James Nayler

James Nayler

James Nayler (or Naylor) (1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. He is among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries.

He was born in the town of Ardsley in Yorkshire. In 1642 he joined the Parliamentarian army, and served as quartermaster under John Lambert until 1650.

After experiencing what he described as the voice of God calling him from work in his fields, Nayler gave up his possessions and began seeking a spiritual direction, which he found in Quakerism after meeting George Fox in 1652. Nayler became the most prominent of the traveling Quaker evangelists known as the "Valiant Sixty"; he attracted many converts and was considered a skilled theological debater. By all accounts an extremely charismatic man with a somewhat Christ-like appearance, he also attracted a loyal personal following, which some other Quakers regarded with suspicion. On several occasions, Fox expressed concern that the ministry of Nayler and his associate Martha Simmonds was becoming over-enthusiastic and erratic. Though the substance of the disagreements is unclear, by 1656 Fox and Nayler were hardly on speaking terms. On 23 September 1656, Fox visited Nayler in his prison at Exeter; when the prisoner refused to kiss his hand, Fox pushed his foot toward him, "It is my foot." It was clearly not a gesture that looked toward reconciliation, Fox never apologized, and the differences remained.

In October 1656, Nayler and his friends, including Simmonds, staged a demonstration which proved disastrous: Nayler reenacted the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem that is commemorated on Palm Sunday, riding on horseback into Bristol attended by followers who sang "Holy, holy, holy" and strewed the muddy path with garments. Though Nayler denied that he was impersonating Jesus and said rather that "Christ was in him" (consistent with the Quaker doctrine of the Inner light), he refused to comment further on the meaning of the action, and the ecstatic devotion of his followers convinced many that he had messianic pretensions. On 16 December 1656 he was convicted of blasphemy in a highly publicized trial before the Second Protectorate Parliament. Narrowly escaping execution, he was instead punished with two floggings, branding of the letter B on his forehead, piercing of his tongue with a hot iron, and two years' imprisonment at hard labour.

George Fox was horrified by the Bristol event, recounting in his "Journal" that "James ran out into imaginations, and a company with him; and they raised up a great darkness in the nation", despite Nayler's account of his actions being consistent with Quaker theology, and despite similar lofty language used by Fox and the other Quakers themselves. Nevertheless, Fox and the movement in general denounced Nayler publicly, though this did not stop anti-Quaker critics from using the incident to paint Quakers as heretics, or to equate them with Ranters. To modern eyes, Nayler's procession might not seem particularly outrageous compared to the acts of other early Quaker activists, who often disrupted church services and sometimes appeared nude (as a symbol of spiritual innocence); but at a time when Quakers were already being pressed to denounce the doctrine of the Inner Light because of its implication of equality with Christ, Nayler's ambiguous symbolism was seen as playing with fire. The Society's subsequent move, mostly driven by Fox, toward a somewhat more organized structure, including giving Meetings the ability to disavow a member, seemed to have been motivated by a desire to avoid similar problems.

Nayler left prison in 1659 a physically ruined man; he repented his actions and was formally (but reluctantly) forgiven by Fox, who apparently required his former associate to kneel before him and ask forgiveness. He did join Quaker critics of the collapsing regime and begin to write condemnations of the nation's rulers. In October 1660, while traveling to rejoin his family in Yorkshire, he was robbed and left near death in a field, then brought to the home of a Quaker doctor in Kings Ripton. A day later and two hours before he died on 21 October, he made a moving statement ("There is a spirit which I feel....") that some Quakers still value.

A collected edition of the "Tracts of Nayler" appeared in 1716, edited by his friend (and important early Quaker) George Whitehead, though Whitehead omitted Nayler's more controversial works. See "A Relation of the Life, Conversion, Examination, Confession, and Sentence of James Nayler" (1657); a "Memoir of the Life, Ministry, Trial, and Sufferings of James Nayler" (1719); and a "Refutation of some of the more Modern Misrepresentations of the Society of Friends commonly called Quakers, with a Life of James Nayler", by Joseph Gurney Bevan (1800).

"There Is A Spirit: The Nayler Sonnets" is a collection, first published in 1945, of 26 poems by Kenneth Boulding, each inspired by a four- to sixteen-word portion of Nayler's dying statement (and also includes the intact statement).

ee also

*Leo Damrosch, "The sorrows of the Quaker Jesus" ISBN 0-674-82143-2
*The James Nayler Foundation

External links

* [http://www.strecorsoc.org/docs/naylor.html James Nayler's Deathbed Statement] ----
*1911


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • James Nayler — (oder Naylor) (* 1618; † 1660) war ein englischer Quäker. Nayler wurde in der Stadt Ardsley in Yorkshire geboren. Bekannt ist er heute in erster Linie durch die Konflikte mit George Fox, dem (aus heutiger Sicht) Begründer des Quäkertums. Ursache… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • James Nayler — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Naylor. James Nayler James Nayler (ou Naylor) (1618 1660) est l un des fondateurs de la Société religieuse des Amis …   Wikipédia en Français

  • James Nayler Foundation — The James Nayler Foundation is a registered mental health charity borne out of the publicity surrounding the work of founder and central figure Dr. Bob Johnson during his time as consultant psychiatrist to the Special Unit in Parkhurst Prison. Dr …   Wikipedia

  • Nayler — James Nayler James Nayler (oder Naylor) (* 1618; † 1660) war ein englischer Quäker. Nayler wurde in der Stadt Ardsley in Yorkshire geboren. Bekannt ist er heute in erster Linie durch die Konflikte mit George Fox, dem (aus heutiger Sicht)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nayler, James — (c. 1618–60)    Sect Founder.    Nayler was born in Yorkshire and he fought on the Parliamentary side in the Civil War. In 1615, he was converted by George fox to Quakerism and became a travelling preacher. He suffered several terms of… …   Who’s Who in Christianity

  • Nayler, James — ▪ English religious leader Nayler also spelled  Naylor   born 1618, Ardsley, Yorkshire, Eng. died October 1660, London       one of the most prominent early English Quakers.       Nayler served in the Parliamentary army (1642–51) in the English… …   Universalium

  • NAYLER, JAMES —    a fanatical Quaker in the time of the Commonwealth, with a following as fanatical as himself, who escorted him through Bristol on his release from prison after the manner of Christ s entry into Jerusalem; was very cruelly punished for… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Nayler, James — (1617? 1660)    Quaker theologian, s. of a Yorkshire yeoman, who, after serving in the Parliamentary army, joined the Quakers in 1651, became one of Foxe s most trusted helpers, and exercised a powerful influence. By some of the more enthusiastic …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • History of the Quakers — The Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, is a movement that began in England in the 17th century. In its early days it faced opposition and persecution; however, it continued to expand, extending into many parts of the world,… …   Wikipedia

  • George Fox — Infobox Person caption = Supposed portrait [This picture, reputedly by Peter Lely, is in the collection of Swarthmore College. Its authenticity is questioned (see for example, Fenn, W. W. (April 1926). The American Historical Review , Vol.31 No.3 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”