Such was Whitefield’s letter to the Trustees of Georgia, written in the midst of the great revival at Cambuslang.
On the same day, he wrote a long letter to his good friend, the Rev. Mr. Willison, of Dundee, who seems to have been far more anxious about Whitefield’s reputation than Whitefield was himself. The letter is historical, and extracts from it must be given.
“Cambuslang, August 17, 1742.
“Rev. and very dear Sir,—I heartily thank you for your concern about unworthy me. Though I am not very solicitous respecting what the world says of me, yet I would not refuse to give to any one, much less aminister of Jesus Christ, all reasonable satisfaction about my doctrine or conduct.
“I am sorry that ‘The Associate Presbytery’ have done me much wrong. As to what they say about the supremacy, my sentiments agree with what is said in the Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter xxiii.). I do own the Lord Jesus to be the blessed Head and King of His Church. I never abjured the Solemn League and Covenant; neither was it ever proposed to me to be abjured.
“As for my missives, if ‘The Associate Presbytery’ will be pleased to print them, the world will see that they had no reason to expect I would act in any other manner than I have done.
“What that part of my experience is that savours of the grossest enthusiasm, I know not. It is not specified; but this one thing I know, when I conversed with them, they were satisfied with the account I then gave of my experience, and also of the validity of my mission. Only, when they found I would preach the gospel promiscuously to all, and for every minister that would invite me, and not adhere only to them, one of them said, ‘That they were satisfied with all the other accounts which I gave of myself, except of my call to Scotland at that time.’ They would have been glad of my help, and would have received me as a minister of Jesus Christ, had I consented to preach only at the invitation of them and their people. I thought their foundation was too narrow for any high house to be built upon. When I was last in Scotland, I declared freely, (and I am more and more convinced of it since,) that they were building a Babel.
“At the same time, they knew very well, I was far from being against all church government. How can any church subsist without it? I only urged, as I do now, that, since holy men differ so much about the form, we should bear with one another, though, in this respect, we are not of one mind. I have often declared, in the most public manner, that I believe the Church of Scotland to be the best constituted National Church in the world; but, then, I would bear and converse with all others, who do not err in fundamentals, and who give evidence that they are true lovers of the Lord Jesus. This is what I mean by a catholic spirit.
“You know how strongly I assert all the doctrines of grace as contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, and in the doctrinal Articles of the Church of England. I trust, I shall adhere to these as long as I live; because I verily believe they are the truths of God, and because I have felt the power of them in my heart.
“I am only concerned that good men should be guilty of such misrepresentations; but this teaches me, more and more, to exercise compassion towards all the children of God, and to be more jealous over my own heart, knowing what a fallible creature I am. I acknowledge that I am a poor blind sinner, liable to err; and I would be obliged to an enemy, much more to so dear a friend as you are, to point out to me my mistakes, as to my practice, or as to unguarded expressions in my preaching or writing.