George Fox's Works
In 1831, defending themselves against charges that they had strayed from Quakerism, Hicksite publishers assembled and printed an 8-volume collection of The Works of George Fox. That collection was reprinted in 1975 by AMS for libraries, and again in 1990 for the George Fox Fund and the New Foundation Fellowship. Its contents are also available through Earlham School of Religion's Digital Quaker Collection.
(The easiest way for me to navigate through Fox's works in the DQC and elsewhere is through the Quaker Heritage Press's catalog entry for Fox.)
The eight volumes break down as follows:
Volumes I-II are George Fox's Journal, in the version edited by Thomas Ellwood, including the preface by William Penn.
Volume III, a book responding to a vast number of critics of Quakerism, is usually referred to as The Great Mystery, but the full title and explanation is The Great Mystery of the Great Whore Unfolded; and Antichrist's Kingdom Revealed Unto Destruction, with another two paragraphs of similarly contentious description on the title page. Fox definitely expressed his opinions strongly!
Volumes IV-VI are the "Doctrinal Books", containing a wide variety of publications Fox wrote. It lacks a Table of Contents, but the catalog entry for Fox breaks out individual titles of pieces included here.
Volumes VII-VIII are Epistles of George Fox, letters organized chronologically. It's a wonderful volume to open to random pages and read for inspiration, though I'm also trying to read it in sequence.
The collection isn't quite complete, as, for example, A New England Fire-brand Quenched isn't in it. (I've tracked that down on microfilm.) Still it's a vast set of George Fox's writings that goes well beyond the Journal, and which provides endless material for contemplation.
What Fox understood:
LIVING WATER AND RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD THROUGH FAITH
In Mt 6:31-33, Jesus Christ commanded everyone to seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness. Paul repeatedly expounded this command, most clearly in Ro 1:16-21, when he perfectly summarized his epistle to the Romans. A careful study of the words "righteous" and "righteousness" in the entire Holy Bible should reveal the perfect righteousness of God and His Word, God’s righteous requirements for mankind, God’s gift of righteousness and God’s righteous judgment against the unrighteous. Under the New Covenant, God’s gift of righteousness is available to everyone who believes that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, has perfectly fulfilled all of the Old Testament Law, including "all righteousness" at His water baptism in the Jordan River, Mt 3; Ro 1-3; Gal 2:15-4:31.
When John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ, the Old Testament Law was still in effect, Mt 5:17-20; Mt 11:1-15; Mt 23; Lk 1:17; Lk 16:15-17; Ro 10:3-4. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance but Jesus Christ had no sin, He had nothing to repent of, Mt 3. Jesus Christ did not need John’s baptism for Himself and it was not an example for anyone under the New Covenant. Jesus Christ’s symbolic example for true Christians is found in Jn 13. Anyone, who continues with the physical “ceremonial washings� from the Old Testament Law, must keep the entire Old Covenant Law of Sin and Death for rejecting redemption through Jesus Christ, Lk 9-12; Ro 9-11; Gal 1-6; Heb 9.
God’s Kingdom of Heaven is spiritual; it is within true believers, Mt 4; Lk 17:20-37; Jn 18:28-37. Six times, in the Gospels and in Acts, we read: John baptized with physical water but Jesus Christ will baptize with God's Holy Spirit, Mt 3; Mk 1:1-15; Lk 3:1-22; Jn 1:1-34; Ac 1:1-8; Ac 11:1-18. God, the Father, is Spirit and He seeks worshipers who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, Mt 10:19-20; Jn 4:4-26. Unbelievers will never receive God’s saving Breath of Eternal Life through His Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, Isa 11-12; Jn 6:62-63; Jn 20:19-23; 1Th 5:12-24; 2Ti 3:16-17.
Abraham, God’s friend, is referenced throughout the New Testament, Jas 2. Read Ro 4 for a detailed example. Believers, who have “the faith of Abraham,� become the “offspring� of Abraham. Like Abraham, true Christians will be credited with righteousness from God when they simply believe God's Word. After Abraham was credited with righteousness from God, he received the sign of physical circumcision that symbolized the spiritual circumcisions of the New Covenant Law of the Spirit of Life, Ro 1-8; Ro 12. Was Abraham ever baptized with physical water?
Where did Jesus Christ teach about spiritual circumcisions? He did but unbelievers, who remain under the Law of Sin and Death, will not be allowed to fully understand the Law of the Spirit of Life, God’s Grace and Truth or the New Testament baptism Scriptures, Mt 13; Jn 1:1-18; Ro 8:1-17; 1Pe 2:1-8. Unbelievers will remain spiritually blind, Jn 8-10. They have called God a liar by rejecting the testimony God has given about His Son—the Source of Living Water for all who believe in His Name, Jer 2:11-13; Jer 17:5-13; Jn 1-7; Ac 1-5; Jn 11-17; 1Jn 5:1-13; Rev 19:13.
In Jn 7:37, Jesus Christ called everyone who thirsts for His righteousness to go to Him and drink His Words of Living Water, Mt 5:1-12; Jn 2:1-11; Jn 3:1-21; Jn 6:16-69; Eph 5:22-33; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23. Paul expounded this Teaching every time he taught about God’s one and only Holy Spirit baptism, Ro 1-8; 1Co 1-3; 1Co 12; Gal 1-6; Eph 1-6; Col 1-4; etc. True Christians have been baptized by God’s One Spirit and are given His One Spirit to drink, 1Co 12:12-13. Who drinks their physical water baptism? “One baptism� in Eph 4:4-7 always means one, not two!
True Christians, who believe, repent and obey Jesus Christ, will have the One Spirit of God flow through them as Streams of Living Water, Jn 7:38-39; 2Co 3-5. Only true believers, “born of God,� can become Good Samaritans who pour God’s “Oil� and God’s “Wine� on wounded sinners, Lk 10:25-37; Php 2:12-18; 1Jn 1-5. But God’s “Oil� and God’s “Wine� will not be given to anyone who denies the righteousness of His Son, Isa 1-5; 2Co 11:1-15; 1Jn 2:29.
Read 2Pe 1-3. Who “has given us everything we need� for eternal Life through His Divine Power, His Glory and His Goodness? Why? Who are the “springs without Water�? What “Water� don’t they have? What does the “vomit� symbolize? What “water� do the “dogs� use to wash their “sows�? What does the “mud� symbolize? What did Peter call false Christians who distort the Scriptures? What is going to happen to the false teachers and their followers? How many people survived the Great Flood? How many people safely escaped from Sodom and Gomorrah?
Read all of the Psalms, the Proverbs, the Prophets and the entire New Testament. The world’s religions, including all of the so-called churches and their related institutions, are false exactly as God’s prophecies warned they would be in these Last Days, Ps 1-12; Ps 110; Isa 28; Jer 23; Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21; 1Ti 4; Jude; Rev 1-22. Multitudes have allowed themselves to be deceived but God’s Gospel Truth remains infinitely more powerful than any lie and any number of liars. Pr 10:11: “The mouth of the righteous is a Fountain of Life but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.� Pr 10:29: “The Way of the LORD is a refuge for the righteous but it is the ruin of those who do evil.�
Serving my Lord, the Righteous Holy One, for the Glory of God the Father,
anne robare / canawedding at aol dot com / 972-612-6080 / Scripture quotes are from the NIV, not the TNIV.
PS. Ask for more free Biblical proof. There is much more detailed proof that no one will ever prove wrong, Lk 21:15.
do you have a good salvation message from george fox?