Erin Zoromski

ST4430
Term Paper

Themes of John Wesley’s Theology of Perfection and Love in Three of Charles Wesley’s Hymns

When you think of the Methodists, what founding person do you usually associate them

with? It is John Wesley of course. Yet, his younger brother, Charles Wesley, was also there to

help with the Methodist Movement back in its day. This is who I want to bring out more because

Charles was such an inspiration when it came to writing hymns that taught and is still teaching

his brother’s theology to many people. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze and

recognize some of the theological themes or ideas from John within three of Charles’ hymns.

More specifically, John’s idea of perfection and love will be brought out of Charles’ hymns, but

there are obviously more to John’s theology than that. There will be a brief explanation of

Charles Wesley’s history to give some more background along with a brief explanation of John’s

theological ideas of perfection and love. Then those will be applied to the hymns in which have

been chosen for this purpose in order to show how John’s theology can be found within Charles’

hymns.

A Brief History of Charles Wesley

It is essential to comprehend Charles Wesley’s history before analyzing his hymns for

theological themes. In fact, “Charles Wesley, one of the most prolific hymn writers of all time,

cofounded the Methodist movement with his older brother, John.”1 Hence, making Charles’

history very similar to John’s since they have been side-by-side for a majority of their lives

together. This also affirms that Charles is very essential to the hymnology or hymn writers’

history. Therefore, here is just a brief history of Charles before moving onto some of the

1. Paul Chilcote, The Faith that Sings: Biblical Themes in the Lyrical Theology of
Charles Wesley, (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016), XI.
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theology of John.

First of all, Charles was the eighteenth child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, who born

on December 18, 1707, and John happened to be the fiftieth child making John the younger

brother.2 Clearly, Susanna did not have eighteen or more surviving children because it was

during a time when the survival rate for child was low and sickness was common. Along with

that, Charles obtained his early education from his mother where it was encouraged for his

academic writing to be more poetic.3 This could be where he learned most of his poetry writing

that has influenced his hymns. When it came to his personality and characteristics, it was said

that “Charles Wesley was more his father’s son than his mother’s son” because he was

impulsive, short-tempered, had out bursts of feeling along with being high-spirited and

emotional, but was warm and a friendly person all at the same time.4 Even his own brother, John,

once wrote that “one might as well ‘blow against the wind as try to reason with him.’”5 In other

words, Charles was an emotional people person even though he might have had a temper

problem. All of these personality and character traits have stuck with him throughout his whole

life overall.

It is known that Charles was a highly educated person like his brother, John. This is

because he was educated at Westminster School along with Christ Church College at Oxford

University in which he obtained his Bachelor’s in 1729 and his Master’s in 1733, and he was

2. John Tyson, Assist Me to Proclaim: The Life and Hymns of Charles Wesley, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 1.

3. Ibid., 6.

4. Ibid., 6-7.

5. Ibid., 7.
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even ordained an Anglican priest.6 During his time at Oxford University, he helped co-found the

Methodist movement with John where he started a small group and even wrote in his own diary.7

From my own understanding, Charles was the one that kept John in line and happened to be

stricter than John when it came to examining the members and the leaders of the societies that he

helped lead. Obviously, this lead to brotherly quarrels when it came to some theological ideas,

like the idea of perfection, but the small differences between them did not cause them to split

apart from one another.

As the Methodist movement continued forward, Charles was mainly at John’s side the

whole time. He even went on the mission to Georgia in America with John around 1735 where

Charles had to be his strict self and stop John from a love affair that he did not approve of in the

first place.8 In other words, the mission to Georgia was not a great success and Charles did not

even want to go back there ever again. After that mission and a few years later, Charles had his

conversion on May 21, 1738, and he even wrote a conversion hymn dealing with his experience

of it.9 This is mostly because hymn or poetry writing became very devotional for Charles in

which his hymns eventually obtained the purpose for worship and for teaching the Methodist

doctrines and/or theology.10 This also means his hymn writing became a personal outlet and

journal for Charles, which then leads to what he wrote about.

