B. T. ROBERTS. Benjamin
Titus Roberts helped organize the Free Methodist Church as a fledgling
denomination in 1860 after he and other Methodist ministers were put out of
their mother church even as they tried to return it to the priorities,
teachings and practices of John Wesley and original Methodism.
FREE AT LAST. Among the issues the Free Methodists contended for
was a priority on proclaiming the doctrine of entire sanctification (freedom
from sin), abolition of slavery and ordination of women (freedom of persons), abolishing
church “pew rentals” that effectively shut the poor out of churches (free
seats), a turn away from formalism (free worship), and simplicity in lifestyle
(freedom from worldliness).
HOWARD A.
SNYDER. The following B.T. Roberts
quotes come from an online paper by Howard A. Snyder (“’TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO
THE POOR’: MISSIONAL SELF-UNDERSTANDING IN EARLY FREE METHODISM,
1860-90”). Snyder, who has already given
us insightful books like The Radical
Wesley, The Community of the King,
Decoding the Church, and The Problem with Old Wineskins, authored
an authoritative biography of B.T. Roberts titled Populist Saints.
THE
GOSPEL TO THE POOR. “My special mission
is to preach the gospel to the poor. I
believe that churches should be as free as the grace we preach. The Lord allowed me to be thrust out as I
was, because He saw that in this manner this work could be carried on to the
best advantage. The work is progressing
and I expect to live to see FREE churches all over the land-especially in the
cities where the poor are congregated.
This is a blessed work! (B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, January 1865)”
THE ILLS
OF LIFE. “The wealth of the world is in
the hands of a few. In every country the
poor abound.... Sin has diffused itself
every where, often causing poverty and suffering. God
assured his ancient people, favored above all others with precautions against
want, that ‘the poor shall never cease out of the land.’ These are the ones upon whom the ills of life
fall with crushing weight. Extortion
wrings from them their scanty pittance.
The law may endeavor to protect them; but they are without the means to
obtain redress at her courts. If famine
visits the land, she comes unbidden to their table, and remains their guest
until they are consumed.”
PROVISION FOR ALL. “The provisions of the gospel are for
all. The ‘glad tidings’ must be
proclaimed to every individual of the human race. God sends THE TRUE LIGHT to illuminate and
melt every heart. It visits the palace
and the dungeon, saluting the king and the captive…To civilized and savage,
bond and free, black and white, the ignorant and the learned, is freely offered
the great salvation.”
IN SPECIAL MANNER FOR THE
MOST DESTITUTE. “In her regard for the
poor, Christianity asserts her superiority to all systems of human origin. Human pride regards most the mere accidents
of humanity; but God passes by these, and looks at that which is alone
essential and imperishable. In his
sight, position, power, and wealth, are the merest trifles. They do not add to the value or dignity of
the possessor. God has magnified man by
making him free and immortal. Like a
good father, he provides for all his family, but in a special manner for the
largest number, and the most destitute.
He takes the most pains with those who by others are most neglected.”
LAYING UP TREASURES. “Jesus forbids his disciples to amass
wealth. His language is plain. It requires a great deal of ingenuity to
pervert it… Must we take our choice
between laying up treasures on earth or treasures in heaven? To do both is impossible. Deliberately take your choice. Not to choose is inevitably to drift into the
current of worldliness. To choose the
world is to choose sorrow, and trouble, and eternal death.”
TO SAVE THE RICH, AS WELL AS
THE POOR. “If you resolve to lay up
treasures in Heaven, begin at once. Give
yourself to God to do good to the utmost of your ability to your
fellow-men. Adopt the motto of Wesley,
‘Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can….’ Plain, free
churches are everywhere needed, quite as much to save the rich as to reach the
masses and carry the Gospel to the poor.”
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