2024/01/13

존 웨슬리 - 위키백과 John Wesley, 1703 ~ 1791

존 웨슬리 - 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전

존 웨슬리

위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전.

 웨슬리는 여기로 연결됩니다. 다른 뜻에 대해서는 웨슬리 (동음이의) 문서를 참고하십시오.
존 웨슬리
John Wesley
작가 정보
출생1703년 6월 28일[1]
잉글랜드 왕국 링컨셔 주 엡워스
사망1791년 3월 2일 (88세)
그레이트브리튼 왕국 런던
국적영국
직업신학자, 저술가 영국 성공회 사제
종교성공회
활동기간1725년 ~ 1791년
장르기독교신학교육 저술
부모새뮤얼 웨슬리(아버지)
수재너 웨슬리(어머니)
자녀없음[2]
친지찰스 웨슬리(남동생)

존 웨슬리(John Wesley, 1703년 6월 17일(율리우스력)/6월 28일(그레고리력) ~ 1791년 3월 2일)는 영국 개신교계에서 감리교 운동을 시작한 인물로, 영국과 미국의 감리교 창시자다. 영국국교회[3](Church of England)에서 안수를 받았으며 신학자이며 사회운동가이다. 또한 웨슬리의 사역과 저술은 감리교의 활동뿐만 아니라 19세기 성결 운동과 20세기 오순절 운동 및 기독교 사회복지 운동에 큰 영향을 끼쳤다.

요약[편집]

신학공부와 목회활동[편집]

차터하우스 학교와 옥스퍼드 대학교에서 공부한 존 웨슬리는 옥스퍼드 링컨 칼리지의 교수(fellow)가 되었으며, 1725년에는 부제가, 1728년에는 사제/장로목사가 되었다. 잉글랜드국교회인 잉글랜드 성공회 사제였던 아버지 새뮤얼 웨슬리의 교구에서 사제로 사역한 후 1729년 옥스퍼드로 돌아와 신성회(Holy Club)를 지도하였다. 신성회는 신학 공부와 그리스도인으로서의 경건을 연마하기 위한 모임이었으며, 동생 찰스 웨슬리가 처음 시작하여 조지 휫필드도 가입하였고, 존 웨슬리도 가입한 후 모임을 지도하게 되었다. 존 웨슬리는 동생 찰스 웨슬리와 함께 아메리카 식민지 조지아로 건너가 2년 동안 선교를 했지만 실패했고, 다시 영국으로 돌아왔다. 영국으로 돌아온 후 웨슬리는 아메리카로 건너가는 동안 만났던 모라비아 교도들과 교류하였다. 이후 독일을 방문해 모라비안 교회와 독일 경건주의 교회들을 돌아보기도 했다. 1738년 5월 24일, 웨슬리는 복음적 회심을 경험하였다. 웨슬리는 이날의 일기에 "마음이 이상하게 뜨거워지는 것을 느꼈다"라고 기록하였다. 이즈음 웨슬리는 모라비아 교도들과 결별하고 스스로의 사역을 시작하였다.

전도여행과 사회개혁[편집]

웨슬리의 사역은 조지 휫필드처럼 교회라는 울타리 밖으로 나가는 사역이었다. 하지만 휫필드가 예정론의 칼빈주의적 감리교를 지향했던 것과 달리 웨슬리는 자유의지론을 바탕으로 하여 아르미니우스주의와 가까운 입장을 지니고 있었다. 브리튼섬 전역과 아일랜드를 다니면서 웨슬리는 자신이 가는 곳마다 소모임인 속회를 조직하여 소모임 안에서 신자들이 훈련 받고 양육 받을 수 있게끔 했다. 더욱 주목할 만한 것은, 웨슬리가 평신도 설교자를 세워 자신처럼 나라 곳곳을 다니며 선교하게 했다는 사실이다. 웨슬리의 지도 아래, 감리교도들은 교도소 개혁과 노예해방 등 당시 사회적으로 중요한 이슈를 이끌고 개혁하였다.

