Observations on Whitefield and his Opposers

Some observations on the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, and his opposers is a book printed for the benefit of the Bethesda Orphan House by D. Henchman. D. Henchman was a close friend of Whitefield; and a firm believer of all of the reverend’s ideas. The language in the book recurs to the use of religion as a means of defense and attack. The words ‘God’ and ‘Devil’ with all their synonyms are very prominent. ‘God’ is used to defend Whitefield and the word ‘Devil’ is used to attack his opposers. It goes as far as to say that anyone in the English church who does not meet Whitefield’s ideals is a heretic priest plagued with Lucifer’s darkness and that Whitefield’s presence shines the light of God upon them, making these priests hate the reverend. All fifteen pages of the book go back and forth on the statement aforementioned. It lacks any other argument and it fails to mention what Whitefield has done to gain the level of esteem and fame he is held at. As for Whitefield’s opposition, there is not much to say because he was widely approved. Small but powerful sects were his biggest threat, enough for D. Henchman to write a short book about them. One of these small sects was a section of England’s higher class that disliked Whitefield’s appeal to the lower class. The Duchess of Buckingham was openly against the reverend’s practice. She says in one of her statements “Their doctrines are most repulsive and strongly tinctured with impertinence and disrespect toward their superiors in that they are perpetually endeavoring to level all ranks and do away with all distinctions. It is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common lechers that crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting…” (Walker 90)