True godliness don’t turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavors to mend it.[1] - William Penn

As a social entrepreneur and a Quaker, it is important for me to relate my faith to my business activities. This is important to me because I want my spiritual life and my material life to be holistic. In my learning about the History and Literature of Quakerism, I am aware that historically Quakers had great success in business, especially in relation to their small numbers. A point of support for the assertion of the commercial success of early Quaker comes from the Philadelphia tax list of 1769. A bit more than a century after the emergence of Quakerism, Philadelphia Quakers represented a mere one-seventh of the city’s population. However, Quakers represented more than fifty percent of those who paid more than one hundred pounds in taxes. Of the wealthiest seventeen Philadelphians, eight were “Quakers in good standing,” and four were raised in the tradition. Twelve out of seventeen of the wealthiest Philadelphians in 1769 were Quaker![2]

As a capstone to my study of Quakerism at Earlham School of Religion, I want to investigate the theological, ethical, and historical factors that contributed to their success in business enterprises. For a religious group that created a hedge, or protection, against themselves and the world at large, their practices were met with financial success. I believe that the faith and practice of early Friends can both inform and assist our contemporary society towards reform. Early Quakers demonstrate how biblical teaching informed virtuous business practices that lead to the spiritual growth and economic development of a true covenantal faith community. The need for a world enriching, faith-based community life has not diminished since Quakerism broke onto the scene of social turmoil in 17th century England. In this paper, I will attempt to demonstrate how early Quaker writings reflected a scriptural basis for business practices that helped this much despised and persecuted people rise from oppression and suffering into a disciplined faith community that garnered the trust, respect, and support of former enemies.

Once the age of Quaker persecution was over, Friends were no longer defending their lives and could direct their attentions and ideologies to helping one another thrive. The energies, tactics, and activities that Quaker’s invested in order to defend their faith and counteract violence in their early days were well served in fashioning a new age of advancement under more tolerant political and religious climates.[3] The Quakers were a successful model of a covenantal community.

In the following pages, I will underscore particular factors as section headings that stand out as key elements of my research that support a foundation for Quaker business success. The contributing factors may be historical, theological, or essential virtues that stem from time-tested Quaker faith and practice. All scriptural references come from the Authorized King James Version (AKJV) courtesy of www.biblegateway.com.

Consideration of the Poor

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. - Matthew 7:12

We cannot begin an analysis of Quaker business success without first understanding the foundational role the Golden Rule commands in the life and practice of Friends. John Woolman was a central 18th Century Quaker. He was a social reformer, abolitionist, writer, minister, and tradesmen. Woolmans tender sympathies towards Christ’s commandments led to one of his many essays, “A Plea to the Poor.” Throughout his life, he lived out his exhortation: “Oh, may the wealthy consider the poor!”[4] He wrote: “Men who have large possessions and live in the spirit of charity, who carefully inspect the circumstances of those who occupy their estates, and regardless of the customs of the times regulate their demands...do good to the poor without placing it as an act of bounty.”[5] In other words, living out of a spirit of charity necessitates doing good for others without considering the act of giving as a reward for the receiver. Rather, caring for the poor was a duty for the giver who received the bounty for themselves.

Quakers considered almsgiving a sacred duty. William Penn, in Some Fruits of Solitude, wrote about giving alms: “I will not say these Works are Meritorious [creditable] but dare say they are Acceptable; and go not without their Reward.”[6] Although Penn’s statement flirts with works righteousness, he seems to understand that it is the giver who stands to benefit from the gift.

The Quakers were similar to their Puritan counterparts in some ways, but the Quaker attitude toward the poor is not one of them. Puritans looked upon poverty as a crime, and held the poor in low regard. For Puritans, being poor represented a state of disgrace, and an outward sign of Divine condemnation; poverty was God’s punishment for “the sins of laziness and improvidence.”[7] Quakers, in contrast, were convinced that every person contained the Seed of God. Therefore, all humanity merited love and care. For Quakers, even when misfortune fell upon someone, they felt obliged to offer assistance and compassionate care.[8]

The primary reason I include Quakers abiding care for the poor as a contributing factor toward their success in business relates to the importance of Jesus’ commandments in the Sermon on the Mount, and also to their belief that God’s Kingdom was an unfolding, earthly (and sometimes internal) reality. Because the heavenly life could be realized here on earth, inasmuch as Quakers have done unto the least of their brethren, they have done unto Him (Matthew 25:40).

