George Fox

George Fox (July 1624 – January 13 1691) was an English Dissenter and the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. Living in a time of great social upheaval, he rebelled against the religious and political consensus by proposing an unusual and uncompromising approach to the Christian faith. His journal is a text popular even among non-Quakers for its vivid account of his personal journey.

Suffering and growth

The persecutions of these years — with about a thousand Friends in prison by 1657 — hardened George Fox's opinions of traditional religious and social practices. In his preaching, he often emphasised the Quaker rejection of baptism by water; this was a useful way of highlighting how the focus of Friends on inward transformation differed from what he saw as the superstition of outward ritual. It was also deliberately provocative to adherents of those practices, providing opportunities for Fox to argue with them on matters of scripture. This pattern was also found in his court appearances: when a judge challenged him to remove his hat, Fox riposted by asking where in the Bible such an injunction could be found.

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The Society of Friends became increasingly organised towards the end of the decade. Large meetings were held, including a three-day event in Bedfordshire, the precursor of the present Britain Yearly Meeting system. Fox also commissioned two Friends to travel around the country collecting the testimonies of imprisoned Quakers, as evidence of their persecution; this led to the establishment in 1675 of Meeting for Sufferings, which has been in continuing existence to the present day.

Related Topics:
Britain Yearly Meeting - 1675 - Meeting for Sufferings - QFP

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The Restoration

With the restoration of the monarchy, the fate of the Quakers was uncertain. George Fox was again accused of conspiracy, this time against Charles II, and fanaticism — a charge he resented. Once again, Fox was released after demonstrating that he had no military ambitions. During imprisonment in Lancaster, he even wrote to the king offering advice on governance: Charles should refrain from war and domestic religious persecution, and discourage oath-taking, plays, and maypole games. These last suggestions reveal Fox's Puritan leanings, which continued to influence Quakers for centuries after his death.

Related Topics:
Restoration of the monarchy - Charles II - Play - Maypole - Puritan

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At least on one point, Charles listened to George Fox. The seven hundred Quakers who had been imprisoned under Richard Cromwell were released, though the government remained uncertain about the group's links with other, more violent, movements. A 1661 revolt by the Fifth Monarchy men led to the suppression of that sect and the repression of other nonconformists, including Quakers http://www.strecorsoc.org/gfox/ch14.html.

Related Topics:
Richard Cromwell - 1661 - Fifth Monarchy men - Nonconformists

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Meanwhile, Quakers in New England had been banished, and Charles was advised by his councillors to issue a mandamus condemning this practice and allowing them to return. George Fox was able to meet some of the New England Friends when they came to London, stimulating his interest in the colonies. Fox was unable to travel there immediately: he was imprisoned again in 1663 for his refusal to swear oaths, and on his release in 1666 was preoccupied with organizational matters — he normalized the system of monthly and quarterly meetings throughout the country, and extended it to Ireland.

Related Topics:
New England - Mandamus - Colonies - 1663 - 1666 - Ireland

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Visiting Ireland also gave him the opportunity to preach against what he saw as the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church, in particular the use of ritual. More recent Quaker commentators have noted points of contact between the denominations: both claim the actual presence of God in their meetings, and both allow the collective opinion of the church to augment Biblical teaching. Fox, however, did not perceive this, brought up as he was in a wholly Protestant environment hostile to "Popery". He was also more strict in his reliance on the Bible than most of his followers.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic Church - Protestant

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In 1669 Fox married Margaret Fell of Swarthmoor Hall, Swarthmoor, a lady of high social position, and one of his early converts. Her husband Thomas Fell had died in 1658, and she had been imprisoned in Lancaster alongside Fox for several years. Their shared religious work was at the heart of their life together, and they later collaborated on a great deal of the administration the Society required.

Related Topics:
Margaret Fell - Swarthmoor Hall - Swarthmoor

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Travels in America and Europe

In 1671 he went to Barbados and the English settlements in America, where he remained two years. Fox's first landfall on the North American continent was at Maryland, where he participated in a four-day meeting of local Quakers. He remained there while various of his English companions travelled to the other colonies, because he wished to meet with some Native Americans who were interested in Quaker ways — though he records that they had "a great debate" among themselves about whether to participate in the meeting. Fox was impressed by their general demeanour, which he said was "loving" and "respectful" http://www.strecorsoc.org/gfox/ch18.html.

Related Topics:
1671 - Barbados - North American continent - Maryland - Native American

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Elsewhere in the colonies, Fox helped to establish organizational systems for the Friends there, along the same lines as he had done in Britain. He also preached to many non-Quakers, some of whom were converted; others, including Ranters and some Catholics, were unconvinced. He did not seem to mind this so much as he resented the suggestion (from a man in North Carolina) that "the Light and Spirit of God ... was not in the Indians", a proposition which Fox refuted http://www.strecorsoc.org/gfox/ch18.html#gf18i.

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Following extensive travels around the various American colonies, George Fox returned to England in 1673. He was soon imprisoned again, and his health began to suffer. Margaret Fell petitioned the king for his release; this took place, but Fox felt too weak to take up his travels immediately. He compensated by increasing his written output: letters, both public and private, as well as books and essays. Much of his energy was devoted to the topic of oaths, having become convinced of its importance to Quaker ideas. By refusing to swear, he felt that he could bear witness to the value of truth in everyday life, as well as to God, who he associated with truth and the inner light.

Related Topics:
1673 - Inner light

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In 1677 and 1684 he visited the Friends in the Netherlands, and organized their meetings for discipline. He also made a brief visit to what is now Germany. Meanwhile, Fox was participating by letter in a dispute among Friends in Britain over the role of women in meetings, a struggle which took much of his energy and left him feeling exhausted. Returning to England, he stayed in the south in order to try to end the dispute. Fox's health became worse towards the end of 1684, but he continued his new, more restricted form of activities — writing to leaders in Poland, Denmark, Germany, and elsewhere about his beliefs, and their treatment of Quakers.

Related Topics:
1677 - 1684 - The Netherlands - Germany - Poland - Denmark

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In the last years of his life, Fox continued to participate in Yearly Meetings, and still made representations to Parliament about the sufferings of Friends. The 1689 Act of Toleration put an end to the uniformity laws under which Quakers had been persecuted, and in that year many Friends were released from prison.

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