is published by Introduction
Some thoughts on how to read “Meditations & Experiences”
“I. It is a precious thing to know what the cross of Christ is, and how to take it up, and make use of it; for indeed, it is no less than the Power that crucifies sin, and saves from it”
Behind Shewen’s sometimes dense prose is a living experience of Christ and a rich understanding of how God works in the world. To understand his experience of faith we need to see the world, the Bible and Christ in ways that might be unfamiliar to us
Type and Antitype
Shewen (and other early Quakers) see events, people and experiences of the Bible in terms of typology, an approach to interpretation that goes back to early Christianity.
In the early church, typology was a way of providing continuity between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures. A person, object, or event in the Old Testament was seen as a “type” that foreshadowed a more complete reality in the New Testament, the “antitype.” In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul writes about former practices “which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ”. In the Gospel of John, the brazen serpent raised in the wilderness is seen as a foreshadowing of Christ being raised up on a cross(John 3:14) and Jesus describes himself as the Bread of Life and draws a connection to the manna in the wilderness. (John 6:48-51).
Early Quakers extended the use of typology in an interesting way. Influenced by the mystical tradition within Christianity, they sought to bring into unity the internal experience of faith with the outward expressions of faith as seen in the Bible and witnessed in their world. The type/antitype relationship was understood as a way of explaining and connecting outward and inward realities. Persons, objects and events in the Bible are more than they seem. They are connected to and foreshadow God’s inner work in the believer. The inward reality completes the meaning of the outward event.
The True Cross
The significance of the cross is a good example. In “Some Principles of the Elect People of God Who in Scorn are called Quakers,” George Fox states that the world has lost the “true cross.” The world is filled with “figures, types, shadows and inventions of men” that have the appearance of a cross, but the true cross is the inward experience of being crucified from outward things. When Shewen tells us “It is a precious thing to know what the Cross of Christ is,” he is referencing the crucifixion of Christ but is directly referring to the inward experience of “the Power that crucifies sin and saves from it.”
The true cross is the cross experienced inwardly. The outward cross on which Christ was crucified finds its significance in the inward cross which crucifies from sin. The type, the outward cross, finds its completion in the antitype, the inward experience of being crucified from outward things.
Seeds of Division
This Quaker division between outward shadows and inward realities certainly set up Friends for the separations that would come in the next three centuries.
If the inward experience is the most true and complete reality, then the outward persons, places and events that foreshadow that experience may seem less important. The external reference points and the inward reality may become disconnected. Elias Hicks and Joseph John Gurney each were concerned that the other was letting go of an important part of Quaker experience. Hicks saw Friends neglecting the inward reality, while Gurney saw Friends neglecting the Bible. Since then, various Friends have reframed the inward experience and the external reference points in many different ways, producing the variety in expressions of faith that we see today.
It seems clear to me that the primary external reference point for Shewen and that first generation of Quakers was the Bible. They saw its people, places and events pointing to the more complete inward reality that they were experiencing. In fact, “Meditations and Experiences” needs to be read with a Bible in hand if it is to be truly understood.
One way of understanding Shewen’s use of the Bible is by comparing the Bible to a map. Before I moved to Plainfield, Indiana the only reference point I had was a dot on a map. That dot pointed me to where I could find Plainfield. After almost four years, the reality of living here has replaced the map. I don’t use that reference point anymore because I have a more complete and living experience of Plainfield. The map still represents the reality of where Plainfield is, but it is not my primary reference. However, I still need the map. I visited my brother in Ohio and traveled some unfamiliar roads. I got the map out, with its dots and lines that represent reality. As I travelled those roads, the reality of the asphalt, towns, farms and fields replaced the dots and lines. If I travel those roads enough, my experience will replace that part of the map. For Shewen, the Bible is the map, always in the background, but the living experience of God’s presence becomes his living reality.
There is also a negative point of reference that appears in these writings. Shewen criticizes “Christendom,” which includes the Christian expressions of his day as well as most of Christianity through the history of the church. He wants to make it clear that Quakers are not part of “Christendom” but are a restoration of true faith in Jesus.
[...] to the Christian-Traveller,” William Shewen presents the six days of creation in Genesis as a type of the Christian’s journey with God. The outward days of creation correspond to the inward [...]