George Fox's 'Book of Miracles'
Henry J. Cadbury, Ed., With Forewords By Rufus M.
Jones, Jim Pym, and Paul Anderson, July 2000, FGC & QHS, 2000, 176 pages, paperback $17.00
ISBN 1-888305-16-9
The first publication under QUIP's imprimatur, this co-operative effort
of QUIP publishers was suppressed by London Yearly Meeting elders after Fox's
death. It was pieced together from clues in Fox's Journal and
letters through the work mostly of Henry Cadbury. The original edition
was edited by the latter, with an introduction by Rufus Jones. The 2000
edition contains the same text and notes.
Fox was a healer as well as a minister and author, manifesting God's
wondrous power in over 150 recorded instances of cures. These miracles were critical to spreading the word about Quakerism in the initial years. The text of this edition is the result of years of work by Henry Cadbury to make it accessible to the modern audience. New introductions by Paul Anderson and Jim Pym guide the reader to appreciate the place of this material in the overall understanding of Fox's contributions to Quakerism.
Many people have heard of George Fox (1624-1691), founder of the Religious Society of Friends, and some have read his Journal but few people know of his 'Book of Miracles.' Fox was a healer as well as a minister and author, manifesting God's wondrous power in over 150 recorded instances of cures. These miracles were critical in spreading the word about Quakerism in the initial years.
Although Fox left money for its publication after his death, the manuscript of the 'Book of Miracles' was lost. The first printing in 1948 was the result of years of work by Henry Cadbury, piecing the text together from clues and fragments in Fox's journals and letters. The 1948 and the 1973 editions were limited and quickly went out of print.
Quakers Uniting in Publications, in its first joint venture, makes this historically important and spiritually significant text accessible to the modern audience. This new edition, faithfully based on the work of Cadbury, includes new forewords by Jim Pym and Paul Anderson. Making the 'Book of Miracles' available gives the reader a new and more complete understanding of George Fox's contribution to Quakerism.
Paul Anderson is Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. He is editor of Quaker Religious Thought and served as editor of Evangelical Friend from 1990-1994. Author of The Christology of the Fourth Gospel and many New Testament and Quaker studies, Paul has recently introduce and republished several of the most significant New Testament essays and books by Henry J. Cadbury.
One of the scholars who made the Revised Standard version of the Bible under the National Council of Churches, Henry Cadbury (1883-1974) was the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. He also taught at Bryn Mawr, Pendle Hill, Temple University, and the Drew Theological Seminary. He authored many book and pamphlets about the Bible and Quakerism.
Rufus Jones (1863-1948) was a Professor of Philosophy at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania. He was also an eminent historian and authority on mystical religion. He made a contribution toward ending the divisions among American Friends and toward creating the world community of Friends.
Jim Pym, both a Quaker and a Buddhist, is the author of Listening to the Light: How to Bring Quaker Simplicity and Integrity into Our Lives and the newly released The Pure Principle: Quakers and Other Faith Traditions. He co-founded the Friends Interfaith Group, co-clerked Quakers Uniting in Publications, and is a member of the Friends Fellowship for Healing.