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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 generosity towards the poor, suggesting that instead of lavish dinners, Friends should consider providing for widows, fatherless, and those in need, as this act would be pleasing to God and a way to keep their minds focused on the Lord. He encourages cheerful giving, reminding that those who give to the poor are lending to the Lord and will be repaid. Fox believes that regardless of the amount given, God will ensure that they do not lack by the end of the year.
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Epistle 419
Dear friends,—Something was upon me to write unto you, that such among Friends, who marry, and provide great dinners, that instead thereof, it will be of a good savour on such occasions, that they may be put in mind at such times, to give something to the poor that be widows and fatherless, and such like, to make them a feast, or to refresh them. And this, I look upon, would be a very good savour, to feast the poor that cannot feast you again [Luke 14:13]; and would be a good practice and example, and would be a means to keep the mind to the Lord; and in remembrance of the poor; for ‘they that give to the poor, lend to the Lord, and the Lord will repay them [Prov 19:17].’ And I do really believe, whatever they give, less or more, according to their ability, cheerfully, they will not have the less at the year's end, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver [2 Cor 9:7]. . . . <310> . . . 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.