John Wesley

All across Europe, the " great crisis " 1 was still the transforming engine room of the eighteenth-century; decrees were imposed and wars were waged to define lineages of sovereign continuity for both Protestant (England) and Catholic (Austria). The diminishment of British monarchical powers began a transition (via the Hanoverian Succession) to the contemporary structure of cabinet government, steered by a prime minister, which warranted the people's

John Wesley brought together five key dynamics of the Christian faith, effectively combining in thought and practice these five elements:
1. Divine sovereignty and human freedom
2. Doctrine and experience
3. Experience and structure
4. Charismatic and institutional elements
5. Present and future salvation.
This essay suggests that this synthesis is both biblical and powerful. It then takes a fresh look at the much-discussed Wesleyan Quadrilateral, showing the ways it must be reconsidered. (Cowman Lecture, Seoul Theological University, 2016)

After an introduction, are presented in English and Portuguese six letters
written by John Wesley, an Anglican priest and spiritus rector of the Methodist
movement, addressed to Samuel Hoare (18 August 1787), Thomas Clarkson
(London, in August 1787), Granville Sharp (London, 11 October 1787), Thomas
Funnell (24 November 1787), Henry Moore (Bristol, 14 March 1790) and John
Wilberforce (Balam, February 24, 1791). The five people belonged to the circles
of the Society for the abolition of slave trade, founded on May 22, 1787. Hoare, a
Quaker, Sharp and Clarkson, both Anglicans, were founding members, Funnell,
associate member soon after and Wilberforce and the leader of the parliamentary
committee that dealt with the subject.
Keywords: John Wesley; Samuel Hoare; Thomas Clarkson; Thomas Funnell;
Granville Sharp; Henry Moore; John Wilberforce

This paper examines an underdeveloped category in John Wesley's theology of the means of grace. The term "general means of grace" refers to inward attitudes and practices of self-examination which nurture a virtuous spirit. As such, the general means of grace serve as a pattern for all the other, outward means of grace---providing the connecting foundation whereby they will be spiritually efficacious in the Christian life.

This paper considers the religious aspects of the life of Ned Kelly, in dialogue with Russel Ward’s Australian Legend, in order to explore the relatively unexamined religious dimensions of the Australian national myth. Religious leaders could be surprisingly sympathetic toward Kelly, with the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, James Moorhouse, urging congregants to pray for the outlaws as they cowered in the bush on the run from the law. Kelly was an Irish Catholic, of course, but there are also interesting Methodist connections. His widowed mother Ellen married the Californian miner George King in the home of a  Primitive Methodist minister, a perhaps surprising thing for an Irish Catholic to do in a sectarian age that frowned on such ‘mixed marriages’. The Wesleyan Methodist preacher John Cowley Coles visited Kelly in the Melbourne Gaol in September and October 1880 while Kelly awaited execution. Kelly the penitent Catholic Christian knelt beside Coles the forthright Wesleyan preacher, together calling upon God to grant mercy to a fallen sinner. An examination of the response of religious leaders to the Kelly Outbreak as well as Kelly’s own religious sentiments can inform and enlarge our understanding of one of Australia’s most enduring cultural icons.

Why did John Wesley leave the halls of academia at Oxford to become a Church of England missionary in the newly established colony of Georgia? Was his ministry in America a success or failure? These questions—which have engaged numerous biographers of Wesley—have often been approached from the vantage point of later developments in Methodism. Geordan Hammond presents the first book-length study of Wesley’s experience in America, providing an innovative contribution to debates about the significance of a formative period of his life.

John Wesley in America addresses Wesley's Georgia mission in fresh perspective by interpreting it in its immediate context. In order to re-evaluate this period of Wesley’s life, Hammond carefully considers Wesley's writings and those of his contemporaries. The Georgia mission, for Wesley, was a laboratory for implementing his views of primitive Christianity. The ideal of restoring the doctrine, discipline, and practice of the early church in the pristine Georgia wilderness was the prime motivating factor in Wesley’s decision to embark for Georgia and in his clerical practice in the colony. Understanding the centrality of primitive Christianity to Wesley’s thinking and pastoral methods is essential to comprehending his experience in America. Wesley’s conception of primitive Christianity was rooted in his embrace of patristic scholarship at Oxford. The most direct influence, however, was the High Church ecclesiology of the Usager Nonjurors who inspired him with their commitment to the restoration of the primitive church.

