A Quick Sketch of the Captivating Charles Wesley Quiz

Answer: England

Charles Wesley was born in England and spent practically all his life there, with the exception of a few months in the United States. He was born De­cem­ber 18, 1707 in Ep­worth, Lin­coln­shire and died March 29, 1788 in Lon­don. He is buried at Ma­ry­le­bone Par­ish Church in Lon­don.

According to Wikipedia, Wesley was appointed Secretary of Indian Affairs in 1735 for the Georgia Colony but left less than a year later as "he was largely rejected by the settlers."

Answer: John

His famous older brother was John Wesley, who co-founded the evangelical Christian movement known as Methodism. Wikipedia states John Wesley's work and writings played a leading role in the development of the Holiness movement and Pentecostalism. The Website also states a key step in the development of John Wesley's ministry was to travel and preach outdoors.

Answer: More than 6,000

Charles Wesley is credited with writing more than 6,000 hymns and many of them remain popular today. A Website operated by Reigate Methodist Church reports congregation members as well as other Christians in the community were surveyed to determine Wesley's top ten hymns. The top ten are:
1.) 'Love Divine, All Loves Excelling'
2.) 'And Can It Be That I Should Gain'
3.) 'O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing'
4.) 'O Thou Who Camest From Above'
5.) 'Christ the Lord Is Risen Today'
6.) 'Ye Servants of God'
7.) 'All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord'
8.) 'Jesus the Name High Over All'
9.) 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'
10.) 'Rejoice the Lord is King'
Reigate Methodist Church is in the heart of Reigate, a market town in Surrey, England.

According to Christianity.com, Charles Wesley, like Martin Luther, believed hymns were a means of teaching theology.

"He composed an average of three hymns a week," the Website reports. "They covered every area of theology as well as every season of the liturgical year."

Answer: Battle Hymn of the Republic

'Battle Hymn of the Republic', often known as 'Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory' outside the United States, was written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861.

The three other hymns were all written by Charles Wesley. And co-incidentally, all three hymns -- 'O Four A Thousand Tongues to Sing', 'Hark! the Herald Angels Sing' and 'Christ the Lord Is Risen Today' -- were all written in 1739.

'Hark! the Herald Angels Sing' is often heard during the Christmas season while 'Christ the Lord Is Risen Today' is a mainstay with many Christians at Easter services.

Answer: True

Charles Wesley and his older brother John Wesley were "zealous" preachers, according to the Website Christianity.com.

"They were determined that the unreached masses would hear the Gospel, so they preached everywhere -- in the open fields, prisons, to coal miners at the pit heads," Christianity.com reports. "This kind of thing just wasn't done in respectable church circles then in England. But the message and the music of the Wesleys reached the desperate, downtrodden, and often gin-besotted underclass in England and some historians speculate that the ministry of the Wesleys brought such far-reaching changes that it may have enabled England to avoid a bloody revolution such as occurred in France in that same century."

Answer: Full of praise

If there is a common theme with Charles Wesley's hymns, it is the fact they are full of praise.

Christianity.com explains things this way: "Hymn singing was very important to the evangelical revival in the eighteenth century; hymns were both a means of expressing joy and teaching scriptural truth. Charles Wesley's hymns often paraphrased Scripture as well as the Anglican Prayer Book. They were always full of praise, and they continue to enrich us today. It is difficult to imagine a hymnbook without hymns such as Charles Wesley's 'O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing', 'Rejoice, the Lord Is King', 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul', and 'Hark! the Herald Angels Sing'."

Answer: Jesus Lover of My Soul

Henry Ward Beecher was especially fond of Charles Wesley's hymn 'Jesus Lover of My Soul'. The Website Stempublishing.com gives this explanation: "The great American writer, Henry Ward Beecher, declared, 'I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley's, 'Jesus, Lover of my soul' than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on earth. It is more glorious and has more power in it. That hymn will go on singing until the last trump; and I think it will mount up on some lip to the very presence of God'."

Here are the words to the hymn 'Jesus Lover of My Soul':

"Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall-Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity."

Answer: True

Charles Wesley's son Samuel Wesley (1766-1837) was a noted organist and composer in the late Georgian period. According to Wikipedia, Samuel Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756-1791) and was called by some "the English Mozart."

Meanwhile, Samuel Wesley's son and Charles Wesley's grandson, Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876) was famous for being one of the top organists in Great Britain. "Famous in his lifetime as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters, he composed almost exclusively for the Church of England, which continues to cherish his memory," Wikipedia states. "His better-known anthems include 'Thou Wilt Keep Him In Perfect Peace' and 'Wash Me Thoroughly'."

Answer: Ireland

Ireland is the correct answer. The stamp was issued November 15, 2007,to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley. The stamp was designed by Steve Simpson, based on a painting entitled The Lily Portrait. The stamp's value was 78 cents, the rate for international letters up to 100g.

Answer: True

Yes. In 1995 he was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee by the Gospel Music Association. The induction came 207 years after his death, but his hymns remain popular today. Others who have been inducted posthumously into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame include John Newton and Fanny Crosby.