Questions for George Fox

SOME QUESTIONS FOR GEORGE FOX ABOUT
HIS 1660 CATECHISM FOR CHILDREN

WHO IS THE LIGHT IN WHOM WE MUST BELIEVE?

• The First Principal of pure religion is that Christ the Light said, "I am the way who doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world, and no man cometh to the Father but by me, every man having a light from Christ the way, it leads to the Father."
• The true Light comes from God the Father; He is also the way to the Father of Light.
• The Light is not of the world but eternal.
• The Light comes from and gives knowledge of God.
• The Light lives within everyone, helps them, shows them what is right and wrong.
• The Light is the healer. He is concerned for all hurting, weary, sick, sinful humans.
• He is the binder up of the broken, restorer and seeker of the lost; he brings back those  who are driven away.
• He is the Mediator between God and man, reconciles us to God.

WHAT IS THE LIVING FAITH, THE LIVING HOPE?

• The Light Christ is the true and living faith.
• The Light, the Hope Christ, purifies us as God is pure.
• In this better hope, we live in unity.

WHO IS THE FATHER OF LIGHT?

• The Father of Jesus Christ. Mat 16.18 2 Thes. 1.1 Heb. 2
• The Light comes from the Father.
• The Light is the way to the Father.
• The Father who sees over the many ways in the world.
• The Father of Truth.
• The Father of Spirits.

 IS THE LIGHT NATURAL AND CREATED?

• No. The True Light, by whom the world was made, is eternal; the true Light was glorified with  the Father before the world began.

 WHO ARE THE FIRST ADAM AND THE SECOND ADAM?

  THE FIRST ADAM

• The First Adam was a man, concerned with earthly things. In the first Adam everyone sinned against God’s Law and Commandments, so they died..
• The First Adam was
• out of the Light.
• out of Truth.
• out of the way to the Father.

    THE SECOND ADAM

• is Christ the Light.
• bore the sins and iniquities of all mankind.
• was an offering for the sins of the whole world.
• is the quickening spirit who destroys death and its power.
• is the Glory who was with the Father before the World began.
• In Him all are made alive.

WHAT IS THE WORD AND WHAT ARE WORDS?

  THE WORD 

• Christ the Light’s name is "the Word of God."
• Christ, not the Bible, is the Word of God.
• The Light inspired the Scriptures and now helps us to understand them.
• We must grow up in and know the Word.

 [Note: In the pastoral letters Fox wrote that if there were no scripture, Christ is sufficient.

  
   WORDS

• Both the written word and the spoken word are spiritual weapons.

CAN THE LIGHT MAKE EVERYTHING NEW?

• Yes. The Light of Christ makes everything new – covenant, priesthood, temple, living way.

DO WE OWN THE LIGHT?

• We must own the Light. (Own means to confess, acknowledge, be aware of the Light.) This doesn’t mean that we possess the Light. We are obedient to Him, not He to us.

ARE WE ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LIGHT?

• Yes. We are active participants in our relationship with the Light.
• The Light brings us to God.
• We are to heed, pay attention, to the Light.
• We are to stand still in the Light.
• In the Light we can stand against spiritual wickedness in the whole world.
• We walk in the Light and have fellowship with the Father and the Son.
• We are to wait in the Light to inherit the promise of Christ and abide in Him.

MAY WE BE ACQUAINTED WITH GOD THE LIGHT?

• Yes. We turn our minds inward to God the Light and away from the distractions of the world to become acquainted with the Life and Power of God.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO SEE THE LIGHT?

• Believers are able to see Christ through the Light.
• We will see Christ the Hope of Glory.
• The Light also enables us to see the Kingdom of Heaven.
• In the Light, the Lord God is seen."
• The Light also helps us see the devil.

[Note: One of the characteristics of the devil is that he cannot see the Light.]

DOES THE LIGHT GIVE US KNOWLEDGE?

• The Light gives us knowledge of the Glory of God.
• The Light is the way to wisdom.

OF WHOM MUST WE LEARN?

• The Light is our Teacher.
• The Light is the Author of our Faith.

WHAT IS LIGHT; WHAT IS DARKNESS?

