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The Quakers were founded by a man named George Fox in 1647. This movement, first called the Society of Friends, broke from the “Puritan” movement within the Church of England and coincided with the “Dissenters” movement of England. George Fox abandoned the idea of the sufficiency of Scripture-alone in favour of inner voices and feelings to discern the voice and presence of God.
Fox’s views on “hearing from God” and the “inner voice” would set him apart as one of the earliest mystics to emerge from within Protestantism. In 1647 Fox experienced an extra-biblical revelation whereby he determined that all authority everywhere was corrupt and therefore we must all trust in the “inner light” of our personal inspiration to hear from God. This “internal light” source for revelation would defy the Scriptural principle of Proverbs which declares that “There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death” (Prov 14:12) and Psalm 119 – How can a man keep his way pure? By taking heed according to Your Word”.
Fox had this renewal after isolation for several years in his teens (like the Apostle Paul he says) and “listening to God” within himself and then at 22 years of age became a minister that preached a personal relationship with God outside of “organized religious structure” and/or the Bible.
This became a cautionary tale which defied the warning of the Apostle Paul who exhorted Christian leaders not to be hasty in the laying on of hands, do not allow a novice to lead lest he become puffed up (filled with pride) and fall into the error as satan. Fox’s declaration to rely on “personal relation” and declaring “religious structure” i.e. church authority as something evil, is one of the earliest forms of anti-Biblical anti-intellectual mysticism in a similar manner to Roman Catholic Francis of Assisi’s anti-establishment mysticism 400+ years earlier.
Fox’s followers were originally known as “Friends of the Truth” but then as “Quakers” which was a name coined by a political official whom Fox sternly warned to “tremble in the fear of God” thus the name “Quaker” became the derisive term which stuck. This name would be further reinforced by an experience In 1648 when Fox preached and his house was “shaken” thereafter experiencing so-called spiritual manifestations of healings and the miraculous. Also, his followers were said to “quake” at his preaching. The Quakers emphasized plain dress, pacifism, opposition to alcohol and prefer the name Friends or Society of Friends.
By 1650 Fox started receiving numerous extra-Biblical “prophetic” directives and in 1661 he wrote the “Peace Testimony” which admonished his Quaker following to adhere to pacifism and nonviolence under all
circumstances. Whereas this doctrine of pacifism wasn’t necessarily carried on by the Holiness and Pentecostalism movements he inspired, those movement would embrace another position that Fox introduced: namely that anyone, including women, could speak at Quaker meetings. This was not allowed according to Roman Catholic ecclesiology nor by Bible-believing Protestant Christians of the day as it violates the Biblical mandate which states that unbelievers or purveyors of heresy were not to be invited into your house (churches were in homes in that day) nor given a platform to speak (2 John 1:10).
Because of their unbiblical mysticism, they met with tremendous persecution by the Puritans and the Church of England which eventually forced a great number of them to immigrate to the New World in 1656. Primarily they settled in Pennsylvania, wherein Sir William Penn declared the colony to be a “safe haven” for Quakers. But since the Puritans preceded the Quakers in coming over to the “New World”, the Puritans again became active persecutors of this group of mystics.
This “looking within” at one’s “inner light” teaching of George Fox would later become the bedrock paradigm for all Holiness, Pentecostal, and Charismatic movements in the 3 centuries that followed. The 19th century “Higher Life” apostates, Robert & Hannah Whitehall Smith came directly from this movement and would be a strong influence on the Pentecostal movement which emerged a few decades later.
Fox’s doctrine of permitting women to teach and have authority over men in church (or even to serve as pastors) is a clear departure from 1 Timothy 2:12 which forbids such a practice as dictated to the Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit. This doctrine would eventually find its way into the Holiness Movement and is now a staple doctrine of Pentecostal and
Charismatic churches and denominations. Trail blazers for the George Fox heresy were 19th century Phoebe Palmer and Hannah Whitall Smith of the Holiness and Higher life movements and Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman of the 20th century Pentecostal/Charismatic movements. They were early forerunners to modern-day Pentecostals and Charismatics.
From that time until today, this error of placing manifestations of the miraculous as the highest authority of truth, even over Scripture, has plagued the church with heretical cultic movements left and right like the Charismatic movement with John Wimber and John Arnot, the false healings of Benny Hinn, the Ponzi scheme deception of Kenneth Copeland, and the false signs and wonders of Bill Johnson, Kris Vallaton, Bethel Church, and Jesus Culture, to name a few. Just like these mindless followers of our modern day false prophets and teachers, the Quakers followed Fox’s teachings blindly without question, mostly because those who trusted in the Bible as sufficient were villified by these early mystics.
This group founded many successful organisations such as Barclays, Lloyds, Clarks and Cadbury chocolate. Most participate in “programmed” worship – planned itinerary; while about 10% participate in “waiting” worship – unplanned interactive worship.
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