ISAAC MARSDEN
A 19th century Wesleyan evangelist
By Donald Reasbeck
Hexpress Publications. 156 pages
ISBN 978-1-42762905-0
Available from Hexpress Publications, 31 Old Hexthorpe, Doncaster DN4 0JD.
‘The man made excuses but he [Marsden] seized him by the collar and carried him into the vestry. Then he locked the door and induced him to go down on his knees and make a full and complete surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. The man was soundly converted and lived a holy life and died a triumphant death.’
Such was the ministry of Isaac Marsden of Doncaster (1807-1882) at a time that has been described as the ‘zenith of Methodism’. Years of drunken ridicule of Christ had given way to a life of prayer and passionate irrepressible zeal for the salvation of others. An immensely strong man, loud and boisterous before his conversion and hew as the same afterwards.
