Both Christianity — where they part company
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends) and Reformed Christianity (Calvinism)
Close relatives, which is exactly why the 8 axes they diverge on are the interesting part. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.38 (0 would be identical).
The inner light in every person, reached in silence, with no clergy, no creed and no sacraments — the most thoroughly de-ritualised body in Christianity. Its authority and practice positions sit closer to Stoicism than to Catholicism, which is one of the more interesting facts the matrix surfaces.
God’s sovereignty pressed further than anywhere else in Christianity: election is unconditional and grace is irresistible, so nothing whatsoever on the human side earns the outcome. Worship is stripped to what scripture positively commands.
Where they agree
C2 Shape of time
Both sit at one life, then judgment — a gap of 0.03.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at strictly one — a gap of 0.05.
Where they part company
B1 Source of truth
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): reason and direct experience. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): revealed and fixed. A gap of 0.78 on an axis running from “revealed and fixed” to “reason and direct experience”.
E1 Exclusivity
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): leaning many valid paths. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): one true path. A gap of 0.70 on an axis running from “one true path” to “many valid paths”.
C3 The human condition
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): fallen and in need of rescue. A gap of 0.65 on an axis running from “fallen and in need of rescue” to “ignorant but fundamentally sound”.
B3 Institutional authority
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): individual conscience decides. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): leaning clergy and tradition decide. A gap of 0.60 on an axis running from “clergy and tradition decide” to “individual conscience decides”.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): leaning metaphorical, or no text at all. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): leaning literal and binding. A gap of 0.55 on an axis running from “literal and binding” to “metaphorical, or no text at all”.
A4 Locus
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): fully present within it. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): leaning wholly beyond the world. A gap of 0.53 on an axis running from “wholly beyond the world” to “fully present within it”.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): optional or absent. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): between essential and prescribed and optional or absent. A gap of 0.47 on an axis running from “essential and prescribed” to “optional or absent”.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends): between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight. Reformed Christianity (Calvinism): given as grace. A gap of 0.43 on an axis running from “given as grace” to “achieved by effort or insight”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends) | Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | leaning a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly exists | 0.18 |
| A2 Personhood | leaning a personal being one can address | a personal being one can address | 0.26 |
| A3 Plurality | strictly one | strictly one | 0.05 |
| A4 Locus | fully present within it | leaning wholly beyond the world | 0.53 |
| B1 Source of truth | reason and direct experience | revealed and fixed | 0.78 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | leaning metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning literal and binding | 0.55 |
| B3 Institutional authority | individual conscience decides | leaning clergy and tradition decide | 0.60 |
| C1 Survival of the self | leaning continues in some form | continues in some form | 0.23 |
| C2 Shape of time | one life, then judgment | one life, then judgment | 0.03 |
| C3 The human condition | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | fallen and in need of rescue | 0.65 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight | given as grace | 0.43 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | optional or absent | between essential and prescribed and optional or absent | 0.47 |
| D3 The body | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | leaning to be disciplined | 0.18 |
| E1 Exclusivity | leaning many valid paths | one true path | 0.70 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | leaning an intentional act | an intentional act | 0.16 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | leaning an individual choice | between a people, inherited and an individual choice | 0.27 |
| E4 Standing of nature | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred | leaning creation, given for use | 0.34 |
Positions for Quaker Christianity (Religious Society of Friends) rest principally on Quaker Faith & Practice (Britain Yearly Meeting) and Barclay’s Apology (1678); for Reformed Christianity (Calvinism), on Westminster Confession of Faith (1646). Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.
The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.