Isaac Penington (1616–1679) was one of the early members of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

(Quakers) in England. He wrote about the Quaker movement and was an influential promoter and defender of it. Penington was the oldest son of Isaac Penington, a Puritan who had served as the Lord Mayor of London. Penington married a widow named Mary Springett and they had five children. Penington's stepdaughter Gulielma Springett married

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

. Convinced that the Quaker faith was true, Penington and his wife joined the Friends in 1657 or 1658. Penington became an influential promoter and defender of the Quaker movement, writing extensively on many topics. His writings are prized for their insightful and eloquent exploration of spiritual experience, with his Letters being read continuously within Quakerism for their spiritual counsel. His complete works were first published in 1681 and are still in print today. Penington also published several books about the movement. He was imprisoned six times for his beliefs, starting in 1661. Sometimes the charge was refusal to take an oath, as this went against Quaker teachings (see Testimony of Integrity). Such action was prohibited by the Quaker Act of 1662, which sought to control members of the group. At other times Penington was charged with attending a Quaker meeting, which was forbidden by the Conventicle Act of 1664. Penington's wife,

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, was a remarkable woman in her own right."Mary Penington (1623 - 1682)"
she is listed in The Orlando Project (Cambridge UP, online - much of the online record is available only to subscribers)]. One of her manuscripts is described on th
Perdita database.
/ref> Her daughter Gulielma, from her first marriage to Sir William Springett (who died young), later married

, founder of Pennsylvania; she was his first wife.

Sources

*''The Works of Isaac Penington''. In four volumes. Glenside, PA: Quaker Heritage Press, 1995–97. *

References

External links

Works of Penington Online
English Quakers Converts to Quakerism Quaker writers English Christian theologians Quaker theologians 1616 births 1679 deaths 17th-century Christian mystics Protestant mystics {{Christianity-bio-stub