Essay Topics
1. Continental Pietism and its influence on the Wesleyan movement
2. The intellectual and religious background: any one of the Cambridge Platonists, the Latitudinarians, the religious significance of John Locke, the Deists, controversies with Calvinists
3. The social background
4. The Moravian Brethren (Continental and English)
5. CW’s understanding of holiness or Christian Perfection, and his disagreement with his brother
6. An examination of Luther’s Commentary on Romans or Galatians (these books were instrumental in the conversion of the Wesleys, even though they subsequently criticized them sharply)
7. Any one aspect of CW’s theology, with reference to his hymns; e.g., justification, grace, sin, atonement, church, eschatology, etc.
8. CW’s understanding of the eucharist
9. The classical and/or English sources of CW’s poetry
10. CW’s poetry and vocabulary
11. CW’s poetry in the context of 17th or 18th century poetry
12. The structure/technique of CW’s poetry
13. The history or development of the hymn in the church
14. The Puritan influence on the Wesleys
15. Wesley and William Law
16. A comparison of the sermons of John W., Charles W. and George Whitefield on any one topic
17. The tacit theological understanding of any one denomination as reflected in that denomination’s selection of CW’s hymns in its hymnbook
(If the denomination has only a few, this topic should not be attempted)
18. CW’s understanding of Scripture as reflected in his hymns
19. CW’s “inflexible” Anglicanism
20. (Any topic the instructor approves)