If seeking is to result in real spiritual growth, it must progress to finding, as many Seekers did in the 1 650s, when they embraced the Quaker movement. For Gwyn, this is a fruitful moment, but it is only a moment. By suspending rituals believed by most Christians to be central to the worship of God, it brought formal religious observance to a standstill for Seekers (or stillstand, to use Caspar Schwenckfeld's German phrase), while they desperately sought a revitalization of spiritual life. This experience of emptiness profoundly transformed their religious practice, leading them to suspend use ofthe sacraments as a byproduct ofthe present corrupt reality. Gwyn sees the term 'Seeker' as ametaphorwith muchbroader application, but this historical period is the primary reference point for his metaphor. The term'Seeker' designates areligious movement, widespreadinEngland in the 1640s, which asserted in various ways that current forms of the Christian churches were corrupt and that all the true Christian could do was to wait for a new and more compelling revelation ofthe true Christ. While much ofthis book is occupied with historical investigations, the central argument ofthe book is theological.

It is a rich, thought-provoking book, one that invites reading and rereading. It is part history, part theology, and part sociology, equally concerned with the milieu ofthe sixteenth, seventeenth, and late twentieth centuries. This book offers reflections on the Quaker situation from many angles.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:ģ8Quaker History SeekersFound: Atonement in Early QuakerExperience.

Atonement by Isaac Martin