Susanna Wesley
This is the story of Susanna Wesley, 1669-1742 Mother of Charles and John Wesley, who were founders of the Methodist Church. Susanna and her husband, Samuel, had nineteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Her son Charles became a well-known hymn writer and her son John became the found of Methodism. Susanna was brought up in a Puritan home as the youngest of twenty-five children. As a teenager, she became a member of the Church of England. She became the wife of a chronically debt-ridden parish rector in an English village. She said, "I have had a large experience of what the world calls adverse fortune." Nonetheless, Susanna managed to pass down to her children Christian principles that stayed with them.
This is the story of Susanna Wesley, 1669-1742 Mother of Charles and John Wesley, who were founders of the Methodist Church. Susanna and her husband, Samuel, had nineteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Her son Charles became a well-known hymn writer and her son John became the found of Methodism.
Susanna was brought up in a Puritan home as the youngest of twenty-five children. As a teenager, she became a member of the Church of England. She became the wife of a chronically debt-ridden parish rector in an English village. She said, "I have had a large experience of what the world calls adverse fortune." Nonetheless, Susanna managed to pass down to her children Christian principles that stayed with them.
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FIRE AND PERIL. 85<br />
it is the custom of the country in which they live, or<br />
because their parents do so, or their worldly interest<br />
is thereby secured or advanced,<br />
will never be able<br />
to stand in the day of temptation, nor shall they<br />
-ever enter into the kingdom of Heaven. And though,<br />
perhaps, you cannot at present comprehend<br />
all I shall<br />
say, yet keep this letter by you, and as you grow in<br />
years your reason and judgment will improve, and you<br />
will obtain a more clear understanding in all things.<br />
" You have already been instructed in some of the<br />
first principles of religion : that there is one, and but<br />
one God ;<br />
that in the unity of the Godhead there are<br />
three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ;<br />
that this God ought to be worshipped. You have<br />
learned some prayers, your creed and catechism, in<br />
which is briefly comprehended your duty to God, yourself,<br />
and your neighbour. But, Sukey,<br />
it is not learning<br />
these things by heart, nor your saying a few<br />
prayers morning and night, that will bring you to<br />
heaven ; you must understand what you say, and you<br />
must practise what you know ;<br />
and since knowledge<br />
is requisite in order to practice, I shall endeavour,<br />
after as plain a manner as I can, to instruct you in<br />
some of those fundamental points which are most<br />
necessary to be known, and most easy to be understood.<br />
And I earnestly beseech the great Father<br />
of spirits to guide your mind into the way<br />
of truth.<br />
" I cannot tell whether you have ever seriously considered<br />
the lost and miserable condition you are in by<br />
nature. If you have not, it is high time to begin to<br />
do it; and I shall earnestly beseech the Almighty
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