WESLEY AND HIS THEOLOGY.
MR. WESLEY was well versed in every phase of the theology of his times.
Indeed, he was one of the best-read men of his age. That system of
scriptural truth which he formulated has stood the test of the most
searching criticism, being bitterly assailed on all sides. His theology
has the advantage of having been forged in the hottest fires of
controversy which have been witnessed during the last two centuries. And
it is not presumption in us to say that it has revolutionized, in some
marked features, the religious opinions of orthodox Christendom. This is
manifest to all who have carefully observed the drift of religious
sentiment.
The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England seem framed to meet
different forms of religious faith, as the seventeenth and thirty-first
articles clearly show.
Among the regular clergy were many high-toned Calvinists, and nearly all
Dissenters were of the same faith.
In 1770 Wesley's Conference met, and after a long and earnest discussion
of the subject came to the decision that they had "leaned too much
toward Calvinism." When the Minutes of this Conference were made public
they created great excitement, for it was a blow at the prevailing
belief of the times. Three classes rushed to the defense of what they
regarded as truth: 1. The Calvinistic Methodists, who had been
associated with Wesley, and regarded him as their leader. 2. The Church
party, strong and influential. 3. The Dissenters; these were nearly all
Calvinists. Between these parties there had been formerly no special
sympathy, but they united to antagonize Wesley.
Against all these Wesley stood, as he says, "_Athanasius contra mundum_"
("Athanasius against the world"). With him was associated Rev. John
Fletcher, the saintly vicar of Madeley. As a controversialist he was
peerless, and as a saintly character modern times have not produced his
superior.
The conflict was long and bitter. It was conducted on the one side by
Rev. and Hon. Walter Shirley, Hon. Richard Hill, his brother, the famous
Rowland Hill, Rev. Mr. Beveridge, and Rev. Augustus Toplady; and on the
other side by Mr. Wesley, but mainly by Mr. Fletcher. It was admitted by
all fair-minded men that the Damascus blade of the hero of Madeley won
in the conflict and was master of the situation. Fletcher's _Checks to
Antinomianism_ was the result. These have stood for more than a hundred
years a bulwark against the baneful errors which they seek to overthrow.
These plumed warriors have long since adjusted their dogmatic
differences, for harmony is the law of that world in which they live.
We shall proceed to give a brief statement of the fundamental doctrines
held and advocated by Mr. Wesley, omitting any merely speculative
opinions regarded by him as nonessential:
I. THE DEITY OF CHRIST.
While Mr. Wesley had charity for doubters, he held with great firmness
_the supreme divinity and Godhead of Christ_. "The _Word existed_," he
says, "without any beginning. He was when all things began to be,
whatever had a beginning. He was the Word which the Father begat or
spoke from eternity." "The Word was with God, therefore distinct from
God the Father. The word rendered _with_ denotes a perpetual tendency,
as it were, of the Son to the Father in unity of essence. He was with
God alone, because nothing beside God had then any being. And the Word
was God--supreme, eternal, independent. There was no creature in respect
of which he could be styled God in a relative sense. Therefore he is
styled so in the absolute sense."[E]
II. THE FALL AND CORRUPTION OF MAN.
In regard to the fall and consequent corruption of human nature, Mr.
Wesley accepted the faith of the Church of England, which is as follows:
"Original, or birth, sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the
Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of
every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam,
whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own
nature is inclined to evil, and that continually." He taught that sin
was both _original_ and _actual_, sin of the _heart_ and sin of the
_life_, or _outward_ sin and _inward_ sin.
Of actual, or outward, sin he says: "Nothing is sin, strictly speaking,
but a voluntary transgression of a known law of God. Therefore, every
voluntary breach of the law of love is sin, and nothing else, if we
speak properly." Speaking of a believer being freed from the actual
commission of sin, he says: "I understand his of 'inward sin,' any
sinful temper, passion, or affection, such as pride, self-will, love of
the world." Mr. Wesley's views on this subject cannot be harmonized,
except we admit his definition of sin--sin as an _outward_ act,
expressed by the voluntary commission of sin; and sin as a _state_ or
_condition_ of the heart, expressed by the text, "All unrighteousness is
sin."
Mr. Wesley's view of sin is no Unitarian view, but sin in all its
destructive effects upon the human heart, holding it in its "unwilling
grasp;" the soul "drinking in iniquity like water;" the "soul dead in
trespasses and sin," and being "dragged at sin's chariot wheels," until
in utter despair he cries, "O, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me?" At this point there comes deliverance to the soul.
