For many years Frank C. Darling, a former professor of political science and international relations, taught and wrote on the influence of religion on political, social, and cultural affairs. He has written three books on the four-thousand-year history of spiritual healing based on the Bible. Since 1988 he has devoted his full time to writing and speaking about the history and development of Christian healing. The following article is one in a series of occasional contributions to The Christian Science Journal by Dr. Darling.
Throughout much of his long life, John Wesley was an active reformer within the Church of England. He never intended to establish a separate denomination. Yet his great gifts as a preacher and his strong desire to bring Christianity out from the formality and rituals of orthodox Anglicanism caused him, eventually, to organize a new church. Also, Wesley's effort to meet the spiritual needs of all social classes in England led him into experimentation with various methods of healing the sick.
Wesley was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1703. His childhood oriented him strongly toward the ministry of the Church of England. His father was the rector of a country parish, and his mother came from a family of ardent Anglicans. Charles Wesley, John's younger brother, also devoted his entire life to a religious career.
