Tag: Charles Wesley

Interesting, Theology2 Comments

“The Horrible Decree” by Charles Wesley

georgepwood

Charles Wesley was a prolific hymnist, with approximately 9000 hymns and sacred poems to his name. Among my favorites are “And Can It Be?” and “O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing!” Welsey–along with his brother John–were also a theological polemicist, however, who wrote his polemics into his songs. One of his most blunt anti-Calvinist hymns is “The Horrible Decree,” which refers to the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement. Here’s the text of the hymn, not exactly in honor of Calvin’s birthday, but apropos of it nonetheless. [1] Ah! Gentle, gracious Dove, And art thou griev’d in me, That sinners … Continue reading “The Horrible Decree” by Charles Wesley

Book Reviews2 Comments

A Commendable Hagiography that Needs to Be Supplemented with Critical Biographies

georgepwood

Arnold D. Dallimore, George Whitefield: God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1990; reprinted, 2010). The 18th Century produced evangelicalism’s greatest theologian (Jonathan Edwards), evangelist (George Whitefield), organizer (John Wesley), and songwriter (Charles Wesley). These four represent evangelicalism at its best: trans-Atlantic cooperation across theological lines, a burning zeal for evangelism, and a concomitant commitment to social reform (especially in John Wesley’s case). But they also evince the deepest theological fault line within evangelicalism, between Calvinists and Arminians, and demonstrate the ongoing tensions between the church and parachurch ministries. Edwards, being dead, still … Continue reading A Commendable Hagiography that Needs to Be Supplemented with Critical Biographies