“While remaining in herself, [Wisdom] renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets.” 

Wisdom of Solomon 7:27

This verse was a favorite of the seventeenth-century English theologian, Samuel Fisher.

Who was Samuel Fisher?

Fisher was one of the most learned theologians of his time, taking both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Oxford University. He had an interesting spiritual journey, beginning his ministerial career as a Congregationalist Puritan, and having a comfortable living, first as a chaplain to one of the leading Puritan politicians, Sir Arthur Hesilrige, and later becoming minister of the Church of England at Kent, in the southeastern part of England. He married a woman named Elizabeth, and had three children, two of which survived infancy. When he was 38 years old, the English Civil War began. Six years later, Fisher had a conversion experience and became a Baptist. He was a very vigorous debater on behalf of Baptist theological tenets.

In 1655, when he was fifty, Fisher met with traveling Quaker ministers Will Caton (19 years old), John Stubbs (37), Ambrose Rigge (20), and George Fox (31). These persuasive young adult Friends had a striking effect on, let’s call him, a mature adult, Fisher. As a result, Fisher became a convinced Friend, and he was just as avid a debater on behalf of Quakers as he had been earlier on behalf of Baptists. He traveled with Stubbs far and wide to spread the Quaker message, visiting Heidelberg, Venice, and Rome.

You can read more from Steve here: http://esrquaker.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-samuel-fisher-knew-that-g...