George Whitefield: A Biography

Who were the men that revived religion in England a hundred years ago? What were their names, that we may do them honor? Where were they born? How were they educated? What are the leading facts in their lives? What was their special department of labor? To these questions I wish to supply some answers in the present and future chapters.

I pity the man who takes no interest in such inquiries. The instruments that God employs to do His work in the world deserve a close inspection. The man who did not care to look at the rams horns that blew down Jericho, the hammer and nail that slew Sisera, the lamps and trumpets of Gideon, the sling and stone of David, might fairly be set down as a cold and heartless person.

Of all the spiritual heroes of a hundred years ago, none saw so soon as George Whitefield what the times demanded, and none were so forward in the great work of spiritual aggression. I would think I committed an act of injustice if I placed any name before his.