• Light is good; darkness is evil. Christ the Light is good; the devil is darkness and evil.
• Friends are Children of the Light, Children of the Day who must turn from darkness. The day is light and good; the night is dark and evil.

HOW MAY WE BECOME CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT?

• By believing in the Light.

WHAT ARE SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LIGHT?

• The Light
• is beautiful.
• was present before the world began.
• binds up the broken.
• blots out sin.
• breaks the bonds of iniquity.
• brings back that which was driven away.
• comes from the Father of Light.
• comprehends all ways.
• condemns sin.
• created all things.
• discovers all things and makes them readily seen and understood.
• enlightens everyone.
• is eternal, immortal.
• is the first step to peace.
• is from Christ Jesus.
• gives us Faith.
• justifies us to God.
• is the Kingdom of heaven.
• lets us see our sin and saves us from this sin.
• lets us see Christ, the way to the Father of Light, from whence light comes.
• is Life.
• lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
• is the Mediator between God and man.
• is not of the world.
• is not natural and created.
• is the only way to the Father.
• is peace.
• reconciles us to God.
• reigns.
• saves us from sin.
• seeks and restores the lost.
• is spiritual.
• is the True Light by whom the world was made.
• is the True Light who was glorified with the Father.
• is the True light who lighteth every man and woman. is the way, truth, and life.
• is wisdom which comes from above.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF GEORGE FOX’S AUTHORITY?
[Note: Fox believed that God had specially chosen and shaped him.]

• He told Friends on whose authority he acts.
• "I do warn you in the presence of the living God not to speak the things of God at random, or in a presumptuous mind."
• Fox’s authority comes from the "presence of the Living God" so he can charge and command Friends.
• He has the authority to judge and to understand the powers of darkness from the Power of God.
• "This is from the Word of God."
• Fox believed that he dwelt in the living God and had inspired knowledge of what God wanted him to do.
• "This is the counsel of the Lord to you."
• From God’s mouth to Fox’s ear to Friends. Fox is quite certain of his authority.

WHAT IS GEORGE FOX’S WORLD VIEW?

[Note: Fox has a consistent and orderly world view keeping the inner and outward life in harmony. He tried to bring order to both the inner spiritual life of Friends and their life in the world. The purity of a Friend’s inward life shows them how to live each day. This purity makes such good persons on the inside that it spills over in love and generosity to others. This kind of person cannot be involved in violence or war.
Spiritual values permeate all Fox’s; every aspect of life has a spiritual component. He states that truth is the only way to communicate with others. By having only one standard, he simplifies the complex. He doesn’t think that we can stand on the sidelines and leave getting to know and love God to some intermediary. We are active in our own redemption – walking, dwelling and living in Him who scatters the clouds and keeps our eyes clear.]

WHAT DOES FOX BELIEVE AS A UNIVERSALIST?

• Everyone, people everywhere, a company of people, citizens, every man and woman may know and worship God.
• God loves everyone.
• Christ the Light enlightens and saves every person in the world; He is also our intimate Friend.
• Christ died for everyone.

WHAT IS THE TRUE RELIGION?

• Fox’s central belief based on Romans 10:20 is that Christ Jesus saith, I am the way who doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world, and no man cometh to the Father but by me, ever man having a light from Christ the way, it leads to the Father. Fox believed that no one but himself held the true faith in its true form and had not done so since the time of the Apostles.
• He understood God’s holy Prophets and believed the Apostles’ words.
• He understood the Old Testament which prophesied Christ’s coming.
• He understood the New Testament which fulfilled the promise of this prophesy.

WHAT IS THE BASIC TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY?

• The basic truth of Christianity is that Christ enlightens everyone.

WHO ARE "TEACHERS, PROFESSORS AND CHRISTIANS"?

• Some teachers, professors and Christians did not believe in and worship Christ in the right way.
• Some teachers are made by the will of man.
• Some professors do not behave as Christ wants them too.
• Some professors do not believe that Christ enlightens everyone.
• Teachers and Professors
• made gods with their hands.
• destroy one another about their gods.
• go from the God within themselves.
• Professors, teachers and Christians
• are filled with pride.
• teach Christ but deny the Light.
• The true, real Teacher is Christ Jesus.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "PLEAD FOR SIN?"

