The center for Wesleyan studies at Duke university has a project dedicated to the collection of hymns published by John and Charles Wesley. Easy place to see their prolific works listed chronologically and download PDF’s of the original and modern adaptations.
http://divinity.duke.edu/initiatives-centers/cswt/wesley-texts/wesley-works-editorial-project
I would encourage any songwriter to study this list and notice the breadth of topics taken up. Despite the Wesley’s theological differences with Whitfield and some of the tenants of reformed theology they understood the power of verse to inform and form their congregations in every facet of their spiritual and personal lives. It’s pretty overwhelming to grasp both their biblical and cultural savvy.
- They wrote from the words and stories of scripture – Isaiah and Psalms
- They wrote from the struggles and sorrows of their people – from birth to death
- They wrote from the catastrophe’s of their congregation’s world – in earthquake, fire, and flood
- They wrote across the life of Christ from Incarnation to ascension to return.
- They wrote for the calendar of life and church – new years and Christmas
- They wrote for the family – hymns for children and family worship
- They wrote thematically and liturgically – baptism, Lord’s Supper, gloria patri
- They wrote theologically – songs for the Trinity, etc.
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Here is the list of Charles Wesley’s published works in chronological order…
Primary Sources in Chronological Order
| 1739 | Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739) – CW Verse | [original] | [modern] | |
| “Universal Redemption” (1739) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1740 | Means of Grace (1740) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Life of Faith (1740) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1741 | Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1741) – CW Verse | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymns on God’s Everlasting Love (1741) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| “Promise of Sanctification” (1741) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1742 | Hymns on God’s Everlasting Love, 2nd series (1742) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Whole Armour of God (1742) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Taking of Jericho (1742) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Elegy on Robert Jones (1742) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Fourteenth Chapter of Isaiah (1742) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Thanksgiving for Colliers (1742) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymn for Condemned Prisoners (1742) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1743 | CPH (1743) – CW Psalms | [original] | [modern] | |
| “Prayer for Those Convinced of Sin” (1743) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| “Primitive Christianity” (1743) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymn for Christmas Day (1743) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1744 | Moral and Sacred Poems, 3:206ff (1744) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymns for Times of Trouble (1744) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymns for Times of Trouble and Persecution (1744) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| “Bloody Issue” (1744) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymns for Christmas Day (1744) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1745 | “Act of Devotion” (1745) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymns on the Lord’s Supper (1745) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymns in Difference with Moravians (1745) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymns from Jeremiah (1745) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymns in Word in Season (1745) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Nativity Hymns (1745) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Hymns in Word to a Protestant (1745) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| “Hymns for 1745” | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1746 | Funeral Hymns (1746) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Resurrection Hymns (1746) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Ascension Hymns (1746) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Whitsunday Hymns (1746) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Festival Hymns (1746) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Thanksgiving Hymns (1746) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Gloria Patri (1746) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Graces (1746) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1747 | Hymn at the Sacrament (1747) | [original] | [modern] | |
| “Person Bearing Testimony” (1747) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Redemption Hymns (1747) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1749 | Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749), Vol. 1 | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749), Vol. 2 | [original] | [modern] | ||
| New Year’s Hymns (1749) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1750 | Earthquake Hymns, Pt. I (1750) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Earthquake Hymns, Pt. II (1750) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| “Death of Thomas Hogg” (1750) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1755 | Epistle to the Rev. John Wesley (1755) | [original] | [modern] | |
| “Catholic Love” (1755) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1756 | “Hymn on the Lisbon Earthquake” (1756) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymns for the Year 1756 | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Additional “Hymns for 1756” | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1758 | Intercession Hymns (1758) | [original] | [modern] | |
| 1759 | Intercession Hymns (1759) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Funeral Hymns (1759) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Invasion Hymns (1759) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| “Hymn for the People of Custrin” (1759) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| Thanksgiving Hymns (1759) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1760 | “Hymns for the Methodist Preachers” (1760) | [original] | [modern] | |
| 1762 | Scripture Hymns (1762), Vol. 1 | [original] | [modern] | |
| Scripture Hymns (1762), Vol. 2 | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1763 | Hymns for Children (1763) | [original] | [modern] | |
| 1767 | Family Hymns (1767) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Trinity Hymns (1767) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1770 | “Hymn for Mary Langson” (1770) | [original] | [modern] | |
| “Hymn for Whitefield” (1770) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1771 | Elegy on Whitefield (1771) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Epistle to Whitefield (1771) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1772 | Preparation for Death (1772) | [original] | [modern] | |
| 1778 | Arminian Magazine (1778–87) | [original] | [modern] | |
| 1779 | Ode on Dr. Boyce (1779) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymn for John Wesley (1779) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1780 | Tumult Hymns (1780) | [original] | [modern] | |
| 1781 | Protestant Association (1781) | [original] | [modern] | |
| Hymns for the Nation (1781) | [original] | [modern] | ||
| 1782 | Hymns for the National Fast (1782) | [original] | [modern] | |
| 1785 | Prayers for Condemned Malefactors (1785) | [original] | [modern] |
This is fantastic, Bruce. Thanks for pulling it together in summarized form.
Thanks for bringing this all together. As a Pastor in a Wesleyan Church I’m looking forward to ploughing through it all.
Dan, glad you found it. nice blog by the way! Downloading “Hope for a Tree Cut Down” now.
Just a bit of history to explain my gratitude. I was raised in a Calvinist church in Wales, am ministering in a Arminian (Wesleyan) Church in Canada. Though I am Arminian, I have a deep respect and love for my Calvinist brothers and sisters. I have become increasingly aware of the plethora of resources available for Calvinist pastors / church (hymn books, Westminster Confession of Faith, Calvin’s Institutes, works by Spurgeon, Whitefield et al, Reformed Praise, Sovereign Grace music, Indelible Grace as well as books by Sproul, Packer, Piper, Driscoll etc ), whilst simultaneously seeing the apparent lack of such easily-accessible resources for the Arminian church, celebrating it’s orthodox theological distinctives.
So to find an exhaustive hub of the Wesleys hymnody such as this gives me further opportunity to mine the wealth of the legacy of these brothers.
Cheers!
Dan
PS Glad you like the blog – hope you enjoy “Hope for a tree cut down”
Quick question: I’ve scanned a couple of the “original” and “modern” versions and can’t see any immediate difference. What is the difference?
Dan, I looked through them as well curious what ‘modern’ meant. I think the majority of the changes are places where their english used various spellings that are pretty different than ours. using ‘ff’ instead of our ‘s’, etc. If you find other stuff let me know.