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George Fox

George Fox (1624 - 1691). English Dissenter, founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), born in Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire. Apprenticed as a shoemaker, he left home at 19, seeking spiritual truth amid Puritan and Anglican tensions. In 1647, after visions and direct experiences of God, he began preaching an “inner light” accessible to all, rejecting clergy and formal worship. By 1652, he gathered followers in northern England, forming the Quakers, known for pacifism and simplicity. Fox traveled across England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and America, enduring eight imprisonments for his beliefs, including at Lancaster Castle. He wrote Journal (1694) and numerous letters, shaping Quaker theology with calls for equality and justice. Married to Margaret Fell in 1669, a key Quaker leader, they had no children, but she had eight from her prior marriage. His 1660 Declaration rejected violence, influencing conscientious objection. Fox’s emphasis on personal revelation transformed Protestantism, and his writings remain central to Quaker thought.
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Sermon Summary
George Fox emphasizes the importance of recognizing the seed of God within ourselves, which grants us access to His power, promises, and the gospel. He encourages believers to walk in truth, righteousness, and holiness, as these paths lead to a deeper fellowship with God and the revelation of His presence. Fox highlights that this divine power transcends darkness and is essential for understanding the mystery of fellowship with God. He reminds us that the seed of God is the ultimate authority that overcomes evil and fulfills the prophecies of old, guiding us to the life-giving pastures of God's presence.
Epistle 204
Dear friends and brethren,—The seed of God feel all in yourselves, which is the heir of the power of God, that ye may sit down in the possession of the same; inheriting the power, and the promise, and the gospel. In which power of God is the fellowship, being heirs of the same, and members of that fellowship which never hath an end, which brings life and immortality to light [2 Tim 1:10]; which power of God was before that was which darkeneth life and immortality from people. So walk in the truth [e.g. 3 Jn 1:3f], then ye walk with the God of all truth [e.g. Psa 31:5]; and walk in the righteousness, and then ye walk with the righteous God in all peace. Walk in holiness, and then ye walk in that in which ye see God; which they that do not, see him not [Heb 12:14]. Therefore walk in the power of God, which goes over the power of darkness, which was before it was; which power of God is the gospel [Rom 1:16], in which is the mystery of the fellowship [Eph 3:9] a mystery (I say) to all the fellowships that are out of the power of God. Therefore the seed of God know, which is the top-stone, that it may be over all laid in you, which bruiseth the serpent's head [Gen 3:15], which is the fulfilling of the prophets and prophecies; which seed brings to the beginning, where are the pastures of life [Ezek 34:14]. . . . G. F.
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George Fox (1624 - 1691). English Dissenter, founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), born in Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire. Apprenticed as a shoemaker, he left home at 19, seeking spiritual truth amid Puritan and Anglican tensions. In 1647, after visions and direct experiences of God, he began preaching an “inner light” accessible to all, rejecting clergy and formal worship. By 1652, he gathered followers in northern England, forming the Quakers, known for pacifism and simplicity. Fox traveled across England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and America, enduring eight imprisonments for his beliefs, including at Lancaster Castle. He wrote Journal (1694) and numerous letters, shaping Quaker theology with calls for equality and justice. Married to Margaret Fell in 1669, a key Quaker leader, they had no children, but she had eight from her prior marriage. His 1660 Declaration rejected violence, influencing conscientious objection. Fox’s emphasis on personal revelation transformed Protestantism, and his writings remain central to Quaker thought.