Robertson, A.T.
Description
North Wales in the early part of the nineteenth century provides a striking instance of the way in which a spiritual revolution can change the whole direction of a people and a society. Equally striking was the agency which brought the prevailing religious indifference and lawlessness to an end: it was the preaching of the gospel by men without position or influence like John Elias (1774-1841), Under the preaching of Elias, the outlook of thousands was permanently changed. They not only heard of the crucifixion of Christ, but felt that they had seen it. ‘I felt’, said one hearer, ‘as if the earth shook for miles around me.’
This account by Edward Morgan traces the life and ministry of Elias from his first religious impressions until the day when 10, 000 attended his funeral in Anglessey, the scene of most of his labours.
Here, in days of revival, forty-four chapels were built in forty years. To Elias’ life and the lessons to be drawn from it are added his letters and other papers originally published as a separate volume. Previously published by the Trust in this form in 1973, the Life, Letters, and Essays of John Elias is now reckoned among Christian classics.
Table of Contents:
LIFE | ||
1 | Elias’s origin, education and early serious impressions | 3 |
2 | Elias becomes more decided – enters the Welsh Methodist Connexion – his public ministry | 16 |
3 | Elias at the commencement of his ministry – his desire for learning and knowledge | 30 |
4 | Elias’s removal to Anglesey – the state of religion there and the great alteration therein at his departure | 42 |
5 | Elias’s marriage – his family – education of his children | 56 |
6 | Elias’s difficulties, afflictions and oppositions | 75 |
7 | Elias’s ministerial character – his intellectual and delineating powers in preaching | 95 |
8 | Illustrations of Elias’s great powers – testimonies to his success | 111 |
9 | Of Elias’s zeal in the cause of religion | 132 |
10 | Elias’s exertions for the Bible and the London Missionary Societies – Sunday schools – the temperance cause | 147 |
11 | Elias’s second marriage – his private character – catholic spirit | 162 |
12 | Elias’s declining years and happy end | 175 |
LETTERS | ||
To Mrs Elizabeth Elias, his first wife | 187 | |
To his daughter, Phoebe Elias | 189 | |
To his children after the death of his first wife | 195 | |
To his daughter after her marriage | 197 | |
To his son, John Elias | 204 | |
To Lady Bulkeley | 216 | |
To the Rev W. Roberts | 219 | |
To a sister-in-law | 221 | |
To Mr Thomas Owen, prisoner in France | 223 | |
To the Church of God in London | 226 | |
To Mrs Jones and Mrs Davies, London | 242 | |
To the Church of God in Liverpool- Mr John Roberts | 245 | |
To Mr John Jones, a preacher at Liverpool | 253 | |
To the Rev Henry Rees | 258 | |
To the Rev Robert Jones, Ty Bwlcyn | 260 | |
To Mr Daniel Jones, a preacher at Liverpool | 261 | |
To the Church of God in America | 262 | |
To the Association at Denbigh | 275 | |
To the Church in America in 1840 | 278 | |
To Mrs Jones of Wrexham | 282 | |
To Miss Rogers, afterwards Mrs Davies, of Carnachen-wen | 296 | |
To Mrs Foulkes of Machynlleth | 304 | |
To Mrs Lloyd of Beaumaris | 310 | |
To Mrs Roberts of Caernarvon | 311 | |
To W. R. Roberts, Esq, Surgeon of Caernarvon | 313 | |
To a clergyman | 316 | |
ESSAYS | ||
1 | Thoughts on the Bible | 337 |
2 | On the use of reason | 343 |
3 | On preaching the gospel | 349 |
4 | On the important subject of the ministry | 353 |
5 | On hearing the Gospel | 356 |
6 | On the moral inability of man | 362 |
7 | On the obligations of man | 368 |
8 | On government and the sin of despising it | 372 |
OTHER PAPERS | ||
1 | Documents on the better observance of the Sabbath | 381 |
2 | Papers showing the loyalty of Elias | 385 |
3 | Short account of the death of Mr John Lloyd | 388 |
4 | On singing | 392 |
OBSERVATIONS ON ELIAS’S WRITINGS | ||
1 | On the Sabbath | 397 |
2 | Justification | 399 |
3 | On hardening under religious privileges | 401 |
4 | Advantages of the yoke to young people | 404 |
5 | A sermon on the death of faithful ministers | 406 |
6 | A sermon on the death of King George III | 409 |
7 | A sermon on the death of the Duke of York | 411 |
Index | 413 |
Endorsement
"In John Elias: Life, Letters and Essays we are confronted with a spiritual giant – a reminder to us that our great God can raise great men for His church from the humblest of circumstances. Letters, essays and biography combine to give a rounded picture of one who was ‘a burning and shining light’. A most important book. Buy it. Read it. You will be spiritually much richer." — HYWEL R. JONES