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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 universal nature of God's love and the importance of righteousness, stating that God gives life to all and is no respecter of persons. He highlights that all nations are created from one blood and that God's eyes are upon all creation, urging believers to love all people as Christ did. Fox reminds us that the gospel is for everyone, offering liberty and freedom, and that Christ is the light and salvation for all. He encourages believers to embody the mind of Christ and to show mercy as God does.
Epistle 153
Dear friends,—I was moved to write these things to you in all those plantations. God, that made the world, and all things therein, giveth life and breath to all [Acts 17:25], and they all have their life and moving, and their being in him [Acts 17:28], he is the God of the spirits of all flesh [Num 16:22], and is no respecter of persons; but ‘whosoever feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him.’ [Acts 10:34f] And he hath made all nations of one blood to dwell upon the face of the earth [Acts 17:26], and his eyes are over all the works of his hands, and seeth every thing that is done under the whole heavens; and the ‘earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof.’ [Psa 24:1] And he causeth the rain to fall upon the just and upon the unjust, and also he causeth the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust [Mat 5:45]; and he commands to ‘love all men [1 Th 3:12],’ for Christ loved all, so that he ‘died for sinners. [Rom 5:8]’ And this is God's love to the world, in giving his son into the world; ‘that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.’ [John 3:16] And he doth ‘enlighten every man that cometh into the world,’ [John 1:9] that they might believe in the son. And the gospel is preached to every creature under heaven [Col 1:23]; which is the power that giveth liberty and freedom, and is glad tidings to every captivated creature [Isa 61:1] under the whole heavens. And the word of God is in the heart and mouth, to obey and do it, and not for them to ascend or descend for it; and this is the word of faith which was and is preached [Rom 10:6-8]. For Christ is given for a covenant to the people, and a light to the Gentiles [Isa 42:6], and to enlighten them, who is the <145> glory of Israel [Luke 2:32], and God's ‘salvation to the ends of the earth [Isa 49:6].’ And so ye are to have the mind of Christ [Gal 2:16], and to be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful [Luke 6:36]. 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.