George Whitefield - Works

Works

Whitefield's sermons were widely reputed to capture his audience's enthusiasm, and many of them as well as his letters and journals were published during his lifetime. He was an excellent orator as well, strong in voice and adept at extemporaneity. His voice was so expressive that people are said to have wept just hearing him allude to "Mesopotamia". His journals, originally intended only for private circulation, were surreptitiously published by Thomas Cooper. This led James Hutton to publish a version with Whitefield's approval. Exuberant and "too apostolical" language resulted in great criticism and his journals ceased publication after 1741. Although Whitefield prepared a new installment in 1744–45, it wasn't published until 1938, and nineteenth century biographies refer to an earlier manuscript. Whitefield published A Short Account of God's Dealings with the Reverend George Whitefield in 1740, which covered his life up to his ordination. In 1747, he published A Further Account of God's Dealings with the Reverend George Whitefield, covering the period from his ordination to his first voyage to Georgia. In 1756, a heavily edited version of his journals and autobiographical accounts was released.

After his death, John Gillies, a Glasgow friend, published a memoir and six volumes of works, comprising three volumes of letters, a volume of tracts, and two volumes of sermons. Another collection of sermons was published just before he left London for the last time in 1769. These were disowned by Whitefield and Gillies, who tried to buy all copies and pulp them. They had been taken down in shorthand, but Whitefield said that they made him say nonsense on occasion. These sermons were included in a nineteenth century volume, Sermons on Important Subjects, along with the "approved" sermons from the Works. An edition of the journals, in one volume, was edited by William Wale in 1905. This was reprinted with additional material in 1960 by the Banner of Truth Trust. It lacks the Bermuda journal entries found in Gillies biography and the quotes from manuscript journals found in nineteenth century biographies. A comparison of this edition with the original 18th century publications shows numerous omissions—some minor and a few major.