The Life of John Wesley

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