What is it about?
In the 1650s and 60s the first Quakers had some distinctive ideas about how people related to the Divine. They also used language in a particular way to express these ideas, using surprising images and metaphors. 'Conceptual Metaphor Theory' suggests that metaphor isn't just about literary style, but that non-literal language - especially metaphor - is found in everyday speech and is fundamental to how we understand and reason about complex, abstract things in terms of our experience in the physical world.
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Why is it important?
This study combines theories from embodied cognition with a corpus approach, to reveal more information from a collection of texts. It tells us more of the nuance of early Quaker theology and makes these ideas accessible to a 21st century readership. It also demonstrates how interdisciplinary methods, such as employing Linguistics in the area of Theology, can open up new fields of enquiry.
Perspectives
Studies of language have a lot to offer the field of Quaker studies, and can be particularly helpful in religious experience. I hope this writing makes theology more accessible. I try to clarify what early Quakers thought and experienced, show how they pushed the boundaries of what can be said about God or The Divine, and make this kind of thinking and reasoning available more widely.
Dr Rachel J Kirkwood
University of Manchester
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “Stand Still in The Light”: What Conceptual Metaphor Research Can Tell Us about Quaker Theology, Religions, January 2019, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/rel10010041.
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