TED NOFFS (right) with former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, at the Life Education Centre.

The Reverend TED NOFFS of the WAYSIDE CHAPEL, KINGS CROSS, SYDNEY

By JULIAN HANCOCK It is now a number of years since the Reverend Ted Noffs, best known for his tireless campaign to save young people from the scourge of illicit drugs, passed away after a long period of almost vegetable-like existence following a severe stroke early in 1987. But the work he started 40 years ago at the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross, Sydney, continues to grow, and his unique interpretation of practical Christianity has touched the lives of countless thousands of people. The best known project originating from the Wayside Chapel is the Life Education Centre, a distinctive approach to the drug problem through preventive education. This program, conceived and developed by Ted Noffs, is now established and spreading throughout Australia, and in several overseas countries. Less well known, but by no means less significant, are the many other contributions Mr Noffs has made in the field of practical spirituality. I have been personally involved with the Wayside Chapel since its inception in 1964, and thus can give a first-hand account of the impact this great Australian has made both on individuals and on society. It would be quite reasonable to say that the Reverend Ted Noffs fought a one man battle against the conservatism of the Christian Church in Australia. He took on the collective forces of orthodoxy, and won a substantial victory. Over the years he has been accused of heresy, of harbouring drug addicts and criminals, of being a non-Christian, and has quietly suffered many other slanderous insinuations. But in the long term his accusers have retreated into a humbled silence in the face of the very obvious and outstanding humanitarian work he had achieved. Ted Noffs was always an innovator. Space prohibits me from listing all the “firsts” for which he has been responsible, but I will mention a few: 1963: Established, and first president of, Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs. 1964: Opened the Wayside Chapel with its drop-in coffee shop, where all were welcomed, regardless of beliefs, political affiliations, age, social status, etc. 1966: Led Protests in Sydney against French nuclear testing on Mururoa Atoll. 1967: Established Australia’s first Drug Referral Centre, where persons with drug problems could seek help, with immunity from prosecution. 1968: Introduced concept of the Family of Man (now known as the Family of Humanity) as a way of transcending religious differences. 1969: Opened Australia’s first 24-hour Crisis Centre, where people could call in personally, rather than just receive telephone counselling. 1970: Initiated Breakfast Program, with mobile unit, for Aboriginal children in Redfern, Sydney. 1976: Instituted the Naming Celebration, as an alternative to the traditional Christening. 1979: Opened the first Life Education Centre. Whilst always emphasising his preference for practical Christianity rather than theology, Mr Noffs nevertheless evolved a profound spiritual philosophy of his own. The most visible manifestation of this is seen in the Naming Celebration, which he introduced as an alternative to the traditional Christening. Appalled by the proportion of major and bloody conflicts around the world which are based on differences of religion, Mr Noffs developed the idea of the Family of Humanity. He reasoned that each time a small child is Christened into a particular denomination or faith, that child is marked for life as “different” from those of other faiths. So he began “naming” children into the Family of Humanity, according to the following creed: I am a Catholic, I am a Protestant, I am a Jew, I am a Muslim, I am a Sikh, I am a Buddhist, I am a Hindu, because I am a human being and nothing in the world can be alien to me. Questions to which parents are asked to respond at the Naming Celebration include: “Will you give your child access to the teachings of all religions and philosophies, so that your child may come to an understanding of the meaning and importance of people like Jesus who gave hope to the world?” “Will you see to it that no obstacles be placed in the way of fulfilment of your child’s potentiality?” The validity of the Naming Celebration as a Christian sacrament was challenged by the Uniting Church, but Ted presented a paper to the synod and won yet another victory. Ironically, this maverick clergyman has “named” (or baptised) many thousands of children, while a typical parson would baptize only a handful or so in a year. I have had a long, albeit intermittent association with the Christian Church in many of its cloaks:—Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Catholic, Pentecostal, etc. It has been, and remains, somewhat of a love/hate relationship. I love the sound of the organ and the singing of hymns, and I recognise and respect the basic decency of most church-going Christians. But almost invariably have I squirmed throughout the inevitable 20—-30 minute sermon. When it hasn'’t been just plain boring and repetitive, it has been full of dogmas and assumptions which I feel are a travesty of the real message and meaning of Jesus the Christ. My quandary was resolved when I began attending services at the Wayside Chapel. There was the organ music, the familiar hymns, the