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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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Sermon Summary
George Fox emphasizes the importance of dwelling in the power of God and His immortal seed, which grants eternal life and dominion. He encourages believers to unite in love and peace, recognizing that true fellowship and worship are found in the Spirit and truth of God. Fox highlights the significance of gathering in the name of Jesus, the only source of salvation, and urges the faithful to remain steadfast in their faith, knowing that the seed of Christ within them overcomes evil. He reassures them that by abiding in God's power, they will inherit the everlasting gospel and experience eternal life together.
Scriptures
Epistle 209
My dear friends,—In the power of God and his immortal seed dwell, in which ye all will have life eternal, and inherit the substance [Prov 8:21] and dominion, and a kingdom of life, which never fadeth [1 Pet 1:4?], nor shall have an end. And so dwell all in the power of the Lord God, in which ye may all feel and know your strength renewed [Isa 40:31] in that which is immortal; and be of one mind in the power of God, and live in love and peace, knowing the kingdom of the same, which stands in the power [1 Cor 4:20] of God, which was before the power of satan. And your fellowship being in the same power of God, your fellowship is in that which is everlasting, and that never hath an end. And the church-fellowship is in God, and the worship is in the spirit, and in the truth [John 4:24]; which truth was before the untruth was, and stands when all the untruth in the world is gone [1 Esd 4:38]. In this live and dwell, in which ye will all have unity and fellowship; in which ye will feel life eternal amongst you. In that meet and keep your meetings, and wait together upon the Lord, who are gathered together in the name of Jesus [Mat 18:20]; whose name is above every name [Phil 2:9]. So is his gathering above all other gatherings; which gathering stands when all other gatherings are ended. And not in any other name under heaven is salvation brought [Acts 4:12], but in the name of Jesus; in which name are your gatherings; in which name ye all know your salvation, and shall all know it; as ye abide all in the power of God, that keeps unto the day of salvation [Isa 49:8]. And so be faithful unto the Lord God, minding the seed, and feeling it, and knowing it in yourselves; which destroys the devil [Heb 2:14], the destroyer, and the oppressor, murderer, and liar [John 8:44], the <210> father of all unrighteousness and ungodliness, and all that is bad, which the seed destroys, which seed is Christ. Therefore know that reign, and the top-stone over all laid; in which ye will all feel life, and have life eternal, coming to be heirs of the power of God, knowing every one that to be your portion, and heirs of the gospel, and inheriting it. Then ye possess fellowship, the gospel fellowship, which is everlasting, which is the power of God. And so farewell! And the Lord God Almighty preserve you, and keep you. So my love in the everlasting seed of God is to you all. 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.