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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 spreading the Name and Truth of the Lord, being diligent in His service, and valiant for His Truth on Earth. He emphasizes the need to pierce the hearts of unbelievers, overturn their customs, and bring the Truth over the heads of the heathen. Fox encourages living in peace and love, confounding deceit, and being a blessing in the generation by walking in the Power and Wisdom of the Lord.
Pierce the Hearts of the Heathen
FRIENDS, in the Power of the Lord go forth, and gather with it into the Fold, and spread the Name and Truth of the Lord abroad; and in his Service be Diligent, and for his Truth be Valiant on the Earth, and for his Name's sake. And dwell in that which will pierce the Hearts of the Heathen, and will overturn their Heathenish Customs, and take away their false Covers; and in that Power of the Lord be diligent, answering the Witness of God in all Consciences. And dwell in Peace and Love amongst your selves; Confound the Deceit, and bring the Truth over the Heads of the Heathen, to the answering the Witness of God in them all. And that is the Word of the Lord to you. And live in the Seed, and there ye will feel the Ministry of the Life and Spirit in your own particulars; in which ye may be serviceable to others, that are without, and amongst your selves. And let the Heathen know . . . the the Glory of the Lord is risen. And walk in the Power of the Lord, and in his Wisdom, that in Places, where ye do come, ye may season them, and be all of a Good Savour in the Hearts of all, and to the Lord a Blessing in your Generation. 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.