신학사상[편집]

웨슬리는 비록 조직신학자는 아니었지만 신학적으로 '그리스도인의 완전'에 대해 주장하였고, 칼빈주의의 이중예정론에 맞섰다. 웨슬리는 그리스도인 내면에 하나님의 사랑이 깊게 자리한다면, 이를 바깥으로 표출하여 사회적 성화를 이루어야 한다고 역설하였다. 웨슬리의 신학은 공교회주의를 바탕으로 하나님의 은혜가 가시적으로 표현되는 수단인 성례전과 예전을 존중하는 성공회 고교회주의(High church,Anglo-catholic)와 개인의 종교경험을 존중하는 복음주의가 균형 있게 조화를 이루고 있었다. 웨슬리는 은총의 수단(means of grace)을 통해 신자들이 변화할 수 있고, 예수 그리스도를 인격적으로 경험할 수 있음을 역설하였다.

감리교와 잉글랜드 성공회[편집]

전생애를 통틀어 웨슬리는 잉글랜드 성공회 성직을 유지하였고, 영국에서 감리교 운동은 단지 침체된 영국성공회를 개혁하는 내부의 신앙 운동이라 하였으나, 미국 감리교회에서 목사를 안수할 감독을 웨슬리가 파송하며 미국에서는 분리적 태도를 취했다. 웨슬리 사후 영국 감리교는 미국 감리교회처럼 영국 성공회로부터 독립하여 자체적인 교단을 형성하였으며, 감리교로부터 사회운동을 강조하는 구세군, 성결교, 오순절 운동 등이 생겨났다. 즉 당시 영국 사회와 교회사에 끼친 웨슬리의 영향은 지대하였다. 그래서 웨슬리는 "영국에서 제일 사랑받는 사람"이라고 흔히 묘사되곤 한다.

생애[편집]

어린 시절[편집]

성공회 사제의 자녀[편집]

아버지 새뮤얼 웨슬리
어머니 수재너 웨슬리

존 웨슬리는 엡워스(Epworth)에서 태어났다. 엡워스는 링컨에서 서북쪽으로 37킬로미터 정도 떨어진 작은 시골 마을이었다. 웨슬리는 새뮤얼 웨슬리(Samuel Wesley)와 수재너 웨슬리(Susanna Wesley)의 열아홉 자녀 중 15번째였다. 새뮤얼 웨슬리는 옥스퍼드 대학교를 졸업한 영국성공회 사제이자 시인이었으며, 1696년부터 엡워스의 성공회 사제가 되어 목회하고 있었다. 새뮤얼 웨슬리는 1689년 개신교 목사인 새뮤얼 아네슬리(Samuel Annesley)의 25번째 딸인 수재너와 결혼하였다. 새뮤얼과 수재너는 총 열아홉 명의 자녀를 낳았지만 이 중 여섯 명만이 성인이 될 때까지 살아남았다. 새뮤얼과 수재너는 모두 개신교 목사의 자녀였지만 젊은 시절 잉글랜드 성공회로 전향한 공통점을 가지고 있었다.

부모님께 학문을 익히다.[편집]

당시 대부분 가정에서 그랬던 것처럼 웨슬리의 부모도 자녀들을 일찍부터 교육시켰다. 딸들을 포함하여 모든 아이들은 걸음마와 말을 배우자마자 글을 읽는 법을 배웠다. 근대 서양 중간계급 가정에서는 가정교사나 부모가 자녀들을 가르쳤는데(나이팅게일도 부친이 따님들인 플로렌스와 나이팅게일에게 학문을 가르쳤음)지식인인 수재너 사모는 라틴어와 그리스어, 불어에 능통하였고, 존 웨슬리와 형제들은 어린 시절부터 원어인 그리스어로 신약성서를 읽으며 생생하게 하나님의 말씀인 성서의 가르침을 새겼다. 존 웨슬리도 어머니처럼 지식인이어서 옥스퍼드대학교에서 신학공부를 할 때부터 신학, 문학, 음악에 모두 밝았다. 즉, 성직자가 되어 하나님의 일을 하려는 사람은 실력을 쌓는 일부터 해나가야 함을 보여주는 예라고 생각된다.