III. GENERAL OR UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION.
By this Mr. Wesley meant that the atonement was for each member of the
human family, except when rejected by voluntary choice. As a consequence
of this doctrine of general redemption he lays down two axioms, of which
he never loses sight in his preaching. Says Mr. Fletcher: 1. "All our
salvation is of God in Christ, and therefore of _grace_; all
opportunities, inclinations, and power to believe, being bestowed upon
us of mere grace--grace most absolutely free." 2. "He asserted with
equal confidence that, according to the Gospel dispensation, all our
damnation is of ourself, by our obstinate unbelief and avoidable
unfaithfulness, as we may neglect so great salvation." These points he
made clear from the Word of God.
It must be admitted that Calvinism has greatly changed in the last
hundred years, both in Europe and America. We doubt if any can be found
who would attempt, in these times, to defend the doctrine which Messrs.
Shirley, Hill, and Toplady attempted to defend in Wesley's time. Mr.
Toplady said: "Whatever comes to pass, comes to pass by virtue of the
absolute, omnipotent will of God, which is the primary and supreme cause
of all things." "If so, it may be objected," he says, "that whatever is,
is right. Consequences cannot be helped." "Whatever a man does," he
says, "he does necessarily, though not with any sensible compulsion; and
that we can only do what God, from eternity, willed and foreknew we
should." Surely, this does not differ from "whatsoever is, is right."
The doctrine of foreknowledge, with Mr. Toplady, included the doctrine
of election and decrees. He said: "As God does not will that each
individual of mankind should be saved, so neither did he will that
Christ should properly and immediately die for each individual of
mankind; whence it follows that, though the blood of Christ, from its
intrinsic dignity, was sufficient for the redemption of all men, yet, in
consequence of his Father's appointment, he shed it intentionally, and
therefore effectually and immediately, for the elect only."
Mr. Wesley said, in reply to these strange utterances, that their
doctrine represented Christ "as a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people,
a man void of common sincerity; for it cannot be denied that he
everywhere speaks as if he was willing that all men should be
saved--provided the possibility. Therefore, to say that he was not
willing that all men should be saved--that he had provided no such
possibility--is to represent him as a hypocrite and deceiver." "You
cannot deny," says Wesley, "that he says, 'Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' If you say unto
me, He calls those that cannot come, those whom he knows to be unable to
come, those whom he can make able to come, but will not, how is it
possible to describe greater insincerity? You represent him as mocking
his helpless creatures by offering what he never intended to give. You
describe him as saying one thing and meaning another--as pretending a
love which he had not. Him, in whose mouth was no guile, you make full
of deceit, void of common sincerity."
In this manner the conflict went on until the theology of the ages, on
this subject, has been revolutionized.
The Wesleyan doctrine of foreknowledge and free agency may be stated in
a few words. It is, in substance, as follows:
1. The freedom of a moral agent is freedom to follow his own choice,
where he is held responsible for his conduct.
2. The foreknowledge of God is a divine perception of what that agent
will choose to do in a given case of responsibility. In this there is no
conflict between freedom and foreknowledge.
We admit that God saw sin as a certainty, but that perception did not
make sin a certainty. The freedom of the agent does not destroy the
knowledge of God, nor does the knowledge of God destroy the freedom of
the agent. God's knowledge of the certainty does not cause the
certainty. His knowledge of what an agent will choose to do depends on
the certainty that he will do it, and until the certainty exists God
cannot know it, as neither God nor man can know anything where there is
nothing to know. The knowledge may follow after, go before, or accompany
an event, but gives no existence or character to the event, any more
than a light shining around a rock gives character or existence to the
rock.
IV. THE NEW BIRTH.
The new birth, according to Wesley, includes pardon, justification,
regeneration, and adoption. These are coetaneous--received at one and
the same time. But they are always preceded by conviction of sin,
repentance, and submission to God by faith.
Mr. Wesley says that whosoever is justified is born again, and whosoever
is born again is justified, that "both these gifts of God are given to
every believer at one and the same moment. In one point of time his sins
are blotted out, and he is born again of God."
Mr. Wesley taught that the new birth put an end to the voluntary
commission of sin. This change is really a "new creation;" it removes
the "love of sin," so that "he that is born of God does not commit sin."
