A Brand from the Burning: The Life of John Wesley - Hardcover

Hattersley, Roy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316860204 ISBN 13: 9780316860208

Publisher: Little, Brown, 2002

Synopsis

John Wesley led the Second English Reformation. His Methodist 'Connexion' was divided from the Church of England, not by dogma and doctrine but by the new relationship which it created between clergy and people. Throughout a life tortured by doubt about true faith and tormented by a series of bizarre relationships with women, Wesley kept his promise to 'live and die an ordained priest of the Established Church'. However by the end of the long pilgrimage - from the Oxford Holy Club through colonial Georgia to every market place in England - he knew that separation was inevitable. But he could not have realised that his influence on the new industrial working class would play a major part in shaping society during the century of Britain's greatest power and influence and that Methodism would become a worldwide religion and the inspiration of 20th century television evangelism.

About this title

Review:

A Brand from the Burning weaves together the personal, theological, political and spiritual elements in the life of John Wesley to reflect the spirit of his age and the impact he had upon it. Roy Hattersley approaches writing with the same verve and commitment that marked his political career. Always one for plain talking and a brisk sense of humour, he also has a sense of proportion both about himself and the wider world. Having authored Blood and Fire, the biography of William and Catherine Booth, the Christian social reformers who founded the Salvation Army, Hattersley turns an observant and affectionate eye on John Wesley. As a Labour politician, he is naturally interested in the impact of the Methodist movement on the social and political scene of Britain. He traces Wesley's fascinating life to show how an itinerant preacher became "one of the architects of the modern world".

John Wesley's beginning in the Anglican rectory and his enthusiasm for the Christian faith at Oxford led to his becoming a missionary to the nascent colony of Georgia. There he found God in a new way and came back to preach a revivalist message across Britain. Out of this fiery movement the Methodist Church was established and it has been claimed that because of Wesley's work Britain experienced a spiritual revival rather than a bloody revolution. Roy Hattersley writes clear, straightforward prose and tells the story of Wesley with a spark of the same zeal and charisma that Wesley himself must have had. --Dwight Longenecker

Review:

This is a first-class biography, lucid and always interesting... Hattersley asks all the right questions and seems incapable of writing a dull page. (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY)

Roy Hattersley has written a full and fair biography. (NEW STATESMAN)

He can fashion an anecdote out of even the dreariest theological dispute. Indeed, a gossipy politician is the right man for the job. (MAIL ON SUNDAY)

An intellectually and theologically compelling portrait (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY)

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0316860204
• ISBN 13: 9780316860208
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464