In First Among Friends, the first scholarly biography of George Fox (1624-91), H. Larry Ingle examines the fascinating life of the reformation leader and founding organizer of the Religious Society of Friends, more popularly known today as the Quakers. Ingle places Fox within the upheavals of the English Civil Wars, Revolution, and Restoration, showing him and his band of "rude" disciples challenging the status quo, particularly during the Cromwellian Interregnum. Unlike leaders of similar groups, Fox responded to the conservatism of the Stuart restoration by facing down challenges from internal dissidents, and leading his followers to persevere until the 1689 Act of Toleration. It was this same sense of perseverance that helped the Quakers to survive and remain the only religious sect of the era still existing today. This insightful study uses broad research in contemporary manuscripts and pamphlets, many never examined systematically before. Firmly grounded in primary sources and enriched with gripping detail, this well-written and original study reveals unknown sides of one who was clearly "First Among Friends."

Gwyn emphasizes the apocalyptic perspective behind George Fox's declaration that Christ has come to teach his people himself and describes how it affected Fox's view of preaching, worship, and Church order. This work helps explain the urgency of the message that sparked early Friends.

"George Fox: An Autobiography" by George Fox. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Arthur O. Roberts illuminates the passion, struggles, and legacy of a man committed to authentic Christian living at a critical time in history. George Fox, desiring a kingdom of truth and love on this side of ¿the flaming sword of Eden,¿ led a seventeenth-century spiritual awakening that attracted thousands of people¿people who became known as the Society of Friends (Quakers). Through Flaming Sword is both a spiritual biography of Fox and a closer look at Fox¿s legacy, particularly his thoughts on Christian holiness and the nature of the church. Today¿s restless pilgrims, troubled by the world and diligently trying to follow Jesus, will find in Fox a spirited companion for the journey. This new book is a fiftieth-anniversary edition with revisions to the original work published in 1959.

A nuanced portrait of a great historical figure considered everything from a “God-haunted man” to a “stalwart nonbeliever” What did faith mean to Winston Churchill? Churchill was far from transparent about his religious beliefs and never regularly attended church services as an adult, even considering himself “not a pillar of the church but a buttress,” in the sense that he supported it “from the outside.” But Gary Scott Smith assembles pieces of Churchill’s life and words to convey the profound sense of duty and destiny, partly inspired by his religious convictions, that undergirded his outlook. Reflecting on becoming prime minister in 1940, he wrote, “It felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.” In a similarly grand fashion, he described opposing the Nazis—and later the Soviets—as a struggle between light and darkness, driven by the duty to preserve “humane, enlightened, Christian society.” Though Churchill harbored intellectual doubts about Christianity throughout his life, he nevertheless valued it greatly and drew on its resources, especially in the crucible of war. In Duty and Destiny, Smith unpacks Churchill’s paradoxical religious views and carefully analyzes the complexities of his legacy. This thorough examination of Churchill’s religious life provides a new narrative structure to make sense of one of the most important figures of the twentieth century.

It may surprise many that William Penn, who founded one of the thirteen original American colonies, spent just four years on American soil. Even more surprising, though, is Penn's remarkable impact on the fundamental principles of religious freedom on both sides of the Atlantic, especially given his tumultuous life: from his youthful radicalism as leader of the Quaker movement to his role as governor and proprietor of a major American colony; from royal courtier to alleged traitor to the Crown. In the first major biography of this important transatlantic figure in more than forty years, Andrew R. Murphy takes readers through the defiant and complex life of a religious dissenter, political theorist, and social activist.