George Fox: A Christian Mystic Hugh McGregor Ross First edition. Cathair na Mart: Evertype, 2008. ISBN 978-1-904808-17-6. Price: €13.95, £9.95, $16.95. If you are in the U.K. or Ireland, order the book from Amazon.co.uk! If you are in North America, order the book from Amazon.com or from Amazon.ca!

George Fox: A Christian Mystic

A mystic is one who has had the experience that the divine Ultimate and the essence of the individual Self are fundamentally one and the same.

In his maturity George Fox dictated a vivid account of his profound mystical experience, which transformed him from an unhappy questing youth into a charismatic spiritual giant.

Unlike some other mystics he resolved to share his experience with others. This became his life’s work, and resulted in establishing the community known today as the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. He did this by travelling widely, addressing crowds, and by an amazing output of documents.

Hugh McGregor Ross made an intensive study of these documents in the majestic Quaker Library in London. He there identified that Fox’s record of his spiritual awakening, which involved what in the seventeenth century was regarded as a blasphemy, had been tampered with. Here it is restored to its original form.

It is followed by a great number of the documents Fox created to guide and support his followers, all given in his own words but edited sensitively for the modern reader.

This is a unique record of the awakening of a mystic in the Christian tradition, and of living out that experience in his way of life.

About the author

Hugh McGregor Ross was born in 1917 of a Quaker family through which he can be regarded as a step-son of George Fox in the eighth generation. As part of his own spiritual development, he studied the writings of George Fox for a period of five years. During that time he saw Fox as a spiritual giant and had the experience of only coming up to Fox’s knees. He holds a Master’s degree from Cambridge University in the U.K., is a Fellow of his Professional Institution, and in his employment was a pioneer of the computing revolution

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction

• Note on the editing

Section One: George Fox’s own record of his spiritual awakening
Section Two: George Fox speaks for himself

• The symbolism of George Fox
• From a great collection of George Fox’s manuscripts
• George Fox on the Scriptures

Section Three: George Fox on the meeting for worship, and ministry

• The spiritual contribution of women
• Things may go wrong
• George Fox on ministry in meeting

Section Four: Major insights of George Fox

• George Fox on the offices of Christ
• George Fox on Christ the teacher
• The tenets of George Fox’s teaching

Section Five: George Fox on the antiquity of the Quakers
Section Six: George Fox’s legacy in ministry
Section Seven: A valediction
Index of sources