New Light: 12 Quaker Voices

This is an easy to read and interesting book, despite the rather weak praise on the back cover from Don Cupitt ("I commend this book warmly"). It consists of short pieces by twelve different Quaker writers on themes including pacifism, evil, simplicity, the nature of God, meeting for worship and more. Each theme is a new chapter with twelve numbered reflections; this arrangement worked in part but I found myself wanting to know who had written which piece, especially as I sometimes thought I was reading a piece by a man and was surprised to discover comments such as "when I was pregnant..." I wasn't sure if the pieces were always in the same order of author and so couldn't get a sense of continuity of one contributor's particular thought, although this was possibly the point. The writings were generally of a high standard, not written in theological language but providing a flavour of the thoughts and beliefs of the different quakers contributing. The book could be used as a devotional and certainly gave me a new insight into the Religious Society of Friends. What I particularly liked was the contributors' willingness to say when they were unsure about something or when issues were hard, and particularly appreciated the quotation given from one of the Quaker texts: "respect that of God in everyone... avoid hurtful criticism and provocative language... think it possible that you may be mistaken." This is a book that would provide helpful insight and food for thought for Christians of all denominations but it does focus on some particularly Quaker ideas (meeting for worship and pacifism, for example) which may mean it is more popular amongst Quakers. However it's a worthwhile read for anyone who wants to consider their spirituality further.