This book discusses the theology of the colonial New Jersey Quaker tailor John Woolman (1720–1772). Woolman is recognized as an antislavery advocate and as a reformer among eighteenth-century Quakers. This book discusses the theological motivations for those reforms, and explores the way Woolman constructed theological meaning in an individualized way to address the issues of colonial America. Woolman took on the role of a “lay” theologian to innovate within his Quaker tradition. Woolman’s theology is best classified as apocalyptic because it was centered on a vision of Christ’s immediate presence governing all aspects of human affairs, and so was creating a new perfected world out of the old corrupted one. Woolman’s apocalypticism is analyzed in relation to five main theological themes: divine revelation, propheticism, eschatology, perfection, and divine judgment. These themes are evident in Woolman’s belief that (1) God intervened in world affairs to reveal God’s will for humanity on earth in a way unavailable to the senses and natural faculties; (2) God’s will made claims on society and God commissioned human agents to confront apostasy and be God’s spokespeople; (3) the faithful embodied the kingdom and pointed to the transformation of all things to establish the “government of Christ”; (4) the faithful were able to navigate the complexities of the British imperial world and maintain faithfulness because they could perfectly hear and obey God’s will for them; and (5) God’s will would inevitably be done and the faithful would be vindicated as God intervened in world events to enforce the divine will.
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