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Books

Here is a list of some of the recent publications I have worked on.

The Quaker World Edited by C. Wess Daniels and Rhiannon Grant (Routledge 2023)


Purchase The Quaker World online or order at your bookstore: Publisher | Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Quaker World is an outstanding, comprehensive and lively introduction to this complex Christian denomination. Exploring the global reach of the Quaker community, the book begins with a discussion of the living community, as it is now, in all its diversity and complexity.

The book covers well-known areas of Quaker development, such as the formation of Liberal Quakerism in North America, alongside topics which have received much less scholarly attention in the past, such as the history of Quakers in Bolivia and the spread of Quakerism in Western Kenya. It includes over sixty chapters by a distinguished international and interdisciplinary team of contributors and is organised into three clear parts:

  • Global Quakerism
  • Spirituality
  • Embodiment

Within these sections, key themes are examined, including global Quaker activity, significant Quaker movements, biographies of key religious figures, important organisations, pacifism, politics, the abolition of slavery, education, industry, human rights, racism, refugees, gender, disability, sexuality and environmentalism.

The Quaker World provides an authoritative and accessible source of information on all topics important to Quaker Studies. As such, it is essential reading for students studying world religions, Christianity and comparative religion, and it will also be of interest to those in related fields such as sociology, political science, anthropology and ethics.

Purchase The Quaker World online or order at your bookstore: Publisher | Amazon | Bookshop.org

Resisting Empire: The Book of Revelation as Resistance (Barclay Press, 2019)

Purchase Resisting Empire online or order at your bookstore: Publisher | Amazon | Bookshop.org | Review in Friends Journal

Revelation speaks to the reality that we are caught in the fray of cosmic conflict. We are guilty. We’ve already been contaminated. But it’s not too late for us to exit empire and enter the kingdom. We are yet both victim and victimizer. We have healing work to do, and we must take responsibility for the ways in which we have benefited from and been complicit with the religion of empire. This is the truth of Revelation. God wants to liberate us in body, heart, soul, and mind.

  • Revelation reveals how scapegoating functions within empire to define its own boundaries and contours as being over and against wicked others.
  • Revelation critiques wealth and shows that even in the first century there was prophetic critique against an economic system that was based on abundance for some, while exploiting the rest.
  • Revelation demonstrates the importance of liturgy as something that forms people into the likeness of either empire or the lamb.
  • Revelation reveals an alternative social order which becomes the center of resistance rooted in a vision of what the book describes as “the multitude.”

Praise:

The book of Revelation, according to C. Wess Daniels, is a resistance text for “Angelic Trouble-makers,” who must learn how to remix, understand how scapegoating functions, recognize the shaping and forming powers of liturgy, and discover the composition of the multitude.... I pastor a people who have historically been pushed to the periphery of all existence, even ontologically declared as non-human or three-fifths human. Therefore, to read the “multitude is a beautiful tapestry woven together of all humanity, with those who were lynched, those who were oppressed and victimized, at the center with the lamb. This centering of the victims and marginalized is something that is too often missed within western, white, middle-class Christianity today,” makes my soul happy. This prophetic claim of Daniels places Black people at the heart of God.

–Rev. Darryl Aaron


No other book has been as consistently and wildly misread as has John of Patmos’s visionary narrative. And yet, at the same time, no biblical book carries as much passionate power and imagery aimed at inspiring Jesus-followers to “come out” of the place of imperial violence and domination and to dwell instead in the light- and love-filled realm of God. C. Wess Daniels masterfully and clearly lays out a series of reading strategies and perspectives culled from the best of recent scholarship to invite readers into engagement with John’s vision. If you’ve been drawn to study Revelation but have been stymied as to where or how to start, you can trust Wess’s step-by-step guidance to lead you into the depth and breadth of this unique narrative.

–Wes Howard-Brook

Purchase Resisting Empire online or order at your bookstore: Publisher | Amazon | Bookshop.org | Review in Friends Journal

Quaker Studies: An Overview: The Current State of the Field Authors: C. Wess Daniels, Robynne Rogers Healey and Jon R. Kershner

View Quaker Studies Publisher Page - Brill

The first is a book co-authored with two other Quaker scholars, Jon Kershner and Robynne Rogers Healey. The three of us are associate editors on a 6 year project through Brill Publishing on Quaker Studies. We are working with editors Stephen Angell and Pink Dandelion on this this series, which is going to be quite amazing with some new and emerging Quaker scholars in the mix. I’m very excited about it. This initial book is an introduction to the series. Robynne, Jon, and I each introduce a pretty comprehensive look at the work within Quaker studies up until now in each of our respective areas: history, theology, and sociology.

Here is a link to the publisher’s page.

Convergent Model of Renewal: Remixing the Quaker Tradition in a Participatory Culture

Purchase A Convergent Model of Renewal online or order at your bookstore: Publisher | Amazon | Bookshop.org

A Convergent Model of Renewal addresses a perceived crisis for faith traditions. How do we continue to value tradition while allowing for innovative and contextual expressions of faith to emerge? How do we foster deeper participation and decentralization of power rather than entrenched institutionalism? Drawing on insights from contemporary philosophy, contextual theology, and participatory culture, C. Wess Daniels calls for a revitalization of faith traditions. In A Convergent Model of Renewal he proposes a model that holds together both tradition and innovation in ways that foster participatory change. This convergent model of renewal is then applied to two case studies based in the Quaker tradition: one from the early part of the tradition and the second from an innovative community today. The model, however, is capable of being implemented and adapted by communities with various faith backgrounds.

Praise:

"C. Wess Daniels, in A Convergent Model of Renewal, offers a fresh and creative approach to church transformation that respects both tradition and contemporary culture while charting a clear path forward. Through this highly original proposal, Daniels articulates a brilliant synthesis of old and new by way of remix, resistance, and deep, open participation. Applicable beyond the Quaker tradition, A Convergent Model of Renewal would benefit any faith community that looks to remain rooted in their tradition while dynamically responding to the global media culture of the twenty-first century. Highly recommended."

-Ryan K. Bolger, Associate Professor of Church in Contemporary Culture, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA

Other contributions:

Here are a few other places I have contributed writings to: