John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life is a six-week study on John Wesley, the major themes of his theology, the spread of Wesleyanism to North America, and renewal in the Wesleyan tradition. Chapters include reflection questions. The Study Guide offers step-by-step plans for each session. Charles Yrigoyen, Jr., a retired clergy member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference has been a local church pastor, college teacher and chaplain, and for twenty-four years the General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and history. He has taught at five theological seminaries and has written or edited eight books and numerous articles. (rtf photo available) John Wesley Holiness of Heart and Life By Charles Yrigoyen Jr. Abingdon Press Copyright © 1996 Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-687-05686-6 Contents Introduction, CHAPTER 1 John Wesley: A Person of Faith in an Age of Need Some Questions for Reflection and Discussion, CHAPTER 2 "Plain Truth": Main Themes in John Wesley's Theology Some Questions for Reflection and Discussion, CHAPTER 3 "Works of Piety": Spiritual Formation in the Wesleyan Tradition Some Questions for Reflection and Discussion, CHAPTER 4 "Works of Mercy": The Practice of the Holy Life and the Transformation of Society Some Questions for Reflection and Discussion, CHAPTER 5 Wesley's People in North America Some Questions for Reflection and Discussion, CHAPTER 6 Renewal in the Wesleyan Tradition Some Questions for Reflection and Discussion, Glossary, Study Guide, Selected Bibliography, CHAPTER 1 JOHN WESLEY A Person of Faith in an Age of Need On his 85th birthday, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, paused to reflect on his life and ministry. He wrote in his journal for June 28, 1788 (old calendar): It is true I am not so agile as I was in times past. I do not run or walk so fast as I did; my sight is a little decayed; my left eye is grown dim, and hardly serves me to read; I have daily some pain in the ball of my right eye, as also in my right temple ... and in my right shoulder and arm, which I impute partly to a strain, and partly to the rheumatism. I find likewise some decay in my memory in regard to names and things lately passed, but not at all with regard to what I have read or heard twenty, forty, or sixty years ago; neither do I find any decay in my hearing, smell, taste, or appetite (though I want but a third ... of the food I did once); nor do I feel any such thing as weariness, either in traveling or preaching; and I am not conscious of any decay in writing sermons, which I do as readily, and, I believe, as correctly, as ever. (Journal, June 28, 1788) During the next week, the elderly Wesley kept the same energetic pace that had marked his ministry for more than fifty years. He preached sixteen times in twelve different towns. He attributed his extraordinary spiritual keenness and physical strength to God's power at work in his life, the vital prayers and support of his brothers and sisters in the faith, and his disciplined life. Who was this man whose faith and ministry inspired thousands of people in his time, who decisively changed religion and society in the eighteenth century and after, and who is considered the spiritual parent of a worldwide community of churches with approximately thirty million members in 96 countries? John Wesley was born June 17, 1703 (new calendar), in the small town of Epworth in Lincolnshire in northeastern England. His life encompassed almost the entire eighteenth century, an era in which major changes were occurring, especially in England and North America. It is difficult to give a brief description of eighteenth-century English life. Nevertheless, we must try to understand it in order to provide the historical context for the life and ministry of John Wesley. Eighteenth-century England was politically more stable than during the previous century, when there was a bloody civil war. Political strife continued between the two major parties, the conservative Tories and the reformist Whigs. England's military and economic strength were on the ascendant. The population of England in the early eighteenth century numbered about five million; by the end of the century it had increased to more than eight million. About 10 percent of the populace lived in London, a great many in severe poverty. No other English city came close to London in size; although by the century's end the number of towns and cities and their population were growing, especially industrial centers like Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds. Life in the cities and larger towns was precarious, especially for the numerous poor. Regular employment was uncertain. Housing was often inadequate and unaffordable. The poorer sections of the cities were usually overcrowded, ramshackle slums of filth and squalor. Sanitation was primitive. Merchants and families discarded their refuse in the streets and rivers, where it decayed with