• Some Christians, Professors and Teachers plead, that is, argue,
• no one will have a clear conscience while upon this earth.
• no one will be free from sin
• no one will be perfect while upon the earth.

[Note: Quoting Matthew 5:48 in letter 232, 1663 Fox wrote: Christ says, "Be perfect," and presents men and women perfect to God out of the Fall, up to Adam before he fell, and not only there, but up to himself that never fell, the royal Seed. And so Christ comes to be manifest in people’s hearts and the Son to be revealed, who casts out the strong man, which has kept the house and rules in the hearts of Adam and Eve’s sons and daughters in disobedience. And so Christ, the second Adam, must rule in people’s hearts in the obedience, as he does in all that have Power and enjoy Life.

"This is wickedness and impudency to say Christ scorned men when he bade them be perfect. This is anti-christ and the devil's doctrine, to say that Christ did command that which men could not come to; for neither Christ nor God commanded any thing, but what should be attained unto; and it will be attained unto, and hath been attained unto. Christ said, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. And so he did speak that which he knew people should come into, if ever they came into the kingdom of God. What is this to thee who cannot love enemies? for they that love enemies, shall know perfection, and perfect love and patience have their perfect work Jas. 1.4."]

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY SECTS?

• Men and women started to believe in many sects when they lost the Image of God and began to sin.
• Individuals, who put forward various sects, are not true ministers and have no unity with God.
• Many sects are authorized by the devil.

WHAT AILS THE WORLD?

• People
• are not in the Kingdom of God.
• are out of the image of the Creator.
• behave in an evil way.
• live in the power of darkness, not in the power of the Light.
• set up strange gods, come to trust graven images.
• follow inventions and imaginations which are just the creation of man.
• Neither God nor Christ are the author of this confusion, but the devil.

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD?

• The people of the world are those who
• set up strange gods.
• live in the power of darkness and sin.
• are out of the image of the Creator.
• The Devil went out of the Truth and led the people of the world out of it. He ruled in the hearts of some men and women.

[Note: If a Quaker is not behaving properly, he or she may be asked, "Has thee joined the world’s people?"]

WHO ARE WILL– WORSHIPERS?

• Will-worshipers are those who worship their own wills and quench the Spirit of God in themselves. They also worship the world and "stand not in the Spirit but in their wills."

[Note: Self may mean an individual’s essential being that distinguishes him or her from others. However, Fox uses the word in the sense of being self-centered, preoccupied with oneself and one’s affairs. Self-absorbed persons don’t follow Christ, don’t own the Light.]

HOW CAN ALL THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD BE HEALED?

• Everyone must answer and witness to the God and the good within everyone. In this way we can understand others and get along with them.
• Everyone must see the good in themselves and in others.
• Everyone must know and believe in the Light. Everyone is created in God’s Image so we may live peaceful and constructive lives.
• God’s Kingdom on earth is a peaceful and joyful one. He shows us how to answer the God in others, that which is good in them.

WHY?

• Why are there so many sects?
• Why do men (women too) kill one another over the way they worship?
• Why do men (women too) err in knowledge and wisdom?
• Why do people act in such a terrible way?
• Fox gives the same answers to all these questions.
• People do not believe in Christ the Light who enlightened them.
• They are all out of the Image of God, out of the True Church.
• They do not obey Christ’s command to love their enemies.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE?

