The wise will not with rage oppose
Religion’s fierce, impetuous foes,
But first the storm allay,
Their passions calm, their reason clear,
And bend their willing souls to hear
What truth and wisdom say.
The wise will not with rage oppose
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘He said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves, what ye intend to do as touching these men.’—[Acts 5,] v. 35.” This hymn appears in the 1764 manuscript “MS Acts.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/555, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in S.T. Kimbrough Jr. and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, vol. 2 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1990), page 303.
Publishing: Public Domain