Edwards, Lewis

▪ Welsh minister

born Oct. 27, 1809, Penllwyn, Cardiganshire, Wales

died July 19, 1887

      Welsh educator and minister of the Calvinistic Methodist Church of Wales whose literary and theological essays greatly influenced the development of Welsh culture.

      After ordination in 1837, Edwards married the granddaughter of Thomas Charles (Charles, Thomas) of Bala, a Methodist clergyman and Welsh Bible editor. With his brother-in-law David Charles, he opened the Bala Calvinistic Methodist College to prepare men for the ministry; in 1867 this became the theological college for his church in North Wales. Through Edwards' influence his denomination adopted a more presbyterian form of church government on the Scottish model.

      Edwards was twice moderator of the general assembly, which united the Calvinistic Methodist associations in North and South Wales. Periodicals in Welsh that he established include Yr Esboniwr (“The Expositor,” from 1844) and Y Traethodydd (“The Essayist,” from 1845).

      A man of considerable critical faculties, Edwards produced works on Goethe and Goronwy Owen and translated a number of English hymns into Welsh, including “Onward Christian Soldiers.” The best known of his children, Thomas Charles Edwards (1837–1900), was first principal of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, from 1872 to 1891.

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