[Note: The biblical underpinning for this belief is Genesis 1: 27: So God created man in His own Image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. This means that we can be like God, pure, holy, perfect and righteous. These are moral characteristics. What Fox seems to be saying is that we can be like God in that we can live good moral lives.
Even though he is quoting Second Corinthians 3:18 in Letter 410: "with open face, behold as in a glass, the Glory of the Lord, and be changed into the same Image, from Glory to Glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord," Fox seems to be describing a particularly vivid and wonderful personal experience.
Of course, Fox believes that both men and women are created in the Image of God. The Truth makes one free from all sin and brings man and woman into the Image of God. In marriage men and women are restored and sanctified in the image of God. The couple are help-meets in righteousness in the image of God. Everyone is to be a new man or woman, renewed in the Image of God.
An image is a copy, not the real thing. For we certainly are not God; God is radically different from us. However, we are in God's Image in that we know right from wrong, good from evil. God is Love. One way in which we are in the Image of God is that we can love Him in return.
Part of being in the Image of God is that we share in the day-to-day process of creation, have children, do a job well, write a story, have a garden. We have a responsibility for the environment, are kings and queens over creation and all creatures.
We can lose or fall from the Image of God, if we turn away from His pure spirit. But if we dwell in the Light and wait upon God, He will renew His Image. Then we can be made like God, created anew in His Image, pure, holy, perfect and righteous. Sinners may be healed if we dwell in the Light and wait upon God for He can renew His Image. Christ Jesus restores faithful men and women into the Image of God and makes them as kings and priests to reign upon the earth. Everyone may be renewed into the Image of God by the Seed Christ. For He redeems man and woman up into the image of God as we were before we fell.
We are not only created in the Image of God but also "bear" the image of the Just Christ who suffered by the unjust. It would seem to follow that we can be just, too. In 1656 Fox writes in letter 110 to Friends in prison to be examples, patterns to the other prisoners in the Image of the Son of God. In Christ it becomes clear what being in the Image of God means.
Being created in the Image of God means that we are truly human. It means that we are of value because God lives within us. Our decisions are not completely selfish and self-serving but do consider other people’s wants and needs. We can live a full life and use the gifts that God has given us.
To have a complete life "Friends should know the Power and Life of Christ’s resurrection, have fellowship with Him in His death so that we will be comfortable to His Image."]

WHAT IS THE TRUE CHURCH?

• It is the "pillar and ground" that is, the solid support and foundation "of the Truth" with Christ Jesus as its Head, the Rock upon which it is built. Everyone who is turned to the Light is turned to the Church which is in God the Father. Mat 16.18 2 Thes. 1.1 Heb. 2
• The Church is in God. It is not
• a great house.
• an invention or a creation of something in the mind of man.
• a company of people who are full of pride.
• The world’s soldiers claim that they are the church and its ministers. But they do not worship God, are not the soldiers of Christ the Prince of Peace.

WHAT IS THE TRUE CROSS?

• The true Cross of Christ is the Power of God.
• The true Cross is not
• a creation of someone’s mind.
• an imagined thing.
• made of wood or stone or any other thing that is visible.
• on top of a building.
• on a flag.

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

• The Gospel is Christ, the everlasting power of God.
• The Gospel is not Matthew, Mark and Luke.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE PURE?

[Note: Purity is more than just everyday goodness.

• all that is virtuous.
• innocence, untouched by evil.

Chaste is a synonym for pure. It means purity in conduct and intention. Holiness is also a synonym for purity. If something is pure, it's not contaminated in any way.
The basic underlying precept of all of George Fox’s beliefs and the one that makes them work is purity. Purity is absolutely essential to being a Friend:

• to know God.
• to follow our conscience.
• to live a good life.
• to get into heaven.
• to have faith.
• to look to that which is pure in ourselves to lead us to God.
• to look for that which is pure in others and watch over them in love.
• God is Pure, Holy, Perfect, Righteous.
• The Light leads us to purity and holiness
• Christ purifies us as He is pure.
• Pure and undefiled religion is free from any contamination.
• We should
• dwell in purity.
• grow up in that which is pure,
• mind that which is pure which will guide us to God.
• wait in, stand still, in the pure life of God.
• live in purity.
• obey, pay attention to, and be guided by that which is pure in us.
• As we are created in the Image of God, we can be made pure like Him.
• Purity will guide us into immortal life.

A Benediction and an admonition: All Friends, dwell in that which is pure and wait for the Power of God to preserve you in that which is pure.]

HOW MAY WE STAY OUT OF TROUBLE?

• Believe in the Light and have our deeds made in God.

HOW CAN WE LIVE A MORAL LIFE?

• We can live a moral life because the Light
• admonishes us.
• condemns us.
• teaches us to give up our sins.
• saves us from sin.

WHAT IS IT TO LOVE MY NEIGHBOR AS MYSELF?

