Early Methodists Under Persecution

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1916 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XI THE UNIVERSITY AND THE METHODISTS It is well known that the three great leaders of the Methodist movement were associated together at Oxford University, and that it was there that the name "Methodist" was first applied to them, and to the group with which they were associated, and which they had gathered about themselves. In order to understand better the relationship of events at Oxford a few dates will be helpful. In 1720 John Wesley was elected a student at Christ Church College, Oxford;1 in 1725, August 19, he was ordained deacon by Dr. Potter, Bishop of Oxford;2 on March 17, 1726, he was elected Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford;8 and at the same time his brother, Charles, was elected a student of Christ Church College.4 John Wesley proceeded to the Master of Arts February 14, 1727,5 and from August of that year he was his father's curate at Wroote till November, 1729, when he returned to the university, where he remained till he sailed for America. From the time of his election as a student in 1726, Charles Wesley remained at Oxford continually till he, with his brother, sailed for Georgia in 1735. Notwithstanding the influence of his brother, Charles Wesley admitted that his first year at Oxford was lost in diversions. Later, however, he became studious and serious. By study, by devotions, and by correspondence with his brother, who was then his father's curate, he sought the best method of procedure. In due time he became settled in his religious convictions, and 'John Whitehead, Life of John Wesley, vol. i, p. 235. JIbid., p. 244. 'Ibid., p. 246. 'Ibid., p. 72. "Ibid., p. 252. shortly afterward gathered about himself a small group of friends, who were of the same mind. He says of himself: "I went to the weekly...

Excerpt from Early Methodists Under Persecution This work was undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining, SO far as possible, the actual extent of the suffering of the early Methodists, and of their struggle against persecution. It deals only with events in the British Isles and covers the life of the Rev. John Wesley. There was persecution after his death, but by that time the crisis had passed and Methodism had become SO thoroughly established that there was no longer any possibility of crushing it. Therefore what followed, though extremely trying, was more incidental. At the beginning of the task the hope was entertained of making this a source book of facts, but the abundance of material soon made this plan impracticable. Were all the material to be used which is at hand, it would make a volume of twice this Size. Therefore this does not purport to be a complete account. For the sake of brevity some material has been omitted entirely, and wherever possible, nearly all has been abridged. In some in stances narratives have been broken for this purpose. However, it is believed that enough is given, both to Show the extent of the sufferings of the Methodists, and to portray the spirit of their persecutors. In the search for material nothing has been found anywhere that would suggest an outline for the work, or that would direct the student to the sources. It seems to be almost entirely an unexplored field. It has been necessary, therefore, to handle volume after volume wherever material seemed likely to be found. Between two and three thousand volumes have thus been re viewed. Also such English periodicals as refer to the subject and could be found have been consulted. Of the three collections Of pamphlets relating to the early Methodists, and found in this country, all have been carefully examined. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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The subject of persecution in the early Church, treated as a whole, has been somewhat neglected by English writers. The legal aspects of the matter, the relations of the Church to the Empire, and the nature of the courts and procedure by which the Christians were condemned have been fully dealt with in the researches of Ramsay, Hardy, and others . . . Persecution also, treated merely from the standpoint of the Church, the experiences of the martyrs, has, of course, never lacked presentation in this country from the days of Foxe onward . . . [A] treatment of the subject as a whole, in its legal, historical, ecclesiastical, and experiential aspects, is what I have attempted in the following pages . . . While I trust that no aspect of the subject has been neglected, special attention has been drawn to those aspects of the inner life of the Church which led to persecution. Contents 1. The Master and His Disciples 2. Casesar or Christ 3. The Causes of Hatred 4. The Great Persecution 5. The Experiences of the Persecuted