엄격하고 자상한 가정교육[편집]

존 웨슬리와 그의 형제들에게 지대한 영향을 끼친 것은 새뮤얼보다 수재너 웨슬리였다. 수재너는 점심 식사와 저녁 기도 시간 전에 아이들을 불러 배운 것을 잘 익혔는지 점검해 보았다. 수재너는 아이들이 반찬 투정을 하지 못하게 했고, 무분별하게 간식 먹는 것도 엄격히 금했다. 이를 어길시에는 어김 없이 회초리를 들었다. 회초리를 맞고 나서 큰 소리로 우는 것도 금했다. 수재너는 어린 시절부터 아이들의 의지를 정복하는 것이 올바른 신앙 형성을 위해 불가피한 것이라고 보았다. 아이들을 엄격히 가르치면서, 수재너는 아이들 한 명씩 밤에 따로 시간을 내어 만나 고민을 듣고 대화하였다. 존 웨슬리는 목요일 밤마다 어머니와 만났으며, 성장한 후에도 평생 목요일 밤 시간을 그리워하였다.

화재[편집]

1709년 2월 9일 사제관 화재에서 구출되는 어린 존 웨슬리. 새뮤얼 윌리엄 레이놀즈 작.

존 웨슬리의 어린 시절 중 가장 특기할 만한 사건은 1709년 2월 9일 사제관에서 일어난 화재일 것이다. 당시 웨슬리는 다섯 살이었다. 다른 가족들이 화재를 보고 피신한 것과 달리 웨슬리는 늦게까지 화재를 인지하지 못하다가 뒤늦게 불이 난 사실을 알고 간신히 창가에 올라가 도움을 요청하였다. 아들이 두려움에 떨며 울부짖는 모습을 보고 새뮤얼 웨슬리는 아들을 구하려고 노력했으나 화재가 심해 구하기가 쉽지 않았다. 결국 새뮤얼은 어쩔 수 없다 생각하여 아이의 영혼을 위해 기도하였다. 그 찰나에 같이 불을 끄던 주민들 중 한 사람이 다른 사람의 어깨를 딛고 올라가 웨슬리를 구했고, 웨슬리가 구조되자마자 지붕이 무너져 내렸다. 지붕이 무너지던 찰나 구조된 웨슬리를 보고 수재너는 웨슬리에게 하나님의 특별한 섭리가 있을 것이라고 생각하였다. 수재너는 스가랴 3장 2절을 인용하며 웨슬리를 "불에서 꺼낸 그슬린 나무토막"이라고 불렀고, 웨슬리 자신도 이 별명을 즐겨 사용하였다.

학교공부[편집]

열한 살이 된 1714년, 웨슬리는 런던에 있는 차터하우스 학교(Charterhous School)에 입학하였다. 차터하우스에서의 생활은 결코 풍족하고 행복한 것은 아니었지만 웨슬리는 집에서 그랬던 것과 같이 엄격하고 규칙적인 생활을 견뎌내었다. 차터하우스에서 6년 간 수학한 후, 1720년 웨슬리는 옥스퍼드 대학 크라이스트처치 칼리지에 입학하였다.

옥스퍼드 재학 시절과 성공회 성직서품[편집]

웨슬리가 수학하고 성공회 사제 서품을 받은 크라이스트처치 내부.

1720년 옥스퍼드 대학교 크라이스트처치 칼리지에 입학한 존 웨슬리는 1724년, 문학사(B.A.) 학위를 땄고, 대학원에 진학하여 문학석사(M.A.) 학위 취득을 위해 계속 공부하였다. 웨슬리는 1725년 9월 19일 옥스퍼드의 주교 존 포터(J. Potter)의 서품성사 집전으로 부제(deacon)로 서품받았다. 부제서품받을 즈음 웨슬리는 토마스 아 켐피스의 《그리스도를 본받아》와 제러미 테일러의 《거룩한 삶과 거룩한 죽음(Rules and Exercises for Holy Living and Holy Dying)》이라는 글을 읽고 깊은 감명을 받았다. 웨슬리는 이 책을 통해 참된 신앙은 먼저 마음 속에 뿌리 내리고 자라서 모든 생각과 말과 행동에까지 미치게 하는 것이라는 사실을 확인하게 되었다.

