Lived 1703 - 1791
John Wesley was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian who was the founder of the Methodist movement. He was born on June 17, 1703, in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England. Wesley was a brilliant organiser and formed societies divided into classes and bands for intensive accountability and religious instruction. Methodists, under Wesley’s direction, became leaders in many social justice issues of the day including prison reform and abolitionist movements. Wesley also helped to grow a religious study group called the “Methodists” while at Oxford University. The group was known for their frequent communion services and for fasting two days a week. Toward the end of his life he was widely respected. Wesley died on March 2nd 1791 in London at the age of 87.
Also see: John Wesley's books on Goodreads.
John Wesley’s Accountability Discipleship Groups
(16 pages)“Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another…”
“Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
An Address To The Clergy
(22 pages)A short but valuable Book that reveals the heart of John Wesley’s message to pastors. Beginning at a point of real humility, Wesley considers the gifts of the Spirit and the grace of Jesus.
Classes and Societies
(14 pages)Classes and Societies” by Wesley is a book that explores the rise of the United Society in London and other places. The book details the formation of fellowship meetings among newly won converts and the organization of Wesleyan Methodism. Wesley’s account was first published in 1743 as a preface to The Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies.
The Use of Money
(10 pages)A sermon. “I say unto you, Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations.”
A plain account of Christian perfection
(31 pages)John Wesley’s “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection” is a collection of his writings on the doctrine of Christian perfection, or the goal of achieving the fullest possible love of God and neighbor. The book contains Wesley’s teachings on the subject from the year 1725 to 1777.
The Journal of John Wesley
(287 pages)Spanning some fifty-five years, John Wesley’s voluminous Journal records the daily tribulations experienced in travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles in the 18th century. These selections present an engrossing portrait of Wesley during the course of his travels and evangelical activities, illuminating the preacher’s views and opinions on a host of contemporary matters. Begun as a public vindication of his early spiritual and pastoral work in Oxford and America, Wesley’s journal became a means of keeping far-flung outposts of Methodism in touch with one another, a device for administering encouragement and rebukes, and a textbook of the experiential religion Wesley spent his life proclaiming. Wesley’s eclectic interests and passion for rational analysis also make the Journal a rich source for any reader interested in observing the conditions and values of Augustan society–particularly those of the lower classes–through the eyes of a well-educated and intelligent gentleman of the time.