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The Shaker tradition, from its origin in late eigtheenth-century England to its flowering in nineteenth-century America, long has been of interest to students of sociology and American religious history. Yet, few attempts have been made to relate Shaker tehology and spirituality to the mainstream of Western mystical experience. In presenting this collection of Shaker texts, Robley E. Whitson contends that Shakerismhas been generally misunderstood and consequently undervalued as a source of useful insights into the divine-human relationship. Here are the collected teachings of Ann Lee, Joseph Meacham, John Dunlavy, and others who walked in the Shaker Way as it unfolded over the decades. The foundational doctrines on community, celibacy union with Christ, faith as process, and the male/female aspects of God are presented in the original writings of the movement.
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