George Whitefield – A founder of the Methodist Movement
2
George Whitefield – A founder of the Methodist Movement Extracted from “A New History of Methodism” Among the men of the eighteenth century George Whitefield stands apart. At sixteen he was a tapster; at twenty-six he was the most brilliant and popular preacher the modern world has ever known. The secret of his power must always remain to a la rg e extent a mys te ry . His pub lish ed sermons make the reader wonder if it really exis te d. His journals fa il to re ve al th e att rac tiv ene ss of hi s perso nal ity . Eve n the estimates of his conte mpor aries leave one per pl exe d and al mos t inc red ul ous. Yet the extraordi nar y pow er of the man is beyond question, and no history of the Evangelical Rev iva l woul d be compl ete wi tho ut some record of his life and work. The world owes an untold debt to unknown men. Very few know even the name of Henry Scougal, whose little book on The Life of Godin the Soul of Man first awakened Whitefield to th e fact that there is a de ep sp ir it ua l experience which labours and austerities, however strenuous, can never secure. It was a new revelation, for, when he read that true religion is a union of the soul with God, or Christ formed within us, a ray of divine light instantaneously darted in upon his soul, and from that moment, but not till then, did he know that he must be a new creature. Emancipation did not come at once. The Wesle ys, at thi s time, were complete strangers to the truth which, in a few years time, was to become the great theme of their preaching; and, led by them, Whitefield for months plodded painfully along the arid road of rule and ritual pietism. But it is worthy of note, and one of the out sta ndi ng fac ts of White fie ld’s lif e, tha t he was the fir st to ent er into the li vin g experience which before long was to become the joy of thousands. A study of his life as a whole inevitably suggests comparison with the other great personality of the Evangelical Revival. John Wesley and George Whitefield are linked inseparabl y in thought as the foremost leaders of the movement. Yet, friends and co- workers as they were, they were men of entirely different temperaments. Both were necessary. Had either been wanting, the movement would have suffered. They were complementary one to the other. Whitefield was a man of emotion and impulse. Wesley was the embodiment of self- control, swift to obey only what appealed to his reason. Whitefield was carried away by the storm of feeling his own eloquence provoked; Wesley was calm and self- possessed though thousands were in frenzy around him. Whitefield gave to the new movement a warmth and glow that it might never have possessed without him. Unconventional, unfettered by tradition, fearless of opposition, he opened up paths along which his co-workers would never have ventured on their own initiative. In broad-minded tolerance, also, he led the way; for while Wesley, with high-handed bigo try, was excommun icat ing Dissenters in Geor gia, Whit efield was hol ding the most brotherly intercourse with the Dissenters of London.
George Whitefield – A founder of the Methodist Movement
