Swift Survey of George Whitefield's Life

books:

	• George Whitefield: God's Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century Arnold A. Dallimore Crossway Books, 1990 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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God's Anointed Servant Indeed!

This book is a 224 page condensation of the much longer, two-volume "George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival". I purchased this shorter volume for our church library and am already saving up the $66 to purchase the longer work for my private library. I eagerly anticipate obtaining Dallimore's more exhaustive look at the life of this great evangelist.

This Volume: First of all, the editing and reworking of the original for this edition was done by the author--Arnold Dallimore. This is important due to the terrible chop-jobs professional editors are prone to perform on works such as this one. But since I've yet to read the longer edition of which this volume is a condensation, I cannot draw any helpful comparisons between the two. I can, however, say unreservedly that this is an amazing biography in itself. Most modern readers aren't interested in wading through 1200 pages of historical details, even for a man as great as Whitefield. Far more would be willing to pick up a well-written 200 page paperback concerning a name they might have heard mentioned, but know little about. All in all, I very highly recommend this volume for this sort of reader. But if you are an evangelical Christian (particularly of the "Calvinist" doctrinal persuasion) or a Church-history buff, then I feel compelled to recommend springing for the full edition. With what this tiny volume contained I cannot but expect great things from the lengthier original work.

The Subject Matter: Wow. Simply wow. I mean--who knew? I'd always heard that John Wesley was the sole founder of Methodism. In fact, the only thing I knew about George Whitefield was that he was attributed with a few neat quotes (ie. "Let the name of Whitefield perish, but Christ be glorified!", "I am weary in Thy work, but not weary of it", etc.) and that he once spoke at Jonathan Edwards' Northhampton church (at which time he left Edwards in tears). I fully expect that if it were not for this work of Dallimore, the name of Whitefield truly would be lost to persons such as myself. What I expected was another (Calvinistic) Wesley. What I found was a man whose zeal, love, holiness of life and passion for Christ seemed to equal even those I hold in highest regard (among whom are Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon). Whitefield was a tireless worker for God and his zeal for the gospel was only matched by his selfless compassion for his fellow man. He was the first of the great open-air preachers and nudged both John and Charles Wesley into evangelistic ministry. Whitefield's life is a beautiful illustration of Christian ministry and evangelistic zeal. I cannot recommend this man highly enough.

The Author: Dallimore was a Baptist pastor and semi-prolific biographer. The only lack that I see in this work compared with his biography "Spurgeon" is that it is more lacking in anecdotal stories and pastoral application. This is likely due to the scope of the abbreviated work rather than to a change in style of the author. It is a fast-moving biography and takes you quickly from Whitefield's earliest days into the midst of his phenomenal ministry. Dallimore has done a superb job in this work.

The Reader: Who should read this book? I would recommend it most highly to pastors and other evangelical Christians whose zeal for God and spiritual wells have begun to run dry. Evangelical Calvinistic Christians will get the greatest benefit from this read. But it may also prove of great interest to those of the Methodist heritage. Also, all who are called to the ministry of evangelism (teaching and preaching) could not but benefit from this work. Whitefield's zeal is contagious and his meekness humbling. The mere historian might enjoy the factual aspects of the book, but it was written from a distinctively evangelical Christian perspective.

"Weary in Thy work, but not weary of it." -G. Whitefield

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Swift Survey of George Whitefield's Life

I read the first few hundred pages of Dallimore's mammoth two volume tour of Whitefield's life and times, and I was loving it. But I got sidetracked and didn't get back to it right away.

So I decided to read through this condensation of the two volume set. This little book has a lot of power because it is a tight presentation of the most telling moments in the great evangelist's life. You see his early days at the Bell Inn which was run by his parents. You read briefly of his involvement with the Oxford Holy Club, and his shattering conversion to Christ.

After his ordination, he is introduced to field preaching by Howell Harris, and the rest, as we say, is history. He preaches to thousands of miners and workers in the open air in England, then in October of 1739, he sails for the second time to the American colonies, where his powerful preaching wins thousands of people to Christ.

You also read of Whitefield's unfortunate doctrinal divisions with John and Charles Wesley involving Calvinism and Arminianism. You will meet Whitefield's wife, and how they spent more time apart than together on account of his itinerant ministry.

You also read of his friendship with Benjamin Franklin and of his meeting with Jonathan Edwards.

You also read of Whitefield's constant health problems and how his persistent preaching eventually wore him out, and he died early one morning in 1770 of a severe case of asthma.

He is quite simply the greatest evangelist since the apostle Paul, and Dallimore's little book catches the highlights of his ministry. Highly recommended.

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Great book

Inspiration from a great 18th century Christian, I opted to read the shorter version, this one. I think that we can learn and be inspired from Christians who seek God's Kingdom. He led an interesting life. He knew Ben Franklin and some of England's nobility but was very modest.

God's accomplishments through George Whitefield are to this day virtually unparalleled. Even during his lifetime Whitefield was considered the most brilliant and popular preacher the modern world has ever known. In the wake of his fearless preaching, revival swept across the British Isles, and the Great Awakening transformed the American colonies.
When Whitefield died at age 55, he had preached 30,000 sermons. His hearers included not only the poor and the uneducated, but prominent English aristocrats and American statesmen such as David Hume and Benjamin Franklin.

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