This week in Christian history: Vincent van Gogh preaches sermon, Reformation begins, ‘Quaker’ first used

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, October 29, 2023

The term ‘Quaker’ is invented – Oct. 30, 1650

This week marks the anniversary of when it's generally believed the term “Quaker” was first used to describe the Christian sect officially known as the Society of Friends.

George Fox, the man who founded the Society of Friends following a deep spiritual experience, was brought before Justice Bennet of Derby, having been charged with blasphemy.

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“Quoting Isaiah 66:2, [Fox] urged the judge to ‘tremble at the word of God.’ In mockery, Bennet called him a ‘quaker,’ and this is thought to be the origin of the name ‘Quakers,’” recorded the Christian History Institute.

“For many years [Fox] had kept a journal. Two hundred years after his death, Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon addressed a body of Quakers, saying of that journal, ‘It is a rich mine. Every page of it is precious as solid gold.’”