1726년 3월 17일, 웨슬리는 옥스퍼드 링컨 칼리지의 연구교수(fellow)가 되었다. 연구교수가 된 웨슬리는 학교 안에 연구실을 얻을 수 있었고 1751년 결혼할 때까지 해마다 18파운드에서 최고 80파운드까지, 평균 약 30파운드의 임금을 받을 수 있었다. 웨슬리는 연구를 계속하면서 학교에서 고전 문학과 논리학, 그리스어와 신약성서, 고전 문학과 철학을 가르쳤으며 이외에도 학생들의 개인 지도를 하였다. 웨슬리는 1728년 9월 22일에 성공회 부제서품 때와 마찬가지로 존 포터에게 성공회 사제(elder; priest)로 서품받았고, 1735년 조지아로 떠날 때까지 연구교수로서 연구와 강의를 성실히 수행했다.

신성회(Holy Club)[편집]

존 웨슬리가 아버지의 교구 목회를 도우러 고향에 내려 가 있는 동안, 1726년 존 웨슬리의 동생 찰스 웨슬리가 옥스퍼드 크라이스처치 칼리지에 입학하였다. 찰스는 입학 초기에는 경건하게 생활하지 않았었으나, 형 존과 어머니 수재너의 조언과 격려로 자신의 게으름을 반성하고 영적 생활을 새롭게 하려고 마음 먹었다. 결심 후에 찰스는 매주일 성찬을 받으며 매일 규칙적으로 개인 기도를 하면서 경건생활에 매진하기 시작했다. 찰스는 두 명의 친구(윌리엄 몰간과 로버트 커크함)와 함께 작은 모임을 하나 만들었는데 성경 공부와 경건 서적을 읽고 대화하기 위한 모임이었다. 1729년 11월 말 경에 웨슬리가 옥스퍼드에 돌아왔고, 웨슬리는 동생 찰스의 고전 연구를 지도하는 동시에 신앙 생활의 증진을 돕게 되었다. 웨슬리도 찰스가 시작한 모임에 참여하였고 자연스럽게 그 모임의 지도자가 되었다. 이것이 신성회(Holy Club)의 시작이었다.

기도와 독서[편집]

신성회는 매일 여섯시부터 아홉시까지 기도하고, 시편과 그리스어 신약성서를 읽기 위해 모였다. 이들이 보았던 책은 주로 초대 교회와 중세기 성자들의 신비주의와 종교개혁 시대와 당대의 경건한 사람들의 작품이었다. 그리고 당시 영국 성공회에서 1년에 3번 정도 성찬을 받아도 된다고 권고한 것과 달리, 신성회 회원들은 말씀예전과 성찬예전이 균형을 이룬 초대교회 예전에 따라 매주일 성찬을 받았다. 이들은 초대 교회의 전통을 따라 수요일과 금요일에 금식하였다. 1730년 8월부터 신성회 회원들은 감옥에 있는 죄수들을 규칙적으로 방문하고 전도하는 사회선교를 시작하였다. 윌리엄 모건의 제안으로 시작된 이 일은 후에 신성회의 사역 중 중요한 일로 정착하였다. 당시 감옥은 지옥을 방불케 할 정도로 여건이 극도로 나빴으며, 신성회는 이러한 사정을 고려하여 먹을 것과 입을 것, 겨울에는 석탄이나 나무를 갖다 주는 한편 심지어 빚을 못 갚아 들어온 죄수들을 대신해 빚을 갚아주고 석방시키기까지 했다.1732년 웨슬리는 신성회 회원들이 사용할 《매일 기도집(A Collection of Forms of Prayer for everyday in the week)》을 썼는데, 이 기도집에는 주일부터 월요일까지 매일 아침기도와 저녁기도가 실려 있으며 "매일의 자기성찰 일람표(A Scheme of Self-examination)"가 포함되어 있었다. 신성회는 웨슬리가 정한 규칙과 기도집을 엄격히 지켰다.

