A Quaker Study on Spiritual Gifts

Prof. Stephen Palmquist, D.Phil. (Oxon)

Department of Religion and Philosophy

Hong Kong Baptist University

(stevepq@hkbu.edu.hk)

Ina recent study of 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, the Hong Kong Monthly Meeting exploredhow Quakers might interpret Paul’s presentation of nine “spiritualgifts” (or “manifestations” [phanerosis in Greek] of God’s spirit). The nine gifts canbe neatly grouped into three categories, using Matthew 7:7 (“Ask, and itshall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be openedto you”) as a basis: the three “vocal” gifts (thespirit’s manifestation in response to our asking) are tongues,interpretation, and prophecy; the three “visual” gifts (thespirit’s manifestation in response to our seeking) are knowledge, wisdom,and discernment; and the three “victorious” gifts (thespirit’s manifestation in response to our knocking) are faith, miracles,and healing. In a series of three post-Meeting discussions, we examined howQuakers might recover some of the meaningfulness of these classicaldistinctions, which have often been merely cast aside as a result of theoverly-literal way they are often interpreted in some Christian denominations.

Duringthe Meeting for Worship prior to the first discussion, one participant read thewhole of Acts 2 as a voice ministry. During the discussion, we came to realizethat this chapter, where the gift of speaking in tongues is first mentioned in the Bible, is a profoundstatement of our need to express the language of love. This is where the church begins. Speaking intongues has the effect of universalizing God’s Word by opening it up to all cultures and peoples. Thegift breaks through the boundaries of human language, making “that of Godin each of us” a living reality. Sadly, some Christians use this gift asa divisive tool to isolate and alienate one “special” group ofbelievers (those who “know how to speak in tongues”) from allothers. To do this is to miss the point. It is no accident that Peter’ssermon in Acts 2 reminds us that “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”(verse 21): asking is the doorwayto spiritual understanding.

Askingfor guidance from God is often difficult because of our pride, and so the gift of a language we do not own or evenunderstand can have the beneficial effect of humbling us. If we are too proud of our own accomplishmentsor understanding, this humbling may feel humiliating as well, for it is humiliating to realize that weare no better than anyone else when it comes to understanding God’s waysor knowing God’s will. Quakers, it seems, rarely talk any more about speakingin tongues, even though such manifestations were quite common in the early daysof the movement and even thoughmany of us shared (in our discussion) that we had, in fact, had suchexperiences privately. This may not be a bad thing, because in 1 Corinthians14, the gift of tongues is presented as an essentially private gift. When shared in a public Meeting, the giftshould be accompanied by an interpretation, and the latter would be the primary vehicle through which God’sspirit would be manifested to the group.

Likewise, we tendto be shy about using words like “prophecy,” given the grossmisuses this term has often been subjected to. Yet this does not mean genuineprophecy has not been manifested in our midst. In our Meetings for Clearness,for example, we frequently find ourselves or others saying things of profoundsignificance to an individual or to a wider group. That these words are given to us, from the spirit of God that is manifestedamong us during the Meeting, is wholly in line with Quaker understanding. Weshy away from calling such words “prophecies” because to do somight tempt us to take credit for the insights they contain. But we should notgo to the opposite extreme by forgetting that our practice is part of a long traditionthat goes all the way back to the early Church.

If the key messageof the vocal gifts is “be humble,” then the key message of thevisual gifts, the manifestations of God’s Light, is “be seekers.” Of the three types ofgifts, those relating (metaphorically) to sight constitute the area ofspirituality that Quakers tend to be most open to. Our “Advices andQueries” are time-honored tools intended to open our hearts to be morereceptive to the spiritual knowledge, wisdom, and discernment that can come onlyfrom God. But even here, we are not without our areas of weakness. This wasspecially highlighted in our discussion when we considered a quote from GeorgeFox, implying that the process of seeking out “that of God in everyperson” also requires us to discern what is not of God inothers, as also in ourselves. Quakers are sometimes portrayed by otherreligious groups as being so liberal that “anything goes.” This isto our detriment, for not everythingin human persons is “of God,” and we would do well to remember thisin our dealings not only with each other (in Meeting) but also with those whobelong to other spiritual traditions. Just as Jesus was able to look one of hismost faithful disciples in the eye and say “Get behind me, Satan!”,so we must be courageous enough to identify and name spiritual forces that are not “of God”.

