BOOK REVIEW - ASSIST ME TO PROCLAIM: THE LIFE AND HYMNS OF CHARLES WESLEY BY JOHN R. TYSON (HYMNISTS PART 2 OF 2)

 

Who is Charles Wesley? You may know him as the younger brother of founder of the Methodist Church (though some, including the author consider the brothers co-founders, while I've read one person that said George Whitefield was the founder but left the movement to the Wesleys to keep from dividing the movement). You may be a little more familiar with Charles than you think, though: he wrote thousand of hymns including "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing" (where the author took his title from), "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!", "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus," and "And Can It Be That I Should Gain."

There are some biographies that seem a little deep and that I need to work through. This one is an example. It is basically chronological,but the chapters deal with various topics, such as the controversy with Calvinism, Wesley's marriage and family, the persecution endured by the Church of England and how the brothers disagreed about remaining a part of the Church of England.

Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts are probably the best known hymn writers, and it was interesting comparing the two. (The library also has a biography on Watt: Isaac Watts: His Life And Thoughts by Graham Benyon - excellent book.) The chapter on Wesley's poetry compares the styles of writing. Also, both Charles Wesley and Watts were both preachers as well as hymn writers. Likewise, both wrote the words to the songs but not the music. Another interesting note - both John R. Tyson in this book and Benyon wrote on the subjects of their doctoral dissertations.

How familiar are you with Charles Wesley? Do you have a favorite hymn that he wrote?

BOOK REVIEW - ISAAC WATTS: HIS LIFE AND THOUGHT BY GRAHAM BENYON (HYMNISTS PART 1 OF 2)

 

My hunch is that if I asked someone what they think about Isaac Watts, they'd either answer, "He's a great hymnwriter" or "Who's Isaac Watts?" As one who, before reading this book, would be in the former category - after all, he's written hymns like "Joy To The World," "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross," "I Sing the Mighty Power of God," and "Alas And Did My Savior Bleed" (aka "At the Cross") - I learned there's a lot more to this gentleman.

Graham Benyon wrote his doctoral dissertation about Watts, but he wrote this book in such a way I would not hesitate recommending it to a middle schooler to read. Benyon did a good job of making this easy to understand and enjoyable to read. This is fitting for a biography for Watts, because he wrote songs for younger people as well as his classic hymns. He also wrote catachisms, and made his age appropriate for different ages.

You may know that Watts only wrote hymn lyrics, using meters for existing tunes, which was common for that day (Charles Wesley did the same). Watts also was a pastor, a teacher, and an apologist. When he saw something that he thought should be done better, he'd do that better. For example, he wrote a book on logic which was used at Oxford, Cambridge, and Yale, titled "Logic: The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry After Truth." That logic book is available on Amazon.

Watts saw the church of his day being so afraid of being over emotional (in those days, they called it being enthusiastic), and encouraged revival. In the areas of preaching, prayer (private and public) and singing, he encouraged doing it with understanding and reason and also from the heart, with godly emotion.

This is my favorite biography, and I highly recommend it.