이렇게 신성회는 지나칠 정도로 규칙적이면서도 매우 열정적으로 경건 생활에 매달렸기 때문에 주변으로부터 많은 질시와 조소를 당했다. 그래서 얻은 별명이 바로 메소디스트(methodist)라는 이름이었다. 웨슬리 본인에 따르면 이 호칭은 네로 황제 시절 로마에서 활발히 활동했던 의사 집단에서 유래하였다. 그 당시 의사들은 규칙적인 식이 요법을 통해 모든 질병을 고칠 수 있다고 생각했다. 메소디스트란 바로 이 의사 집단을 일컫는 말이었다. 이외에도 신성회는 "성경 벌레(Bible Moths)", "공로주의자들(Supererogation Men)[4]", "성례전주의자들(Sacramentarians)", "초대 교회(Primitive Church)", "열광주의자들(Enthusiasts)"이라는 별명으로 불렸다.

이와 같은 옥스퍼드에서의 신성회 활동은 웨슬리가 회심 이후 본격적으로 시작하게 되는 감리교회 운동의 시초였다.

조지아 선교와 실패[편집]

1735년, 웨슬리는 당시 영국의 식민지 중 하나였던 아메리카 조지아 서배너(Savannah)에 선교하기로 하였다. 1734년 말 아버지 새뮤얼 웨슬리 사제가 별세하였고, 별세하기 직전 완성한 욥기 주석서를 캐롤라인 왕비에게 전해달라고 존에게 요청하였다. 웨슬리는 아버지의 유언에 따라 주석서를 왕비에게 전해주었다. 책을 전해주고 오는 길에 웨슬리는 옥스퍼드 코퍼스 크리스티 칼리지(Corpus Christi College)의 존 버턴(John Burton) 사제를 만났다. 버턴은 웨슬리에게 조지아로 가서 선교해 줄 것을 요청하였다. 버턴은 웨슬리에게 조지아 식민지를 개척한 제임스 오글소프(James Oglethorpe)를 소개시켜 주기까지 했다. 제임스 오글소프는 웨슬리에게 식민지인들의 신앙생활을 돕는 선교사가 되어 달라고 간청하였다.

웨슬리는 고민하다가 고향 엡워스로 가서 어머니 수재너 웨슬리에게 조언을 요청하였다. 수재너 웨슬리는 조금도 지체하지 않고 오히려 감탄하며 이야기했다. "내게 스무 명의 아들이 있다면, 다 그렇게 쓰임 받았으면 좋겠구나." 웨슬리는 마침내 선교사가 되기로 결심하고 1735년 10월 10일, 버턴에게 선교사가 되기로 결정했다는 편지를 보냈다.

모라비안 공동체와 만나다[편집]

미국 조지아주 서배너에 있는 웨슬리 동상

같은 해 10월 14일, 웨슬리는 갓 성공회 사제서품을 받은 동생 찰스 웨슬리와 함께 그레이브젠드(Gravesend)로 갔다. 이날 동행하는 사람들 중에는 옥스퍼드 퀸즈 칼리지의 벤저민 잉햄(Bejamin Ingham)과 런던 상인의 아들 찰스 델라모트(Charles Delamotte)가 있었다. 이 네 사람은 데이비드 니치먼(David Nitschmann) 주교의 인솔 하에 시몬즈(Simmonds) 호에 올랐다. 이때 같이 배에 탄 이들 중에는 독일 헤른후트 노동공동체에서 온 개신교 신도들인 모라비안 26명도 있었다.

