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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 emphasizes the importance of not hindering the Spirit's movements and urges the congregation to only speak, write, or act as they are led by the Lord God, as this is effective in reaching others. He encourages the listeners to feed on spiritual sustenance that comes from above, symbolized by knowing Jesus as the Bread of Life and the source of eternal satisfaction. Fox highlights the need to continue in obedience to the Spirit's promptings, as it leads to a life above worldly concerns and brings one closer to God's purpose and plan.
Writing, Printing, Speaking
AND none quench the Spirit's Movings in the least Degree, nor none go beyond. And feed not upon that which Dies of it self, but on that which cometh from above: Know the Son of Man's Flesh, which is your Bread, and his Blood, which is your Drink: which who eats and drinks of, hungers no more, nor thirsts no more, but hath the Endless Life. Nor none Write, Print nor Speak (for God) but as ye are moved of the Lord God; for that reacheth to that of God in others, and is Effectual. Nor none stop Writing or Speaking, when ye are moved with the Spirit of the Lord God, for the Power of the Lord God is to order, and to keep down that which would be hasty, or that which would not be Obedient, for that leads into the Wilderness (each way) which the Power, and Life, and Seed of God must be set a-top of, which keeps you over the World, and brings you to the Beginning.
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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.