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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 to the babes of God, urging them to dwell in the eternal light of Christ, which comprehends the world and condemns all evil deeds and works of darkness. He emphasizes the importance of living in alignment with the light, which leads to Christ and exposes false prophets and antichrists who oppose it. Those who turn away from the light and rely solely on human wisdom are condemned, while those who dwell in the light receive knowledge from above and are guided by Christ's gentle wisdom.
Epistle 54
All my dear brethren, babes of God, born of the immortal seed [1 Pet 1:23], whose dwelling is in the power that upholds all things [Heb 1:3], which power is made manifest, which hath brought you to him that was in the beginning, before the world was, and with the life to comprehend the world, and that which is in it, and what it is, and what it lies in. All my dear babes of God, who are in the arms of the Almighty, dwell in the light, that ye may be manifested to the light of God in all consciences, that to the light which is of God, people's minds may be directed, and they come to receive the life, and to witness it, that gave forth the scriptures; that with the light ye may see them who act contrary to the light, who are for the sword [Heb 4:12], who are for the hammer, and who are for the fire [Jer 23:29]. Here not a deceiver shall stand, nor a false prophet, nor an antichrist [2 Jn 1:7, Mat 24:11], who oppose the light; but with the light all such are seen and comprehended. Which light is eternal, and was before the world was, which comprehends the world; which light is one in every man's conscience; which light is the condemnation of all that hate it, and of all that profession that is acted in that nature contrary to the light. My babes, dwell in the light, in the immortal seed of God, and grow up in it, and be clothed with Christ's zeal [Isa 59:17], having his mind [1 Cor 2:16]; that with the light ye may see them who are turned from the light, and act contrary to the light, who with the light are to be condemned. And so all they that make a profession of the scriptures declared from the light, and act contrary to the light that comes from Christ Jesus, and yet profess his command, their zeal is without knowledge [Rom 10:2], and they will persecute. For they that are in the self righteousness, are in that nature that acts contrary to the light, who with the light are to be condemned; which light leads to Christ, and brings to witness him, the Lord of righteousness. Therefore dwell in the light, that to the light in all consciences ye may be made manifest, to turn them from the darkness to the light [Acts 26:18], and so to Christ, from whence it comes; that with the light every one may see their salvation, Christ Jesus, and so ye may bring every one to sit under the vine Christ Jesus [Micah 4:4, John 15:1], and bring every one into the light, which comprehends the world, which is the world's condemnation, and all them that hate it. And bring every one to the light, which condemns all evil deeds [John 3:19f] and works of darkness [Rom 13:12, Eph 5:11], and works of the flesh [Gal 5:19]; that with the light they may all see, what shall enter into the kingdom of God, and what not. And bring all into the light, that they may see the false prophets, and the antichrists, and deceivers, which are all in that nature which acts contrary to the light; in which light is unity, with which light are they <70> all condemned. And to you this is the word of the Lord. And he who turns from the light, and gets the words of them that knew what they declared from the light, and makes a profession of them, his knowledge is brutish [Jer 10:14]. But he who dwells in the light, and with the light sees Christ, his knowledge is from that which is eternal; with which light the other is condemned, who acts contrary to it, though he may have the words declared from it. And all who are turned from the light, and make a profession of the words declared from the light, and gather there a great deal of wisdom, yet their minds are turned into the earth, which is a seat for the devil; there is the sensualness, there is the devilishness, and earthliness, there is the wisdom that is from below [James 3:15], which is acted in that nature contrary to the light; with the light that is comprehended, and with the light that is condemned. That wisdom is from below. But the light leads the mind up to Christ, from whence it comes, to receive the wisdom which is from above, and condemns that which leads from the light, for that is pure and gentle [James 3:17] which is from above; but the other is sensual, earthly, and devilish, perverse, and envious, and is with the light comprehended and condemned; which light is against the false prophet, whose words, knowledge, and wisdom is not from it. 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.