6. Ibid., 8-18.

7. Ibid.

8. Albert C. Outler, John Wesley, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 11-12.

9. John Tyson, Assist Me to Proclaim: The Life and Hymns of Charles Wesley, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 47-48.

10. Ibid., 57.

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As mentioned before, Charles was a hymn and poetry writer for majority of his life. To

be more specific, he produced about 180 hymns per year from 1739 until his death in 1788.11

This is 49 years of writing with about 9,000 hymns or poems throughout his life. That is a lot of

hymns for a single person to write within one’s lifetime. Similarly, Charles did not write the

music to his hymns, which were set to “popular” tunes of the time, but wrote lyrics for them

since he most likely learned to play a flute-type instrument when he was younger.12 Furthermore,

his hymns were inspired by his own personal rebirth that included his own spiritual pilgrimage,

life experiences, and personal study of the Bible along with including biblical phrases and

doctrines, which were emotional and were usually set in first-person.13 Other important themes

that Charles wrote about was on love and how “God is love” because “Scripture can be seen as

the record of God’s interaction with the people that God loves.”14 This theme of love will be

explained more in depth within the next section to come.

The Theology of Perfection and the Theme of Love

Between the two brothers, John was more of the mastermind when it came to developing

the theology of the Methodist movement. From my observation, a lot of John’s theology is a

cross between the doctrines of the Church of England and the Moravians of the time because he

was inspired by both. It is noted that John, like many of theologians, based most of their theology

11. Paul Chilcote, The Faith that Sings: Biblical Themes in the Lyrical Theology of
Charles Wesley, (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016), XV.

12. Richard P. Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodists, 2nd ed. (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 2013), 259.

13. John Tyson, Assist Me to Proclaim: The Life and Hymns of Charles Wesley, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 57.

14. Paul Chilcote, The Faith that Sings: Biblical Themes in the Lyrical Theology of
Charles Wesley, (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016), 1.
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on Scripture, because he quotes it throughout a lot of his writings. Thus, one of the most well-

known doctrines or theology John developed was perfection, which can be a difficult term to

understand fully if one does not know what John meant by it. This will be discussed next along

with the theme of love.

First of all, perfection is part of sanctification and is known as “entire” sanctification as

well, which follows the “New Birth,” and is the “foundational dimension of the facet of

sanctification for [John] Wesley.”15 In other words, it is part of the long healing process from sin

and being made holy by having a faith-filled and holy relationship with God. This then means

that perfection cannot be done by humans alone since we need to receive God’s Divine grace.16

This is mostly because it is difficult to have a one-sided relationship with God or it would not be

a true relationship by human standards at least. Additionally, perfection is described as another

term for “holiness” since it does not excuse people from being ignorant or from making

mistakes.17 Hence, making it still possible for humans to sin or to have temptation, but they are

not ruled by it during the journey to perfection. Along with that, there are no degrees of

perfection, but there are degrees of faith that leads up to it in which a person still needs to “grow

in grace” to become a mature Christian.18 In other words, you are either at perfection or not

while the person who is trying to obtain perfection is constantly growing and learning more

15. Randy L. Maddox, Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology,

(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994), 176.

16. Randy L. Maddox, Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology,

(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994), 189.

17. Albert C. Outler, John Wesley, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), 258.

18. Ibid.
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about God. It is an instantons transition with gradual growth before and after too.19 A simpler

way to think of this is that we start out as children of God and we continue on the path to

perfection or entire sanctification by maturing and becoming more adult-like within our Christian

identities.20

Love has a huge part in perfection because it all starts from God’s love that is constantly

pouring out to us humans. It is more importantly to note that love is governing and one of the

driving foundations.21 Additionally, perfection can also be noted as “perfect love.”22 This is

because the goal for Christians is to have God’s love perfectly, which is all the time, and to have

our love perfectly for God and for our neighbors. This would then create the perfect relationship

because of that love. Along with that, perfection is rooted in the Scriptures in which both

brothers agreed to, which is Matthew 22:37-39 on loving God and loving the neighbor.23 Charles

described perfection as “the potential triumph of God’s grace and power of a whole-hearted love

of God and neighbor to displace all lesser loves and to overcome the remains of sin,” in which

John agreed to as well.24 Charles also believed that faith leads to love which then leads to

happiness.25 Thus, making “perfect love” a sensible term for perfection and this shows how

19. Randy L. Maddox, Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology,

(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994), 188.