John Wesley's theology was a theology of mission. This becomes clear when we examine his theological orientation and four key Wesleyan themes: The image of God, prevenient (preceding) grace, salvation as healing, and the perfecting of Christian character (sanctification). In conjunction, these themes show how Wesley’s missiology was at heart holistic, integrating physical, social, economic, and spiritual dimensions and thus providing timely resources for today.

Public theology has become an important mode of theological engagement in secular and pluralistic contexts yet there is debate as to the character of this engagement. This article argues that an analysis of the nascent public theology developed by John Wesley can contribute to the development of a prophetic public theology. This nascent prophetic public theology is best demonstrated in his booklet Thoughts upon Slavery. Wesley’s argument is critically analysed in the context of eighteenth century Britain. On the basis of this analysis eight propositions for a prophetic public theology are developed.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, loudly and strongly renounced the evils of warfare, yet never committed himself to a pacifist position.  In this paper, I argue that interpreting Wesley's stance regarding war is best understood through his doctrine of divine providence.  Since God controls the fate of nations, war must be seen as God's will on the one hand, yet also as the result of original sin on the other.  This tension informs Wesley's vision of history as well as the ethics of war and peace.

2021 Best Book Award, John Whitmer Historical Association.
Finalist for Best Book in "Excellence in the Study of Religion, Textual Studies" by the American Academy of Religion.
Finalist for Best Book in Religious Non-Fiction, the Association for Mormon Letters.

Publishers Weekly, Starred Review: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-46965-566-6

Publishers Weekly, Top Ten Pick for the Week of May 25, 2020: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/83347-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-may-25-2020.html

Roundtable Reviews by Dr. Elizabeth Fenton, Dr. Brian Hauglid, and Dr. Michael Austin, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought:  https://www.dialoguejournal.com/2020/05/dialogue-roundtable-william-l-davis-visions-in-a-seer-stone-joseph-smith-and-the-making-of-the-book-of-mormon/

The Association for Mormon Letters, review by Andrew Hamilton: http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/reviews/current-reviews/davis-visions-in-a-seer-stone-joseph-smith-and-the-making-of-the-book-of-mormon-reviewed-by-andrew-hamilton/

The University of North Carolina Press (2020).
https://uncpress.org/book/9781469655666/visions-in-a-seer-stone/ 

In this interdisciplinary work, William L. Davis examines Joseph Smith's 1829 creation of the Book of Mormon, the foundational text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Positioning the text in the history of early American oratorical techniques, sermon culture, educational practices, and the passion for self-improvement, Davis elucidates both the fascinating cultural context for the creation of the Book of Mormon and the central role of oral culture in early nineteenth-century America.

Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith’s process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books—he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.

John Wesley considered the slave trade to be a national disgrace. However, while the American Methodist Church had initially made bold declarations concerning the evils of slavery, the practical application of this principled opposition was seriously compromised, obstructed by the leviathan of the plantation economy prominent in this period of American history. This paper surveys a variety of Methodist responses to slavery and race, exploring the dialectical germination of ideas like holiness, liberty and equality within the realities of the Antebellum context.

Whilst a great deal of work has been produced in relation to St Benedict and John Wesley as individuals, and between the Benedictine tradition and the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification and holiness, scholars have yet to compare the rules of Benedict and Wesley or their concomitant thoughts and biography. This dissertation will compare and contrast sections of St Benedict’s Rule and Wesley’s Rule for the Methodist Societies and the Twelve Rules of a Helper. In particular, my texts for comparison will be, in relation to John Wesley: The Historic Texts Part 1 and Part 2 of the Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church, and in relation to Benedict: St Benedict’s Rule: Prologue, Chapters 4, 7, 72 and 73. With an examination particularly pertaining to those areas wherein the spiritual emphases of Benedict and Wesley particularly converge, and where they are distinct in difference.

