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In 17th Century England, George Fox was bothered by
unjust religious and political practices. He was a young man who left his work and began wandering about, earnestly seeking
the Truth and talking with others. As a child and youth, he had read and learned the Scriptures and could find no harmony
between the teaching of the Bible and the actual practices of so-called religious people. He received a lot of advice, much
of which was entirely irrelevant, and was at his wits end, when in his musing he heard a voice within saying, "There is One,
even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition." From this experience and other promptings of the Spirit, George Fox went
about the country telling of his experience. He was eagerly joined by other seekers and they called themselves "Friends of
Truth." From their seeking and enlightenment, tenets or testimonies emerged, i.e., Equality, Integrity, Peace, Simplicity,
Community, Sharing, Strength of Conviction and Respect toward Others. In trying to change society, they found themselves at
odds with the "powers that be" and they were thrown in prison, some many times, for their adherence to their convictions.
Because they felt they could not call themselves "The Church," as all Christians are of the Church of Christ, they began calling themselves
"The Society of Friends." In John 15:14, we read. "You are my friends if you do what I command." In contempt, they were called
"Quakers" by some who witnessed their absolute sincerity and awe of the power of God, and Friends good-naturedly adopted this
name also. Not only was the message of Friends spread in England,
but to other parts of the world. William Penn, son of an English nobleman, was converted to Friends beliefs and experienced
religious intolerance. In 1681, when he was granted the colony of Pennsylvania, he remembered
Protestants in Europe he had met on a Quaker pilgrimage and promised religious tolerance
if they would join Friends in settling this colony. The religious tolerance really existed for the settlers of many faiths,
such as Quakers, Baptists, Lutherans, Moravians, Schwenkfelders, Mennonites (out of which came the Amish), and other groups.
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