Friday, July 19, 2024

It is the 19th of July 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

A shout out for today's show goes to Rob Felton, the chief of staff at George Fox University, for putting on our radar the very momentous occasion of the 400th anniversary of George Fox's birth. I’m going to take it from Rob that the 19th will be the day we remember—he himself wrote that he was born sometime in July 1624 near Leicestershire in central England.

George Fox University is a hub for Quakers in America and a fine school in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon. It has some old relationship to Herbert Hoover. It is the alma mater of the real Coach Carter (from the film) and the current home of student Madelyn Clelland, who plays a mean trumpet—mariachi or in worship.

The Quakers, officially Friends, are some 400,000 strong today with roughly four distinct branches- more on those is a second, because today we remember the man, the legend, the only reformer I know with a folk diddy written about him- seriously:

Walk in the Light,
wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and
my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the
Light, said Fox.

“Will you swear on the Bible?”
I will not,” said he,
“For the truth is as holy
as the Book to me.”

 

George Fox, born on this day 400 years ago, showed an aptitude for religious thought as a young boy. Some in his family thought he was destined for the church (his family were strict Puritans). Instead, he was apprenticed to a cobbler and worked there until he was 18 when he took off on what was like a journey of self-exploration.

He was looking for “openings” from the Lord or “religious enlightenment”. He considered himself a Christian, but whenever he sought out the advice of clergy, he was left disappointed with others their manner of life or doctrine.

He ultimately had an experience in which he came to understand Christ—the suffering Christ for him and in him—and found what he believed to be a true grounding of religious thought.

He began to preach in the 1640s in England, which was amongst the most tumultuous in English history. He found attention with other groups of so-called “seekers,” “ranters,” “levelers,” etc. He would be arrested for various offenses. The main fear of the crown (and then commonwealth) was that he could foment dissent amongst the lower classes.

His followers would be, officially, the “Society of Friends” thought they would be called “Quakers”- it seems that was a general term for a fanatic but came to designate these particular Christians after their term was used mockingly by a magistrate (or in some versions, to a magistrate).

His distinctive was his belief in an “inner light” of Christ that can enlighten apart from a church, a hierarchy, or mere words. At its extreme, this could lead to a spirituality detached from traditional Christianity and the Christ of the Bible, and certainly, it could encourage a distrust of tradition and creeds or “statements” of faith.

Fox would be tireless in his traveling to these new “Quakers” or Friends churches spread abroad from England into Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and into the New World. The body, lacking a central text or easily definable central tenet, would lead to splintering (Roger Williams, the famous colonist known for his dissension and banishment, was in a group splintered from Fox’s).

Back home, Fox himself found unlikely favor with magistrates in part because of his particular adherence to principles of non-violence. This assured those in power that the Quakers were not a threat like the other radicals and millenarians who sought to overthrow the regime.

Fox was a large man; if the portraits are anywhere close to representing him (there is debate), he had dark, deep eyes and long curly hair- certainly standing out (those the “shaggy shaggy locks” of the song). He married- a widow, Margaret Fell, and the two worked tirelessly for the cause- George saw religious toleration with the Restoration and then, just before his death, the Glorious Revolution. He died in 1691; born on this day 400 years ago, George Fox was 66 years old.

Today, his legacy lives in four major branches—a general “liberal” “conservative divide” and then a “programmed or unprogrammed” divide. The “un-programmed” divide is characterized by silence and lack of formal structure, with participants speaking freely as led by the Spirit.

Give a high five to your local Quaker- it’s George Fox’s 400th birthday.

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary, and it is Psalm 23- let’s hear it- a straightforward NIV- try to listen anew, perhaps.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,
    he refreshes my soul.


He guides me along the right paths

    for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk

    through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

    for you are with me;


your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies.


You anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me

    all the days of my life,


and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 19th of July 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by our own man in leather breeches with shaggy locks- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who spent time tracking down a story about George Fox eating dolphins… he may have… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.