Illuminations
To Hear the Bridegroom's Voice
by Anthony Esolen
In September of 1770, George Whitefield, the Methodist preacher, was dying of congestive heart failure, but he prayed to God that he could preach one final sermon to the people of New England. That prayer was granted, which for Whitefield must have been quite a grace, given his passionate and animated style, and his utter conviction about the love of God. There was never anything Laodicean about that man. He suffered an attack of asthma the next day and died, a servant of God to the end.
He and the brothers Wesley had traveled the length and breadth of the colonies in the 1730s, prompting what was called the Great Awakening. During that time, Whitefield had made a fast friend of that semi-virtuous self-promoter, Ben Franklin, who never passed up the main chance when he saw it. Franklin published Whitefield's sermons, and Whitefield and the Wesleys gave to the colonies a renewed trust in the special providence of God. It would be interesting to determine how many copies of Methodist sermons were to be found in the libraries of the Founders, by comparison with copies of the social-contract dreamers Locke and Hobbes.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Anthony Esolen is the author of over thirty books, including Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius). He has also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House). He and his wife Debra publish a web magazine, Word and Song (anthonyesolen.substack.com), on poetry, hymnody, language, classic films, and music. He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
• Not a subscriber or wish to renew your subscription? Subscribe to Touchstone today for full online access. Over 30 years of publishing!
personal subscriptions
Purchase Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
gift subscriptions
GIVE Print &
Online Subscription

Give six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for the reduced rate of $29.95. That's only $2.50 per month!
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
kindle subscription
OR get a subscription to Touchstone to read on your Kindle for only $1.99 per month! (This option is KINDLE ONLY and does not include either print or online.)
Your subscription goes a long way to ensure that Touchstone is able to continue its mission of publishing quality Christian articles and commentary.
more from the online archives

35.4—Jul/Aug 2022
The Death Rattle of a Tradition
Contemporary Catholic Thinking on the Question of War by Andrew Latham
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor