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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 following the light of Christ to find rest and witness the new covenant, where personal teaching from man is not needed. He urges listeners to let the light reveal sin, worldly evils, and unrighteousness, guiding them to stand in the light to see Jesus. Fox warns against vain thoughts and idolatry, encouraging people to listen to the voice of the Son of God for true life. He references Stephen's martyrdom and Moses' prophecy to highlight the significance of hearing and obeying the prophet raised by God.
Epistle 85
Friends,—All to the light, which Jesus Christ hath enlightened you withal, take heed, that with the light of Christ, the saviour of your souls, <96> ye may all come to see and enjoy rest; and the new covenant ye may all witness, where ye need no man to teach you [1 Jn 2:27], saying, know the Lord [Jer 31:34]. And this light shows you sin, and the evil of the world, and the lust of it, and the vain fashions of it, that pass away [1 Cor 7:31], and the unrighteousness, and the ungodliness of it; for they are not in covenant with God, but are contrary to the light, and to be condemned with the light. Therefore to the light I direct you, that with it ye may see yourselves; then in it stand, that with it ye may see Jesus, from whence it comes. And join not with your vain thoughts, nor that which doth consult, and set and frame ways; there is the idol maker, and the image maker, and the founder of the images, whom ye will see with the light, if ye take heed to it [Hab 2:18-20?]. And so, the founder of the image will be destroyed [Jer 10:14f], and with that ye will come to hear the voice of the son of God; and who hears his voice shall live [John 5:25]. And Stephen, who was stoned to death [Acts 7:59f], witnessed the substance [Acts 7:55f], and Moses' words fulfilled, who said, ‘Like unto me will God raise up a prophet, him shall ye hear [Deut 18:15, Acts 3:22].’ He heard this prophet, and denied the first temple [Acts 7:48] and priests; and so, to deny that which God had commanded was more than to deny these which God never commanded. Therefore consider in your life time, how much time ye have spent in hearing them, and what assurance ye have of the eternal inheritance which never fades away [1 Pet 1:4]! 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.