The text below is taken from https://together.woodbrooke.org.uk/quaker.org.uk_mirror/Quaker%20Testimonies%20leaflet.pdf
Our belief
The testimonies are about the way Quakers try to lead their lives. This attempt to put faith into practice, often with great difficulty, arises from an understanding of certain values andprinciples which are central to the Quaker faith. This document tries to explain the spirit behind the testimonies and what they mean in practice.
Quakers’ understanding of faith is that true human fulfilment comes from an attempt to live life in the spirit of love and truth and peace, answering that of God in everyone.
These beliefs spring from a sense of equality, compassion and seeing the sacred in all life. The testimonies are about Quakers’ commitment to those beliefs. Naturally, our day-to-day practice of them faces us with many dilemmas and compromises. Indeed the testimonies are often out of step with the way that many other people think and act and so may seem idealistic.
The testimonies arise out of a deep, inner conviction and challenge our normal ways of living. They do not exist in any rigid, written form; nor are they imposed in any way. All
Quakers have to search for the ways in which the testimonies can become true for themselves. The testimonies also reflect the society we live in, and so have changed over time. Early Quakers had testimonies against outward symbols, taking oaths and the payment of tithes, and about peace, temperance, moderation and forms of address.
Later, testimonies evolved with regard to slavery, integrity in business dealings, capital punishment and prison reform, nonviolence and conscientious objection to military service. As the testimonies come from “leadings of the Spirit”, this may mean taking a stand against common social practices. The interaction between faith and action, as expressed in the testimonies, is at the heart of Quaker spiritual experience and
living.
The challenge today
We live at a time of unparalleled scientific progress and extraordinary change. Modern communication and economic development mean that people, countries and economies have now become much more interlinked and less isolated.
Such interdependence can be both enriching and threatening. The gap between rich and poor in many countries (our own included), and between the richest and poorest countries, is widening. Injustice, insensitivity, misunderstanding, desperation and dislocation and the clash of cultures mean that all societies face huge challenges, both from within and from without. We need to play our part in a process of genuine
understanding, tolerance, reaching out and inclusiveness that draws heavily on the underlying spiritual values of the testimonies. Only in that way can we get beyond the hatred and division that is perpetuated by a military response to, for example, terrorist events.
Since we are all responsible for the society we live in, we must examine the nature of that society. How far does it encourage love, compassion, justice, simplicity, peacefulness and truth? Do wealth, success and power lead to true happiness and fulfilment? And do we recognise in the natural world something which is precious in its own right? We cannot ignore the effects of our actions, however indirect, on other people and on nature in our shrinking world.
Living our testimonies
Quakers recognise that their testimonies go against many of the current strands of economic, social and political change. This may, therefore, mean dissenting from fundamental aspects of the contemporary social order. It means living out our testimonies so as to hold up an alternative vision of deep human fulfilment. One way of doing so is to share with one another our practice of living our testimonies in accordance with our beliefs much more openly and adventurously, in a spirit of faithful discipleship.
Together with others who share these fundamental values, we need to keep alive an alternative vision of society centred on meeting real human and spiritual needs rather than everchanging desires; a society where inequalities of wealth and power are small enough for there to be true equality between people as children of God; a society which, mindful of the quality of life and needs of future generations, limits its use of natural resources to what is sustainable; a society which is content with sufficiency rather than excess; and a society in which justice and truth are the basis for social peace and community.
Doing so means holding firm to the core testimony to the sacramental nature of every aspect of life. Individually and corporately, we must practise spiritual discernment. We will stumble, we will make mistakes, our vision will be limited. We may be called to a style of living and a generosity of giving that we cannot yet attain. But we seek to engage with others and the natural world as part of a wider spiritual consciousness. In the depths of our silent waiting we find the place where words and deeds are one; our faith and our action are indivisible.
The testimonies
The following is a brief account of some of the best known
testimonies: