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112-558: The club is mentioned by Samuel Wesley , a dissenter who later conformed to the Church of England, in the anonymous A Letter from a Country Divine to his Friend in London Concerning the Education of Dissenters in their Private Academies (1703). Wesley claimed to have attended a meeting in 1693 where dissenters blasphemed the memory of Charles I, "discoursing of their Calves-head Club" and

224-624: A "Design they had at their next Calves-Head Feast, to have a Cold Pye serv'd on the Table, with either a Live-Cat or Hare ... and they had contriv'd to put one of their Company who lov'd Monarchy, and knew nothing of the matter, to cut it up; whereupon, and on the leaping out of the Cat or Hare, they were all to set up a Shout, and cry, Haloo! Old Puss!—to the Honour of the Good Old Cause, and to shew their affection to

336-562: A Commonwealth." Wesley's biographer Henry D. Rack comments, "It was probably not, as is usually claimed, a meeting of the so-called Calve's Head Club, whose reputation in any case may owe much to tory propaganda. ... Publication was timed to reinforce the current attacks on dissenters and especially on their academies ." The main source for propaganda concerning the Calves' Head Club was the popular work written at least in some part by Tory sympathizer Edward Ward (1667–1731), The secret history of

448-468: A Friend , pp. 5–6). In 1702 there appeared his Letter from a Country Divine to his friend in London concerning the education of dissenters in their private academies , apparently written about 1693. This attack upon dissenting academies was published at an unfortunate time, when the public mind was inflamed by the intolerance of overzealous churchmen. Wesley was furiously answered; he replied in A Defence of

560-531: A Friend concerning Poetry (1700) was followed by at least four other volumes of verse, the last of which was issued in 1717. His poetry appears to have had readers on a certain level, but it stirred up little pleasure among wits, writers, or critics. Judith Drake confessed that she was lulled to sleep by Blackmore's Prince Arthur and by Wesley's "heroics" ( Essay in Defence of the Female Sex , 1696, p. 50). And he

672-411: A Letter (1704), and again in A Reply to Mr. Palmer's Vindication (1707). It is scarcely to Wesley's credit that in this quarrel he stood shoulder to shoulder with that most hot-headed of all contemporary bigots, Henry Sacheverell . His prominence in the controversy earned him the ironic compliments of Daniel Defoe , who recalled that our "Mighty Champion of this very High-Church Cause" had once written

784-691: A United States bishop to what would become the Protestant Episcopal Church in America. Wesley ordained Thomas Coke as superintendent of Methodists in the United States by the laying on of hands , although Coke was already a priest in the Church of England. He also ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as presbyters; Whatcoat and Vasey sailed to America with Coke. Wesley intended that Coke and Francis Asbury (whom Coke ordained as superintendent by direction of Wesley) should ordain others in

896-416: A clear resolution seemed unlikely. On 22 December 1737, Wesley fled the colony and returned to England. One of the most significant accomplishments of Wesley's Georgia mission was his publication of a Collection of Psalms and Hymns . The Collection was the first Anglican hymnal published in America, and the first of many hymn books Wesley published. It included five hymns he translated from German. As

1008-501: A complete mismatch for some of his illiterate parishioners. He was not warmly received, and his ministry was not widely appreciated. Wesley was soon deep in debt and much of his life would be spent trying to make financial ends meet. In 1709 his parsonage was destroyed by fire, and his son John was barely rescued from the flames. The parsonage was rebuilt and is now known as the Old Rectory, Epworth . His poetic career began in 1685 with

1120-436: A ghost called 'Old Jeffery'. In June 1720, Wesley entered Christ Church, Oxford . After graduating in 1724, Wesley stayed on at Christ Church to study for his master's degree . He was ordained a deacon on 25 September 1725— holy orders being a necessary step toward becoming a fellow and tutor at the university. On 17 March 1726, Wesley was unanimously elected a fellow of Lincoln College , Oxford. This carried with it

1232-513: A house there, call’d themselves the Calf’s-Head Club ; and about seven o’clock a bonfire being lit up before the door, just when it was in the height, they brought a calf’s-head to the window dress’d in a napkin-cap, and after some Huzza’s, threw it into the fire: The mob were entertained with strong-beer, and for some time halloo’d as well as the best; but taking a disgust at some healths which were proposed, grew so outrageous, that they broke all

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1344-543: A method of saving souls was "almost a sin." He recognised the open-air services were successful in reaching men and women who would not enter most churches. From then on he took the opportunities to preach wherever an assembly could be brought together, more than once using his father's tombstone at Epworth as a pulpit . Wesley preached to create repentance, prayed for conversion, dealt with hysterical behaviour, and preached to upwards of thousands through field preaching. Wesley continued for fifty years—entering churches when he

1456-656: A method that Outler termed the Wesleyan Quadrilateral . In this method, Wesley believed that the living core of Christianity was contained in Scripture (the Bible ), and that it was the sole foundational source of theological development. The centrality of Scripture was so important for Wesley that he called himself " a man of one book ," although he was well-read for his day. However, he believed that doctrine had to be in keeping with Christian orthodox tradition. So, tradition