sincere people, the atmosphere of reverence. Refreshingly absent, however, was the long, boring, theologically irritating sermon. Ted’s sermons, usually based on a reading from the New Testament, were always concise, inspiring, and quite free of those annoying (to me) orthodox dogmas. Week after week he exhorted the members of the congregation to recognize their own innate Christ-nature, and said that through this alone could we deal with our problems and realize our dreams. Both Ted Noffs and his wife Margaret have believed for many years in familiar “esoteric” concepts such as reincarnation and karma. Although Ted occasionally hinted at these beliefs during a church service, he did not actively preach anything more than practical Christian love, and the fact, so clearly stated in the New Testament, that we are all sons and daughters of God. Almost invariably I found that those who accused him of being a heretic or non-Christian, had never attended a church service to hear what he ACTUALLY preached, but were relying on distorted here-say. But enough of MY interpretation of his beliefs. I will let the man speak for himself through some of his writings. In his own words: "Many years ago at the Wayside Chapel I had my first encounter with the Sikh community, with the Jewish community, with the Baha’i community, with the Theosophical Society, with the Catholic Church, and, eventually, Muslims, Buddhists, Hare Krishnas, all found their way to my door. The astonishing thing that I observed was this: as long as we stayed away from discussing fine theological points, we were in complete unity. As we directed programs together, our people intermingled and shared with one another to achieve common objectives. Projects aimed at feeding the hungry Aboriginal children of the inner-city Sydney suburb of Redfern brought people of diverse faiths together for one purpose: to alleviate human suffering.”(1) "More than ever before we have to make our peace, not with some human enemy, but with nature herself. Often in the name of Christianity we declared war upon nature. Harmony with nature must be one of our watchwords now, for the continuation of life depends upon it. Yet it is only at this midnight hour in human history that we are beginning to see that the proliferation of positive simple acts, growing out of a sensitive harmony between one another, is essential if mankind is to survive. Salvation for Jesus meant, among other things, the survival of life on the planet earth: unless there was enough harmony in the world to act as a lubricant between millions of human beings in a continual state of interaction, then the whole human family would grind to a catastrophic end.”(2) "When parents, when boys and girls celebrate the fact that they belong to one family, is not that the beginning of a new wisdom that the world has never known? "Therefore let us celebrate the goodness to be found in all religions, and bring it to the treasurehouse of the Family of Humanity. "“We share in the richness of the heritage of all faiths. Saint Francis of Assisi, Wesley, Mohammed, General Booth, the Guru Nanak, Albert Schweitzer, Confucius, Martin Luther King, Socrates and Ghandi are the common heroes of every child.”(3) " “. . . all of you fundamentally and spiritually are God's. That’s the fundamental aspect. I wish everybody could believe most of all in themselves. When I express this thought, people say, ‘Oh, you’re being humanistic,’ and they think that I am all kinds of things. They say that I’m being atheistic, because I am putting God aside. No, I am not. God is within you. God is part of your life. We could spend a great deal of time on this, but let me urge you to believe this concept more than anything else in the world. God is the healing power, the witnessing power, within every human life.”"(4) Theodore Delwin Noffs was born at Mudgee, NSW, on August 14, 1926, of German pioneering stock. He was married in 1951 to deaconess Margaret Tipping, and has three sons, Wesley, David and Theodore. After first training to be an engineer, he was drawn to the Methodist Church through the youth movement and was ordained as a Methodist minister on March 6, 1952. His first parish was 65,000 square miles of the Australian outback, centred on Wilcannia, NSW. The insight gained into Aboriginal people through this appointment led Mr Noffs later to work among them in Sydney and to establish, with Charles Perkins, the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs in 1963. Between 1957 and 1959, Mr Noffs studied at Garrett Theological Seminary, Chicago, and was at the same time pastor of Wesley Church in the slum area of Chicago. He returned to Australia to work as associate pastor to the Rev Alan Walker, at Sydney’s Central Methodist Mission, where he co-founded Life Line. From there he moved his ministry to Kings Cross, and the Wayside Chapel was opened in Hughes Street on April 12, 1964. I can now take up the story again from my own first-hand experience. Then working as a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, I eagerly awaited Thursday evenings, when the Wayside Chapel coffee shop opened from 8 pm to midnight. For four nights of each week, Thursday through Sunday, I lived in a different world. In the heyday of the hippie era, anyone who was seeking a new philosophy, a new life-style, or simply rebelling against the “establishment,” passed, at some time in their