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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 about the importance of being faithful in the everlasting seed, Christ, who brings peace, blessings, and righteousness. He emphasizes the contrast between Adam in the fall, representing troubles and curse, and Christ Jesus, who never fell and is the way to endless life. Fox urges believers to live in Christ, love one another, and serve in the fear and wisdom of God, transcending the wisdom of the fall. He encourages keeping meetings in the name of Christ Jesus to experience true righteousness, holiness, and peace.
Epistle 71
Dear Friends,—All be faithful in the everlasting seed, in which ye have life and power, dominion and wisdom, and clothing with that which is immortal, and the blessing of the Lord, and peace in the seed, Christ, that never fell [1 Pet 2:22] nor changed, nor will change [Heb 13:8]; in whom ye have peace, in whom ye have blessings, who takes away the curse. For the peace is in the second Adam [1 Cor 15:45,47] that never fell, Christ Jesus, and the blessings and the righteousness are in him; but the troubles, and the curse, and the unrighteousness and misery are in Adam in the fall, and all deceitful teachings, ways, and worships. And so, sit not down in Adam in the fall, but in Christ Jesus that never fell, (then in him ye will all have life,) that was with the Father before the world began. He ends all the types, figures, and shadows, first covenant, and priesthood [Heb ch 7-10], and ways in the fall, in old Adam, Christ that never fell, who is the way [John 14:6], who is the substance [Heb 10:34]; in him (I say) sit down, and then ye will be all found in the endless life. For Adam lost his habitation and Eve [Gen 3:23f], and the apostate christians from the righteousness, from the law, <82> and from the power of God. Therefore ye that are come to Christ Jesus the substance, the end of the prophets [Dan 9:24], in whom ye have life, (as I said before,) which was with the Father before the world began, in him live, and love one another, and serve one another in love [Gal 5:13], and in the fear and wisdom of God, that is above Adam and Eve's sons and daughters' sensual, devilish wisdom [James 3:15] in the fall. And so keep your meetings in the name of Christ Jesus [Mat 18:20], that never fell, then ye will see over all the meetings of Adam and Eve's sons and daughters in the fall, their confused meetings and gatherings, who are out of the habitation of righteousness [Job 8:6] and holiness [Isa 63:15], and so out of peace. So in the life (Christ) live, in whom ye have peace, keeping your habitation in him; that none be as the untimely figs [Rev 6:13], nor as the corn upon the house top, that is soon withered and gone [Psa 129:6, Isa 37:27]. But that ye may live in the seed, the substance [Isa 6:13], Christ the life, in whom ye have riches that never fade away [Heb 10:34]; feeding upon the tree of life, whose leaves heal the nations [Rev 22:2]. So live in unity one with another in the life Christ Jesus, that the seed may be all your crowns. And so farewell. My love to all Friends in the seed of God, Christ Jesus, who was with the Father before the world began. 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.