Sin, though it may and does _exist_, does not reign in him who is born
of God. It has no longer dominion, though it may have a being, in his
heart, requiring a still further work of grace. This wonderful change is
effected by faith in the atoning sacrifice. It must be by faith alone.
And such a doctrine is very full of comfort.
V. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT.
This doctrine, as well as justification by faith, was strongly contested
in Wesley's time, and the contest has not fully subsided. Many argue
that there is no _direct_ witness of the Spirit except what comes
through the _Word_, and hence is an inference which we draw by a process
of reasoning. The Word of God, it is claimed, gives us certain marks of
the new birth. We recognize such internal evidence, hence we infer that
we are justified, or born again. This is Wesley's _indirect_ witness, or
the witness of our own spirit. But he claimed that God, by his own
Spirit, gives us a _direct_ witness; that the "Spirit of God witnesses
with _our_ spirit that we are the children of God." And here is his
incomparable definition of this soul-cheering truth: "By the witness of
the Spirit I mean an inward impression of the soul, whereby the Spirit
of God immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a child
of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved me and given himself for me; that
all my sins have been blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God."
Twenty years later, speaking of this definition, he said: "I see no
cause to retract any of these suggestions. Neither do I conceive how any
of those expressions may be altered so as to make them more
intelligible."
This constitutes the _direct_ witness of the Spirit.
The _indirect_ witness, or the witness of our own spirit, including the
fruit of the Spirit, is subsequent to this direct witness. The one is
the tree, and the other its fruit.
VI. FINAL PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.
While Calvinism has modified its faith in regard to many things, it
still adheres to its original belief in this dogma. It is stated in
these words in their Confession of Faith: "They whom God has accepted in
his beloved, effectually called, sanctified by his Spirit, can neither
totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall
certainly persevere to the end, and be eternally saved." It is further
declared that "this perseverance of the saints depends not upon their
own will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election," etc.
They say, also, that "the perseverance of the saints is one of the
Articles by which the creed of the followers of Calvin is distinguished
from that of Arminius."
Mr. Wesley as well as Mr. Fletcher opposed this doctrine. They declared
with all the force of scriptural authority that "if the righteous turn
away from his righteousness and commit iniquity, his righteousness shall
no longer be remembered, but for his iniquity that he hath committed he
shall die for it." They insisted that if "every branch in Christ that
did not bear fruit was to be cut off and cast into the fire and burned,"
the apostasy of a believer may be final. They insisted that "if we sin
willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation," etc.; that we might so far backslide as
that another "might take our crown." They went everywhere declaring that
the only safeguard against final apostasy was to be "faithful unto
death."
VII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OR CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.
Mr. Wesley declared that this was "the grand depositum which God had
lodged with the people called Methodists, and for the sake of
propagating this chiefly he appears to have raised them up." His
opponents charged him with preaching perfection. They said, derisively,
"This is Mr. Wesley's doctrine! He preaches perfection!" "He does,"
responds Wesley, "yet this is not _his_ doctrine any more than it is
yours, or anyone's else that is a minister of Christ. For it is his
doctrine, peculiarly, emphatically his; it is the doctrine of Jesus
Christ. These are his words, not mine: 'Ye shall therefore be perfect,
as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.' And who says ye shall not;
or, at least, not till your soul is separated from your body?"
It is true Wesley used the term "perfection," but it was not the only
word he used to set forth this truth, but such terms as "perfect love,"
"full salvation," "full sanctification," "the whole image of God,"
"second change," "clean heart," "pure heart," "loving God with all the
heart," etc. He says: "I have no particular fondness for the term
perfection. It seldom occurs in my preaching or writing. It is my
opponents who thrust it upon me continually, and ask what I mean by it.
I do not build any doctrine thereupon, nor undertake critically to
explain it." "What is the meaning of perfection? is another question.
That it is a scriptural term is undeniable; therefore none ought to
object to the term, whatever they may as to this or that explication of
it." "But I still think that perfection is only another term for
holiness, or the image of God in man. 'God made man perfect,' I think,
is just the same as 'He made him holy,' or 'in his own image.'"
