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The Shakers: Two Centuries of Spiritual Reflection

Edited by Robley E. Whitson

New York, Paulist, 1983. 370 Pp. $11.95, $7.95 Paper.

There were only two Shaker sisters left in residence at the Canterbury (N.H.) Shaker Village when I visited it several summers ago. Both were elderly and one was in the hospital recovering from a broken hip suffered while playing frisbee with the dog. The other sister, however, took some time to talk about her life as a Shaker and, noting my interest in their theology, urged me to contact Robley Whitson, "a Catholic priest who has a special interest in us and really knows our writings."

Her advice was sound and has led to many fruitful meetings with Dr. Whitson, who does indeed know the Shakers and their voluminous literature. A priest, theologian, and former professor (Fordham, Hartford Seminary Foundation, visiting fellow at Princeton Theological Seminary), Whitson has had a life-long interest in the Shakers stemming from positive childhood experiences with one community, and continuing into his scholarly career. He is now president of the United Institute, an ecumenical body with special concern for the renewal of the Shaker tradition' Whitson's years of research into the Shaker heritage have been sustained by a special concern to dispel misconceptions about them and promote greater understanding of the theological bases of their spirituality and life.

It is the latter that reveals the greatest gap in our knowledge of the Shakers. Certainly they have long been admired for their practical creativity (for example, their furniture is known worldwide, and they excelled in the invention of labor-saving devices), as well as for the longevity and ethical soundness of their communitarian venture. And they have been carefully studied by historians, sociologists, psychologists, political theorists, and even by artists and musicians.

But few theologians have spent time analyzing the theological component which undergirds the admired Shaker ability to blend life and thought and diverse kinds of people into a unique, eschatologically-oriented manifestation of the Christian journey. Yet there is much to

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warrant study, such as the Shaker Father-Mother God teaching, the practical success of their belief in racial and sexual equality, and their strong emphasis on the "connectedness" and spiritual process (they called it "travel") of Christ-followers. But the relative unavailability of the primary sources and the many misconceptions surrounding the Shakers (which Whitson carefully disputes in his thorough introduction) have combined to make the Shaker contribution little known.

Whitson's book, then, represents a significant advance, because it gathers and excerpts, for the first time in print, much of the Shaker writings formerly available only in archives or on microfilm. Each of the book's six chapters treats a major theme in Shaker thought. This is accomplished by means of a careful introduction by Whitson, highlighting key elements or changes, followed by numerous short excerpts from a variety of Shaker writings such as tracts, treatises, journals, newspaper articles (for years the Shakers published the Manifesto, largely as a teaching and evangelistic vehicle), and personal communications.

Whitson, for instance, deals in chapter one with the most common misconception, that is, that founder Ann Lee was seen as the feminine "incarnation" of Christ. Although some Shakers did emphasize the person of Ann Lee and her particular ministration of Christ's presence, in the early period care was taken to explain her spiritual motherhood as a facilitation of the reality of Christ, equally available to everyone united with him.

Later, for a short period, some Shakers exalted Lee to a position of equality with Christ, but this soon faded. Whitson explains that "it is unfortunate that this passing tendency to mythologize Mother Ann is often portrayed by commentators as the authentic Faith-experience of Believers" (p. 44).

Here, as elsewhere, Whitson adds significant notes of clarification, the result of a long study of the primary sources, and a realization of the nature of Shaker theology. For the "Shaker Way" is not one of orthodoxy or orthopraxis, but instead is essentially a mystical tradition which proclaims the processive character of any life and thought which is open to the Spirit's leading. It is appropriate, then, that this volume be included in the Classics of Western Spirituality series, for it is essentially a theological interpretation of Shaker spirituality.

While it would be difficult to scrutinize Whitson's selection and analysis of the Shaker materials without a comparable knowledge of them, it can be said that the excerpts are often less helpful than one is led to expect from the introduction and comments. The extreme brevity of many of the selections, and the lack of a schema to make possible the study of any one particular writer or theme over time, frustrates the reader intent upon more than a sampling of Shaker thought.

As a sampler, the book would be useful for a course in church history or American religious thought, and the comments by Whitson are certainly essential reading for anyone studying the period, the group, or religious communitarian experiments. But the reader who requires more

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detailed knowledge of Shaker thought will still have to examine the Western Reserve microfilm collection or visit the various Shaker archives. Even so, the book will serve that person as a useful compendium to streamline the search.

But these problems are minor in contrast with the contribution this book makes, given the dearth of literature that actually refers to or is familiar with the Shaker primary sources. In addition, this book will surely interest those who are searching for a spirituality that emphasizes process, connectedness, ethical lifestyle, and eschatological openness to the movement of the Spirit-elements which gave the Shakers their unique character.

LINDA A. MERCADANTE

Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, New Jersey