William Wilberforce

The spiritual journals synthesized by Dr. McMullen provide timeless applications for the young men I work with who seek to impact their own culture. 

-- Tim Echols (Vice–chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, creator of TeenPact, co–founder of the Wilberforce Fellowship)

Michael McMullen’s detailed labour of love for the first time makes widely accessible the inspiring and fascinating inner spiritual life of one of the greatest public figures of the later Hanoverian era.

-- John Wolffe (Professor of Religious History, The Open University)

William Wilberforce, the leader of the campaign for the abolition of the slave trade, was a devoted Evangelical Christian. His spiritual journals between 1785 and 1833 open a window on the inward life of this public man.

-- David Bebbington (Professor of History, University of Stirling, Stirling)

In these pages we see a man, an undeniably fruitful man, abiding in Christ. Believers will find a brother travelling the path that they have known, and will be inspired to press on, rejoicing by faith in the One who brings fruit into sight. I can’t think of a more thrilling or important publication from the last ten years.

-- Ben Virgo (Director, Christian Heritage London)

Despite the numerous demands and pressures of parliamentary business, social contacts and family commitments on his time, Wilberforce consistently set aside over an hour each day, and many more on Sundays, for personal and family Bible reading, prayer and meditation. It is a tremendous service to have this Journal transcribed and a bonus to have the excellent introductions to each section.

-- Marylynn Rouse (Director, John Newton Project)

William Wilberforce has long been regarded as the classic example of evangelical activism in the long eighteenth century. His tenacious fight against the barbarous inhumanity of the slave trade and slavery have made him an iconic hero for many in our day. But what is often not remembered is the spiritual matrix out of which Wilberforce drew the resources to wage his indomitable battle for justice and social righteousness. Prof McMullen has put us all in his debt by editing these previously–unpublished diaries of this great human being. They reveal that Wilberforce’s love for the African people was intimately tied to his ardent Christian spirituality. Wilberforce was a man who lived life coram deo. May the reading of these diaries inspire many in our day to do likewise and attempt great things for God.

-- Michael A. G. Azad Haykin (Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky)

William Wilberforce was a man marked by a wonderful integrity between the private and the public. Now more than ever, integrity amongst all who bear the name of Jesus is needed. William Wilberforce has so much to teach the church today, and Michael McMullen has performed a significant task in making this possible by transcribing and explaining Wilberforce’s journals. As the rector of the church where Wilberforce once worshipped, I am deeply grateful for Michael’s work.

-- Jago Wynne (Rector of Holy Trinity Clapham, London)

William Wilberforce recorded many intimate details about his spiritual life, and thanks to Michael McMullen’s painstaking work, many of them are published here for the first time. This book is an inestimable treasure – it draws back the curtain on Wilberforce’s struggles and rejoicings in his own words as he wrestled both with himself and all that God had called him to be and do.

-- Eric Metaxas (Author of Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery and host of the nationally syndicated Eric Metaxas Radio Show)

These remarkable journals of William Wilberforce, all carefully edited and some published here for the first time, allow us to chart the spiritual life of perhaps the most consequential shaper of practical Christianity since the Reformation. Here is … a pattern of devotion in the royal service of Christ.

-- Timothy George (Founding Dean of Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, Birmingham, Alab