Relationship to Debt

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. - Romans 13:8

As the undisputed founder of Quakerism (next to Christ Himself), George Fox has left us with writings that establish unique interpretations of scripture that informed and distinguished Quakerism from its Puritan counterparts.[9] As the above quotation from Romans 13:8 has served as a biblical basis for the Quaker ethic of staying out of debt, one particular tract of George Fox addressed to merchants, Line of Righteousness, extends the rationale against debt with an argument against overextending oneself:

For a man that...goes beyond his estate, lifts himself up, runs into debt, and lives highly of other men’s means; he is a waster...and a destroyer. He is not serviceable to the creation...encumbers himself and troubles others… (and) falls into shame.[10]

When a person spends more than he takes in, this is living beyond one's means. Taking on debt and “overreaching” has the potential of doing harm to others and is seen as wasteful and destructive of the natural order of creation. We are to trust God to provide for our material needs. (Matt. 6:31-33) Other scriptures referenced by Fox in Line of Righteousness, defending his position against debt, are taken from the First Testament:

“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7) and “thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow” (Deut. 15:6) are supporting arguments used by Fox and his followers as guides to follow the Golden Rule. Again, debt was viewed as a behavior that could do harm to others.[11]

While avoiding debt entirely was advocated and practiced by Fox and the earliest Friends, including the Elders at Balby, this was not a realistic expectation as Quaker culture moved across the Atlantic. The economic milieu of the import business in which early American colonial Quakers found themselves did not allow the practice of debt-free trading for a number of reasons we will not go into here. However, changing social and economic conditions necessitated a shift in thinking about debt. Stephen Crisp, a contemporary of Fox, articulated a nuanced position that debt was admissible at times. Crisp seemed to be aware that people had varying weaknesses and gifts, and there should be stipulations regarding taking a loan.[12] Crisp spoke against dependence on “adventures, increase of crops, gains of trade, or others keeping their word” because these uncertainties present “a snare of being unfaithful to their promise before they are aware.”[13] Crisp’s more permissible attitude toward faithful debting began to permeate the culture of Quakerism as various Meeting Queries and Advices evidenced the reality that loans were being made among Friends.

For example, in 1695 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting strongly advised members not to trade “beyond their Abilities,” and also recommended that “if any are Indebted abroad or at Home, and Answer not the same in due Time, That such be admonished thereof, that Truth may not be Reproached, and People whether Rich or Poor kept out of their Just Debts.”[14]

The Yearly Meetings became involved in this ethical shift from a literal interpretation of Romans 13:8 that demands owing man nothing but love, to assisting young entrepreneurs to engage “the right kind of debt.”[15] From the perspective of early Friends, we witness a shift in thinking based on the moral divide between what “ought” to be and what “is.” Therefore we see a transition from “no debt” into the reality of a “just debt” ethic as the economic conditions changed and Quakers adapted to colonial life on American soil.

In fact, The Rules of Discipline from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting between the years 1681 to 1797 have a “robust set of advices for business practices,” and this trend was established across the colonies of New England including North Carolina and Baltimore Yearly Meetings.[16] The highly organized and effective service and governance structures of Quaker ecclesiology are other factors relating to the business success of Quakers that will be discussed later. Quaker views on debt are related to honesty, in that an individual is taking on more of a burden than they can actually manage. In the next section I hope to expand on and explore how Truth and honesty are witnessed as a major influence in the long term business success of Quakers.

Honesty

Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord. - Proverbs 20:10

As George Fox wrote about not “overreaching” and eliminating debt in his writings to tradesmen, he also took on the greed and dishonesty that led merchants to use false weights and measures in their dealings with customers. While the above quotation from Proverbs is an excellent example to support Fox’s exhortation against this lying practice that amounted to stealing, Jesus’ teachings from His Sermon on the Mount played an essential part in the development of a successful Quaker business ethic. A unique interpretation of Matthew 5:37 led to the establishment of fair, fixed pricing of Quaker goods. “Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil,” led to the end of price negotiations, or haggling, between Quaker merchants and buyers. The Quaker practice of plain dealing was not the way that business was conducted at the time. William Stout of Lancaster, a Quaker ironmonger and merchant, wrote that he “always detested that which is common, to ask for more for goods than the market price, or what they may be afforded for; but usually set the price at one word, which seemed offensive to many.”[17] But others observed that non-negotiation helped business to proceed well.[18] As time went on, Quakers developed trust from their customers. While critics complained that the growing prosperity among Friends was being used as a recruitment tool, others preferred to trade with Quakers for their reputation as plain, honest dealers, and their prompt payment of bills.[19]

