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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 waiting upon the Unlimited Power and Spirit of the Lord, emphasizing the baptism into one Body. He urges the congregation to wait upon the Living God to nurture the tender Plant within them, enabling the production of Fruits of Righteousness accepted by God. Fox highlights the need to wait in the Light to discern and overcome deceit, cautioning against entering into temptations but acknowledging that being tempted is not a sin. He encourages waiting in the Fear of the Lord to access wisdom and emphasizes that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding.
Wisdom's Gate
ALL Friends, wait upon the Unlimited Power and Spirit of the Lord, which baptises into one Body. . . . Oh, Wait, wait upon the Living God to nourish the tender Plant in you, that ye may bring forth Fruits of Righteousness unto God, for he accepts such, and none else. . . . Therefore in the Light wait, where ye will see all Deceits within and without; For it is a Sin to enter into Temptations; but it is no Sin to be tempted. Christ was tempted, but he entred not into the Temptation: Therefore in the Fear of the Lord wait and watch. The Light is that which lets thee enter into, the Light will be thy Condemnation; then thy Heart will not be right towards God. But in the Light of God all wait, which will bring you to see where Wisdom's Gate is; the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of it. . . So, in the Power of the Lord God Fare ye well.
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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.