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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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George Fox preaches about the importance of following the Light of Christ within, guiding individuals to see Jesus as the ultimate purpose and fulfillment, surpassing the need for tithes and offerings. He emphasizes speaking and acting in alignment with the Truth revealed by God in each person's conscience, bearing witness to Christ Jesus as the core essence. Fox encourages believers to endure suffering for conscience's sake, letting go of material possessions if necessary, and standing firm in the Light that exposes and condemns worldly actions, leading to unity in Christ.
Children of Light
. . . SO all ye, that are Summoned with Writs . . . because ye cannot pay Tithes, Keep to the Light in you, which comes from Jesus Christ, that with the Light ye may all come to see Jesus, the Sum and Substance, and the End of all the before-mentioned Tithes and Offerings. And so, according to the Light of Christ in them all, speak, that to it their Minds may be guided; and declare the Truth to them, which is agreeable to that of God in every one's Conscience. And bear Witness to the Sum and Substance, Christ Jesus, and shew that forth to them all. And shew forth the Substance to them . . . shewing to them that ye suffer for Conscience sake . . . if the Spoilers take your Goods, let them go, and let them take the Coat also. . . . For who Contrary to the Light doth act, upon his Actions Condemnation doth come. That so over all the World ye may stand in the Light, which doth it comprehend and condemn; and with it ye may witness to the End of the Shadows. . . . . . . And none to act anything in your own Wills; But who act Contrary to the Light, and pay Tithes, go to the Changable; and with the Unchangable are cast out from the Children of Light . . . the Children of Light are one in the Light and with the Light see the Body, and Christ Jesus the Head, and are all one in him. To the Light of Christ Jesus in all your Consciences, . . . I speak, that ye may see, what ye act; and that such as are sued for tithes may look to the Sum of Substance, the Unchangable Priest, Christ Jesus.
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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.