1568-493: A more sublime view of the law of God; and he resolved to keep it, inwardly and outwardly, as sacredly as possible, believing that in obedience he would find salvation. He pursued a rigidly methodical and abstemious life, studied Scripture, and performed his religious duties diligently, depriving himself so that he would have alms to give. He began to seek after holiness of heart and life. Wesley returned to Oxford in November 1729 at

1680-522: A note on Bk. I, apropos of the poet's use of obsolete words ( Life of Our Blessed Lord , 1697, p. 27): It may be in vicious imitation of Milton and Spenser, he says in effect, but I have a fondness for old words, they please my ear, and that is all the reason I can give for employing them. Wesley's resistance to a strict application of authority and the rules grew partly out of the rationalistic and empirical temper of Englishmen in his age, but it also sprang from his learning. From various sources he drew

1792-485: A poem to satirize frenzied Tories ( Review , II, no. 87, 22 September 1705). About a week later, Defoe, having got wind of a collection being taken up for Wesley – who in consequence of a series of misfortunes was badly in debt – intimated that High-Church pamphleteering had turned out very profitably for both Lesley and Wesley (2 October 1705). But in such snarling and bickering Wesley was out of his element, and he seems to have avoided future quarrels. His literary criticism

1904-412: A priest on 22 September 1728, Wesley served as a parish curate for two years. In the year of his ordination, he read Thomas à Kempis and Jeremy Taylor , showed his interest in mysticism , and began to seek the religious truths which underlay the great revival of the 18th century. The reading of William Law 's Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life gave him, he said,

2016-598: A result of his experience in Georgia, Wesley became depressed. While on his voyage home to England, he had the opportunity to think about his own religious faith. He found that, although he had committed to the life of following Christ, he was dissatisfied with his spiritual soundness and felt inadequate to preach , especially after witnessing the confident way in which the Moravians had preached their faith. Both he and Charles received counsel from Moravian minister Peter Boehler , who

2128-553: A scale of 1 to 9. Wesley also regarded the contempt with which he and his group were held to be a mark of a true Christian. As he put it in a letter to his father, "Till he be thus contemned, no man is in a state of salvation." On 14 October 1735, Wesley and his brother Charles sailed on The Simmonds from Gravesend in Kent for Savannah in the Province of Georgia in the American colonies at

2240-550: A senior travelling preacher or "assistant." Conferences with Wesley, travelling preachers and others were convened annually for the purpose of co-ordinating doctrine and discipline for the entire connection. Classes of a dozen or so society members under a leader met weekly for spiritual fellowship and guidance. In the early years, there were "bands" of the spiritually gifted who consciously pursued perfection. Those who were regarded to have achieved it were grouped in select societies or bands. In 1744, there were 77 such members. There also

2352-730: A separate society. "Thus," he wrote, "without any previous plan, began the Methodist Society in England." He soon formed similar societies in Bristol and Kingswood, and Wesley and his friends made converts wherever they went. From 1739 onward, Wesley and the Methodists were persecuted by clergy and religious magistrates for various reasons. Though Wesley had been ordained an Anglican priest, many other Methodist leaders had not received ordination . And for his own part, Wesley flouted many regulations of

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2464-523: A shortage of clergy in the colony largely limited his ministry to European settlers in Savannah. While his ministry has often been judged to have been a failure in comparison to his later success as a leader in the Evangelical Revival , Wesley gathered around him a group of devoted Christians, who met in a number of small group religious societies. At the same time, attendance at Communion increased over

2576-609: A society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the 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

2688-539: A whole passage of Milton's blank verse in the midst of his heroic couplets. Wesley's attitude toward Dryden deserves a moment's pause. In the "Essay on Heroic Poetry" he observed that a speech of Satan's in Paradise Lost is nearly equalled in Dryden's State of Innocence . Later in the same essay he credited a passage in Dryden's King Arthur with showing an improvement upon Tasso. There is no doubt as to his vast respect for

2800-505: Is by no means docile under their authority. Whatever the weight of authority, he says, "I see no cause why Poetry should not be brought to the Test [of reason], as well as Divinity...." As to the sacred example of Homer, who based his great epic on mythology, Wesley remarks, "But this [mythology] being now antiquated, I cannot think we are oblig'd superstitiously to follow his Example, any more than to make Horses speak, as he does that of Achilles." To

2912-542: Is empiricist as well as rationalist, and the judgment of authority can be upset by appeal to the court of experience. To Balzac's suggestion that, to avoid difficult and local proper names in poetry, generalized terms be used, such as Ill-luck for the Fates and the Foul Fiend for Lucifer , our critic replies with jaunty irony, "... and whether this wou'd not sound extremely Heroical, I leave any Man to judge", and thus he dismisses

3024-610: Is explained in a few lines from the first page of the work: In his own defense the author writes Because when the foul maggot bites He ne'er can rest in quiet: Which makes him make so sad a face He'd beg your worship or your grace Unsight, unseen, to buy it Wesley married Susanna Annesley in 1688. He fathered, among others, Samuel (the younger) , Mehetabel , John and Charles Wesley . He had 19 children, nine of whom died in infancy. Three boys and seven girls survived. In 1688 he became curate at St. Botolph's, Aldersgate , London, serving there for about one year. In 1689 he

3136-523: Is reflected in his theology of Methodism. Wesley arrived in the colony in February 1736, and lived for a year at the parsonage that stood on the site of today's Oliver Sturges House . He approached the Georgia mission as a High churchman , seeing it as an opportunity to revive " primitive Christianity " in a primitive environment. Although his primary goal was to evangelise the Native American people,

3248-594: Is shown on an 18th-century map, where it rests between Tabernacle Street and Worship Street in the Moorfields area of London. When the Wesleys spotted the building atop Windmill Hill, north of Finsbury Fields , the structure which previously cast brass guns and mortars for the Royal Ordnance had been sitting vacant for 23 years; it had been abandoned because of an explosion on 10 May 1716. The Bristol chapel (built in 1739)

3360-468: Is small in bulk. But though it is neither brilliant nor well written (Wesley apparently composed at a break-neck clip), it is not without interest. Pope observed in 1730 that he was a "learned" man (letter to Swift, in Works , ed. Elwin-Courthope, VII, 184). The observation was correct, but it should be added that Wesley matured at the end of an age famous for its great learning, an age whose most distinguished poet

3472-539: Is subverted. The work was published in 1703 and reprinted fifteen times between 1703 and 1721. "I was inform'd," the narrator relates, that it was kept in no fix'd House, but that they remov'd, as they saw convenient; that the Place they met in when he was with 'em, was in a blind Ally, about Moorfields, where an Ax hung up in the Club-Room, and was Reverenced, as a Principal Symbol in this Diabolical Sacrament. Their Bill of Fare,

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3584-562: The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition , the club survived till 1734, when the diners were mobbed owing to the popular ill-feeling which their outrages on good taste provoked, and the riot which ensued put a final stop to the meetings. 1 February 1735 Thursday in the evening a disorder of a very particular nature happened in Suffolk-street: ’Tis said that several young gentlemen of distinction having met at

3696-578: The established Church of England, insisting that the Methodist movement lay well within its tradition. In his early ministry years, Wesley was barred from preaching in many parish churches and the Methodists were persecuted; he later became widely respected, and by the end of his life, was described as "the best-loved man in England". John Wesley was born on 28 June [ O.S. 17 June] 1703 in Epworth , 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Lincoln . He

3808-524: The " Holy Club ", a society formed for the purpose of the study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life. After an unsuccessful two-year ministry in Savannah, Georgia , he returned to London and joined a religious society led by Moravian Christians . On 24 May 1738, he experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion. He subsequently left the Moravians and began his own ministry. A key step in

3920-548: The " itinerancy " and insisted that his preachers submit to its rules. John Wesley had strong links with the North West of England , visiting Manchester on at least fifteen occasions between 1733 and 1790. In 1733 and 1738 he preached at St Ann's Church and Salford Chapel, meeting with his friend John Clayton . In 1781 Wesley opened the chapel on Oldham Street —part of the Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Methodist Mission , now

4032-691: The "United Societies". These were the nucleus of the Methodist Discipline , still the basis of modern Methodism. Wesley laid the foundations of what now constitutes the organisation of the Methodist Church . Over time, a shifting pattern of societies, circuits, quarterly meetings, annual conferences, classes, bands, and select societies took shape. At the local level, there were numerous societies of different sizes which were grouped into circuits to which travelling preachers were appointed for two-year periods. Circuit officials met quarterly under

4144-501: The "bands" into which the Fetter Lane Society was divided and published a collection of hymns for them. He met frequently with this and other religious societies in London but did not preach often in 1738, because most of the parish churches were closed to him. Wesley's Oxford friend, the evangelist George Whitefield , was also excluded from the churches of Bristol upon his return from America. When Wesley reached Bristol,

4256-401: The 11 allotted to him. Out of this grew the Methodist class-meeting system in 1742. To keep the disorderly out of the societies, Wesley established a probationary system. He undertook to visit each society regularly in what became the quarterly visitation, or conference. As the number of societies increased, Wesley could not keep personal contact, so in 1743 he drew up a set of "General Rules" for

4368-570: The Anglican Church to preach and do pastoral work. This expansion of lay preachers was one of the keys to the growth of Methodism. As his societies needed houses to worship in, Wesley began to provide chapels, first in Bristol at the New Room , then in London (first The Foundery and then Wesley's Chapel ) and elsewhere. The Foundery was an early chapel used by Wesley. The location of the Foundery

4480-541: The Calves-Head Club, or The Republican unmasqu'd, wherein is fully shewn the religion of the Calves-Head heroes, in their anniversary thanksgiving songs on the thirtieth of January, by them called anthems; for the years 1693, 1694, 1695, 1696, 1697. Now published, to demonstrate the restless, implacable spirit of a certain party still among us, who are never to be satisfied till the present establishment in church and state

4592-665: The Church of England as young adults. As in many families at the time, Wesley's parents gave their children their early education. Each child, including the girls, was taught to read as soon as they turned five years old. They were expected to become proficient in Latin and Greek and to have learned major portions of the New Testament by heart. Susanna Wesley examined each child before the midday meal and before evening prayers. The children were not allowed to eat between meals and were interviewed singly by their mother one evening each week for

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4704-479: The Church of England concerning parish boundaries and who had the authority to preach. This was seen as a social threat that disregarded institutions. Clergy attacked them in sermons and in print, and at times mobs attacked them. Wesley and his followers continued to work among the neglected and needy. They were denounced as promulgators of strange doctrines, fomenters of religious disturbances; as blind fanatics, leading people astray, claiming miraculous gifts, attacking

4816-543: The Church of England, believing that Anglicanism was "with all her blemishes, [...] nearer the Scriptural plans than any other in Europe". In 1745 Wesley wrote that he would make any concession which his conscience permitted, to live in peace with the clergy. He could not give up the doctrine of an inward and present salvation by faith itself; he would not stop preaching, nor dissolve the societies, nor end preaching by lay members. In

4928-621: The Cowleian sort but on such subjects as "On the Grunting of a Hog". In 1688 Wesley took his B.A, at Exeter College, Oxford , following which he became a naval chaplain and, in 1690, rector of South Ormsby . In 1694 he took his MA from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge , and the following year he became rector of Epworth . During the run of the Athenian Gazette (1691–1697) he joined with Richard Sault and John Norris in assisting John Dunton ,

5040-557: The Greek New Testament . They prayed every waking hour for several minutes and each day for a special virtue. While the church's prescribed attendance was only three times a year, they took Communion every Sunday. They fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays until nones (3:00 pm) as was commonly observed in the ancient church. In 1730, the group began the practice of visiting prisoners in gaol . The men preached, educated, and relieved gaoled debtors whenever possible, and cared for

5152-451: The Moderns with both neatness and energy. Much of its advice is cautious and commonplace—but such was the tradition of the poetical treatise on verse. Appearing within two years of Collier's first attack upon the stage, it reinforces some of that worthy's contentions, but we are not aware of its having had much effect. Samuel Wesley held Anglican Arminianist views. The Arminian Hugo Grotius,

5264-702: The argument that Dryden in Religio Laioi had employed against the deists, furthermore, he had, like many of his learned contemporaries, a profound respect for Hebrew culture and the sublimity of the Hebrew scriptures, going so far as to remark in the "Essay on Heroic Poetry" that "most, even of [the heathen poets'] beat Fancies and Images, as well as Names, were borrow'd from the Antient Hebrew Poetry and Divinity." In short, however faulty his particular conclusions, he had arrived at an historical viewpoint, from which it

5376-449: The believer; however, he taught that it was by faith a believer was transformed into the likeness of Christ . He held that, in this life, Christians could achieve a state where the love of God "reigned supreme in their hearts", giving them not only outward but inward holiness. Wesley's teachings, collectively known as Wesleyan theology , continue to inform the doctrine of Methodist churches. Throughout his life, Wesley remained within

5488-442: The charge that "rigorous fasting" had hastened his death, Wesley noted that Morgan had left off fasting a year and a half since. In the same letter, which was widely circulated, Wesley referred to the name "Methodist" with which "some of our neighbors are pleased to compliment us". That name was used by an anonymous author in a published pamphlet (1732) describing Wesley and his group, "The Oxford Methodists". This ministry, however,

5600-463: The church, nor did he intend to, but he must and would save as many souls as he could while alive, "without being careful about what may possibly be when I die." Although Wesley rejoiced that the Methodists in America were free, he advised his English followers to remain in the established church. The 20th-century Wesleyan scholar Albert Outler argued in his introduction to the 1964 collection John Wesley that Wesley developed his theology by using

5712-463: The city was booming with new industrial and commercial development. Because of this, there were social uproars with riots and religious troubles. About a fifth of the population were Dissenters , while many of the Anglicans possessed a religious enthusiasm that made them receptive to Wesley's message and approach. Going to the neighbouring village of Kingswood , in February 1739, Whitefield preached in

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5824-498: The clergy of the Church of England, and trying to re-establish Catholicism . Wesley felt that the church failed to call sinners to repentance , that many of the clergy were corrupt, and that people were perishing in their sins. He believed he was commissioned by God to bring about revival in the church, and no opposition, persecution, or obstacles could prevail against the divine urgency and authority of this commission. The prejudices of his High-church training, his strict notions of

5936-493: The common Rules". Though defective in its action, it was resplendent with sublime thoughts perhaps superior to any in Virgil or Homer, and full of incomparable and exquisitely moving passages. In spite of his belief that Milton's blank verse was a mistake, making for looseness and incorrectness, he borrowed lines and images from it, and in Bk. IV of The Life of Our Blessed Lord he incorporated

6048-468: The course of nearly two years in which he served as Christ Church 's parish priest. Nonetheless, Wesley's High Church ministry was controversial among the colonists and it ended in disappointment after Wesley fell in love with a young woman named Sophia (or Sophy) Hopkey. He hesitated to marry her because he felt that his first priority in Georgia was to be a missionary to the Native Americans, and he

6160-425: The day, including the abolition of slavery and support for women preachers. Although he was not a systematic theologian , Wesley argued against Calvinism and for the notion of Christian perfection , which he cited as the reason that he felt God "raised up" Methodists into existence. His evangelicalism, firmly grounded in sacramental theology, maintained that means of grace played a role in sanctification of

6272-508: The development of Wesley's ministry was to travel widely and preach outdoors , embracing Arminian doctrines . Moving across Great Britain and Ireland, he helped form and organise small Christian groups (societies and classes ) that developed intensive and personal accountability, discipleship , and religious instruction. He appointed itinerant , unordained evangelists—both women and men—to care for these groups of people. Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of

6384-424: The engagement, though this is disputed. Subsequently, Grace married John Bennett, a preacher. As the societies multiplied, they adopted the elements of an ecclesiastical system . The divide between Wesley and the Church of England widened. The question of division from the Church of England was urged by some of his preachers and societies, but most strenuously opposed by his brother Charles. Wesley refused to leave

6496-456: The essay on satire prefaced to his translation of Juvenal , published late in October 1692; Wesley's scheme appeared soon after June 1693. The Epistle to a Friend concerning Poetry is neither startling nor contemptible; it has, in fact, much more to say than the rhymed treatises on verse by Roscommon and Mulgrave. Its remarks on Genius are fresh, though tantalizing in their brevity, and it defends

6608-713: The extent of his learning. In the notes on the poem itself the author displays an interest in classical scholarship, Biblical commentary, ecclesiastical history, scientific inquiry, linguistics and philology, British antiquities, and research into the history, customs, architecture, and geography of the Holy Land; he shows, an intimate acquaintance with Grotius , Henry Hammond , Joseph Mede , Spanheim , Sherlock, Lightfoot, and Gregory, with Philo , Josephus , Fuller , Walker, Camden , and Athanasius Kircher ; and he shows an equal readiness to draw upon Ralph Cudworth 's True Intellectual System and Robert Boyle 's new theories concerning

6720-438: The fields, of which he [Whitefield] set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life till very lately so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church. Wesley was unhappy about the idea of field preaching as he believed Anglican liturgy had much to offer in its practice. Earlier in his life he would have thought that such

6832-458: The greatest living poet, but his remarks do not indicate that he ranked Dryden with Virgil, Tasso, or Milton; for he recognized as well as we that the power to embellish and to imitate successfully does not constitute the highest excellence in poetry. In the Epistle to a Friend he affirmed his admiration for Dryden's matchless style, his harmony, his lofty strains, his youthful fire, and even his wit—in

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6944-401: The idea of uninterrupted succession a "fable". Edward Stillingfleet 's Irenicon led him to decide that ordination (and holy orders ) could be valid when performed by a presbyter rather than a bishop. Nevertheless, some believe that Wesley was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1763 by Erasmus of Arcadia , and that Wesley could not openly announce his episcopal consecration without incurring

7056-418: The influence of Cowley's Davideis . Wesley's great admiration persisted after the tide had turned away from Cowley; and his liking for the "divine Herbert" and for Crashaw represented the tastes of sober and unfashionable readers. Although he professed unbounded admiration for Homer as the greatest genius in nature, in practice he seemed more inclined to follow the lead of Cowley, Virgil, and Vida. Although there

7168-429: The law of sin and death." A few weeks later, Wesley preached a sermon on the doctrine of personal salvation by faith, which was followed by another, on God's grace "free in all, and free for all." Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. Burnett writes: "The significance of Wesley's Aldersgate Experience is monumental ... Without it, the names of Wesley and Methodism would likely be nothing more than obscure footnotes in

7280-446: The main, qualities of style and expression. But by 1700 Wesley had absorbed enough of the new puritanism that was rising in England to qualify his praise; now he deprecated the looseness and indecency of the poetry, and called upon the poet to repent. One other point calls for comment. Wesley's scheme for Christian machinery in the epic, as described in the "Essay on Heroic Poetry", is remarkably similar to Dryden's. Dryden's had appeared in

7392-663: The matter. Similarly, when Rapin objects to Tasso's mingling of lyric softness in the majesty of the epic, Wesley points out sharply that no man of taste will part with the fine scenes of tender love in Tasso, Dryden, Ovid, Ariosto, and Spenser "for the sake of a fancied Regularity". He had set out to defend the Biblical epic, the Christian epic, and the propriety of Christian machines in epic, and no rules or authority could deter him. As good an example as any of his independence of mind can be seen in

7504-420: The methods and proprieties of public worship, his views of the apostolic succession and the prerogatives of the priest, even his most cherished convictions, were not allowed to stand in the way. Seeing that he and the few clergy cooperating with him could not do the work that needed to be done, Wesley was led, as early as 1739, to approve local preachers . He evaluated and approved men who were not ordained by

7616-406: The nature of light. In view of such a breadth of knowledge it is somewhat surprising to find him quoting as extensively as he does in the "Essay" from Le Bossu and Rapin, and apparently leaning heavily upon them. The "Essay" was composed at a time when the prestige of Rymer and neo-Aristotelianism in England was already declining, and though Wesley expressed some admiration for Rapin and Le Bossu, he

7728-608: The newly founded Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. In 1787, Coke and Asbury persuaded the American Methodists to refer to them as bishops rather than superintendents, overruling Wesley's objections to the change. His brother, Charles, was alarmed by the ordinations and Wesley's evolving view of the matter. He begged Wesley to stop before he had "quite broken down the bridge" and not embitter his [Charles'] last moments on earth, nor "leave an indelible blot on our memory." Wesley replied that he had not separated from

7840-458: The open air to a company of miners. Later he preached in Whitefield's Tabernacle . Wesley hesitated to accept Whitefield's call to copy this bold step. Overcoming his scruples, he preached the first time at Whitefield's invitation a sermon in the open air , at a brickyard, near St Philip's Marsh , on 2 April 1739. Wesley wrote, I could scarce reconcile myself to this strange way of preaching in

7952-562: The others they had done Foolish and Tyrannical. According to The Secret History, after the banquet a copy of the Eikon Basilike (the "Royal Portrait", supposedly printed from the diary of Charles I) was burned while "anthems" were sung. A calf's skull was filled with wine or another liquor and members toasted "The Pious Memory of those worthy Patriots that had kill'd the Tyrant, and deliver'd their Country from his Arbitrary Sway". According to

8064-582: The pages of church history." Burnett describes this event as Wesley's "Evangelical Conversion". May 24 is commemorated in Methodist churches as Aldersgate Day . Wesley allied himself with the Moravian society in Fetter Lane. In August 1738 Wesley travelled to Germany, specifically to see Herrnhut in Saxony , as he wished to study at the Moravian headquarters there. On his return to England, Wesley drew up rules for

8176-571: The penalty of the Præmunire Act . In 1784, he believed he could no longer wait for the Bishop of London to ordain someone for the American Methodists, who were without the sacraments after the American War of Independence . The Church of England had been disestablished in the United States, where it had been the state church in most of the southern colonies. The Church of England had not yet appointed

8288-498: The phrase, "a brand plucked out of the fire", quoting Zechariah 3:2 , to describe the incident. This childhood deliverance subsequently became part of the Wesley legend, attesting to his special destiny and extraordinary work. Wesley was also influenced by the reported haunting of Epworth Rectory between 1716 and 1717. The Wesley family reported frequently hearing noises and occasionally seeing apparitions which they believed were caused by

8400-462: The poem had been left incomplete. To Spenser's "thoughts" he paid the highest tribute, and to his "Expressions flowing natural and easie, with such a prodigious Poetical Copia as never any other must expect to enjoy." Like most of the Augustans Wesley did not care greatly for Paradise Regained , but he partly atoned by his praise for Paradise Lost , which was an "original" and therefore "above

8512-453: The promoter of the undertaking. His second venture in poetry, the Life of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour , an epic largely in heroic couplets with a prefatory discourse on heroic poetry, appeared in 1693, was reissued in 1694, and was honoured with a second edition in 1697. In 1695 he dutifully came forward with Elegies , lamenting the deaths of Queen Mary II and Archbishop Tillotson . An Epistle to

8624-459: The publication of Maggots , a collection of juvenile verses on trivial subjects, the preface to which apologizes to the reader because the book is neither grave nor gay. The poems appear to be an attempt to prove that poetic language can create beauty out of the most revolting subject. The first poem, "On a Maggot", is composed in hudibrastics , with a diction obviously Butlerian , and it is followed by facetious poetic dialogues and by Pindarics of

8736-530: The purpose of intensive spiritual instruction. In 1714, at age 11, Wesley was sent to the Charterhouse School in London (under the mastership of John King from 1715), where he lived the studious, methodical and, for a while, religious life in which he had been trained at home. Apart from his disciplined upbringing, a rectory fire which occurred on 9 February 1709, when Wesley was five years old, left an indelible impression. Some time after 11:00 pm,

8848-409: The question of the formidable Boileau, "What Pleasure can it be to hear the howlings of repining Lucifer?" our critic responds flippantly, "I think 'tis easier to answer than to find out what shew of Reason he had for asking it, or why Lucifer mayn't howl as pleasantly as either Cerberus, or Knoeladus." Without hesitation or apology he takes issue with Rapin's conception of Decorum in the epic. But Wesley

8960-400: The rectory roof caught on fire. Sparks falling on the children's beds and cries of "fire" from the street roused the Wesleys who managed to shepherd all their children out of the house except for John who was left stranded on an upper floor. With stairs aflame and the roof about to collapse, Wesley was lifted out of a window by a parishioner standing on another man's shoulders. Wesley later used

9072-577: The request of James Oglethorpe , who had founded the colony in 1733 on behalf of the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America . Oglethorpe wanted Wesley to be the minister of the newly formed Savannah parish , a new town laid out in accordance with the famous Oglethorpe Plan . It was on the voyage to the colonies that the Wesleys first came into contact with Moravian settlers. Wesley

9184-560: The request of the Rector of Lincoln College and to maintain his status as a junior fellow. During Wesley's absence, his younger brother Charles (1707–88) matriculated at Christ Church; along with two fellow students, he formed a small club for the purpose of study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life. On Wesley's return, he became the leader of the group which increased somewhat in number and greatly in commitment. The group met daily from six until nine for prayer , psalms , and reading of

9296-497: The right to a room at the college and regular salary. While continuing his studies, he taught Greek and philosophy, lectured on the New Testament and moderated daily disputations at the university. However, a call to ministry intruded upon his academic career. In August 1727, after completing his master's degree, Wesley returned to Epworth. His father had requested his assistance in serving the neighbouring cure of Wroot . Ordained

9408-400: The ruling body of the Methodist movement. Two years later, to help preachers work more systematically and societies receive services more regularly, Wesley appointed "helpers" to definitive circuits . Each circuit included at least 30 appointments a month. Believing that the preacher's efficiency was promoted by his being changed from one circuit to another every year or two, Wesley established

9520-504: The same year, in correspondence with a friend, he wrote that he believed it wrong to administer sacraments without having been ordained by a bishop. When, in 1746, Wesley read Lord King 's account of the primitive church, he became convinced that apostolic succession could be transmitted through not only bishops, but also presbyters (priests). He wrote that he was "a scriptural episkopos as much as many men in England." Although he believed in apostolic succession, he also once called

9632-473: The sermon of John Heylyn , whom he was assisting in the service at St Mary le Strand . Earlier that day, he had heard the choir at St Paul's Cathedral singing Psalm 130 , where the Psalmist calls to God "Out of the depths." But it was still a depressed Wesley who attended a service on the evening of 24 May. Wesley recounted his Aldersgate experience in his journal: "In the evening I went very unwillingly to

9744-474: The sick. Given the low ebb of spirituality in Oxford at that time, Wesley's group provoked a negative reaction. They were considered to be religious "enthusiasts", which in the context of the time meant religious fanatics . University wits styled them the "Holy Club", a title of derision. Currents of opposition became a furore following the mental breakdown and death of a group member, William Morgan. In response to

9856-730: The site of Manchester's Methodist Central Hall. Wesley travelled to Ireland for the first time in 1747 and continued through 1789. He rejected the Catholic Church, so he worked to convert the people of Ireland to Methodism. Overall, the numbers grew to over 15,000 by 1795. Following an illness in 1748 Wesley was nursed by a class leader and housekeeper, Grace Murray, at an orphan house in Newcastle . Taken with Grace, he invited her to travel with him to Ireland in 1749 where he believed them to be betrothed though they were never married. It has been suggested that his brother Charles Wesley objected to

9968-557: The site of the current Unitarian church ", contemporaneously with Wesley. Samuel resigned his place and his annual scholarship among the Dissenters . After that, he walked all the way to Oxford, where he enrolled at Exeter College as a "poor scholar". He functioned as a " servitor ", which means he sustained himself financially by waiting upon wealthy students. He also published a small book of poems, entitled Maggots: or Poems on Several Subjects never before Handled in 1685. The unusual title

10080-415: The societies, Wesley adopted giving tickets to members, with their names written by his own hand. These were renewed every three months. Those deemed unworthy did not receive new tickets and dropped out of the society without disturbance. The tickets were regarded as commendatory letters. When the debt on a chapel became a burden, it was proposed that one in 12 members should collect offerings regularly from

10192-530: The theory that Greek and Latin were but corrupted forms of ancient Phoenician, and that the degeneracy of Greek and Latin in turn had produced all, or most, of the present European tongues ( ibid. , p. 354). In addition, he believed that the Greeks had derived some of their thought from older civilizations, and specifically that Plato had received many of his notions from the Jews ( ibid ., p. 230)—an idea which recalls

10304-463: The windows, forc’d themselves into the house, and would probably have pull’d it down, had not the Guards been sent for to prevent further mischief. The damage done within and without the house, is computed at some hundred pounds. The Guards were posted all night in the street, for the security of the neighbourhood. Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1735) Samuel Wesley (17 December 1662 – 25 April 1735)

10416-468: Was a category of penitents which consisted of backsliders . As the number of preachers and preaching-houses increased, doctrinal and administrative matters needed to be discussed; so John and Charles Wesley, along with four other clergy and four lay preachers, met for consultation in London in 1744. This was the first Methodist conference; subsequently, the Conference (with Wesley as its president) became

10528-522: Was a clergyman of the Church of England , a poet, and a writer. He was the father of John Wesley and Charles Wesley , the founders of Methodism . Samuel Wesley was the second son of Rev. John Westley or Wesley, rector of Winterborne Whitechurch , Dorset . His mother was the daughter of John White , the rector of Trinity Church , Dorchester . Following grammar school education in Dorchester, Wesley

10640-561: Was a large Dish of Calves-heads dressed several ways; a large Pike with a small one in his mouth, as an emblem of Tiranny; a large Cods -head, by which they pretended to represent the Person of the King singly, as by the Calves-heads before, they had done him, together with all them that had suffer'd in his Cause; a Boars -head with an Apple in its mouth, to represent the King by this as Bestial, as by

10752-405: Was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism . The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day. Educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford , Wesley was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford , in 1726 and ordained as an Anglican priest two years later. At Oxford, he led

10864-439: Was at first in the hands of trustees. A large debt was contracted, and Wesley's friends urged him to keep it under his own control, so the deed was cancelled and he became sole trustee. Following this precedent, all Methodist chapels were committed in trust to him until by a "deed of declaration", all his interests in them were transferred to a body of preachers called the "Legal Hundred". When disorder arose among some members of

10976-547: Was considered the second aspect of the Quadrilateral. Wesley contended that a part of the theological method would involve experiential faith. In other words, truth would be vivified in the personal experience of Christians (overall, not individually), if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended rationally. He did not divorce faith from reason . Tradition, experience and reason, however, were subject always to Scripture, Wesley argued, because only there

11088-583: Was his favourite biblical commentator. Through his sermons, he demonstrated beliefs in the tenets of Arminianism and especially in its distinctive prevenient grace . This material was originally from the introduction of Augustan Reprint Society 's edition of Epistle to a friend concerning poetry (1700) and the Essay on Heroic Poetry (second edition, 1697) , volume 5 in the Augustan Reprint series, part of series 2, Essay on Poetry: No. 2, first printed in 1947. It