Since Quaker’s sought no separation between their spiritual lives and their worldly business, the choices they made in the domestic and industrial spheres came from Divine guidance through listening and obedience to the Inward Light of Christ. Christ was their Guide, providing wisdom, reproof and instruction to direct faithful Quakers actions in all areas of living. Therefore, business conduct and dealings were an integral way that Quakers understood how Christ wanted to manifest His kingdom on earth. The Refiner’s Fire (to be discussed in the following section) was a transformative experience that Quakers experienced that led to change and reform. “Revealed by the Light each act of deceitfulness and conformity to oppressive social practices, however common, was felt keenly as a betrayal of divine Truth.”[20]

Discernment

Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple...But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap. - Malachi 3:1b, 2

In addition to honest dealing, which is also related to the previously discussed Quaker ethic on debt, the additional virtues of frugality and prudence have been identified with Quaker business prosperity.[21] I relate the virtues of prudence and frugality to the fruits of Quaker spirituality. Marcelle Martin, a contemporary Quaker author and instructor on the Quaker Spiritual journey, has interpreted the Quaker experience in meaningful ways for contemporary audiences. In my view, her illustration of the Refiner’s Fire is closely related to the more widely understood concept of spiritual discernment. Discernment is a spiritual tool, and a gift through which the fruits of the Spirit can be brought to life. In my estimation, frugality and prudence are different facets of the Spiritual gift of self-control (Gal. 5:23). Through discernment, Quakers realized self-control, which surely contributed to their business success. Let us witness George Fox’s experience of the Refiner’s Fire after he received the “guidance of the inward Christ:”[22]

But oh, then did I see my troubles, trials, and temptations more than ever I had done! As the light appeared, all appeared that is out of the light, darkness, death, temptations, the unrighteous, the ungodly; all was manifest and seen in the Light. Then after this there did appear a pure fire in me; then I saw how he sat as at a refiner’s fire and as the fuller’s [sic] soap; and then the spiritual discerning came into me, by which I did discern my own thoughts, groans and sighs, and what it was that did veil me, and what it was that did open me.[23]

Marcelle Martin explains: “the Light shows these things not primarily in order to condemn people but to reveal truth and to bring about change.”[24] In this passage of George Fox we not only witness how God confronted Fox with his character defects, but the passage also points to the essential theological underpinnings of early Friends. The Quaker doctrines of unmediated revelation and perfection are additional factors that have been cited as aspects that led to transformational changes that influenced every facet of life, even business.[25]

Revelation and Perfection

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

- Matthew 5:48

“Friends believed that the substance of their ethical ideas was the product in each instance of immediate revelation.”[26] Following one’s Guide was not easy. The road to Quaker “perfection” was paved with struggle. But there is evidence that for Quakers in business, experiencing direct encounter with God (along with the Refiner’s Fire) lead to discernment and truthful transformation. This process yielded positive spiritual (and financial) results. Luke Cock, a Quaker butcher, witnesses to the effects of immediate revelation and developing in perfection:

I remember when I first met with my Guide. He led me into a very large and cross [place], where I was to speak the truth from my heart - and before I used to swear and lie too for gain. “Nay, then” said I to my Guide, “I mun [sic] leave Thee here: if Thou leads me up that lane, I can never follow: I’se [sic] be ruined of this butchering trade, if I mu not [sic] lie for a gain.” Here I left my Guide, and was filled with sorrow … So I found my Guide again, and began to follow Him up this lane and tell the truth from my heart. I had been nought but beggary and poverty before; and now I began to thrive at my trade, and got to the end of this lane, though with some difficulty.[27]

The preceding quotation was taken from a sermon delivered in 1721. Mister Cock is bearing witness to the fact that before his convincement he had been in poverty. But since following along the path of truth and honest dealing, he became successful in his business. Previously, we witnessed George Fox detailing this similar process in his Journal. This spiritual movement towards transformation involves listening to and following Divine guidance. For Quakers, this was a pathway that led to reformed lives and thriving businesses.

Quaker intimacy with God and freedom from the bonds of sin stood in stark contrast from the pervasive Puritan ethic that viewed perfection as unattainable, and that humanity was condemned to wallow in its sinful nature. Quaker theology inspired extreme confidence in its adherents, and this generated scornful ire from early detractors.