20. Ibid., 187.

21. Ibid.

22. Paul Chilcote, The Faith that Sings: Biblical Themes in the Lyrical Theology of
Charles Wesley, (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016), 122.

23. Ibid.

24. Ibid., 123.

24. Ibid., 122.

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important love is when it comes to the this concept of perfection within sanctification.

Perfection and the Themes of Love Within Charles Wesley’s Hymns

Now, it is time to bring out John’s theology or doctrine of perfection along with the

themes of love that happen to be closely related. As mentioned before, Charles hymns reflect the

theme of love. More importantly, perfection or the “quest for love” was a huge influence on his

hymns more than anything else.26 This would make sense since it seems at first glance that a lot

of his hymns have this theme of love within them. However, I have only focused on a three of

Charles’ hymns that are found in the Episcopal Church’s hymnal called The Hymnal 1982. This

is because I grew up in the Episcopal Church, so this makes the hymns I have selected very

familiar to me. The hymns that I have chosen are Hymn #638: (“Come, O thou Traveler

unknown”), Hymn #657 (“Love divine, all loves excelling”), and Hymn #704 (“O thou who

camest from above”). I would similarly like to note that there are about twenty or so hymns

written by Charles within this hymnal. Yet, John’s theology of perfection along with the theme

of love is still prevalent within these hymns, even though they are considered to be more

“Methodist.”

Hymn #638: (“Come, O thou Traveler unknown”)27

Hymn #638 seems to be a modest way to show perfection as a journey or quest for love,

which appears to be gradual. This is because the first verse begins with the narrator not knowing

who the traveler is and happens to be all alone. It goes like this: “Come, O thou Traveler

unknown, / whom still I hold, but cannot see; / my company before is gone, / and I am left alone

26. Paul Chilcote, The Faith that Sings: Biblical Themes in the Lyrical Theology of
Charles Wesley, (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016), 122.

27. The Hymnal 1982, (New York, NY: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1985), #638.
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with thee. / With thee all night I mean to stay, / and wrestle till the break of day.”28 Then the next

verse goes into some more questioning, but they know that they have been called by God. In a

way, the words express some urgency because of wanting to know right now, so this could

reflect an uncertain time in someone’s journey onto perfection. Then the third verse admits that

they are weak and needs the traveler to speak to their heart. There is even a sense of hope and

faith when the narrator wants to know if the traveler is Love, which it is capitalized so this is

most likely God’s love or Divine love. It says this towards the end of this verse, “Speak, or thou

never hence shalt move, / and tell me, if thy name is Love.”29 Then the last verse for this hymn

admits to having a realization or finally knows who the traveler is, which is Love because they

finally heard with their heart. “Pure Universal Love” is even mentioned in this verse.30 This

could mean that God’s name is Love, which is perfect and is given worldwide. This could also

possibly show some of God’s character or nature as love as well. Overall, this hymn

demonstrations a gradual growth when it comes to realizing God’s love since it seems to go from

the unknown to the known, which can then possibly compare to the immature to the mature

Christian in perfection.

Hymn #657 (“Love divine, all loves excelling”)31

Hymn #657 noticeably contains the theology of perfection along with the theme of love.

