Charles Wesley
1707-1788 18th century
Doctrine set to song so that busy hands can pray it.
Who was Charles Wesley?
John's younger brother, he founded with him at Oxford the small group mockingly called "the Methodists". An Anglican priest, he preached for years in fields, prisons and mines, then settled at Bristol with his wife Sarah and their children, five of whom died in infancy; he ended his life in London, where he died. He wrote nearly six thousand hymns, often on horseback, in pocket notebooks.
In their own words
O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace!
Jesu, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down; fix in us thy humble dwelling.