John Wesley: A Personal Portrait

by Ralph Waller

May 2003 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of John Wesley. This is a beautifully written biography intended for a general audience. While not at all hagiographical, the book leads one to admire Wesley immensely. He traveled throughout the British Isles more than anyone in history. Reviled early on during his plein air evangelical crusades, he became deeply loved in old age by all sectors of the population. While the book has a slightly British cast to it (which is unavoidable given the extent of Wesley's travels throughout Britain), it gives adequate coverage to his period in the American colonies.

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very readable account of the life of John Wesley, the man. Full of personal stories, insights from his correspondence, indications of theological development, sidebars to his involvements in medicine, education, prison reform and full, absolutely full, of his emotional struggles. I came away with a much greater sense of appreciation of John Wesley's personal life. Why did he keep getting into threesomes with semi-attached women? Often portrayed as the friend of all, he had notable and repeated splits with spiritual allies, including (almost) with his brother Charles, though actually there is much less than I had expected about his relationship with Charles. One of the things I particularly liked about reading the book (and it is very easily read) was the way that it triggered connections and other thoughts - reading about his move to open-air preaching under the influence of George Whitefield made me think about how he would have operated as a blogger now-a-days. As you will appreciate, I enjoyed this short book. The small investment of time, brought a healthy return in stimulating my thinking.

[Eddy Ekofo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book of a great man of God, loved it!