This hymns comes off as a triumphant praise song about love and has become one of my favorite

28. Ibid.

29. Ibid.

30. Ibid.

31. The Hymnal 1982, (New York, NY: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1985), #657.
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hymns recently. The first verse is basically about proclaiming Jesus, who is also love, that came

down and is considered pure. That is just showing how perfect Jesus really is in which we want

to strive for because of his love for us. The second verse is very similar when it comes to adoring

Jesus, but the last line of the verse mentions this: “pray, and praise thee without ceasing, / glory

in thy perfect love.”32 Understandably, this is showing that Jesus is perfect love, but that there is

glory in it as well, and this perfect love and/or perfection is what humans strive for when it

comes to sanctification too. Along with that, the last verse in the hymn seems to go from

sanctification to hoping for glorification towards the end. The last verse goes like this: “Finish

then thy new creation; / pure and spotless let us be; / let us see thy great salvation / perfectly

restored in thee: / changed from glory / into glory, / till in heaven we take our place, / till we cast

our crowns before thee, / lost in wonder, love, and praise.”33 Therefore, this hymn might have

more love themes within it than perfection, but it does suggest being perfectly restored which

could be a part of it. Either way, this hymn expresses the narrators’ love and praise to Jesus and

God.

Hymn #704: (“O thou who camest from above”)34

Hymn #704 appears to be less evident when it comes to perfection, but there is a sense of

love within its words. This hymn mainly has the narrator or singer call out for Jesus’ guidance

and for the fire within one’s heart to be set ablaze with passion. The first verse goes as follows:

“O thou who camest from above / the fire celestial to impart, / kindle a flame of sacred love / on

32. Ibid.

33. Ibid.

34. The Hymnal 1982, (New York, NY: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1985), #704.
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the mean altar of my heart.”35 The love theme is demonstrated with along with the fire imagery

to help give a more stunning visual to the hymn. The “heart to be set ablaze with passion” part

could possibly reflect John Wesley’s conversion experience, and this could possibly be how

Charles felt, when he states “I felt my heart strangely warmed.”36 This also displays God’s love

reaching out to them when it comes to the gradual way to perfection. In a way, love or the

perfect love in which one is trying to obtain, is being compared to a fire or a flame being ignited

by God. Along with that, the rest of the hymn goes on with love as a fire image and even calling

this fire “holy fire.” In the last verse, it is said at the at the beginning, “Still let me prove they

perfect will…”37 In which it means that they are referring to Jesus and his perfection. Then the

final verse finishes out as it says, “my acts of faith and love repeat / till death they endless

mercies seal / and make the sacrifice complete.”38 In other words, the singer admits to repeating

acts of faith and love throughout their life until death in order to glorify what Jesus has done,

which is the sacrifice for his love. They are able to do these acts of faith and love because of

Jesus too, which could be on their way to perfection or entire sanctification.

Conclusion

As it is now demonstrated through the three hymn examples, Charles Wesley’s hymns

reflect John Wesley’s theology of perfection along with the theme of love. This was an important

theological concept for Charles, since so many of his hymns mention love and even go into detail

about perfection or entire sanctification. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to analyze and

35. Ibid.

36. Albert C. Outler, John Wesley, (New York: Oxford Unversity Press, 1964), 66.

37. The Hymnal 1982, (New York, NY: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1985), #704.

38. Ibid.
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recognize some of the theological themes or ideas from John within a few of Charles’ hymns.

More specifically, John’s idea of perfection and love was brought out of Charles’ three hymns,

even though there are obviously more to John’s theology than that. This discovery of John’s

theology within Charles’ hymns were first lead by a brief history of Charles’ life, which seemed

similar to John’s, along with the explanation of what the doctrine or theology of perfection truly

is, which is part of sanctification. This is to make sure that there was a better understanding

about Charles’ history and perfection before analyzing the hymns. Hopefully this inspires more

analyzations of Charles’ hymns in order to see what other of John’s theology and themes are

present within them. In the end, Charles’ hymns could possibly encourage anyone who is

following this idea to continue their gradual journey onto perfection.

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Bibliography

Chilcote, Paul. The Faith that Sings: Biblical Themes in the Lyrical Theology of Charles Wesley.
Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016.

Heitzenrater, Richard P. Wesley and the People Called Methodists. 2nd ed. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2013.

The Hymnal 1982. New York, NY: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1985.

Maddox, Randy L. Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology. Nashville, TN:
Abingdon Press, 1994.

Outler, Albert C. John Wesley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964.

Tyson, John. Assist Me to Proclaim: The Life and Hymns of Charles Wesley. Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 2008.