Is there evidence to suggest that John Wesley targeted the bottom third of society?

Question

We see in society today that the bottom third of society are disenfranchied and led by loud mouths with empty promises. (Perhaps this has always been the case).

My rough understanding of Wesley from history is that he came during a time of great economic change (The Industrial revolution) when thousands were left out of work, and gave them purpose, and helped them integrate into the new world created by the Industrial Revolution. (sounds familiar to something similar happening today).

My question is: Is there evidence to suggest that John Wesley targeted the bottom third of society?

Answer 1

John and his brother Charles utilized the wisdom of the Holy Scriptures to not only change lives of the bottom third of society, but they also utilized these sacred texts to change the entire 18th-century culture in Great Britain, America and Asia. Their efforts cut across lines of culture and class. That is the obvious byproduct of the Bible- God's manual for humanity. The ideals of frugality, family, capitalism, community, these all are Biblical concepts which uniquely transformed the culture of 18th-century Great Britain. When John's brother taught the masses to memorize his rich hymns, it was just a short time later that these same illiterate individuals were learning to read when they were handed a sheet of paper written with the memorized hymns. The nearly 80% of the population who couldn't read began to read. When the teachings of the Bible taught husbands and wives to love and respect each other, the drunken masses of men and women addicted to gin began to sober up and do likewise.