Synopsis

“The Lord showed me, so that I did see clearly, that he did not dwell in these temples which men had commanded and set up, but in people’s hearts … his people were his temple, and he dwelt in them.” —George Fox, Founder of the Religious Society of Friends

It is the aim of Rebel Saints to tell the story of Quakerism in the light of romantic adventure. It was the peculiar fanaticism of the Quakers, that the pressure of existing wrongs pushed them into immediate resistance. Characterized by profound spiritual experiences, the early Quakers verified the Christian doctrine that all things are possible to “he who believes,” and illustrated it by incredible adventures. It is the nature of men to content themselves with mulling over the wrongs of the world; under the dynamic leadership of George Fox, it was the practice of the Quakers to react immediately to belief “so as to be ready to be its martyr.” That a wrong had gone on forever was to them proof that it had gone on long enough. The world can be changed when the spirit of man wills it.

Rebel Saints tells eleven astounding stories of heroism and martyrdom of the early Quakers. A record of adventure by land and sea; of apparently ambitious and risky projects brought to success by men and women who made war on society with no other weapons that spiritual argument. Half of the book is devoted to George Fox and other English friends including Margaret Fell, Thomas Lurting, Mary Katherine Evans, and Sarah Chevers; while the other half focuses on William Penn and the Quaker activities in America, including stories of Edward Burrough, Mary Dyer, The Callow Family, Elizabeth Haddon, and the Martyred Children of the period.

This work is essential reading on Quakerism, the heroes of the movement, and how they forever changed the world that they found for the better.