search, through Kings Cross; and the Wayside Chapel seemed to be the focal meeting point. In a melting pot of humanity, high-school students, hippies, bikies, middle-aged ladies, clergymen, prostitutes and drug addicts all rubbed shoulders and interacted. There was always someone playing the guitar or piano, with others singing along, and every evening at the Wayside Chapel coffee shop was like an outstanding party. But it was far from being just a social venue. By mixing freely among these diverse elements of society, Ted Noffs developed programs to meet the specific needs of the local people. I have referred earlier in this article to some of these “firsts”. Many programs and ideas were tried. Some stood the test of time, while others were dropped and new directions sought. One of the most enduring and popular activities of the Wayside Chapel was the Sunday night Question Time. Started in 1965, this was held almost continuously for more than 20 years. Prominent guest speakers were a regular feature, and included such diverse personalities as Malcolm Fraser, Margaret Mead, Don Chipp, the Maharishi, Allen Ginsburg, Peter Clyne, Charles Birch, and of course the entertaining and provocative John Webster. It was a no-holds-barred dialogue which threw into open debate many issues which in the sixties were still taboo: drugs, abortion, homosexuality, radical politics, Eastern religions, the occult, ecology, corruption etc. No stone was left unturned until every conceivable social, political and philosophical issue was thoroughly aired. Much of the direction of the Wayside’s work was born from this sometimes rowdy, always challenging forum. But of all the programs, the one into which Ted’s energy ultimately was concentrated was the Life Education Centre. After conducting funeral services for more than 150 young people who had died from drug overdoses, Mr Noffs realised that law enforcement alone was not a sufficient deterrent to drug abuse. Thus, in 1974, he came up with the idea of attacking the drug problem through preventive education. After five years of planning and research, the first Life Education Centre, also known as “Classroom of the 21st Century,” was opened at the Wayside Chapel in 1979. The program is unique. Rather than warning children of the dangers associated with drug-taking, which might tempt them to experiment, emphasis is placed on gaining an understanding of how the human body works, development of self-esteem and decision making, and how to identify and resist peer-group and advertising pressures. The Rev Ted Noffs—once a figure surrounded by controversy—is now widely recognised as a great social innovator, humanitarian, and a true Christian. For many years at loggerheads with the Church he so dearly loved, he succeeded in doing what perhaps no other clergyman in this country has done. He rejected the restrictions of Christian dogmatism, yet remained a serving and respected minister of the Uniting Church (an amalgamation of all Methodist, Congregational and about half of all Presbyterian churches in Australia). As I watched at close hand for almost a quarter of a century while Ted struggled to manifest his vision for a more caring world, it struck me that if he had one predominant “weakness,” it was that he loved too much. He had an amazing capacity to remember people’s names and personal details, and to show a genuine concern for their well-being and progress in life. If at times some people felt he rejected them in some way, I believe it was because he continually over-committed himself, and had to withdraw from time to time for his own survival. It was perhaps inevitable that fate eventually stepped in to slow him down from his self-imposed seven-days-a-week workload, which included overseas flights and long intrastate driving trips to promote and establish new Life Education Centres. Although he is no longer with us, Ted Noffs will nevertheless be long remembered by the 11,500 children who have been Christened or Named through the Wayside Chapel, and their countless friends, relatives and godparents. Then there are the 15,500 couples representing 140 different nationalities, who have been married at the Wayside Chapel over a 25 years period, and their friends and relatives. An estimated 550,000 infants and primary school children throughout Australia will pass through the Life Education program in 1989 alone. There are now more than 40 mobile teaching units (fully equipped caravans) operating in Australia, as well as five permanent locations, with centres established also in New Zealand, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.[NOTE: these statistics are as of 1991, and will have increased significantly since that time under the pastors who succeeded Mr Noffs. The current paster is Rev Ray Richmond]. During Ted’s convalescence, the administration of the Life Education Centres was taken over by his wife, Margaret, and sons, Wesley and David. The ongoing social and spiritual work of the Wayside Chapel was overseered by the Reverend Clyde Dominish, then Moderator of the Uniting Church in New South Wales, until a permanent minister, Rev Ray Richmond was appointed. (1) “The Mark of God” by Ted Noffs, Dove Communications, 1984; (2) “By What Authority” by Ted Noffs, Methuen of Australia Pty Ltd, 1979; (3) “Child Naming Book” by Ted Noffs, The Wayside Foundation, 1981; (4) “The Summit of Daring” by Ted Noffs, Cassell Australia Ltd, 1981.

