Biography of Charles Wesley

The English hymn writer and preacher Charles Wesley (1707-1788) joined his brother John in starting Methodism and composed thousands of hymns to express its religious ideals.

Charles Wesley was born on Dec. 18, 1707, the eighteenth child of the rector of the Anglican church in Epworth, Lincolnshire. All 19 Wesley children received individual weekly instructions in religious matters from their mother, who gave them some of her own independent spirit. Although Charles was bright, he wasted much of his energy looking for good times when he began his studies at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1726. In 1729, after he had settled down, Charles, his older brother John, and several other Oxford students formed the Holy Club, for the purpose of studying the Bible and receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The group soon became known as the "Methodists" because of the regularity of their religious activities.

By the time Wesley received his master's degree in 1733, he had proved himself an excellent scholar and a master of Latin. In 1735 he was ordained a priest in the Church of England. With his brother John he left England for the New World. He became secretary to Col. James Oglethorpe, governor of the colony of Georgia. But he had a hard time adapting to Georgia's climate and had to return to England the next year.

In the spring of 1738 Wesley experienced a profound religious awakening. He became vividly convinced of the power of the New Testament message of salvation and saw more clearly than ever before how faith in Jesus Christ could change one's life. For the next 50 years Wesley brought this message to as many people as he could, particularly to the poor and uneducated workers in London's slums. Along with his brother and their "Methodist" friends from Oxford, Wesley preached that the value of one's life is to be measured by his faith and decent sober conduct, rather than by his church attendance. Many Anglican officials were displeased by the Methodists' approach. Less devout people often ridiculed their fervent preaching. After Wesley married in 1749, he lived for a while in Bristol, where opposition to his ideals was less severe, but 12 years later he resumed his preaching in London.

Wesley was a master of the English language. Over the years of his ministry he wrote some 6,500 hymns to spread the New Testament message as he understood it. When he died in London on March 29, 1788, he was known as a preacher of great power and wisdom. Many of his hymns (among them Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Jesus, Lover of My Soul) are sung in churches today, and it is for them that he is famous.

Further Reading

• The most recent and readable biography is by Frederick C. Gill, Charles Wesley: The First Methodist (1964). A deeper insight into Wesley's character can be gained from Frank Baker, Charles Wesley as Revealed by His Letters (1948). John E. Rattenbury, The Eucharistic Hymns of John and Charles Wesley (1948), analyzes the religious ideas behind Wesley's principal contribution to the Church.
• Dallimore, Arnold A., A heart set free: the life of Charles Wesley, Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1988.
• Mitchell, T. Crichton, Charles Wesley: man with the dancing heart, Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1994.
• Wesley, Charles, Charles Wesley: a reader, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
• Wilder, Franklin, The Methodist riots: the testing of Charles Wesley, Great Neck, N.Y.: Todd & Honeywell, 1981.