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 William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was an English statesman who brought substantial social reform to Great Britain, including the abolition of slavery in all British territories. He was born in a family of wealth and high social standing.
William’s father died when he was eight, so his mother sent him to live with his aunt, a staunch Methodist. In his aunt’s home, he came into contact with such men as the great evangelist George Whitefield and the reformer John Newton. But his mother, afraid that William might be influenced by “religious enthusiasm,” removed him from his aunt's home and sent him to a private school. He soon forgot the spiritual influence of his aunt and plunged into the social whirl of his mother's lifestyle. Upon reaching maturity, he won a prominent seat in Parliament, becoming a close friend and advisor to the Prime Minister, William Pitt. (http://www.britannia.com/bios/wilberforce.html)
At 26, Wilberforce read Doddridge’s The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. Wilberforce realized he was not a Christian because he had never died to himself. He submitted his life to Christ and immediately began to evangelize those around him. He wondered if he should resign his seat in Parliament and enter vocational ministry. John Newton convinced him to stay and use his position for good, suggesting that Wilberforce might even attempt to abolish slavery. (Ken Curtis, Christian History Institute, http://www.gospelcom.net)
Wilberforce took the challenge, and in 1788 introduced a bill in the House of Commons to abolish the slave trade. It was soundly defeated. But Wilberforce brought it up again every year for the next eighteen years until finally, in 1806, the British Parliament outlawed the slave trade.
He continued his campaign against slavery itself, and the bill for the abolition of all slavery in British territories finally passed its crucial vote in 1833 – 45 years after Wilberforce began. He died four days later, but 800,000 slaves were free. (James Keifer, http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/214.html)
“I apprehend the essential practical characteristic of true Christians to be this: that relying on the promises to repenting sinners of acceptance through the Redeemer, they have renounced and abjured all other masters, and have cordially and unreservedly devoted themselves to God. It is now their determined purpose to yield themselves without reserve to the reasonable service of the Rightful Sovereign. They are not their own: their bodily and mental faculties, their natural and acquired endowments, their substance, their authority, their time, their influence, all these they consider as belonging to them to be consecrated to the honor of God and employed in his service.” (William Wilberforce, A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System Contrasted to Real Christianity)
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