SOURCE: Maddox, Graham. “Introduction: Methodism and Politics.” In Political Writings of John Wesley, pp. 9-41. Bristol, England: Thoemmes Press, 1998.

In the following essay, Maddox discusses Wesley's attitudes toward the plight of the poor, slavery, and the capitalist system.

If the two-party system is the paradigm case of parliamentary democracy in the modern world, then the influence of the Methodist movement upon emergent modern democracy is almost measureless. Founded in the 1730s by Charles and John Wesley, Methodism set the course not only for the modern Labour Party but also the organizations which nurtured it, namely the Chartist, Adult Education and Trade Union movements. Even down to the present generation, that influence on party politics is regularly acknowledged. In their manifesto and collection of Tawney lectures, Reclaiming the Ground. Christianity and Socialism, written by influential Christian socialists associated with the Labour Party, no fewer then three of the authors...