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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 gathering in the Fear of the Lord, being attentive to the Light of Jesus Christ, and waiting in humility to experience the Life and Power of Truth in community. He urges overseers to be diligent in watching over the church, supporting the weak, and promoting purity among believers. Fox warns against pride, hastiness, and following personal wills, highlighting the need to wait on the Lord for clear guidance and to remain faithful in one's designated place of service.
Wait Low in His Fear
DEAR Friends, in the Eternal Truth of God, whose Minds by the Light of Jesus Christ are turned towards God, Meet often together in the Fear of the Lord, and to the Light take heed, that with it all your Minds may be kept up to God, from whence it comes. And in all your Meetings wait Low in his Fear, that ye may come to know the Life and Power of Truth one in another. And all ye, whom the Lord hath made Over-Seers over his Church in your several Places, be faithful to the Lord, and watch over the Flock of Christ with all Diligence; ye which are Strong, watch over the Weak, and stir up that which is Pure one in another; see, that in order all your Meetings be kept. . . . And take heed of forward Minds, and of running out before your Guide, for that leads out into Loosness; and such plead for Liberty, and run out in their Wills, and bring Dishonour to the Lord . . . and an Exalted Spirit gets up, and Pride and Haughtiness, and high Words. And such are they which add to the Burden, and do not take it off. There fore all wait Low in the Fear of the Lord, and be not hasty or rash, but see the Way be made Clear; and as the Lord doth move you, so do, and return with speed (when ye have done) to the Place, where ye were abiding, and be faithful there. . . . So Farewell in the Lord. . . . Be diligent every one in your Places, where the Lord hath set you, for the Work of the Lord is great; and God Almighty keep you to be faithful Labourers in his Work. From one, who is a Lover of your Souls, and whose care is over the Church of God, that it may be kept in order, and that all, that are guided by his Spirit, may be led into all good order. 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.