George fox bio

He believed that anyone could be guided by the spirit of Christ within them. People didn't need religious leaders to create the kingdom of heaven on earth — they could achieve that for themselves. George Fox lived at a time of huge political and religious upheaval. Challenging the established church could be dangerous, and Fox was jailed many times for spreading his egalitarian message.

But his message appealed to many. It was a message of freedom — freedom from the authority of priests and from the fear of sin and damnation. In he had a revelation at the top of Pendle Hill in Lancashire. This prompted him to search out communities of seekers who had already left the established church. They worshipped together without ritual or leader, waiting for God's message to be revealed to them.

Fox brought many of the answers they had been looking for. Many were inspired to leave home to spread his message and their silent worship throughout England and beyond. These people became the very first Quakers. This work is considered a classic of Christian spiritual literature. Contact About Privacy. Adnan Khairallah. Mary Jozef de Lafayet.

He spent his final decade working in London to organise the expanding Quaker movement. Christopher Fox was a churchwarden and relatively wealthy. He left his son a substantial legacy when he died in the late s. There is no record of any formal schooling but he learnt to read and write.

George fox bio: Growing up in Cochrane,

The Lord taught me to be faithful, in all things, and to act faithfully two ways; viz. As he grew up, Fox's relatives "thought to have made me a priest" but he was instead apprenticed to a local shoemaker and grazierGeorge Gee of Mancetter. A constant obsession for Fox was the pursuit of "simplicity" in life — humility and the abandonment of luxury.

The short time he spent as a shepherd was important to the formation of this view. Toward the end of his life he wrote a letter for general circulation pointing out that AbelNoahAbrahamJacobMoses and David were all keepers of sheep or cattle and so a learned education should not be seen as a necessary qualification for ministry. George Fox knew people who were " professors " followers of the standard Church of Englandbut by the age of 19 he was looking down on their behaviour, in particular their consumption of alcohol.

At prayer one night after leaving two acquaintances at a drinking session, Fox heard an inner voice saying, "Thou seest how young people go together into vanity, and old people into the earth; thou must forsake all, young and old, keep out of all, and be as a stranger unto all. Driven by his "inner voice", Fox left Drayton-in-the-Clay in September and moved towards London in a state of mental torment and confusion.

The English Civil War had begun and troops were stationed in many towns through which he passed. He alternately shut himself in his room for days at a time or went out alone into the countryside. After almost a year he returned to Drayton, where he engaged Nathaniel Stephensthe clergyman of his home town, in long discussions on religious matters. Over the next few years Fox continued to travel around the country, as his particular religious beliefs took shape.

At times he actively sought the company of clergy, but found no comfort from them as they seemed unable to help with the matters troubling him. One, in Warwickshireadvised him to take tobacco which Fox disliked and sing psalms ; another, in Coventrylost his temper when Fox accidentally stood on a flower in his garden; a third suggested bloodletting.

And when all my hopes in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could tell what to do, then, oh, then, I heard a voice which said, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition"; and when I heard it my heart did leap for joy. Then the Lord let me see why there was none upon the earth that could speak to my condition, namely, that I might give Him all the glory; for all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief as I had been, that Jesus Christ might have the pre-eminence who enlightens, and gives grace, and faith, and power.

Thus when God doth work, who shall let i. And this I knew experimentally. He thought intensely about the Temptation of Christwhich he compared to his own george fox bio condition, but he drew strength from his conviction that God would support and preserve him. He also came to what he deemed a deep inner understanding of standard Christian beliefs.

Among his ideas were:. In Fox began to preach publicly: [ 21 ] in market-places, fields, appointed meetings of various kinds or even sometimes in "steeple-houses" churches after the service.

George fox bio: George Fox was an English

His powerful preaching began to attract a small following. It is not clear at what point the Society of Friends was formed, but there was certainly a group of people who often travelled together. At first, they called themselves "Children of the Light" or "Friends of the Truth", and later simply "Friends". Fox seems initially to have had no desire to found a sect, but only to proclaim what he saw as the pure and genuine principles of Christianity in their original simplicity, though he afterward showed great prowess as a religious organiser in the structure he gave to the new society.