An increasing number of historians have highlighted the complex nature of much eighteenth-century churchmanship. These writers argue that in this period many clergyman possessed altitudinarian and latitudinarian tendencies simultaneously. While John Wesley's theological heritage has been examined from a variety of different perspectives, a growing body of literature has accentuated the altitudinarian tendencies in his theology and ministry. For this reason, several writers have closely identified Wesley with the Anglican High Church tradition. As a result, even though many of these scholars have compared Wesley's ecclesiology with the work of Edward Stillingfleet, the question as to whether or not Wesley might possess Latitudinarian tendencies has been neglected. Given the equivocal nature of much eighteenth-century churchmanship, this essay concentrates on whether Wesley also exhibits Latitudinarian tendencies by examining whether his focus on the essentials of religion, his tolerance concerning the inessential, and his emphasis on godliness resemble similar emphases in seventeenth-century Latitudinarian writers.

John Wesley revised the Book of Common Prayer for the use of Methodists in America in four editions beginning in 1784. One frontier preacher's response may stand as typical of the neglect the book experienced-'Our preachers prefer to pray with their eyes closed.' Remaining little more than a historical curiosity until the mid-twentieth century, the Sunday Service underwent a renewal of interest as American Methodists participated in the liturgical renewal movement. Wesley's abridgment had a more significant role in British Methodism where it formed the basis of Methodist worship, along with the Book of Common Prayer itself (at least in the mainstream Wesleyan tradition.) This chapter traces the fortunes of this particular liturgical resource and consider its value for Methodism's (and the Uniting Church's) present sense of liturgical continuity with Anglican worship.

John Wesley is known for his preoccupation with providential omens, miracles, apparitions, instances of demonic possession and witchcraft – in a word, everything that seemed to be a manifestation of the supernatural in everyday life. Naturally, this category of phenomena could not do without dreams and visions which for the founder of Methodism were always an object of extraordinary interest. In his writings – sermons, letters and, especially, the Journal – Wesley meticulously recorded, or at least mentioned in passing, dozens of dreams that occurred to himself, his friends and relatives as well as people he encountered during his innumerable preaching trips in Britain and America. This oneiric collection, gathered mostly among Methodist “enthusiasts”, predictably included prophetic dreams presaging near future events (particularly somebody’s death), healing dreams (resulting in a dreamer’s miraculous recovery), dreams leading to a dreamer’s sudden conversion as well as visions of God, angels, heaven and hell. It is noteworthy that all these basic dream types were characteristic of the centuries-old Christian tradition, which in a natural way suited the Methodist project that aimed at recreating the Primitive Christianity as it was in its first centuries. What is more, many dreams recorded by Wesley were culture-specific and schematic: it is not surprising, for instance, to find out that the dreams of the passionate Bible-readers, in some cases at least, were patterned on some well-known biblical narratives (such as Samuel’s night call or Jacob’s ladder). In spite of his considerable regard for the supernatural phenomena Wesley was not uncritical in his assessment of them. In fact, his approach to dreams was ambivalent as throughout his texts the word “dream” most frequently meant “illusion.” Moreover, he often warned that dreams and visions were not always reliable, since their origin was uncertain. For that reason Wesley insisted that dreams should be verified with the “Scripture and common sense” and, if such a test was failed, they should be rejected as false and dangerously misleading. In this manner he analysed “waking dreams” of the then immensely popular visionary Emanuel Swedenborg, and vehemently repudiated them for the sake of preserving what he considered the Christian oneiric orthodoxy.