장장 4개월 23일 간 계속된 항해에서 시몬즈 호는 몇 번이나 전복될 뻔 하였다. 바닷물이 객실 창을 부수고 돛대까지 부러뜨릴 정도였다. 위기의 순간 웨슬리를 포함한 영국인들은 죽음의 공포 속에 두려움에 떨고 있었다. 하지만 모라비아 교도들은 죽음의 위기 속에서도 시편을 찬송하고 기도하였고, 침착한 모라비아 교도들의 모습은 웨슬리에게 깊은 인상을 남겼다. 웨슬리는 이들에게 "죽음이 두렵지 않습니까?"라고 물었고, 이들은 "두렵지 않았고 오히려 하나님께 감사했습니다."라고 고백하였다.

배는 우여곡절 끝에 1736년 2월 6일 조지아에 상륙하였다. 존 웨슬리는 서배너에, 찰스 웨슬리는 프레데리카에서 목회를 시작했다. 존 웨슬리는 조지아주의 두 번째 영국 성공회 사제로서 온 것이지만 조지아에는 아직 전임인 새뮤얼 퀸시(Samuel Quincy)가 사제관에 그대로 남아 떠나지 않고 있었다. 때문에 웨슬리는 찰스 델라모트와 함께 모라비아 교도들이 쓰는 막사에 기거해야 했다. 2월 25일 두 사람은 이 독일인들과 함께 살기 시작했고, 덕분에 모라비아 교도들을 매일 보며 그들의 경건한 생활을 가까이에서 볼 수 있었다. 특히 웨슬리는 모라비아 교도의 지도자인 스팡겐베르크(August Spangenberg)와 깊은 교제를 나누면서 많은 영향을 받았다.

스팡겐베르크와 웨슬리가 나눈 대화는 유명하다. 어느 날 스팡겐베르크는 웨슬리에게 두 가지 질문을 던졌다. 첫째는 "당신 안에 증인을 갖고 있는가?"였고, 둘째는, "하나님의 성령이 당신이 하나님의 자녀임을 당신 영과 더불어 증언하고 있는가?"였다. 웨슬리는 느닷없는 질문에 제대로 답변을 못하고 있었고, 그때 다시 스팡겐베르크가 질문을 던졌다. "당신은 예수 그리스도를 아십니까?" 웨슬리는 잠시 머뭇 거리다가 이렇게 대답했다. "저는 그분이 이 세상의 구주이심을 압니다." 스팡겐베르크는 재차 질문을 던졌다. "바로 그분이 당신을 구원하셨다는 것을 알고 계십니까?" 웨슬리는 이렇게 대답했다. "그분이 저를 구원하기 위해 죽으셨기를 바랍니다."

웨슬리는 이 날의 대화에서 큰 충격을 받았고, 자신의 일기에 그저 "의미 없이 내맽었다"라고 적었다. 웨슬리는 이 대화를 통해 자신이 하나님의 자녀라는 확신을 갖고 있지 못했다는 것을 깨달았으며, 스팡겐베르크와 모라비아 교도들이 보였던 믿음의 확신에 감탄하였다. 웨슬리는 자연스레 모라비아 교도와 스팡겐베르크에 끌리게 되었으며 믿음의 확신을 얻기까지 계속 교제를 나누었다.

미국사람들과의 갈등[편집]