There were a great many rival Christian denominations holding very diverse opinions in that period; the atmosphere of dispute and confusion gave Fox an opportunity to put forward his own beliefs through his personal sermons. Fox's preaching was grounded in scripture but was mainly effective because of the intense personal experience he was able to project.

By he had gathered other talented preachers around him and continued to roam the country despite a harsh reception from some listeners, who would whip and beat them to drive them away. As an uncompromising preacher, he hurled disputation and contradiction to the faces of his opponents. Fox complained to judges about decisions he considered morally wrong, as he did in a letter on the case of a woman due to be executed for theft.

In his view, as God was everywhere and anyone could preach, the established church was unnecessary and a university qualification irrelevant for a preacher. Fox was imprisoned several times, the first at Nottingham in Refusal to take oaths meant that Quakers could be prosecuted under laws compelling subjects to pledge allegiance and made testifying in court problematic.

InFox preached for several hours under a walnut tree at Balbywhere his disciple Thomas Aldham was instrumental in setting up the first meeting in the Doncaster area.

George fox bio: English preacher and missionary and

From there he travelled to Sedberghwhere he had heard a group of Seekers was meeting, and preached to over a thousand people on Firbank Fellconvincing many, including Francis Howgillto accept that Christ might speak to people directly. Around that time, the ad hoc meetings of Friends began to be formalised and a monthly meeting was set up in County Durham.

Fell was one of three presiding judges, and the charges were dismissed on a technicality. Fox remained at Swarthmoor until the summer ofthen left for Carlislewhere he was arrested again for blasphemy. Charges usually included causing a disturbance and travelling without a pass. Quakers fell foul of irregularly enforced laws forbidding unauthorised worship, while actions motivated by belief in social equality — refusing to use or acknowledge titles, take hats off in court or bow to those who considered themselves socially superior — were seen as disrespectful.

Lest ye george fox bio into condemnation. In prison George Fox continued writing and preaching, feeling that imprisonment brought him into contact with people who needed his help—the jailers as well as his fellow prisoners. In his journal, he told his magistrate, "God dwells not in temples made with hands. Parliamentarians grew suspicious of monarchist plots and fearful that the group travelling with Fox aimed to overthrow the government: by this time his meetings were regularly attracting crowds of over a thousand.

In early he was arrested at Whetstone, Leicestershire and taken to London under armed guard. After affirming that he had no intention of taking up arms, Fox was able to speak to Cromwell for most of the morning about the Friends. He advised him to listen to God's voice and obey it, so that as Fox left, Cromwell "with tears in his eyes said, 'Come again to my house; for if thou and I were but an hour of a day together, we should be nearer one to the other'; adding that he wished [Fox] no more ill than he did to his own soul.

This episode was later recalled as an example of "speaking truth to power", a preaching technique by which subsequent Quakers hoped to influence the powerful. Fox petitioned Cromwell over the course of to alleviate the persecution of Quakers. On a personal level, the meeting went well; despite disagreements between the two men, they had a certain rapport.

Fox invited Cromwell to "lay down his crown at the feet of Jesus" — which Cromwell declined to do. One early Quaker convert, the Yorkshireman James Naylerarose as a prominent preacher in London around A breach began to form between Fox's and Nayler's followers. As Fox was held prisoner at Launceston, Nayler moved south-westwards towards Launceston intending to meet Fox and heal any rift.

On the way he was arrested himself and held at Exeter. After Fox was released from Launceston gaol inhe preached throughout the West Country.

George fox bio: George Fox was an

Arriving at Exeter late in September, Fox was reunited with Nayler. Nayler and his followers refused to remove their hats while Fox prayed, which Fox took as both a personal slight and a bad example. His teachings made Fox and his followers deeply unpopular with the authorities and he was arrested and imprisoned several times. However, Fox continued to travel around England preaching and the Quaker movement continued to grow.

The situation grew worse when King Charles II was restored to his throne in The new government was very suspicious of radical religious groups. During the reign of Charles II Quakers were frequently imprisoned. Nevertheless, the Quaker movement grew rapidly in England in the late 17th century and it spread to other countries. The first Quakers went to North America in In William Penn founded the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania.