ebooks The Cultural Politics of U.S. Immigration: Gender; Race; and Media (Nation of Nations) by Leah Perry in History

Description

John Wesley (1703-1791) was a Church of England cleric and theologian who; through open-air preaching with his brother Charles; founded the Methodist movement. He added to his Journal on a daily basis; and it constitutes 26 volumes in entirety. An author; evangelist; preacher; organizer; theologian; and pietist; Wesley is arguably one of the most important Christian voices of the 18th century. Christians continue to be influenced by him nearly three centuries later. He was a founder of the Methodist movement; and was used by God to spread the gospel to countless souls. The Journal of John Wesley is composed of 50 years of Wesley’s reflections. These writings offer a first person view of the thoughts; feelings; and prayers of a man whose intelligence and organizational skills were only surpassed by his enthusiasm for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of his thoughts during a storm while returning to England from America; he admits he thought; "I went to America to convert the Indians; but oh! who shall convert me? who; what is he that will deliver me from this evil heart of mischief?... in a storm I think; 'What; if the gospel be not true? Then thou art of all men most foolish. For what hast thou given thy goods; thine ease; thy friends; thy reputation; thy country; thy life?... A dream! a cunningly devised fable!'" He also wrote; "God in Scripture commands me... to instruct the ignorant; reform the wicked; confirm the virtuous. Man forbids me to do this in another's parish; that is; in effect; to do it at all; seeing I have now no parish of my own; nor probably ever shall. Whom then shall I hear; God or man? ... I look upon all the world as my parish..." In another passage; he recalled; "As we were riding through a village called Sticklepath; one stopped me in the street and asked abruptly; 'Is not thy name John Wesley?' Immediately two or three more came up and told me I must stop there... I found they were called Quakers: but that hurt not me; seeing the love of God was in their hearts." He also notes; wryly; "It is now about eighteen years since I began writing and printing books; and how much in that time have I gained by printing? ... I had gained by printing and preaching together a debt of twelve hundred and thirty-six pounds." He reasons; "The danger was to regard extraordinary circumstances too much; such as outcries; convulsions; visions; trances; as if these were essential to the inward work; so that it could not go on without them. Perhaps the danger is; to regard them too little; to condemn them altogether; to imagine they had nothing of God in them." John Wesley's Journal is one of the great spiritual "classics"; and this collection contains a broad selection of them.