This work explores the efficacy of John Wesley’s theories and praxes concerning religious education in eighteenth-century England. Wesley theorized that children should be taught early on to love God, live in His image, and strive for a life of holiness. His theories were not exclusive to children but applied to all people including the illiterate and unlearned working class of England. As the Methodist movement expanded, Wesley’s unique methodology evolved to facilitate a more effective educational process. This methodology was grounded in his upbringing, influenced by his life experiences, and refined by his educational experiments. The outflow of his methodology was his various practices, namely, class meetings and Sunday schools. Religious education became the catalyst for social, moral, and religious change in Britain’s working class of the eighteenth century.

From the outset of the Evangelical Revival it was more than apparent that John Wesley “saw himself as having a particular mission to the poor people.”  Wesley dedicated almost seventy years towards helping the poor. His ethics sought to impact and transform the underprivileged and deprived parts of society, and thus, “one would be hard put to find many examples of people who gave away more of their adult resources of time and money than Wesley did.”  While his ethics cover a broad array of themes—including his views on slavery, war, education and community—it can be argued that Wesley’s ministry to the poor received a significant amount of attention.

Although the poor faced numerous disadvantages during the eighteenth-century, there remained three prevalent disadvantages that Wesley specifically addressed.  This article will suggest that these three were social, economical, and medical. With the social part, it will be important to explore contextual issues and Wesley’s own personal imitation of the poor. With economical, Wesley’s financial ethics will be examined, as well as how he attempted to assist the poor financially through various means. Finally, with health, the problem of disease within this era will be looked at too, as well as how Wesley’s Primitive Physic and his overall holistic soteriology attempted to restore health to the poor. Consequently, the following article will argue that John Wesley’s ethics helped to improve the lives of the poor on a substantial level.
According to Richard Heitzenrater, the question of ‘who were the poor in eighteenth-century England?’ has been a question which Wesleyan scholarship has failed to answer, or alternatively, “avoided asking.”  Poverty within an eighteenth-century context, therefore, needs to be addressed if Wesley’s ethics are to be understood. After all, “the concept of poverty and the nature of the problem in eighteenth-century England – is largely unknown to most Methodists today.”

In this research paper I resolve to capture the heart of Wesley’s understanding of the doctrine of free will and its connection to the study of soteriology. Not every doctrine relating to free will shall be considered but only those that are critical to a healthy understanding of free will as Wesley embraced it.

The President of the International Orthodox Theological Association, Prof. Dr. Paul L. Gavrilyuk, deals in this article with the main question: “What does it take to perceive God?” He shows that “similar to communication with human persons, our communion with God crucially involves an experiential dimension, which presupposes a form of perception. Recall the biblical prophets receiving the ‘word of the Lord.’ We rely on the reports of the prophets and, therefore, on testimony. But the prophets themselves received the word from God and, therefore, at some juncture a form of perception is involved in this communication.”

Prof. Gavrilyuk presents here the Spiritual Perception Research Project: “‘Spiritual Perception’ is an umbrella term that covers a range of perceptual powers that make divine-human communication possible. In the first phase of our project, we explored how different authors in the Christian tradition from Origen of Alexandria to John Wesley, Karl Rahner, and Hans Urs von Balthasar understood spiritual perception.”

It’s always a difficult thing to summon the dead out of their graves and ask for their opinion on present circumstances. Voltaire once said that, ‘History is just a pack of tricks we play on the dead.’ It’s all too easy to distort the ideas of the departed, who are not in a position to defend themselves, in order to serve some agenda of our own. But this is the topic that has been suggested to me and I’m going to take it on and see where it leads us. Keep in mind that all of this is my idea of what John Wesley might say to UCA ordinands. It is meant only to be suggestive not definitive. What he might say about the Uniting Church is a topic perhaps for another time.  I am going to suggest here four words of advice from the founder of Methodism:

1. Plunder the Egyptians
2. Offer Christ
3. Have an Optimism of Grace
4. In Mission, Love the Church

John Wesley summarised the Methodism’s mission as spreading “scriptural holiness”. This article argues that the praxis of social justice as an expression of holiness is integral to the mission of the church. The following themes from Wesley’s theology are examined: Holiness as love; “justice, mercy, and truth”; social holiness; works of mercy as a means of grace; stewardship, and “the outcasts of men”. It argues that the praxis of justice, mercy, and truth is integral to holiness and hence to mission of the church. A contextualisation of this theme in the context of secularisation and migration is then developed.

