Quaker Testimonies

Monday December 29, 2025

Quakers are interesting. The list here is the SPICES list of Testimonies, or values, which appears for example on the DC Quakers site. A list of four items (Simplicity, Truth, Equality, Peace) is also common, for example appearing on the UK Quakers site.

As the two versions suggest, Quakers don't have to agree on much. Different "Yearly Meetings" put together their own books. Here's a selection from the Faith and Practice of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting:

Baltimore Yearly Meeting has no binding creed. Its principles of belief are based on its Judeo-Christian heritage and adherence to the Spirit of Christ (the Inward Light, the Divine Seed, That of God in Everyone). The testimonies spring from respect for truth; for peace, harmony, and a settled intention to practice love; for simplicity, community, and the equal worth of all people.

No fixed list of Testimonies, then, is official. Some Quaker Friends even object to them:

Human beings need words to communicate. But when we codify, make creeds, and canonize a few words, we limit our vision, as well as the possibility of God’s work through us. Walking away from such deified virtues, where might we go instead? What if we were to start with fresh, personal experiences and then shared them in a manner that was as mediated as little as possible by advance expectations?

It's an interesting and characteristically Quaker objection.