"The term prophetic indicates in a single word the basic theory of Quaker ministry . . . . a ministry which waits until it becomes a vocal expression of the Divine Word spoken immediately in the heart." When Howard Brinton wrote this in Prophetic Ministry, Pendle Hill Pamphlet 54, 1950 (pp.3, 5), he started me on a path of exploration and reflection which has led to this pamphlet.
The Prophets and the Quaker Connection is the title of courses taught at Pendle Hill and Willistown Meeting, and of a series of five talks given at New England Yearly Meeting. This pamphlet is an edited version of the 1983 New England Yearly Meeting talks, which explored the connection between Old and New Testament prophets, Jesus, and Quaker religious experience. Since the focus is on connections, the text moves back and forth across time, and is not intended to be a systematic or scholarly survey either of the prophets or of Quakerism.