We need to ask forspecial wisdom in dealing with those with whom we disagree, especially if wediscern the forces of evil moving within them. Our first focus here should beto discern how such (evil) forces might be acting in ourselves. For only when our own eyes are cleared from theirinevitable “motes” (Matt. 7:3-5) will we be able to see clearlyenough to assist our fellow Quakers, and brothers and sisters from othertraditions, in seeing their own dark side more clearly. Interestingly, some whoparticipated in the discussion of this second category of gifts expressed quitea bit of reluctance to the use of “labels” such as “word ofknowledge” or “word of wisdom”. Since we do not“possess” the gifts, but rather can only open ourselves up to“be possessed” by whatever form God’s spirit chooses tomanifest itself among us, what is the point of adopting a system of labeling?As long as we keep seeking an answer to this question, I believe we will be on the right track!

Our discussion ofthe victorious gifts, the manifestations of God’s Power in response to our (again, metaphorical)“knocking,” was probably the most difficult and yet the mostinsightful of our three sessions on spiritual gifts. We noted first thatJesus’ way of ministering to people was not to invite them to a Meeting,where they could sit and observe the people who supposedly “know howit’s supposed to be done;” instead, he went out and met people “onthe way,” being real with them, and empowering them to overcome whatevercondition was oppressing them at the time. In the Gospels, the healings andother miracles Jesus performs in this process (occupying about 20% of theentire Gospel texts) are often given symbolic interpretations. The blind man,for example, is a symbol for the spiritual blindness of the people, and his healing conveys the message thatGod’s Light is alwaysavailable, if only we will open our eyes to see it.

Quite a bit of ourdiscussion on this topic was devoted to the problem of whether or not miraclesare even “possible,” given what science now teaches us about theway nature works. It was generally agreed that this problem carries less weighttoday than it did perhaps 50 years ago, when “scientism” (the viewthat science is the only road to truth) was more widely accepted. As St.Augustine and many others have reminded us, we do not understand in order tobelieve; rather we believe that we may understand. What was graduallyrecognized by philosophers of science in the second half of the twentiethcentury was that the same priorityapplies to science. That is, even science (like faith) is based on certainfundamentally irrational (or non-empirical) beliefs that are not themselvesscientifically provable.

Once we movebeyond our modern hang-ups over “supernatural intervention” innature, we can see the gifts of empowerment for what they are really meant tobe: special manifestations of God’s power that enable us to bring wholeness to broken human situations. In order for us tobenefit from such opportunities, we must have faith, a faith that begins with the very ability to see“that of God in every person.” Regarding faith itself as one of thegifts enables us to remain humble, not taking undue credit for what is essentiallya blessing from God. Whereas we cannot “teach faith” to otherpeople, we can facilitate theopenness or receptivity others may have to this gift, by modeling it inourselves: by having the courage to work toward wholeness in our own lives andin our relationships with others. During our discussion, several participantsshared surprising stories of how we have actually participated in ministry withothers that has led to healing on a variety of different levels, includingphysical, psychological, and spiritual.

Ourthird discussion can be summed up by sharing two statements that one of myfavorite teachers used to make from time to time. First, he would say “weare building the boat in which we are floating.” God offers to give usthe materials, in the form of these various spiritual manifestations, but wemust receive them and make a useful vessel out of them. If we sink, we cannotblame God for not manifesting the divine Presence among us, for it is righthere at our disposal all the time. A similar metaphor carries with it a warningagainst religious complacency, which applies as much to the use of spiritualgifts as to any other area of spiritual life: when you’re in the boat,heading down a swiftly flowing river, straight for a waterfall, “pray forhelp, but row for the shore.”

This etext is based on a prepublication draft of the published version of this essay.

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