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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 seeking peace among all people, which is found in Christ and cannot be taken away by the world. He highlights the blessings for peacemakers and warns against causing strife and offense. Fox encourages believers to act and speak in the righteousness of Christ, ensuring that their actions reflect God's love and truth. He advises against spreading evil reports and stresses the need for careful judgment and virtuous conduct in all interactions. Ultimately, he calls for a focus on the presence and wisdom of God to maintain righteousness and peace within the community.
Epistle 309
Friends,—Seek the peace of all men; which peace is in Christ, which is a peace that the world cannot take away. And blessed are the peacemakers [Mat 5:9], that make peace among the brethren and people; these shall have a blessing from the Lord, the king of peace [Heb 7:2]; but wo be unto them that cause strife and offence [Mat 18:7]. And all walk in the righteousness of Christ the Lord, over your own righteousness, and do, and act, and speak in his righteousness; then you act, and do, and speak, and walk in that, in which you have peace, and then God will delight in you, and you will be loved of him, for he loveth the righteous. And let it be below any of God's people to raise an evil report [Exo 23:1] on his people, or any others, or to give both their ears to any one's report of his people or matter, till they have heard both parties; so that righteousness, and truth, and judgment, may be kept up, and not fall. And in your men and women's meetings, you are in and about the Lord's business [Luke 2:49], and not your own; and therefore let the Lord be in your eyes [Ezek 38:23?], that all of you his presence, and power, and wisdom, and judgment may receive, to do, and act, and speak in. And this keeps all in his fear, to be careful of their words and doings, and keeps all solid, and virtuous, and sober; and then whatsoever is of a good report, and is decent and comely, and whatsoever is virtuous, and tends to virtue, and is lovely, that to follow after and cherish [Phil 4:8]. And here your eyes are kept open, to see that nothing be lacking [1 Th 4:12], and that you stand in that which shall never fall, in the power, and spirit, and seed Christ, who is the sure foundation [Isa 28:16], and the rock of ages [Isa 26:4 KJV margin]. 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.