11200-470: Was influenced by their deep faith and spirituality rooted in pietism . At one point in the voyage, a storm came up and broke the mast off the ship. While the English panicked, the Moravians calmly sang hymns and prayed. This experience led Wesley to believe that the Moravians possessed an inner strength which he lacked. The deeply personal religion that the Moravian pietists practised heavily influenced Wesley and

11312-483: Was interested in the practice of clerical celibacy within early Christianity. Following her marriage to William Williamson, Wesley believed Sophia's former zeal for practising the Christian faith declined. In strictly applying the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer , Wesley denied her Communion after she failed to signify to him in advance her intention of taking it. As a result, legal proceedings against him ensued in which

11424-523: Was invited, and taking his stand in the fields, in halls, cottages, and chapels, when the churches would not receive him. Late in 1739, Wesley broke with the Moravians in London. Wesley had helped them organise the Fetter Lane Society, and those converted by his preaching and that of his brother and Whitefield had become members of their bands. But he believed they fell into heresy by supporting quietism , so he decided to form his own followers into

11536-557: Was made chaplain on a British Man-o-war . In 1690 he became curate at Newington Butts, Surrey . Then, in 1691 the rector of South Ormsby , Lincolnshire . By 1697 he was resident as rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire . In 1697 he was appointed to the living at Epworth, Lincolnshire through the benevolence of Queen Mary . He may have come to the queen's attention because of his heroic poem, "The Life of Christ" (1693). He dedicated this poem to her. Wesley's high-church liturgies, academic proclivities, and loyalist Tory politics were

11648-451: Was much in Ariosto that he enjoyed, he preferred Tasso; the irregularities in both, however, he felt bound to deplore. To Spenser's Faerie Queene he allowed extraordinary merit. If the plan of it was noble, he thought, and the mark of a comprehensive genius, yet the action of the poem seemed confused. Nevertheless, like Prior later, Wesley was inclined to suspend judgment on this point because

11760-459: Was no longer possible to regard the classical standards—much less the standards of French critics—as having the holy sanction of Nature herself. Some light is shed on the literary tastes of his period by Epistle to a friend concerning poetry (1700) and the Essay on Heroic Poetry (1697), which with a few exceptions were in accord with the prevailing current. The Life of Our Blessed Lord shows strongly

11872-620: Was not without controversy. The Holy Club ministered and maintained support for Thomas Blair who in 1732 was found guilty of sodomy . Blair was notorious among the townspeople and his fellow prisoners, and Wesley continued to support him. For all of his outward piety , Wesley sought to cultivate his inner holiness or at least his sincerity as evidence of being a true Christian. A list of "General Questions" which he developed in 1730 evolved into an elaborate grid by 1734 in which he recorded his daily activities hour-by-hour, resolutions he had broken or kept, and ranked his hourly "temper of devotion" on

11984-626: Was satirized as a mere poetaster in Garth's Dispensary , in Swift's The Battle of the Books , and in the earliest issues of the Dunciad . For a few years in the early eighteenth century, Wesley found himself in the vortex of controversy. Brought up in the dissenting tradition, he had swerved into conformity at some point during the 1680s, possibly under the influence of Tillotson, whom he greatly admired (cf. Epistle to

12096-516: Was sent away from home to prepare for ministerial training under Theophilus Gale . Gale's death in 1678 forestalled this plan. Instead, he attended another grammar school. After that, he studied at dissenting academies under Edward Veel in Stepney and then Charles Morton in Newington Green , where Gale had lived. Daniel Defoe also attended Morton's school. This school was situated "probably on

12208-535: Was so much the scholar that he appeared more the pedant than the gentleman to critics of the succeeding era; Wesley was not singular for erudition among his seventeenth-century contemporaries. The Essay on Heroic Poetry , serving as Preface to The Life of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour , reveals something of its author's erudition. Among the critics, he was familiar with Aristotle , Horace , Longinus , Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Heinsius , Bochart , Balzac , Rapin , Le Bossu , and Boileau . But this barely hints at

12320-557: Was temporarily in England awaiting permission to depart for Georgia himself. Boehler encouraged Wesley to "preach faith until you have it". Wesley's noted "Aldersgate experience" of 24 May 1738, at a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street , London, in which he heard a reading of Martin Luther 's preface to the Epistle to the Romans , revolutionised the character and method of his ministry. The previous week he had been highly impressed by

12432-470: Was the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna Wesley (née Annesley). Samuel Wesley was a graduate of the University of Oxford and a poet who, from 1696, was rector of Epworth. He married Susanna, the twenty-fifth child of Samuel Annesley , a dissenting minister, in 1689. Ultimately, she bore nineteen children, nine of whom lived beyond infancy. She and Samuel Wesley had become members of

12544-455: Was written by Edward Niles Hooker. It was published in the US without a copyright notice, which at the time meant it fell into the public domain . John Wesley Christianity • Protestantism John Wesley ( / ˈ w ɛ s l i / WESS -lee ; 28 June [ O.S. 17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791) was an English cleric , theologian , and evangelist who

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