A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People Called Quakers

by William Penn

William Penn was the prominent philosopher and early Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania. Penn was one of the earliest known advocates of democracy and religious freedom and he also helped develop city of Philadelphia. Penn was also a prolific writer and his book No Cross, No Crown is a Christian classic. A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People Called Quakers provides an excellent look at the history surrounding the Quaker movement.

Genres: History, Religion, Christian

54 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and a prominent Quaker.

On November 28, 1984 William Penn and his second wife, Hannah Callowhill Penn became Honorary Citizens of the United States, upon an Act of Congress by Presidential Proclamation 5284.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Penn was a very early Quaker in England. He knew George Fox (the founder of Quakerism) and was with the movement from the beginning.

This book personifies everything that attracted me to Quakerism from the beginning; a strong faith in Jesus Christ and the idea that all people have the light of Christ in them and are of equal value in His eyes. Sadly these views are no longer common within the Religious Society of Friends in Britain.

Quakerism has changed a great deal since the 17th century. It has steadily moved away from strong faith in Jesus Christ into a mixture of people who have a general idea of God as a 'light' or even reject God and Jesus completely and describe themselves as 'atheists' or 'non-theists'

Although there are some Quakers who are still strong in the Christian faith it is now generally a universalist faith with very little mention of Jesus at all which is a terrible shame.

I truly believe William Penn is rolling in his grave along with George Fox and all the early Friends who clearly believed in Jesus above all else.

[Don Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The style is rather dry at times, and somewhat archaic, making this a challenging read. However, as a glimpse into the religious thought of the Quakers of Penn's day, it is also fascinating and quite engaging. Overall, if you are interested in reading a first-hand, contemporary account of the history of the early Friends, this book will be invaluable. If you have a Kindle, this title is available as a free Kindle book from Amazon.

[Doug Michalak · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. William Penn, George Fox, and the Quaker movement definitely were on the cutting edge of hearing the LORD in their day. Would say more, but the dumb-assed Social Reader client for Windows 8 Phone App erased my original review. Sorry, I'm not typing it all up again. Will say more in my 2nd book, Kingdom Community.

[Chronics · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same as the title, a brief history of the Quakerism that can be read in a few hours. Not the easiest book to read as it uses the language of its time but there are lots of interesting bits of information to be gleaned as he chronicles the evolution of the movement.

[avery · Rating 2 out of 5]

dry and a tad self indulgent, but nonetheless informative.