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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 living in the power of God, which brings unity, peace, and joy, and overcomes strife and the works of the devil. He emphasizes the importance of dwelling in the truth, answering it in every person, and maintaining fellowship in the spirit of God. Fox encourages believers to pray, praise, and glorify God in the spirit of wisdom, avoiding actions that grieve or quench the spirit of God. He urges them to be led by the spirit, keep their fellowship with God, and preserve their meetings in the spirit against worldly influences.
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Epistle 217
All my dear friends and brethren, who of the mighty power of God have tasted, in which it hath brought you to the measure of the life of truth, and to feel after God in it: unto which ye are turned, as a way that is living [Heb 10:20] and has no end, which is Christ Jesus, who is the way of peace [Isa 59:8], and destroys the devil [Heb 2:14], the author of strife. All ye that are turned unto this living way by the power of the mighty God of heaven and earth, live in peace one with another, and unity; and do not judge one another [Rom 14:13], for that eats and wears out the good, and begets the enmity; and hinders growth in truth. Keep that down, and live in love and peace, that edifies [Eph 4:16/Rom 14:19]. And all every where, unto you this is the word of the Lord God: live in the power of the mighty God of heaven and earth, that goes over the unrighteous world, in which is the strife, and the devil, and his works; which power of God was before they were; in that ye will feel unity, which was before strife. So dwell in that, in which ye may have a kingdom that hath no end, and the dominion that is above all dominions [Dan 4:3,34] upon the earth. In which power of God ye may enlarge your borders [Exo 34:24], and spread truth abroad both to Jews, Christians, and heathens; having the power of God, that goes over them all, and was before they were. With that power of God ye will answer the witness of God in all [Col 4:6/1 Jn 5:9], and bring them to that; that with that they may have a part in the kingdom of God; and a share with you of the same; in which ye will have peace, life, joy [Rom 14:17], dominion, and prosperity. And so it will be your life to do good, and to beget into life, up to God; and in that power, that doth so, ye will not labour in vain [1 Cor 15:58]. . . . <220> . . . So, go on in the truth, answering it in every one in the inward parts [Psa 51:6], and in the power of God, which comprehends deceit, which was before it was, in that is your life, and in that the kingdom is felt that never hath an end, and the dominion over all dominions; in that stands your peace and joy, in the holy ghost [Rom 14:17], which is the spirit of God, that plungeth down that which made the separation from God; in that will be your fellowship, which will stand and remain when all the fellowships of the earth are gone. In which fellowship in the spirit [Phil 2:1] ye will have fellowship with God, the Father of spirits [Heb 12:9], and all the scriptures given forth [2 Tim 3:16] from the same spirit, and with all the saints that gave them forth, and with their spirits; through which spirit of God ye will be brought, and come to the spirits of just men, which are made perfect [Heb 2:23], and to God, the judge of all. In which, (as I said before,) ye will have an everlasting fellowship, in which spirit ye will have an understanding [Isa 11:2?], in which spirit ye will come to worship God, the Father of spirits, and in the truth, which the devil and his works are out of [John 8:44], and all the will-worshippers [Col 2:23]. So, in that ye will know the royal dominion and royal fellowship; in which spirit ye will have the spirit of wisdom, in which ye will know how to pray to God [Rom 8:26? Wis 7:7?], who is a spirit [John 4:24], and to praise and glorify the everlasting God, who lives for ever and ever, amen! And in that ye will come to know and see to the beginning, before the world began, and that which quencheth, and grieveth, and vexeth the spirit of God [1 Th 5:19; Eph 4:30; Isa 63:10]; and that prayeth, and that preacheth, and that praiseth, and yet grieveth, and vexeth, and quencheth the spirit of God; such God, the Father of spirits accepts not, that judge, rend to pieces, and tear one another about inventions. Now ye being led by the spirit of God [Rom 8:14] up to God, the Father of spirits, in which ye have the fellowship, out of all that you will be kept; and in that spirit of God the Lord God Almighty preserve you and keep you, and in that meet and dwell, in which your meetings may be preserved over all that which is in the world, that are out of the spirit of God; who are in confusion, contending about the words [Gen 11:1-9]. Therefore ye in the spirit of God, answer that of God in them all. So, in that dwell and live, and let no man take your crown [Rev 3:11]. Send copies of this to all Friends that are convinced in New England, Barbadoes, and all the islands thereways. 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.