• We love our neighbor because he or she is enlightened with the same Light as we are.

ARE WE EVER JUSTIFIED IN LYING?

• No. We can’t lie to bring ourselves gain, or for any other reason, because this is what the devil does.

[Note: Christ said "Swear not at all." So if Friends would not swear, they had to always tell the truth or they would never be believed. They refused to take an oath because this created a double standard and they must always tell the truth.]

MAY WE GO INTO TAVERNS TO DRINK?

• No. Unless the individual is going among these drinker to reprove them. Fox is very hard on drunks for they are out of the Light.

WHO IS THE ANTI-CHRIST?

• An anti-Christ
• is a false prophet, the beast and the well favored harlot.
• does not confess the Light
• is a deceiver who hates the Light.
• goes from the Light so is against Him in others.
• acts contrary to the Light, is turned from Him.
• opposes the Light, calls Him a natural conscience, a natural light.
• hates the Light.
• The Light understands the anti-christ and condemns him.

WHO IS THE DEVIL?

• The devil is the prince of the air and of darkness who
• denies the Light.
• does not abide in the Truth.
• seduces and deceives.
• lost his Dominion over all the creatures.
• went out of the Truth and led others out of the Truth. John 8.44.
• is full of darkness

[Note: An anti-christ is an evil person; the devil is an evil fallen angel or a supernatural being. But Fox is not consistent in his usage of the terms and the context will have to provide the proper identification.]

WHAT IS SIN?

• It is a sin to enter into temptation.
• It is not a sin to be tempted.

WHENCE COMES ALL WARS AND FIGHTINGS?

• The origins of outward war are human sin:
• lust
• pride
• ambition
• disobedience.
• The great act of betrayal which led to war occurs when men and women go from the Light within.
• The devil is also a major cause of war.

WHAT IS THE WAY OF PEACE?

• Christ the Light is the first step of peace, the way of Peace. Fox names Christ the Light the Prince of Peace and Life.

ARE WE TO LOVE OUR ENEMIES?

• Yes. Christ the Light says that we are to love our enemies and overcome evil with good.
• Christ’s weapons are spiritual:
• armor of God
• feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel
• a helmet of Salvation.
• Other spiritual weapons are
• kindness
• love
• truth
• persuasion
• propaganda
• non-resistance
• Then two which are spiritual but confrontational: rebuking powerful individuals and fearless preaching.

[Note: Fox did not want Friends to be involved in war; he did not want there to be any strife among them. However, he had practical advice for Friends on confronting their persecutors and presenting their case in court. They should keep a record of all their sufferings and the names of their persecutors. When they are served with writs – for example not paying tithes – they should take copies of them when they go to court. Those who are beaten or wounded on the way to Meeting, those who are beaten in Meeting or those who are taken out of Meeting should make records of this and have them witnessed by two or three who saw the events take place. These documents should be either taken to court or sent to the king. In this way, the persecuted can keep a-top of those who wish them evil.]

ARE WE SOLDIERS OF THE LIGHT?

• Yes. We are soldiers of the Prince of Joy and Peace, soldiers of the Light who stand against spiritual wickedness, sects, and opinions.
• There are also soldiers of the prince of darkness who destroys God’s workmanship. The Devil’s soldiers fight with God’s Creatures. They make houses of correction where God’s Creatures are imprisoned.

WHAT ARE HOUSES OF CORRECTION?

• Houses of correction are prisons where early Friends were confined
• for not swearing allegiance to the king.
• for not paying to maintain Anglican priests.
• for holding Quaker Meetings.
• Fox believes that the secular authorities imprisoned Quakers for the way they worshiped God.

DO WE LIVE IN A COVENANT OF LIGHT AND PEACE?

• Yes. Christ, the Covenant of Light, is
• an everlasting covenant.
• a covenant of promise.
• the new covenant.
• Everyone must become acquainted with the Covenant of promise and the Covenant of God through which men have peace. The Light Christ, the Prince of Peace, reigns as ruler of the universe, is the answer to all human ills.

