Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, One in Three, &c. C. Wesley. [Personal dedication to God.] First publlished in the Hymns on the Lord’s Supper, 1745, No. 155, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines, and included in the Wesleyan Hymn Book 1780, No. 418. It has been repeated in subsequent editions, and is also found in other hymn-books in Great Britain and America (Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol. iii. p. 333), sometimes beginning with stanza v., "Now, O God, Thine own I am." The stanza (iv.)
"Take my soul and body's powers;
Take my memory, mind, and will,
All my goods, and all my hours,
All I know, and all I feel.
All I think, or speak, or do,
Take my heart;—but make it new!"
has been a favourite quotation in some religious bodies for more than a hundred years. Its spirit of self-surrender, and its deep fervour have suited both the strongly enthusiastic and the truly devout. Other parts of the hymn have also awakened more than usual interest. (See G. J. Stevenson's Methodist Hymn Book Notes, 1883, p. 290.) In the Ohio Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal1880, this hymn is ascribed to I. Watts in error.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >
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