The Quaker Story
Let's assume for the moment that it's the year 45. The earliest traces of the Christian community are in place, although there is a rather wide range of beliefs and reactions to the experience of the life of Jesus Christ. There are no Bibles. No letters from Paul. How does one go about knowing the Christ?
At the very basis of the Quaker beginnings is this question. During the 17th Century in England, a young man named George Fox left home at the age of 19 to begin a spiritual quest. For four years he wandered about, challenging this or that person to answer his questions. None could. In the midst of his despair and frustration, he found within himself an answer when he heard a clear voice that said, "there is one, even Christ Jesus, who can speak to thy condition."
Fox's understanding was that Christ lives, that Christ speaks to us directly without the need for an intermediary of any kind. For him, then the Protestant revolution that took power away from the Roman Catholic Church stopped halfway -- it kept it from the hands of the people themselves.
Fox was not intending to develop a new religion or sect, for he believed he had rediscovered original Christianity, the sense of a direct and powerful presence of Christ in much the same way Paul was able to say, after his experience, "Not I, but Christ who lives in me."
Fox's time was one of change -- the Bible in English was coming into the hands of more and more people and the spirited discussions of the time were one of the major activities in people's lives. The Puritan revolution was on the move and while people were finally encouraged to read the Bible without the doctrinal Church tradition, there was a contrastive royal control over Church liturgy and government. The theory at the time was simple -- whatever the gospel didn't address directly and clearly, the Church could and would.
The Protestant Revolution was raging as Fox was growing into adulthood. Empowered by his new understanding, he had his first brush with the law in Nottingham in 1649. He saw a large "steeplehouse" (as he called them) and felt led to go inside. There, the minister was preaching on 2 Peter 1:19 ("We have also a more sure word of prophecy...." and gave the rather standard interpretation that this Word is scripture and must be the absolute judge of all doctrines and practice and belief.
It was illegal to interrupt a sermon, but Fox heard himself call out, "Oh, no, it is not the scriptures.." and proceeded to explain that the "day star" (vs. 19d) is Christ, and that Christ's living Spirit is the touchstone for any doctrine, leading all to truth."
For this, he was imprisoned.