Journal of George Fox Book

I read this book because it came up on the random search on Gutenberg.org and because my mother, although she is a Lutheran, is very interested in Quakerism and has attended a few Quaker services.

It was more interesting than I anticipated. George Fox sounds pretty crazy, but you have to provide a lot of allowance for the difference in the times. As I was reading this book I am also reading "The Witches: Salem, 1692" by Stacy Schiff, which discuss Puritan religion in America at around the same time that George Fox was preaching. Overall, it seems like a very difficult time to be alive in the Western world. Religious debates were contentious and deadly. For a non-religious person, his views on swearing and grammar seem like quibbling. However, it can't be denied that he suffered very badly for his opinions.

Through this text I learned about the origins of the Quaker religion and I learned about the religious persecution that encouraged the Quakers to migrate to the New World. The report is highly biased and it's hard to get a picture of what was really occurring from Fox's description. People are either on his side or going to hell in a hand basket. There seems to be little room for discussion or nuance. It would probably be more instructive to approach this topic first through a more modern history of the Quaker religion, and then read George Fox's work.

One interesting aspect of the book is the light in which it shows the UK system of justice. It seems pretty hazard at that time. Most places that Fox visits attempt to expel or imprison him for essentially vagrancy and disturbing the peace. He describes the artful arguments he uses to combat these charges and also often turns the priests, soldiers and constables against each other. It seems a little silly to me to continue to refuse to take off your hat in the face of stoning, imprisonment and death threats, but Fox was taking a stand. Considering that he was helping to found a world religion that is still practiced hundreds of years later, he must have been onto something.