BILLY GRAHAM -- THE EVANGELISTS' EVANGELIST

Perhaps no figure is more fixed in popular consciousness as the embodiment of conservative Protestantism in the twentieth century than William Franklin ("Billy") Graham. His evangelistic crusades around the world, his television appearances and radio broadcasts, his friendships with presidents, and his unofficial role as spokesman for America's evangelicals have made him one of the most recognized religious figures of his time. Born in 1918 near Charlotte, North Carolina, he went to a revival service in 1934 and there experienced a religious conversion that shaped the direction of his life. After attending Bob Jones University, a hotbed of fundamentalism, he transferred to Florida Bible Institute near Tampa, where he became a Southern Baptist and began to develop the perspicuous and persuasive preaching style for which he would become famous. He then went to Wheaton College in Illinois, where he continued his preaching and enlarged his circle of evangelical contacts. Upon graduation, he skipped seminary, became pastor of a small congregation in Chicago, and started a weekly radio program. In 1946, Graham joined the staff of Youth for Christ and embarked on his evangelistic campaigns. He conducted a successful Los Angeles crusade in 1949, which brought him national attention, in no small measure because newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, impressed with his preaching and his virulent anticommunist rhetoric, instructed his papers to "puff Graham." If the Los Angeles campaign made him a celebrity, his New York City crusade in 1957, which filled Madison Square Garden for four months, defined his place within the evangelical subculture. To many of the more militant fundamentalists, Graham's willingness to cooperate with mainline Protestant clergy was an act of betrayal. Indeed, throughout his career, Graham's refusal to be sectarian placed him at odds with many who regarded him as a liberal. By any reasonable standard, of course, Graham has been no liberal, either theologically or politically. He has preached all the tenets of evangelical orthodoxy, including the necessity of spiritual rebirth and the expectation of an imminent apocalypse as predicted in the book of Revelation. His well-publicized friendships with American presidents have nudged him into the political arena, although, with one exception, he has stopped short of making endorsements. The exception turned out to be a major embarrassment: Richard Nixon in 1972, the year of the Watergate scandals. Since then, Graham has shied away from politics, although he has spoken occasionally in favor of nuclear disarmament. Throughout his career, Graham's appeal lay in his forceful preaching and a simple, homespun message that harks back to Charles Grandison Finney: repent of your sins, accept Christ as savior, and you shall be saved. Behind that simple message, however, stood a sophisticated organization, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which provided extensive advance work and a follow-up program for converts. During the 1980s, when other television preachers were embroiled in sensational scandals, Graham remained above the fray. For millions of American evangelicals, Graham is a kind of elder statesman and an exemplar of both Christian piety and ethical propriety. To the public, he is the most respectable symbol of American evangelicalism.

