29, No. 3, July 1999. Due to the length of that article, it is published here in four parts. Arthur Roberts is a former Editor of Quaker Religious Thought . He is the author of many journal articles, poems, devotional pieces, books, and other writings. C. Current cultural barriers to accepting early Quaker beliefs about Christ 1.
Scientific method questions the credibility of revealed truth.
This is particularly so in respect to empirically unverifiable claims, such as miracles, the resurrection of Jesus, the mystical presence of Christ within believers and in the church, and the afterlife. A scientific rejection of the supernatural erodes the Christological assumptions which formed the basis for the Quaker awakening. These assumptions affirmed a revelatory unity between God acting in creation and in redemption. A predilection for psychological explanations makes theological ones seem archaic. Television confessionals and talk shows reveal the pervasiveness of psychological explanations in our culture.