Suffering and Record Keeping

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:10

Let us not neglect the hardships that Quaker convincement and theology generated for early Friends. Yet in my estimation, it is precisely the scorn, persecution, and diverse humiliations these Friends endured that represent the holy wellsprings from which their future thriving would flow. Early Friends adopted a theology of suffering that bonded and knit their communities together. Quaker sufferings were an important factor in their future sustainability as a religious body and flourishing in business. Quakers published voluminous records of their sufferings that led to the promotion of their faith and the codification of their discipline.

As previously mentioned, Quaker beliefs generated much persecution. Quakers officially used the term “sufferings” to describe the hardships of those Friends who were harmed for their practices or testimonies. The litany of hardships that Quakers endured are too numerous to mention here, but the consequences of their faith and practice resulted in imprisonment, fines, loss of property, banishment, beatings, convictions, and even death. Although estimates vary, around 21,000 Quakers suffered for their faith.[28]

These “sufferings” were recorded beginning in the early 1650s by local and regional meetings. Records were delivered each week to a national committee named Meeting for Sufferings. The purpose of this committee was publishing.[29] Pierre Bourdieu is a sociologist that has done work on the process of codification. Codification represents the process of standardizing rules, forms, and principles. The systematic organization and communication of sufferings, beliefs, methods, and systems that Quakers published contributed greatly to their immediate and long term posterity. At a time when the state was aggressively suppressing radical groups like Quakers, Friends quickly published and distributed their witness that established firm boundaries between themselves and their oppressors. Suffering against “the world” led Quakers to publish their witness. This served them in establishing a unique Quaker identity that took hold quickly and produced prodigious results.[30] “Publication is the act of officialisation par excellence.”[31] It is common knowledge that keeping excellent records is a key to business success.

Although Quakers realized business success, they did at times suffer financial troubles. A momentous economic event called the South Seas Bubble of 1720 resulted in a “burst” where many Quakers “lost everything.”[32] However, the collective consciousness of Meetings, rooted in losses and sufferings, along with their codified and well organized systems of support and mutual aid, led to the formation of mentoring committees designed to provide help to so that members suffering losses could meet the Meetings ethical standards.[33] This was not true across the board, as some Meetings simply disowned failing or flailing members. However, a notable example of one Meeting that took a proactive and supportive stance was the Leeds Meeting in Northeastern England. During the period under review, whenever a member stated an intention to go into business, a mentoring committee was convened of experienced business owners. They would provide business wisdom, advice and counsel to help aspiring entrepreneurs to realize their limitations while assisting them in developing discipline in a communal context. Members of the Meeting appear to have been extremely successful as a result of this type of community commitment, care, and concern.[34] ’ [35]

Critique of Acquisitiveness

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. - Luke 12:15

While Quaker’s prospered materially, there is a constant record of advice against accumulating riches. While Friends understood their success as a blessing from God, they were continually on guard, and exhorting each other (and the world) against the sin of avarice. Quakers understood that their financial gain was to be used for the building up of others. They seemed to deeply understand the reality that all lives were interdependent. Observe William Penn's critique of covetousness:

Hardly any Thing is given us for our selves but the Publick may claim a Share with us. But of all we call ours, we are most accountable to God and the Publick for our Estates; In this we are but Stewards, and to hoard up all to our selves is great injustice as well as ingratitude.[36]

Material success is to be shared with others. Penn, one of the wealthiest benefactors of Quakerism, advocated for the redistribution of wealth. Even in spite of his own financial troubles, he demonstrated beneficence. It is not well known that Penn was even imprisoned for a time due to the kind of “overreaching” his peers and forbearers advised against. This demonstrates that the actual practice of the plain Quaker faith wasn’t always simple or easy.

However, a testimony to Quaker integrity is found in the evidence that even when Friends rose to immense prosperity in Philadelphia in the 18th Century, business people maintained the sense of equality and egalitarianism that represented their humble beginnings. Quakers didn’t lose their zeal for social concerns after fortunes were made.[37]

As far as Quaker economic life was concerned, however, conflict was always latent. There was always the temptation to be lured into greed and covetousness by the false pride that success and riches can engender. Yet Friends understood their business to be a God-given calling and a gift. God’s promise of blessing through prosperity was a blessing and an encouragement that was highly sought after.[38] Quakers relied upon and ministered unto one another in seeking to live into a healthy balance between the extremes of vainglory and renunciation. Intervisitation and travelling in the ministry was an essential feature of Quakerism, and a feature that enhanced the life of faith and business.