BENNY HINN -- CONTROVERSIAL TELEVANGELIST

Tofik "Benny" Hinn (born 1953) is a Christian pastor of Armenian descent and an exponent of the "word of faith" movement in the likes of Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhlman, Kenneth Copeland and other noted preachers in this line of belief. He was born in Jaffa, Israel. Hinn had a profound experience in December 1973 which changed his life, when he traveled by charter bus from Toronto to Pittsburgh to attend a "miracle service" being conducted by Kathryn Kuhlman (1907-1976), a popular healing evangelist. Although Hinn never met Miss Kuhlman personally, he often attended her healing services and has acknowledged the influence that Kathryn Kuhlman made on him in his book, Kathryn Kuhlman: Her Spiritual Legacy and Its Impact on My Life (Hinn 1999). Hinn started his ministry in Toronto. He became famous in the United States during the 1990s as host of the show This Is Your Day, transmitted by the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network. On the show, Hinn practiced faith healing, teaching the doctrine of divine healing, or, a Charismatic Christian doctrine that God provided total healing in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. He currently travels the United States and the world, giving evangelistic healing crusades. In Kenya, for instance, an estimated number of over 2 million people attended the crusade. Hinn has himself become a point of controversy within the Christian community. Whilst many Christians have expressed belief that Hinn is truly an instrument of God, others believe that he is not, saying that a person can be cured only if God wants it. Apart from the issue of whether God uses ministers to heal the sick today, many critics, such as Hank Hanegraaff, have taken issue with Hinn's word of faith doctrines, claiming that he teaches heresy. Hinn has clearly stated in his crusades, however, that the true and only healer in his crusades, is Jesus Christ himself. Hinn expresses that he is only an instrument, used by God in such crusades to teach Jesus Christ as the ultimate and divine healer. In 2000, the CBC's Witness ran a two-part series about faith healers Benny Hinn and Reinhard Bonnke. On November 3, 2004, the CBC's the fifth estate ran an exposé on Benny Hinn, revealing what appears to be fraudulent activity on his part. Benny Hinn Ministries has not commented on the accusations as of November 12, 2004. Dateline NBC also ran an exposé on Hinn in 2003 and aired a follow-up investigation on March 6 2005 which alleged that Hinn lives a lavish lifestyle, that his ministry uses only a small percentage of its revenues for charitable purposes and that claims of successful faith healing are unsubstantiated and, in some cases, false. The accusations ranges from staying at presidential suites, having "layovers" in exotic places and extremely expensive meals. The evidence presented by the documentary consisted of ministry bills and testimonies from former and current employees. The ministry has denied allegations. His visit to the city of Bangalore in India generated controversy after Benny Hinn's website proclaimed that he was coming to Bangalore for the biggest 'harvest of souls' for Jesus and local religion organisations in India began disseminating anti-Christian rhetoric. Subsequently, however, approximately 7 million attendend the meetings, including a former Prime Minister of India, and other political ministers. One of Hinn's most famous statements is "to Jesus belongs all the glory." CRITICISMS OF BENNY HINN BENNY HINN – HEALER OR HYPNOTIST?

MARTIN LUTHER -- LEADER OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

MARTIN LUTHER, the greatest of the Protestant reformers of the 16th century, was born at Eisleben, on the 10th of November 1483. His father was a miner in humble circumstances; his mother, as Melanchthon records, was a woman of exemplary virtue, and esteemed in her walk of life. Shortly after Martin's birth, his parents removed to Mansfield, where their circumstances ere long improved by industry and perseverance. Their son was sent to school; and both at home and at school his training was of a severe and hardening character. When he reached his eighteenth year, he entered the university at Erfurt, with a view of qualifying himself for the legal profession. He went through the usual studies in the classics and the schoolmen, and took his degree as Doctor of Philosophy, or Master of Arts, in 1505, when he was twenty-one years of age. Previous to this, however, a profound change of feeling had begun in him. Chancing one day to examine the vulgate version of the Bible in the University Library, he saw with astonishment that there were more gospels and epistles than in the lectionaries. He was arrested by the contents of his newly found treasure. His heart was deeply touched, and he resolved to devote himself to a spiritual life. He separated himself trom his friends and fellow-students, and withdrew into the Augustine convent at Erfurt. Here he spent the next three years of his life -- years of peculiar interest and significance, for it was during this period that he laid in the study of the Bible and of Augustine, the foundation of those doctrinal convictions which were afterwards to rouse and strengthen him in his struggles against the papacy. He describes very vividly the crisis through which he passed, the burden of sin which so long lay upon him, "too heavy to be borne;" and the relief that he at length found in the clear understanding of the "forgiveness of sins" through the grace of Christ. In the year 1507, Luther was ordained a priest, and in the following year he moved to Wittenberg, destined to derive its chief celebrity from his name. He became a teacher in the new university, founded there by the Elector Frederick of Saxony. In 1510 or 1511, he was sent on a mission to Rome, and he has described yery vividly what he saw and heard there. On his return from Rome, he was made a Doctor of the Holy Scriptures, and his career as a reformer may be said to have commenced. Money was largely needed at Rome, to feed the extravagances of the papal court; and its numerous missionaries sought everywhere to raise funds by the sale of "indulgences," as they were called, for the sins of frail humanity; the principal of these was John Tetzel, a Dominican friar, who had established himself at Juterboch, on the borders of Saxony. Luther's indignation at the shameless traffic which the man carried on, soon became irrepressible; "God willing," he exclaimed, "I will beat a hole in his drum." He drew out 95 theses on the doctrine of indulgences, which he nailed up on the gate of the church at Wittenberg, and which he offered to defend in the university against all opponents. The general thrust of these was to deny to the pope all right to forgive sins. "If a sinner was truly contrite, he received complete forgiveness. The pope's absolution had no value in and for itself." This sudden and bold step of Luther's was all that was necessary to awaken a widespread excitement. The news of it spread far and wide. At first, the pope, Leo X, took little heed of the disturbance. Some of the cardinals, however, saw the real character of the movement, which gradually assumed a seriousness evident even to the pope, and Luther received a summons to appear at Rome, and answer for his theses. Once again in Rome, it is unlikely he would ever have been allowed to return. His university and the elector interfered, and a legate was sent to Germany to hear and determine the case. Cardinal Cajetan was the legate, and he was but little fitted to deal with Luther. He would enter upon no argument with him, but merely called upon him to retract. Luther refused, and fled from Augsburg, whither he had gone to meet the papal representative. The task of negotiation was then undertaken by Miltitz, a German envoy of the pope to the Saxon court, and a temporary peace was obtained. This did not last long. The reformer was too deeply moved to keep silent. "God hurries and drives me," he said; "I am not master of myself; I wish to be quiet, and am hurried into the midst of tumults." In 1520, the reformer published his famous address to the "Christian Nobles of Germany." This was followed in the same year by a treatise "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church." In these works, which circulated widely and powerfully influenced many minds, Luther took broader and firmer ground; he attacked not only the abuses of the papacy, but the doctrinal system of the Church of Rome. "These works," Ranke says, "contain the whole kernel of the reformation." The papal bull was issued against him, but the dreaded document was burned before an assembled multitude of doctors, students, and citizens at the Elster Gate of Wittenberg. Germany was convulsed with excitement. Eck (who had been the chief agent in obtaining the bull), fled from place to place, glad to escape with his life, and Luther was everywhere the hero of the hour. Charles V had at this time succeeded to the empire, and he convened his first diet of the Sovereigns and States at Worms. This diet met in the beginning of 1521; an order was issued for the destruction of Luther's works, and he himself was summoned to appear before the diet. This was above all what he desired -- to confess the truth before the assembled powers of Germany. He resolved to obey the summons, come what would. All Germany was moved by his heroism; his journey resembled a triumph; the threats of enemies and the anxiety of friends alike failed to move him. "I am resolved to enter Worms," he said, "although as many devils set at me as there are tiles on the house tops." His appearance and demeanor before the diet, and the firmness with which he held his ground and refused to retract, all make a striking picture. On his return from Worms, he was seized at the instigation of his friend, the Elector of Saxony, and safely lodged in the old castle of the Wartburg. The affair was made to appear as an act of violence, but in reality it was designed to secure him from the destruction which his conduct at Worms would certainly have provoked. He remained in this shelter for about a year, concealed in the guise of a knight. His chief employment was his translation of the Scriptures