Friday, May 24, 2024

It is the 24th of May 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

The 18th century in English religious history is the century of Wesley and Whitfield. It is certainly the “Augustan” age with Alexander Pope, and it is the beginning of the age of revolutions that will rock England and the rest of the world. But in England, when it comes to the Christian church, the 1700s belonged to the Wesley’s, and we can track figures in this era based on their relationship to John and Charles, the famous preachers and hymn writers. They were initially in the church of England only to expand beyond that communion with their worldwide connections, often under the name “methodists”. Whitefield, the oft-mentioned early “celebrity preacher” in the UK and the Colonies, had a similar affective faith as Wesley but as a Calvinist opposed to Wesley’s doctrines of universal salvation (which isn’t that all are saved, but that all have the opportunity to be saved). It is in the mix that we come across one of the more curious characters of the age in the English church and Wesley/Whitfield matrix. He would become a famous hymn writer after a tumultuous life inside the church and out. He was Joseph Hart, born in 1712 in London to pious parents- likely non-conformists or at least Anglicans with a penchant for hearing the new out of doors and traveling non-conformist preachers.

Joseph was raised in the faith but would soon depart from it. To give this biography a degree of difficulty, we have very little written by Hart except for a very curious spiritual autobiography as the preface to the 1st and 3rd editions of his hymns. He tells us in this preface that at about 21, he became despondent. He understood the faith and affirmed the basic doctrines. But, he wrote, he became “a loose backslider, an audacious apostate, a bold-faced rebel, for nine or ten years; not only committing acts of lewdness myself but infecting others with the poison of my delusions. I published several pieces on different subjects, chiefly translations of the ancient heathens”. He had translated some ancient Greek- he was at one time considering a career in languages.

In his retelling of his faith and lack of faith, he is always wrestling intellectually with Christianity but was forever waffling on whether or not he could be saved. In the 1740s, as Whitfield was in London, his parents and some friends began to hear him preach. There is some evidence that Hart believed himself enough of a believer to publish his first religious tract- an unmemorable and uncharitable work entitled “The Unreasonableness of Religion, being Remarks and Animadversions on the Rev. John Wesley’s Sermon on Rom. viii. 32.”

I tracked it down through the magic of the internet to 1) see if Animadversion was the word used- yes, it means “critical response” and 2) to read a wooden defense of a particular atonement (Christ died for the elect) against Wesley’s universal atonement.

The early 1750s saw another change in Hart. According to his own writing, he began taking the scriptures and prayer more seriously. He married (he and his wife would have 5 surviving children), and he began attending church services when Whitfield preached at the Tottenham Court Road Chapel. But he still suffered from despondency. It wasn’t until Pentecost in 1757 that he heard a sermon on Revelation 3:10 that consoled him- the verse: “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.”

He would be tested by his own sickness and that in his family, but no longer despondent, he believed himself to be in union with Christ. He began to write not theological treatises but hymns extolling both the doctrines of Christ and their value for him personally. His 1759 collection “Hart’s Hymns” became a favorite, and he was compelled in his 48th year to enter the ministry. Being a nonconformist, he didn’t need the trappings of an Anglican education or ordination, and he was ordained with public acclaim by the “Olde Meeting House” at St. John’s Court. He would preach until his death on this, the 24th of May in 1768, at the age of 56. Multiple reports say about 20,000 attended his funeral, and he was buried in Bunhill Fields- the famous cemetery for non-conformists that numbers the likes of Bunyan, Dafoe, Watts, and Blake.

He had a curious life with a curious recollection of his religious vicissitudes. He nonetheless left us with a spiritual autobiography and a collection of hymns, the most famous you will hear in a minute- today, we remember Joseph Hart.  

 

 The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and Hart’s hymn “Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy.”

 

1 Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

weak and wounded, sick and sore;

Jesus ready stands to save you,

full of pity, love, and pow'r.

 

2 Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,

God's free bounty glorify;

true belief and true repentance,

every grace that brings you nigh.

 

3 Let not conscience make you linger,

nor of fitness fondly dream;

all the fitness He requireth

is to feel your need of Him.

 

4 Come, ye weary, heavy laden,

lost and ruined by the fall;

if you tarry till you're better,

you will never come at all.

 

5 Lo! th'incarnate God, ascended,

pleads the merit of His blood;

venture on Him, venture wholly;

let no other trust intrude.

 

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 24th of May 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite notable Hart’s include Joseph, Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s Melissa Joan Hart, and Canada’s sunglasses at night wearing Corey Hart- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man trying not to make another wrestling comment about the Hart Foundation, Brett Hart, Brett Hart’s sharpshooter, or his cool wrap-around sunglasses…. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.