JOHN WESLEY

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 July 1931, Page 9

JOHN WESLEY

A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. We are very apt to consider the age we live in is very much worse morally than any preceding one (writes C.H.J. in the Sydney Morning I-Icrald). When we consider conditions of lite in England during the reigns of George I. and George 11., particularly- when Walpole was the King’s Chief Minister, we know that this is a fallacy. Religion was at very low level within and without the Church. The indifference to the Church was most apparent, and it suited tho Whig politicians to have it so. When the Dissenters pressed fcr the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, Walpole openly showed

his distaste for arousing any religious upheaval, and satisfied them by an annual Act of Indemnity for any breach of these statutes. The clergy were said to be the most lifeless in Europe, and there was open revolt against religion by both the rich and poor. The rural population were left without much moral or religious training of any soit. Bibles were hardly ever seen. In the towns drunkenness and vice were prevalent. It was said you could get drunk for a penny and very drunk for 2d. During the latter years of Walpole’s Ministry there was a religious revival, which began with a small band of Oxford students, who, by their strict and orderly conduct of life were given tho name of “Methodists.” The three most important personalities of this movement were Whitefield and Charles and John Wesley, the former being the outstanding preacher. They began their religious work in London in 1738. They were later denied access to the pulpits of the Established Church, and were forced to preach in the streets and fields. Soon their influence began to be felt all over England and Wales. Whitefield’s preaching was such that England had never heard before — theatrical and extravagant perhaps, but with intense feeling and showing great sympathy for his fellow-men. They were often in danger of their lives, were mobbed, stoned, and ducked, sometimes were covered with filth. They aroused a tremendous enthusiasm; women often fell down in convulsions, and the preacher was often interrupted by bursts of hysterical laughter or sobbing. Charles Wesley, a student of Christ Church, a man of outstanding musical ability, helped this remarkable religious activity by composing hymns, which had the effect, of eradicating the most extravagant features of the movement. HYMN SINGING.

Soon there followed a passion for hymn sipging all over the country which altered the whole system of public worship. These hymns are recognised to-day as amongst the. best ever written.

John Wesley, the elder brother of Charles, was the most interesting member of this little society, and was recognised as the leader. As a preacher he was second to Whitefield and was also a hymn writer. He possessed wonderful powers of industry, a ripened judgment, was a born leader and a capable organiser. He had an education and a skill in writing which' none of the others possessed. He was tin ascetic, and often lived on bread alone, and slept on bare boards. He was a fervent believer in miracles. If it stopped raining just as he was preparing to leave, it was a. miracle, and, again, if a hailstorm struck a town which bad not accepted his preaching, it was an act of Providence.

In his early days he was somewhat narrow, and when Whitefield began to preach in the fields he could not at first reconcile himself to this change. He condemned and fought against the admission of laymen a;: preachers until he found there were none but laymen to preach. He was greatly devoted to the Church of England, and looked upon the society he formed as a body in communion with .it. He broke with the Moravians, who had been the earliest friends of the religious movement, on account of their antagonism to religious forms. He broke with Whitefield when that great preacher adopted an extravagant Calvinism. John Wesley, at the age of 1G was admitted to Christchurch College, Oxford, and became extraordinarily proficient in classical studies, and at the age of 23 was promoted to be Fellow of Lincoln College. He was described us a “superior classical scholar, a thoughtful and polished writer, and a skilful logician,” and at the ago of 24 received the degree of Master of Arts. He was ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1725, and priest in 1728. In October, 1735 he accompanied General Oglethorpe as missionary chaplain to Georgia, ami returned in 1738. While at a Moravian meeting ami listening to Luther's scripture comment with reference to “justification by faith,” he said he felt his “heart strangely warmed,” and dated his conversion from that moment.

FIRST METHODISTS. He organised the first Methodist Society in Bristol on April 2, 1739. He made a. formal organisation under his own direction in London in 1710, but without the supervision of the bishops. In his ministry, which lasted for more than 50 years, he travelled about 4500 miles every year, preaching from twice to four times a day, supervised all his preachers and the erection of thousands of chapels, and conducted an immense correspondence. He also conducted a large publishing business. His journeys, which were mostly on horseback, until advanced age compelled him to use a carriage, were long, tedious and often perilous, through the snow in winter and tho heat of the summer. He usually read while travelling, even when on horseback. It is estimated that during the 50 years of his ministry he travelled over 250,000 miles and preached more than 42,000 sermons. Eight days before his death he preached his last sermon at Leatherhead, near London. On March 2, 1791, he died at tho age of 88 years, and his remains were interred in the burial-ground of the City-road Chapel. In February, 1757, he married the widow of a London merchant named Vazeille. Wesley left no children. In his early forties Wesley was described as being “beautifully proportioned, without an atom of superfluous flesh, yet muscular and strong, a bright penetrating eye, and a lovely face.” lie was not an orator like Whitefield, but his preaching was remarkable for earnestness and compactness, with clear and sharply defined.ideas. Apart from the establishment of tile Methodist Church, there were outward signs that all the Churches benefited

by tho religious revival, ami incidentally the nation was the richer for the better life of its people. Ou June 17, 1703, John Wesley was born, ami the anniversary of his birth has been celebrated by the Methodist Church all over the world. The thoughts of her sons and daughters will dwell on the life .ami ministry of the illustrious founder, and due recognition of his work* and that of his companions for the salvation of England at a critical time in her history be fully acclaimed. That religions revival must commend itself t< all Christian Churches, ami. although it meant a big break with the Anglican Church, there is to-day no evidence of any ill-feeling amongst the two bodies.