Faith, doubt, aid and prayer: the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 revisited

Abstract

This essay considers reactions to the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, in particular the ways in which the founders of English Methodism, John and Charles Wesley used the event in their sermons and hymns respectively. The Wesleys focused on the vengeful power of the divine in order to urge people to look into their hearts and change their ways to avoid damnation. In contrast, the reaction to the global natural disasters of 2005 has been quite different. The Archbishop of Canterbury's essay that emphasises the privacy of faith that exists because it is engaged in a struggle against doubt is compared with the Wesleyan response, and through these very different religious positions the contrast between eighteenth century and twenty-first century reactions to natural disasters is highlighted.