George Fox

Life

Fox was born in July 1624 in Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire, in the English Midlands, the son of a weaver. He grew up in a village with a strong Puritan character (the Puritans being Protestants who sought a more thorough reformation of the Church of England). As a young man he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. Around 1643 he left home and wandered from region to region in search of answers to his spiritual questions, and in 1647 he began to preach publicly.

At his trial in Derby in 1650, he reportedly told the judge to tremble at the word of the Lord. According to tradition, the judge then mocked him and his followers as "tremblers," or "Quakers," and the name stuck. In 1652, on Pendle Hill in Lancashire, he is said to have had a vision of "a great people to be gathered." He then preached to about a thousand people at Firbank Fell, and Quakers generally regard that year as the founding year of the Society of Friends. That same year Swarthmoor Hall, the home of Margaret Fell, became the center of the movement.

Fox refused to swear any oath and violated the Conventicle Act of 1664, which prohibited religious gatherings outside the Church of England. As a result, he was imprisoned many times, often for long periods. In 1669, in Bristol, he married the widowed Margaret Fell. He died in London on January 13, 1691.

Ministry and Achievements

Fox preached that people could be taught directly by Christ without the mediation of clergy or institutions. Underlying this teaching was the idea of the "Inner Light," the belief that God illuminates each person from within. Accordingly, Quaker worship came to take the form of gathering in shared silence, without a fixed order of service or an appointed preacher, with anyone who felt moved rising to speak. He also stressed principles of conduct such as refusing to swear oaths and refusing to take part in war. His refusal of an offer of a commission in Oliver Cromwell's army is often cited as the starting point of Quaker pacifism.

Organizationally, he traveled throughout England and Ireland establishing men's and women's monthly and quarterly meetings at the local and county levels. Through these meetings he bound scattered gatherings together into a single network.

Influence on the Korean Church

In Korea, Quakers have maintained small meetings under the name "Religious Society of Friends." The best-known Korean Quaker is Ham Sok-hon. Together with Kim Kyo-shin and others, he took part in the Non-Church Movement (a movement that practiced the Christian life through Bible study groups rather than institutional churches). He reportedly decided to become a Quaker around 1962, while staying at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study community in the United States. In 1979 and 1985, an American Quaker service organization nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. His thought on nonviolence influenced people both inside and outside the church during the democratization movement. However, Quakers differ greatly from the major Korean denominations and traditions in worship, sacraments, and church order. For this reason, Korean churches generally present Fox as a figure in church history or as a root of the pacifist tradition.

Assessment

Supporters regard Fox as an early advocate of religious liberty, freedom of conscience, and pacifism. They also commend him for establishing separate women's meetings and giving women active roles. Reformed and evangelical critics, on the other hand, argue that Fox placed the Inner Light above the Bible and the creeds, thereby relativizing the authority of Scripture. They also consider Quakers far removed from mainstream Protestant tradition because they do not practice water baptism or the Lord's Supper. Quakers respond that they honor Scripture while placing great importance on the guidance of the same Holy Spirit who gave Scripture. Regarding the sacraments, they answer that these are not outward rituals but inward spiritual realities.