Wesley Corpus

Hymns in Difference with Moravians (1745)1 Baker list, 100 Editorial Introduction: Tensions emerged between the Wesley brothers and the English Moravians early in the revival, particularly concerning the importance of the "means of grace" see Means of Grace (1740). This led to a split at the Fetter Lane Society in 1741. The separation lowered tension for a while. Then, in the spring of 1745 John and Charles Wesley began a systematic visitation of Methodists in London. Sensing that the "quietism" of the Moravians was creeping back in among their followers, in late May the brothers published A Short View of the Difference between the Moravian Brethren, lately in England, and the Rev. Mr. John and Charles Wesley. This pamphlet opens with an excerpt from John's Journal that covered the earlier struggles. It includes an English translation of John's conversation with Nikolaus von Zinzendorf on September 3, 1741 (which had been left in Latin in the Journal). This is followed by a summary of the distinctive teachings of the Moravians from the perspective of, and signed by, both Wesley brothers. The pamphlet then concludes with six hymns (pp. 17-24), all new. While authorship is not identified in the pamphlet, one was placed by Charles in Redemption Hymns (1747), and four of the remaining hymns were included by his collected Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749) verifying his pen as the source of at least these five. Editions: John and Charles Wesley. A Short View of the Difference between the Moravian Brethren, lately in England, and the Rev. Mr. John and Charles Wesley. London: Strahan, 1745. Dublin: Powell, 1747. 2nd Bristol: Farley, 1748. In 1758 John Wesley excerpted the section of Short View that distilled Moravian teaching, to place it in Preservative against Unsettled Notions in Religion. The hymns were not included in this new setting, and thus were not reprinted as this collection again. Table of Contents "Ask and it shall be given you." (Matthew 7:7) "But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet," etc. (Matthew 6:6) "Thou meetest those that remember thee in thy ways." (Isaiah 64:5) "Men OUGHT always to pray and not to faint." (Luke 18:1) A Prayer for Believers in Temptation For Those that are Turned out of the Way