Wesley Corpus

To hear in what manner God “ out of darkness commanded this light to shine,” must be agreeable to all those in every nation, who can testify from their own experience, “ The gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous acts, that they ought to be had in remembrance.” I shall therefore here subjoin the substance of several conversations, which I had at Hernhuth, chiefly on this subject. And may many be incited hereby to give praise “ unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever !” It was on August 10, (old style,) that I had an opportunity of spending some hours with Curist1an Davin. He is a carpenter by trade, more than middle aged, though I believe not fifty yet. Most of his words I understood well; if at any time I did not, one of the brethren who went with me, explained them in Latin. The substance of what he spoke, I immediately after wrote down; which was as follows :-- “ When I was young, I was much troubled at hearing some affirm that the Pope was Antichrist. JI read the Lutheran books writ against the ‘Papists, and the Popish books writ against the Lutherans. I easily saw that the Papists were in the wrong; but not that the Lutherans were in the right. I could not understand what they meant by being justified by faith, by faith alone, by faith without works. Neither did I like their talking so much of Christ. Then I began to think, How can Christ be the Son of God? But the more I reasoned with myself upon it, the more confused I was, till at last I loathed the very name of Christ. I could not bear to mention it. J hated the sound of it; and would never willingly have either read or heard it. In this temper I left Moravia, and wandered through many countries, seeking rest, but finding none. “In these wanderings I fellamong some Jews. Their objections against the New Testament threw me into fresh doubts. At last I set myself to read over the Old Testament, and see if the prophecies therein contained were fulfilled. Iwas soon convinced they were. And thus much I gained,-- a fixed belief that Jesus was the Christ.