This paper aims to show that John Wesley’s theology of conversion is not synonymous with his theology of the new birth. Conversion is inclusive of the new birth as a beginning and pushes further to describe Christian growth as a journey away from sin and self and toward holiness which comes via the prevenient grace of God.

The 18th-century Methodists were criticized not only for their alleged excessive religious enthusiasm but also for what was often described as propagation of popular superstition. Admittedly John Wesley and his followers expressed staunch belief in witchcraft, demonic possession and ghost haunting, which was apparently out of touch with the elite’s growing scepticism as well as with the times in which the last witch trials and executions took place. However, we should note that educated disbelief in physical manifestations of the supernatural was not dominant. Despite sharp criticism levelled at the people’s credulity there was still a strong interest – and belief – in supernatural stories and incidents, and each such case immediately gained wide publicity (e.g. “Epworth Poltergeist” of 1716, the Cock Lane haunting of 1762, etc.). In a sense Wesley’s views reflected popular beliefs that continued in defiance of religious rationalism. What is more, the “superstitious” aspect of Methodism should be viewed in the context of the famous debate between sceptics who questioned existence of ghosts and witches (Sadduccees) and those Christians who were unwilling to discard any traditional belief in fear that it might do some harm to their religion. Therefore, Wesley’s adherence to the so-called superstition was one of his strategies to keep the traditional faith intact, and, consequently, an important part of his ambitious project to restore Real Christianity.

What is theological reflection, as a modern concept?  Theological reflection is the process by which we come to understand reality as it truly is.  The goal ultimately is to see God, the universe, the inspired word, and ourselves, as God sees it.  This will naturally entail a limited status, for humanity cannot see as God sees, but we can see as God intends us to see. Therefore, theological reflection is the practice of seeing what is true about all aspects of reality, to the dimensions possible by the human mind.  Essentially this is to see reality from a purely Christian worldview, and to perceive in the dimension of time, how God is unfolding his sovereign plan in the world.

Once upon a time (when theology was a 'thing' and doctrine mattered, but before anyone thought it should actually help us exist as those who pretend to believe and live differently because of Christian faith), I taught courses in Christian Theology.

At schools like Wheaton College, Northern Seminary and several guest lectureships at institutions I promised I'd never advertise I was invited to contribute my thoughts, I taught coursework and graduate seminars on the subject of theology. This introduction to the task of theology was just another hand-out serious students would pretend to read and colleagues would use to raise suspicions about 'fit' and statements of faith to Provosts and Deans. So I share this with you in hopes of steering you away from criticism and you, like so many others, will learn to 'just blame Callahan' for this or that.

This paper contrasts the term qadosh with the term herem to show that separation to for and by God  (qadosh applied to Israel) results in welcoming others into the people of God. The result is social holiness described by John Wesley, living in community with all sorts of others, confessing,  as Jean Zaru said, "Without truth telling there is no peacemaking."

This paper will examine John Wesley's reading of Jonathan Edwards and the manner in which he mediated Edwards to 'the people called Methodist' through the editing, publishing, and dissemination of Edwards' works. It will include a consideration of the 1778 sermon, 'Some Account of the Late Work of God in America' in which Wesley co-opts Edwards for use in a historical narrative designed to legitimate Methodism as a genuine work of God as well as to extend Wesley's opposition to the democratic spirit that had led to the American Revolution. Wesley describes his own work in Georgia and the awakening in Northampton reported in Edwards' Faithful Narrative of a Suprising Work of God (1736), as though they were two parts of a continuous and converging stream. In so doing he smooths over the historical complexities and continuities, rewriting history to serve his own purposes. Though Wesley's admiration for Edwards is clear his selective use of the latter's writings was guided by the conviction that they contained 'wholesome food...mixed with much deadly poison.'