RISE OF METHODISM
In 1738 John and Charles Wesley, young preachers of the Church of England, having spent three years as missionaries among the Moravians in Georgia, return to London, where, preaching the gospel as a proclamation of free forgiveness to sinners, and with it, repentance and faith in Christ, they soon find the pulpits of that city closed against them. Supported by Lady Huntington and aided at the first by George Whitefield, the most gifted of their early associates and the first Methodist to preach in the open air, they lay the foundations that soon develop into the Methodist church, by establishing now congregations and organizing them into classes, each under a local leader, who by means of weekly testimonies, exhortations and corrections was to look after the moral conduct and promote the spiritual life of the members.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
In 1782 when there are a sufficient number of printed Bibles available for use, Robert Raikes of London makes the suggestion and Sunday schools are established, that the people in every worshipping congregation may co-operate with their preachers in instructing the young and rising generation in the great truths contained in the Bible.
From 1792 to 1800, the three great modern missionary societies of England are organized, and during the next ten years the first two are organized in this country.
In 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and in 1816, the American Bible Society, are established in London and New York, to promote the multiplication and circulation of the Bible.
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
In 1776 the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution develop brave and patriotic leaders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, John Witherspoon and others, who fight the battles and solve the problems of civil and religious liberty in America. Liberty and independence become familiar watchwords.
In 1787 when the Constitution of the United States is adopted, civil and religious liberty is assured. Protection is to be given to religion but there shall be no taxation for its support in church or school, and public education is left to the several states.
Those, who framed this remarkable Constitution and thus prepared the way for America to become the land of "Liberty Enlightening the World," expressed their sentiments in regard to the urgent need of general instruction in the Bible, in the ordinance for the government of the Northwest—the country north of the Ohio, as follows: "Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."