into his native language. In the year 1525, Luther married Catharine Von Boro, one of nine nuns, who, under the influence of his teaching had emancipated themselves from their religious vows. The step rejoiced his enemies, and even alarmed some of his friends like Melanchthon. But it greatly contributed to his happiness, while it served to enrich and strengthen his character. All the most interesting and touching glimpses we get of him henceforth, are in connection with his wife and children. Two years after his marriage, he fell into a dangerous sickness and depression of spirits, from which he was only aroused by the dangers besetting Christendom from the advance of the Turks. Two years later, in 1529, he engaged in his famous conference at Marbury, with Zwingli, and other Swiss divines. In this conference he obstinately maintained his peculiar views as to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Aggressive and reforming in the first stage of his life, and while he was dealing with practical abuses, he was yet in many respects, essentially conservative in his intellectual character, and he shut his mind pertinaciously after middle life, to any advance in doctrinal opinions. The following year finds him at Coburg, while the diet sat at Augsburg. It was deemed prudent to trust the Protestant cause to Melanchthon, who attended the Diet, but Luther removed to Coburg, to be conveniently at hand for consultation. The establishment of the Protestant creed at Augsburg, marks the culmination of the German Reformation; and the life of Luther henceforth possesses comparatively little interest. He survived sixteen years longer, but they are years marked by few incidents of importance. He died in the end of Febtuary 1546.

THE WESLEY BROTHERS

The Wesley family was made famous by the two brothers, John and Charles, who worked together in the rise of METHODISM in the British Isles during the 18th century. They were among the ten children surviving infancy born to Samuel Wesley (1662-1735), Anglican rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire, and Susanna Annesley Wesley, daughter of Samuel Annesley, a dissenting minister. John Wesley, b. June 28, 1703, d. Mar. 2, 1791, was the principal founder of the Methodist movement. His mother was important in his emotional and educational development. The rescue of little "Jackie" from the burning rectory ("a brand plucked from the burning") has become legendary. John's education continued at Charterhouse School and at Oxford, where he studied at Christ Church and was elected (1726) fellow of Lincoln College. He was ordained in 1728. After a brief absence (1727-29) to help his father at Epworth, John returned to Oxford to discover that his brother Charles had founded a Holy Club composed of young men interested in spiritual growth. John quickly became a leading participant of this group, which was dubbed the Methodists. His Oxford days introduced him not only to the rich tradition of classical literature and philosophy but also to spiritual classics like Thomas a Kempis's Imitation of Christ, Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Dying, and William Law's Serious Call. In 1735 both Wesleys accompanied James OGLETHORPE to the new colony of Georgia, where John's attempts to apply his then high-church views aroused hostility. Discouraged, he returned (1737) to England; he was rescued from this discouragement by the influence of the Moravian preacher Peter BOEHLER. At a small religious meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, on May 24, 1738, John Wesley had an experience in which his "heart was strangely warmed." After this spiritual conversion, which centred on the realization of salvation by faith in Christ alone, he devoted his life to evangelism. Beginning in 1739 he established Methodist societies throughout the country. He travelled and preached constantly, especially in the London-Bristol-Newcastle triangle, with frequent forays into Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. He encountered much opposition and persecution, which later subsided. Late in life Wesley married Mary Vazeille, a widow. He continued throughout his life a regimen of personal discipline and ordered living. He died at 88, still preaching, still traveling, and still a clergyman of the Church of England. In 1784, however, he had given the Methodist societies a legal constitution, and in the same year he ordained Thomas COKE for ministry in the United States; this action signaled an independent course for Methodism. CHARLES WESLEY, b. Dec. 18, 1707, d. Mar. 9, 1788, was perhaps England's greatest hymn writer. Educated at Oxford, he was ordained in 1735 and went to Georgia as Oglethorpe's secretary. He returned a year earlier than John. After a religious experience similar to John's, he continued for many years in close association with the Methodist movement. After 1756, however, he left the itinerant ministry and settled first in Bristol and later in London. He wrote more than 5,000 hymns, among them "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" and "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling."