If therefore you have any regard to justice, (to say nothing of mercy, nor of the revealed law of GOD) render unto all their due. Give liberty to whom liberty is due, that is to every child of man, to every partaker of human nature. Let none serve you but by his own act and deed, by his own voluntary choice. Away with all whips, all chains, all compulsion! Be gentle towards men. And see that you invariably do unto every one, as you would he should do unto you.

Thoughts on Slavery by John Wesley

Reverend Francis RitchieHumanitarian WorkLeave a Comment

John Wesley

These words were written by John Wesley in his published work, ‘Thoughts on Slavery’.

Like many of his time, John Wesley had been on a journey in regards to how he understood slavery. Being widely read, that journey took him from seeing slavery as something that just needed to be done more ‘humanely’ to being something that needed to be abolished. Thoughts on Slavery was the result of that shift.

Reading this published work from John Wesley also caused John Newton, the famed former slave owner who gave up the trade upon his conversion and is also known for penning the hymn, Amazing Grace, to see slave trading and ownership as a crime. The passion of John Wesley on this issue was one of the driving forces behind William Wilberforce’s political work on the problem as well.

John Wesley was an activist compelled towards activism by the strength of the Gospel. Preaching and acting went, and still go hand in hand. I proudly place myself in that tradition.

The abolition of slavery owes much to the force of nature that was John Wesley. Those of us who are involved in some way, shape, or form within the modern abolition movement that combats the illegal slave industry that grips the globe stand as part of his lineage and on the shoulders of so many other great people of faith who shed their blood, sweat, and tears to see the end of slavery. Why? Because every man, woman, and child is created in the image of God and therefore endowed with certain inalienable and inherent dignity and freedom. ‘Freedom’, as John Wesley said, ‘is unquestionably the birthright of all mankind…’