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Charles Wesley, a biographyThe Shakespeare of hymnsCHARLES WESLEY, A BIOGRAPHY December 18 is the tercentenary of the birth of probably the greatest English hymn writer, Charles Wesley. This book is the first major biographical study for 150 years. Charles has laboured under the enduring shadow of his famous brother, John, who he affectionately knew as Jack! This is a thorough-going, well-researched treatment of his life, background, times and ministry as a major figure of the great 18th-century Evangelical Awakening, alongside his brother and the illustrious George Whitefield. To those who have read Dallimore’s Heart set free, it will take them into areas hitherto undiscovered. I have been a lifelong lover of the seraphic Wesley since first singing, ‘O for a thousand tongues’, ‘And can it be…’ and ‘Love divine, all loves excelling’. I have explored the thousands of other hymns he wrote which have now largely been forgotten… he was surely the Shakespeare of the English hymn. The book pulls no punches and details the family’s abject poverty, their father’s imprisonment for debt, John’s asceticism and flirting, the disastrous episode in the American colonies, the dysfunctional family life of Samuel and Susanna Wesley with their ten surviving children out of 19, poltergeists and arson attacks on the manse. All human life is here. Classical education and lowlife behaviour in the school and university is reviewed, together with an excellent handling of the historical and political setting of their lives. It contains extensive notes and references for those who wish to pursue them. The book honestly reveals his flaws and naivety; it is ‘warts and all’, not a hagiography. A friend early on remarked that Charles was ‘a man made for friendship’. The Holy Club period is detailed, a time when they were under the influence of Willliam Law. They later looked back on this as a time when they were seeking to be justified by the works of the law and knew little of true saving faith. It traces his spiritual experience from earliest days to his conversion in 1738. He was no stranger to controversy and the conflict with Calvinism receives a chapter. There are a number of beautiful portraits of Charles, his family and compatriots, like Cennick, Ingham and Howell Harris. The life of the evangelical church in all its parts has been and will be enriched by the rhapsodic contribution of his huge output, reflecting the wide range of biblical doctrine and Christian experience. It is considered to have been of greater influence on the revival than John’s preaching. He himself was no mean preacher, holding vast crowds in the open air on Kennington Common in the pouring rain! Lest we neglect or forsake for ever the classic golden hymnody of Charles Wesley, let us take time to dig deep into the devotional treasury of his songs, his Christ-exalting life and evangelistic ministry and severe persecutions (‘O! Let me commend my Saviour to you…’) until our souls are aflame with the same love of God. Mike Harris,
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