not static.

Continuing revelation is also personal—it comes from within each of us, from our Inner Light. This puts Quakers on individual journies of self-discovery, understanding, and learning.

“For me,” says SFFS Trustee Rob Lippincott, “there is also something fundamentally hopeful and future-focused in the notion of continuous revelation.” •

* One’s Inner Light can most simply be described as the light of God that resides in each of us, showing us the way and guiding us through questions and challenges in life.