In Tangled Roots: Navigating the Complex Legacy of Early Quakers Stuart Masters explores the diverse mix of characteristics visible in the early Quaker movement that produced several creative tensions which subsequent generations have had to navigate.
These include the tensions between inward experience and outward tradition, communal order and individual freedom, the quietist and the charismatic, and the new creation and the world.
Masters argues that engaging with these issues can help Friends better appreciate the diversity present within the global Quaker family and enable them to discern how to respond to these dilemmas today.
Stuart Masters is a teacher and writer with a focus on the Quaker faith, its history, theology, spirituality and relationship with other traditions. For fifteen years he worked for Woodbrooke, and following his retirement continues to offer courses and events as an Associate Tutor.