Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 06:4 (Winter 2002)
Article: The SBJT Forum: Heroes of the Faith
Author: Anonymous

SBJT 6:4 (Winter 2002) p. 98

The SBJT Forum:
Heroes of the Faith

Editor’s note: In this forum each contributor was asked to write on an individual who influenced their spiritual and theological development.

C. Ben Mitchell: One of the values of biography is encouragement. Seeing God’s providence worked out in the life of another human being can often encourage us to repent, beware, or persevere. Perseverance is the lesson I learn from the biography of one of my own Christian heroes, William Wilberforce.

Elected to British Parliament at the age of twenty-one, Wilberforce felt no particular attraction to any cause until after his conversion five years later under the influence of Isaac Milner, his former tutor. Coming to faith in Christ meant a radical transformation in Wilberforce’s world and life views. From his conversion forward he approached his vocation as a calling from God. His friend, John Newton, former slave trader and author of many hymns, including Amazing Grace, convinced the young convert to remain in Parliament despite counsel to the contrary he had received from others.

When he was twenty-seven, Wilberforce founded the Society for the Reformation of Manners. The goal of the Society was to make “goodness” respectable among the leadership class of his culture. Even though few were aware of it, King George III’s “Proclamation for the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue” was due to Wilberforce’s influence. That same year, Wilberforce became one of the prime movers in the effort to abolish the slave trade in England. He entered the following in his journal on October 27, 1787: “God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.” The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, warned Wilberforce in a letter: “Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by opposition from men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you?”

Although he was personally wealthy, Wilberforce often gave more than a quarter of his income to charities and paid for the education of some of his relatives. Wilberforce’s son observed that “he gave more than merely money; he made his house the home of one or two youths, the expense of whose education he defrayed; all their holidays were spent with him; and hours of his own time were profusely given to training and furnishing their minds. Nor were the poor forgotten; they were invited to join his family worship on Sunday evening, and sought out often in their cottages for instruction and relief.” While he might have availed himself of many of the amenities consistent with his social stature, he was quite modest in every way. In his recent profile, Hero for Humanity: A Biography of William Wilberforce, Ke...