Today would have been John Wesley's 313th birthday. The Anglican minister and theologian is credited with the foundation of Methodism, and was much loved and respected both in his time and today.
Wesley placed huge value on social justice, and under his direction Methodists went on to lead movements on numerous social issues including education, prison reform and the abolition of slavery.
He was actually born on 17 June 1703, but the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752 meant that 11 days were added and Wesley began celebrating his birthday on June 28. According to Kenneth Collins' John Wesley: A theological journey, he did so "usually with boastful comments about his excellent health". He eventually died aged 87 in March 1791.
1. "I want the whole Christ for my Saviour, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship and the whole world for my mission field."
2. "Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can."
3. "Catch on fire and others will love to come watch you burn."
4 . "Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth."
5. "Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God's money will I keep for myself?"
6. "It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I; I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more soul?"
7. "God does nothing except in response to believing prayer."
8. "Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences."
9. "No outward practices will stand in the place of the new birth. Nothing under heaven will stand in its place."
10. "When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me."
