David Pawson - The Holy Spirit Series Pt4 - Early Chapters of John

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Thoughtful Thoughts 22.4.2022 by John Dunning. The Holy Spirit Pt 4.

Disciples filled with the Spirit - The Quakers & William Penn.

Introduction…

Acknowledgments to Wikipedia, the Quaker Oats Company website, the History Detectives and the Society of Friends website for this article.

Quaker Oats porridge, the Quakers and William Penn!

Henry Seymour and William Heston founded Quaker Oats in Ravenna, (USA) and in 1877 Seymour trademarked the Quaker brand. Why would a cereal company name their oats after the “Quakers”?

After reading an encyclopedia article on the Quakers, who are officially called the Religious Society of Friends,[1] (Wikipedia) Henry Seymour and William Heston claimed to have selected the Quaker name as a symbol of good quality and honest value;- “because the Quaker faith projected the values of honesty, integrity, purity, and strength.”

-By 1888, the company employed 83 people, being Ravenna's largest employer.

-In 1909 Quaker Oats even owned up to the "Quaker Man" in their adverts as being the face of William Penn, and referred to him as the "standard-bearer” of the Quakers.

Question…

Why would a cereal manufacturer choose to name its brand after a Christian group nicknamed the “Quakers” and even use the face of William Penn as the face of the company? Well, let’s have a look at who they were (and are…).

The “Quakers”...

The nickname “Quakers” was given by the public to the members of the Society of Friends because they were a kind of 19th-century version of Pentecostals, and their services reflected that. An encyclopedia wrote that the Quakers were known for their integrity, honesty, and purity. Henry Seymour realized that the qualities that the? Quakers had become so famous for, were what he wanted for his company's breakfast cereal, particularly in an era of food impurities.[1] So, the Quakers were so highly regarded in society that Seymour would sell more cereal by naming his brand after them.?

William Penn…

Although born into the Church of England, William Penn became a convinced member of the Religious Society of Friends, (nicknamed the ‘Quakers’). He became a leader and advocate of religious freedom who oversaw the founding of Pennsylvania. How did that happen? Because the Church of England persecuted the Quakers, William Penn was given an ultimatum by his father to either return to the Church of England or be disinherited. Penn refused to exchange his faith for money and so he set out for America.

The Pennsylvania Colony was a royal colony…

King Charles II, son of Charles 1st (who lost his head), owed a lot of money to Penn's family. So, Penn was granted land by what was called a “royal charter” as a place for Quakers to settle - instead of repaying 16,000 pounds to Penn’s father;- (ie millions in today’s money).

William Penn wasn’t under any illusions as to the real reason. He said, “The government at home was glad to be rid of us [Quakers] at so cheap a rate!”?

William Penn’s father would not pass on to his son the family estate after William became a “Quaker”, as he refused to rejoin the Church of England. In this way, William Penn ended up being made a kind of governor by King Charles 2nd of a huge undeveloped landmass in America, just so the King could rid himself of Quakers.??

As Quakers were the first key people to make something out of the barren land, they named their state after Penn;- Pennsylvania.?

Penn set his state up as a refuge for the “Religious Society of Friends” and other persecuted Christians in Europe, away from the claws of all state churches.?

So, Penn welcomed all denominations when he founded the colony of Pennsylvania in 1682, to help Christians have a place to go, to escape persecution by the state Church, and came up with a city name, “Philadelphia”, meaning “brotherly love”, in Greek, to convey his ethos.

Penn recognized the injustice of slavery.

Penn tried and failed to free all slaves, so he compromised by proposing that slaves be freed after a certain period of bondage and suggested the creation of a township, called Freetown, where they could live, but the Pennsylvania Assembly rejected the idea. (Wikipedia).?

History Detectives write:- “The Quaker campaign to end slavery can be traced back to the late 1600s, and many played a pivotal role in the “Underground Railroad”. (Google it!)

Penn intended to free the slaves at Pennsbury Manor, the family estate, and establish them as tenant farmers on his land, but was unable to, because his family objected, and he returned to England in 1701, penniless, after being disinherited by his father for leaving the state church.?

Penn may even have felt like a failure - but he left a huge legacy, which he didn’t live to see as he died in 1718, but we shall see his legacy next…

Legacy…

The American War of Independence was from 1775 to 1776 which freed Americans from the King and his state church. After that things started to change…

It is recorded that other Quakers (of what some called William Penn’s “Holy Experiment”), continued fighting to eliminate slavery, and until that happened, provided a much more “comfortable” existence for slaves than in any other colony, and in 1776, the Religious Society of Friends prohibited all its members from owning slaves.?

“14 years later the Quakers petitioned the U.S. Congress for the abolition of slavery.”?

“In 1780 the State Legislature began the gradual elimination of slavery, by adopting a statute that provided for the freedom of every slave born after its enactment (once that individual reached the age of majority).”

The initial compromise may not seem like much by today’s standards, but it was a crack in the wall, which caused the dam to burst a few years later… A legal ruling in 1783 made Massachusetts the first state to abolish slavery outright.?

The American Civil War 1861-65 was won by the north, enabling the north to enforce its anti-slavery laws on the south.?

All this shows the huge mountain that had to be moved to abolish slavery in America. It’s difficult for us today to imagine what a big achievement it was for Christians back then to fight against the slave trade. They were up against the establishment and the unacceptable face of capitalism, (and the King’s church until 1776 when they gained their freedom after the war of independence.)?

Because there is so much to say about the work accomplished by Quaker women who were filled with God’s Spirit, their stories will have to wait until next week.?

This is John Dunning signing off from “Thoughtful Thoughts” for another week.

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