The book explores Quaker testimonies - the interaction of inspiration, faith, and action to bring change in the world. It looks at Quaker concerns around the sustainability of the planet, peace and war, punishment, and music and the arts in the past and today. It stresses the continuity of their witness over the years and their openness to change and development.

This very readable book, published in 2018, sets out Lampen’s views on what Quakers call ‘Testimony,’ (defined as a confluent of inspiration, faith, and action crafted from guidance that manifests during silent worship and which--when brought to bear on extant concerns such as sustainability, climate change, catastrophe, Human Rights, Prison Reform or attitudes towards music and the arts--brings about beneficial change)

Effective and influential Testimony springs from the heart, augmented by a clarity of intellectual inquiry, a resolute moral integrity and self-effacing modesty. By exampling the lives of earlier Quakers (included in a series of potted biographies) he shows how this long heritage helps shapes the identity of today's Quaker.

This book is a very informative discussion about the development of the Quaker Testimonies which doesn’t hesitate to discuss how some more unattractive (to modern sensibilities) aspects of Quakerism such as the condemnation of music, art and novels arose. Lampen discusses the contribution of less widely known Quakers such as the doctors Thomas Hodgken and John Lettsom.
I thoroughly recommend this a quick but comprehensive introduction to the development of the Quaker faith and what it has achieved in wider society. It is the best introduction to Quakerism I have had the pleasure to read!
Catherine