John and Charles Wesley: Selected Prayers, Hymns, Journal Notes, Sermons, Letters and Treatises (Classics of Western Spirituality)
by John Wesley
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John and Charles Wesley led the Methodist revival that swept eighteenth-century England and America and changed the face of Christianity forever. Their spirituality synthesized a unique blend of elements from the church fathers, Catholic mystics, and Protestant Reformers. This selection includes John's incisive writings on the spiritual life as well as the famous hymns of Charles, giving vibrant expression to the faith of the Wesleys. "About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the show more change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." -- John Wesley show lessTags
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This volume from "The Classics of Western Spirituality" series is a very good overview of the writings of John and Charles Wesley. The book is divided into 3 parts: Selected writings of John Wesley; Selected Hymns of Charles Wesley; and John Wesley's "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection." The last is the strongest part of the book, but it has an unfair advantage of being the only piece published in its entirety. The "Plain Account" gives a very clear of what John Wesley meant by "perfection" (which is quite different than what we might assume it to mean). Though it is a relatively short work, it is one that is worthy of further study.
The selections of hymns by Charles Wesley are wonderful, but I had two misgivings about them. First, show more it is quite difficult to read 121 hymns consecutively; this would constitute quite a long poetry collection. Second, without the music, it was often hard to hear the hymns as they were intended. Since Charles Wesley wrote them to be sung, I couldn't help but wish for the music. If there was one problem with the selection, it was that the ordering did not seem to make clear sense to me.
The first section, which had a wide variety of John Wesley's writing, was the least successful. In part, the weakness is in the genre of "Selected Writings" generally. The works are mostly extracts and thus are out of place contextually. The important extracts are here: Wesley's description of his heart being "strangely warmed" and his letter to Wilberforce encouraging him in his fight against slavery are both welcome additions to any collection. The most memorable of the other pieces were some of the letters John wrote to his sisters as he encouraged them in their faith.
For people interested in the Methodist movement or in the religious history of 18th century England, this is an excellent volume. I look forward to reading further volumes from this series. show less
The selections of hymns by Charles Wesley are wonderful, but I had two misgivings about them. First, show more it is quite difficult to read 121 hymns consecutively; this would constitute quite a long poetry collection. Second, without the music, it was often hard to hear the hymns as they were intended. Since Charles Wesley wrote them to be sung, I couldn't help but wish for the music. If there was one problem with the selection, it was that the ordering did not seem to make clear sense to me.
The first section, which had a wide variety of John Wesley's writing, was the least successful. In part, the weakness is in the genre of "Selected Writings" generally. The works are mostly extracts and thus are out of place contextually. The important extracts are here: Wesley's description of his heart being "strangely warmed" and his letter to Wilberforce encouraging him in his fight against slavery are both welcome additions to any collection. The most memorable of the other pieces were some of the letters John wrote to his sisters as he encouraged them in their faith.
For people interested in the Methodist movement or in the religious history of 18th century England, this is an excellent volume. I look forward to reading further volumes from this series. show less
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John Wesley, 1703 - 1791 English theologian John Wesley was born the 15th child, in the rectory at Epworth, Lincolnshire on June 17, 1703, to clergyman Samuel Wesley. He was also an evangelist and the founder of Methodism. He was educated at Charter House School and Christ Church, University of Oxford. He was ordained deacon in 1725 and admitted show more to the priesthood of the Church of England in 1728. In 1729, he went into residency at Oxford as a fellow of Lincoln College. While at Lincoln College, Wesley joined a group called the Holy Club, which included his brother Charles and George Whitefield, who later founded Calvinistic Methodism. It was a group of students that adhered strictly and methodically to religious precepts and practices by visiting prisons and comforting the sick, and their schoolmates called them "Methodists." In 1735, he went to Georgia as an Anglican missionary and met some German Moravians on the ship. He associated with them while in Savannah, Georgia and translated some of their hymns into English. While attending one of the Moravian's meetings on the return trip to England, he experienced a religious awakening. In 1739, Wesley joined George Whitefield in his evangelical endeavors. He preached an open-air sermon outside the church and received an enthusiastic reaction, which convinced him that this form of preaching was the most effective way to reach the masses. The Anglican Church frowned on revivalism. He attracted immense crowds because of his assurance that each person was accepted as a child of God, which was something the Anglican Church was unable to offer. On May 1, 1739, Wesley and a group of his followers formed the first Methodist society. Two similar societies were established in Bristol, and in late 1739, the London society began meeting in a building called the Foundry, which served as the headquarters of Methodism for many years. In 1740, Wesley parted with the Moravians and Whitefield because of doctrinal disagreements and the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. He also discarded many of the tenets of the Church of England, which made separation inevitable. In an effort for tighter organization of a growing Methodist movement, the societies were divided into classes, in 1742, with a leader for each class. Wesley called the first conference of the Methodist leaders in 1744 and the conferences were held annually thereafter. In 1751, he married Mary Vazeille who was a widow with four children. Their marriage eventually failed. In 1784, he issued the deed of declaration, which provided rules and regulations for the guidance of the Methodist societies, and appointed his aide Thomas Coke, an Anglican clergyman, superintendent of the Methodist organization in the United States. This empowered him to administer the sacraments with other ordinations following. The ordination was the largest step in breaking with the Anglican Church, but separation did not happen until after Wesley's death. Wesley compiled 23 collections of hymns, edited a monthly magazine, and translated Greek, Latin, and Hebrew works. He edited, under the title "The Christian Pattern," the medieval devotional work "De Imitatione Christi," generally ascribed to Thomas a` Kempis. In the latter part of Wesley's life, the hostility between the Anglican Church and Methodism had all but disappeared, and he was greatly admired. On March 2, 1791, Wesley died and was buried in the graveyard of City Road Chapel, London. In Westminster Abbey is a memorial plaque inscribed with his name. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Religion & Spirituality, Nonfiction, Music, History, Biography & Memoir
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- 230.7 — Religion Christianity Christianity Methodist
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- BX8217 .W54 .W45 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Christian Denominations Christian Denominations Protestantism Other Protestant denominations Methodism
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