[Note: Canby Jones in his book, George Fox’s Attitude Toward War, summarizes Fox’s attitude toward war.
1) Fox believed that wars originated among Christians when they acted as traitors to Jesus Christ.
Friends should not fight in an outward war with material weapons instead they should fight in an inner spiritual war – the Lamb’s war – with spiritual weapons. An idea unique to Fox and the early Friends, the Lamb's war means the sovereign rule of Christ the king over all nations, all people, and throughout all history. It is also a program of social and religious revolution in the name and through the power of Jesus Christ.
The Lamb makes war in righteousness, and He will subdue all things to Himself. He has the right to rule. Friends need not fear the devil with his Beast’s Horns and Heels for the Lamb will be victorious over the Wild Beasts. As always for Fox, Christ is the answer. "Dear friends and brethren in the world" he wrote "should be of good cheer for the Lamb, Christ, has overcome the world." In Him we will overcome the devil and his works. Without Him we can do nothing, but through His power and strength, we will be able to do all things.
Friends must only fight in the Lamb’s War, a heavenly war, an inner spiritual war with spiritual weapons. Fox demands great allegiance and implicit obedience from Friends about this. He advises us to follow the Lamb, must follow Christ the King who reigns over all principalities and powers. (Principalities and powers are angelic beings, often evil ones.)
2) Fox lived in the Life and Power that Takes Away the Occasion of all wars.
This "Life and Power" is the Lamb, Christ the Royal Seed.
Fox’s job was to be a reconciler, valiant for truth and a fighter in an inward war. He called men to a spiritual struggle which was "the moral equivalent of war." He called them to be valiant for God's truth upon the earth, and only fear Him, who can break their fetters, their jails, and their bonds in sunder.
3) Covenant of peace
Fox believed that Friends are called to a covenant of peace to use only spiritual weapons. He relies on them because they are the only legitimate ones for the use of a Christian warrior. The source of these weapons is God to whom all men and women owe obedience:
our shield is our faith, by which we have victory over all that which separates from God
our sword is the word of God
our baptism is that of the spirit
our swords are beaten into ploughshares
our armor and weapons those of the spirit
The purpose of the inward war fought with inward weapons is to bring the truth and blessing of God to all people.
4) The Royal Law
The Royal Law, Christ's command to love our enemies, is not only a test of obedience but a requirement for membership in His Kingdom. Christ said love your enemies, not kill or persecute one another. Those individuals who do not love their enemies are not true Christians, neither are they that fight and kill and destroy one another in the Kingdom. The Royal Law means that we accepts suffering as God's gift. Blessing and praying for those who persecute us is part of the covenant of peace. One of the important signs that Friends have obeyed the royal law is their willingness to accept suffering and persecution, loving the oppressor, praying for him.
5.) Christ the King, sovereign ruler of the universe
Christ the King, sovereign ruler of the universe, is the answer to all human ills. He has
authority, jurisdiction and power over all men. Everyone owes Him allegiance. Fox’s belief in the universal kingship of Christ is the keystone of his faith and also of his attitude toward war. Christ begins his rule in the hearts of his saints, and through them he will reign over all the world. Christ, as King, will judge all nations, send the wicked to eternal torment, bring immediate joy, and deliver the righteous to his kingdom. The Lamb will be victorious.]

WHY IS GEORGE FOX A RELIGIOUS GENIUS, NOT A RELIGIOUS CRANK?

• He was an orthodox Christian.
• His faith is anchored in the Bible.
• He is a genuine mystic, who has a passionate love for God and Christ, and a rare insight into Their natures.
• He believed that he was specially chosen and loved by God but he also believed that everyone else was too.
• He was consistent and never took the easy path.
• He knew that there was terrible evil in the world. He didn’t ask Friends to endue evil and hardship unnecessarily but did everything that he could to protect Friends. He showed them how they could confront their persecutors
• He had real clarity on what is right and wrong; he never asked anything of his followers that he is not willing to do himself.
• He understood that everyone could make the choice between goodness and light or evil and darkness.
• He is a genuine egalitarian; he believed that everyone should have the chance to use their God given talents.
• He is a good and generous man who liked people; he wanted them to lead lives of peace and prosperity.
• He was a kind man who was concerned for widows and orphans.