Editing Inward light (section)

== Related terms ==
{{Main|Divine light}}
{{Further|Light of Christ|Light of the World}}
The term "Inward light" appears in early Quaker writings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stevenson |first1=Leslie |title=The Inward Light |journal=Eighteen Takes on God |date=24 October 2019 |pages=146–156 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190066109.003.0018 |isbn=978-0-19-006610-9 }}</ref><ref name="CYMF2018"/> Originally, Inward Light was used much more often than "Inner Light".<ref>Richard Vann. [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3614997381378 "Review of Rosemary Moore, ''The Light in Their Consciences: The Early Quakers in Britain 1646–1666,''"] H-Albion, H-Net Reviews, July 2001.</ref> This term evokes an image of people being illuminated by the light of God or Christ. Although the terms are now often used interchangeably, according to Quaker historian Pink Dandelion the terms were not thought of as equivalents until [[Rufus Jones (writer)|Rufus Jones]] incorrectly used the terms as literal synonyms.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Pink |last1=Dandelion |title=An Introduction to Quakerism |location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2007 |page=132-132}}</ref>

Synonyms for the Inward Light include ''Inner Light'', ''Light of God'', ''Light of Christ'', ''Christ within'', ''That of God'', ''Spirit of God within us'', and ''Light within''. These are often used interchangeably by modern and arguably early Friends. Liberal Friends may identify it with the expression "that of God in everyone".<ref>{{cite book |title=Journal of George Fox |editor=John L. Nickals |publisher=Religious Society of Friends |date=1975 |page=774}} light of Christ, xl,xliii,xliv,12,14,16,29,33–5,60,64,76,80,88,92,115,117,135,143–4,150,155,173,174–6,188,191,205,225–6,
234–7,245,274–5,283–4,294–6,303–5,309,312,317-19335,339–40,347–8,361,471–2,496–7,575,642</ref>  [[Conservative Friends]], [[Evangelical Friends Church International|Evangelical Friends]] and [[Central Yearly Meeting of Friends|Holiness Friends]] identify the Inward Light as "the indwelling Holy Spirit as the Guide by whom the Scriptures are understood (I Cor. 2:10, 11) and the specific will of God for every man is made known (Rom. 8:14)."<ref name="CYMF2018"/> At the same time, the Bible is "the guide by which every spirit may be discerned (I Jn. 4:1-3) and every belief and practice tested (II Tim. 3:16)."<ref name="CYMF2018"/>