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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 significance of having the Son of God, emphasizing that having the Son of God brings life while not having Him results in spiritual death. He highlights how the Son of God frees us from sin, destroys the works of the devil, and transforms us to be like Him, walking in righteousness. Fox encourages believers to walk in holiness, use their talents for God's kingdom, and love one another deeply, being united in Christ. He urges everyone to seek knowledge in the spirit rather than the flesh, warning about the distractions that hinder discernment.
Epistle 27
To all my dear Friends and brethren every where. He that hath the son of God, hath life; all that have not the son of God, have not life [1 Jn 5:12]. The son of God is he which makes free from all sin, and is come to destroy the works of the devil [1Jn 3:8], and to make us conformable to his image [Rom 8:29], and the image of the devil to deface and destroy, and the image of God to renew us up in [Col 3:10]; and so to bring us to walk in righteousness. Praises be unto the glorious God for ever, who has sent his son into the world, to take away the sins of the world. The lamb of God [John 1:29], the son of God, is but one in all his males and females, sons and daughters, and they all are one in Christ [Gal 3:28] and Christ one in them all. And all Friends, walk worthy of your calling [2 Th 1:11] in all holiness, for holiness becomes the saints [Psa 93:5, Eph 5:3]; <35> without holiness no man shall see the Lord [Heb 12:14]. And every one improve your talents [Mat 25:14-30], labouring in the vineyard [Mat 20:1], dressing the Lord's vineyard, that ye may be found the faithful servants, who are as good servants, and walking all in love to God, and one to another. And know one another in the spirit which is immortal; for all other knowledge in the flesh veils the pure [2 Cor 3:13-16], and hinders your discerning. There will arise tares out of that ground, whence that love springs.[Mat 13:26] Therefore dwell all in the pure spirit of God, and walking therein, it will teach you every one in particular, to know God the Father of spirits [Heb 12:9], and all to stand naked and bare, and uncovered before the living Lord God. For wo is to every one, that is covered, but not with the spirit of the Lord; and who are covered, and not with his spirit, will not stand in his counsel [Isa 30:1]. But all ye who are uncovered, walking in the spirit of the Lord God, it will keep you all in his counsel to stand uncovered before the Lord, bare and naked, to receive instruction and counsel from him. So God Almighty be with you all! The dew of heaven [Gen 27:28] is falling upon you to water the tender plants; and the blessing of God be amongst you, which showers down amongst you [Ezek 34:26]! The heavenly joy fill your hearts, and comfort you in the inward man in all tribulations. The glorious light is shining, the immortal is bringing forth out of death, the prisoners have hope of their pardon [Isa 42:7? Zech 9:11f?], the debt being paid, and they freely purchased by Christ's blood [Acts 20:28], and he into the prison houses is come, that the prisoners begin to sing [Acts 16:25?] in hope of their eternal freedom, for joy of heart leaping, and the dumb tongue shall sing praises [Isa 35:6]. And the arrows of the Almighty [Job 6:4] are shooting against the wicked. Therefore be bold and valiant for the truth [Jer 9:3], triumph over all the deceivers, and trample upon their deceits. 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.