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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 addresses Friends in the North, urging them to maintain order and purity among themselves by rejecting pride, filthiness, and uncleanness. He emphasizes the importance of judging and condemning these negative traits through the Light, which leads to a deeper understanding of God and spiritual nourishment. Fox encourages the community to dwell in the life and wisdom that comes from God, fostering growth in grace and obedience to the Light. He calls for a collective commitment to cast out evil and embrace the path that leads to the Father through Jesus. The message is a reminder of the transformative power of God's Light in their lives.
Scriptures
Pride Judged
(To Friends in the North) FRIENDS, see that all Friends professing Truth there-aways, in Order be kept, that no Confusion, no Pride, Filthiness nor Uncleanness be amongst you; but with the Light let all that be Judged down and Condemned, and cast out, that all in that which is pure, may patiently wait to inherit the Substance. And in that dwell which doth bring out of the Shadows, Types, Traditions, Ungodliness, Unrighteousness, Pride, Filthiness, Lust and Uncleanness. So, the mighty Power of the Lord God be with you all and keep you. And all Friends, dwell in the Life, which from God comes, the Father of Life, that with it ye may see God, and all may be nourished and fed with the living Food, which comes from the Living God. Ye Babes of God, dwell in the Wisdom of God, and in Grace, that ye may grow up in the Wisdom and Grace of God. So, the mighty Power of the Lord be with you all, and keep you in Obedience to the Light, out of the Evil of the World; which Light doth it condemn. Let this go to all them that dwell in the Light, whose Minds are turned towards Jesus, the Way to the Father; Let that be burnt up, which the Light doth discover to be Evil, and condemns it. And to you, this is the Word of the Lord. 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.