It does not come within our plan or purpose to give a detailed
exposition of Christian perfection, but simply to call the reader's
attention to the truth as the central doctrine in Mr. Wesley's system of
religious faith. With him it was deliverance from _inbred_, as well as
_actual_, sin. It was not sin _repressed_, but sin exterminated,
deliverance from sin. His standing definition was the following:
"Sanctification, in a proper sense, is an instantaneous deliverance from
all sin, and includes an instantaneous power, then given, always to
cleave to God. Yet this sanctification does not include a power never to
think a useless thought, nor ever speak a useless word. I myself believe
that such a perfection is inconsistent with living in a corruptible
body; for this makes it impossible always to think aright. While we
breathe we shall more or less mistake. If, therefore, Christian
perfection includes this, we must not expect it until after death." He
says again that "the perfection he believes in is 'love dwelling alone
in the heart.'" It is "deliverance from evil desires and evil tempers"
as well as from "evil words and works." "I want you to be all love. This
is the perfection I believe and teach. And this perfection is consistent
with a thousand nervous disorders, which that high-strained perfection
is not. Indeed, my judgment is (in this case particularly) to overdo is
to undo; and that to set perfection too high (so high as no man that we
ever heard or read of attained) is the most effectual (because
unsuspected) way of driving it out of the world."[F] "Nor did I ever say
or mean any more by perfection than the loving God with all our heart,
and serving him with all our strength; for it might be attended with
worse consequences than you seem to be aware of. If there be a mistake,
it is far more dangerous on the one side than on the other. If I set the
mark too high, I drive men into needless fears; if you set it too low,
you drive them into hell fire."[G]
It is not for us to defend these views, but simply to record them, as
the theological faith of the founder of Methodism, and that which the
Methodist Church in all the world has professed to believe and teach.
VIII. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
Mr. Wesley taught the doctrine of the general resurrection of the human
body. "The plain notion of a resurrection," he says, "requires that the
selfsame body that died should rise again. Nothing can be said to be
raised again but that body that died. If God gives to our souls a new
body, this cannot be called a resurrection of the body, because the word
plainly implies the fresh production of what was before."[H]
While he holds that the same body is to be raised, it is not a
_natural_, but a _spiritual_, body. "It is sown in this world a merely
_animal body_--maintained by food, sleep, and air, like the body of
brutes. But it is raised of a more refined contexture, needing none of
these animal refreshments, and endued with qualities of a spiritual
nature like the angels of God." "We must be entirely changed, for such
flesh and blood as we are clothed with now cannot enter into that
kingdom which is wholly _spiritual_."[I] He speaks of the _place_ from
which the dead rise as evidence of its being the same body that died
(John v, 28). "The hour is coming when all that are in their graves
shall hear his voice and shall come forth." "Now, if the same body do
not rise again, what need is there of opening the graves at the end of
the world?" The graves can give up no bodies but those which were laid
in them. If we were not to rise with the very same bodies that died,
then they might rest forever.
Mr. Wesley taught, in harmony with the Scriptures, the doctrine of
IX. GENERAL JUDGMENT.
This, Mr. Wesley claimed, would take place at the _second coming of
Christ_, at the end of the world, "when the Son of man shall come in his
glory." "The dead of all nations will be gathered before him." This he
calls "the day of the Lord, the space from the creation of men upon the
earth to the end of all things;" "the days of the sons of men, the time
that is now passing over us. When this is ended the day of the Lord
begins." "The time when we are to give this account" is at the second
advent, "when the great white throne comes down from heaven, and he who
sitteth thereon, from whose face the heavens and earth shall flee away."
It is "then the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books
will be opened." "Before all these the whole human race shall appear,"
etc.[J]
X. ETERNAL REWARD AND PUNISHMENT.
Mr. Wesley taught that men would be both punished and rewarded at the
judgment, and that both reward and punishment would be eternal. "Either
the punishment is strictly eternal, or the reward is not, the very same
expression being applied to the former as to the latter. It is not only
particularly observable here (1) that the punishment lasts as long as
the reward, but (2) that this punishment is so far from ceasing at the
end of the world that it does not begin till then."[K] "The rewards will
never come to an end unless God comes to an end and his truth fail. The
wicked, meantime, shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that
forget God."
These are the doctrines of universal Methodism, as expressed in its
creed. Methodism accepts the doctrines inculcated by John Wesley.
Our space does not allow us to do more than to state these doctrines in
the briefest form. Wherever they are faithfully preached they become
effectual to the saving of men. It is hoped that Methodism will abide by
its doctrinal _creed_, for by it all its victories have been achieved.