The Wesleys in and after Georgia

 How did John and Charles' respective experiences in Georgia contribute to the May 1738 experience? Why was this conversion so significant for each of them? What did it change?

 

John and Charles had different experiences in Georgia.  Charles spent his time on St. Simon’s Island, serving as secretary to General Oglethrope and as the priest for the new town of Frederica. Oglethorpe and Charles had a rocky relationship, and Charles’s health did not seem equal to the rough conditions of the colony.  As he left, after only six months in the colony, he wrote in his journal, “I was surprised that I felt no more joy in leaving such a scene of sorrows.”   John’s mission to Georgia was less structured than Charles.  He stayed in Georgia for two years, leaving when he was facing charges related to a young colonist named Sophy Hopkeys.  Both brothers left the colony with convictions that their missions had failed or had mediocre success at best. Their experiences were humbling. 

 

Both brothers also came to the conclusions, after conversations with Moravaians on the ship and in the colony plus after their return to England (Peter Bohler), that their faith was only based on an agreement with theology and not on an experience of assurance.  They did not feel as if they believed that they were children of God’s grace, forgiven and loved.  This is what their conversations supplied them. 

 

Charles experienced a conversion on May 21, 1738 (Pentecost).  He wrote that the Spirit of God had chased away the darkness of his unbelief.  Three days later, John experienced a heart strangely warmed.  Richard Heitzenrater wrote, “Faith as trust and confidence was no longer just a propositional truth but rather an experiential reality.”