For example, the wealthiest Quakers had the gentle remonstrance of the likes of John Woolman to keep them humble. Less worldly and more ascetic Quakers, like Woolman, could be expected to visit wealthy Friends in the city. Woolman “could not refrain from taking them gently but firmly to task for the luxury and ‘cumber’ which marked their manner of living.”[39] The Quaker faith has always been a prophetic one. God seems to have blessed its members by guiding prophetic leaders in each generation to act a tester and refiner of the people’s ways and means. (Jer. 6:27)

Covenant Community

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. - Revelation 12:9

“The Planter’s Speech to His Neighbours” Our business, therefore, here, in this new land is not so much to build houses, and establish factories, and promote trade and manufactories, that may enrich ourselves, (though all these things, in their due place, are not to be neglected) as to erect temples of holiness and righteousness, which God may delight in; to lay such lasting frames and foundations of temperance and virtue, as may support the superstructures of our future happiness, both in this, and the other world. In order to these great and glorious ends, it will well become, nay, it is the indispensable duty of all, that are superiors amongst us, to make laws, and imitate customs, that may tend to innocency, and an harmless life; so as to avoid and prevent all oppression and violence, either to men or beasts; by which we shall strengthen the principle of well-doing, and qualify the fierce, bitter, envious, wrathful spirit; which, (as ‘tis said of fire and water, in the extremes) is a good servant, but a bad master.[40]

What a beautiful testimony the above speech provides to illuminate the True business of Quakers in William Penn’s holy experiment called Pennsylvania. Although I believe the sentiments expressed above would be echoed by Friends in England as well. Early Quakers saw their lives, and the labors of their hearts and hands, as holy and obedient instruments of God’s will. Above all else they wanted to please God; in doing so Friends lay the foundation of both their earthly and eternal joy.

The anonymous, eloquent planter’s speech quoted above demonstrates that there is a hierarchy that is necessary to maintain law and order. But the responsibility for enacting justice, ending oppression and harm to even the beasts of the field, belongs to everyone. For me, the planter’s sermon speaks to the heart of what it means to be a covenantal community. While there are other factors worthy of discussion that relate to the success of early Quakers, I would like to conclude my study with the work of a foremost Quaker scholar and friend, Douglas Gwyn.

While it’s easy to recall the virtues of early Friends in America and England, Gwyn weighs in with the remembrance of their vices as well. In their first one hundred years, Quakers also “did well by doing evil.”[41] Quakers held slaves and took advantage of cheap labor, collected high rents, and exploited the poor. And they did quite well, indeed. As the resources of their production increased, so too did their labors around their accumulation of more money. Quakers generally embraced capitalism with creativity and their particular attention to all the fine details. However, as their collective consciousness increased and codified in community, the Quaker “good” was evidenced by their “sharing the control and gains of production, using resources in a sustainable fashion.”[42]

The virtues and gains of the covenantal community of early Friends were ultimately eclipsed (and defeated), Gwyn argues, by the power and dominance of the “emerging capitalist class and by the alienated consciousness of a popular majority weary of two decades of social turmoil.”[43] It seems as though the warnings against covetousness could not win the day in a world weary of cultural and religious upheaval and trauma.

Market trends, and the almighty value of the dollar, along with its material rewards, seem to bankrupt the spiritual focus and vision of a covenantal faith community. Gwyn states it this way: “we can see a clear tendency to allow the absolute, transcendent perspective of covenant faith to be eclipsed by the immanent values of the market, set by the fluctuating laws of supply and demand.”[44] This is not a satisfying outcome. It could be said that that old serpent’s head has recovered from its former bruises.

As our Quaker planter from more halcyon days preached that “well-doing” is a good servant but a poor master, we can learn from our own history in order to create new communities of Being. Our world still contains the Seed of Light that will cultivate God’s reign. This Seed is planted in you and me. We need only look within to find our Guide. Early Quakers, and indeed many present day Friends, bear witness to that Love that seeks to do no harm and remembers the poor. Our success, and the “business” of our common life, depends on learning again to love one another more than the comforts of our covetous consumer culture.

Let us take the bitter lessons with the sweet. In order to reinvigorate the kind of business success that early Quakers merited, we need to creatively cultivate new soil with the same Seed our brothers and sisters in faith witnessed growing into a great people to be gathered. Let us water today's garden with our tears, and the Living Water that makes all things new!