아메리카 원주민들에게 설교하는 웨슬리

서배너에서 시작한 웨슬리의 목회는 시작은 꽤 순조로웠으나 곧 난항을 겪었다. 이유는 웨슬리의 보수적인 목회 스타일 때문이었다. 웨슬리는 비국교도의 자녀들에게 세례를 다시 베풀었으며, 세례 시에는 물에 세 번 잠기게 하는 것을 고집하였다. 웨슬리는 비국교도를 엄격히 차별하여 비국교도가 사망했을 때 장례식 집례를 거부하였다. 또 웨슬리는 조지아로 떠나면서 인디언이야말로 죄에 때묻지 않은 창조 본연의 사람들이라고 생각하고 인디언 선교에 큰 꿈을 품었었지만 인디언 선교도 쉽지 않았다. 찰스 웨슬리도 형 존 웨슬리와 마찬가지로 난항을 겪었는데, 찰스가 겪은 것은 주로 식민지 주민들의 악의적인 협박과 행동이었다. 찰스 웨슬리는 이와 같은 악의적인 행동에 시달리다가 1736년 8월, 6개월 만에 식민지 활동을 청산하고 영국으로 되돌아왔다. 동생 찰스가 떠나자 웨슬리는 목회의 공백을 메우기 위해 프레데리카에 정기적으로 들르기 시작했다. 웨슬리가 부재하는 동안 서배너에서는 앞서 조직한 소모임을 통해 교인들이 서로의 신앙생활을 독려할 수 있게 하였다. 그러나 서배너보다 프레데리카의 상황은 더욱 나빴고, 1737년 1월 26일을 마지막으로, 웨슬리는 프레데리카의 사역을 접을 수밖에 없었다. 서배너 식민지 사람들은 프레데리카와 달리 신앙에 열심이 있었으나, 지나치게 보수적이고 엄격한 웨슬리의 스타일로 마찰을 빚었다. 그러나 아메리카 식민지에서의 선교는 다른 쪽으로부터 먹구름이 드리우기 시작했다.

소피아와의 갈등[편집]

아직 독신이었던 웨슬리에게 조지아 주지사 오글소프는 치안장관 토머스 코스턴(Thomas Causton)의 조카 소피아 홉키(Sophia Hopkey)를 1736년에 소개시켜 준 적이 있었다. 소피아의 나이는 겨우 18살이었지만 아름답고 신앙적으로 신실한 여자였다. 웨슬리와 소피아는 곧 사랑에 빠졌지만 웨슬리 Archived 2022년 9월 30일 - 웨이백 머신는 자신의 금욕적이고 보수적인 경건생활과 사랑 사이에 갈등하기 시작했다. 웨슬리는 스킨십을 악한 것이라 생각하여 하지 않기로 결단하면서도 막상 소피아와 만나게 되면 스킨십을 하게 되었다. 이렇게 갈팡질팡해 하는 웨슬리를 소피아는 굳게 붙잡을 수 없었고, 1736년 3월 9일 웨슬리에게 마지막 통보를 하였다. 결혼할 마음이 없다면 자신에게 청혼한 윌리엄슨과 결혼하겠다는 말이었다. 웨슬리가 고민하는 사이 소피아는 결국 3월 12일 윌리엄슨과 결혼식을 올렸다.

소피아가 결혼하자 웨슬리의 마음은 질투와 미움으로 가득 차게 되었다. 웨슬리는 소피아의 신앙생활에 흠이 있음을 계속 지적하기 시작했고 결정적으로 8월 7일 영성체를 위해 나온 소피아와 남편 윌리엄슨에게 영성체를 하지 않음으로써 공개적인 굴욕을 주었다. 이 일은 큰 파장을 주었는데, 소피아가 치안장관 코스턴의 조카였기 때문에 일은 더욱 일파만파로 커졌다. 코스턴은 웨슬리가 개인적인 앙심을 품고 소피아에게 성찬 분급을 거부한 것이라는 소문을 퍼뜨렸고, 즉시 26명으로 구성된 배심원단이 구성되었으며, 웨슬리에게 10개의 고소장이 접수되었다. 이에 웨슬리는 서배너에서의 선교가 사실상 끝났음을 직감하고 12월 2일 도망치듯이 조지아를 떠났다. 결국 1년 9개월에 걸친 조지아 선교는 실패로 끝나고 말았다.

영국으로 돌아오다[편집]

영국으로 돌아오는 배 위에서 웨슬리는 또 다시 풍랑을 만나 죽음의 공포에 떨었다. 이때의 심경을 웨슬리는 다음과 같이 기록하였다.

"나는 인디언들을 구원하기 위해 아메리카로 갔다. 그러나 오! 나는 누가 구원할 것인가? 이 불신앙의 악한 마음에서 나를 건져줄 자는 누구인가? 나는 맑은 여름 종교를 갖고 있다. 나는 위험이 없을 때에는 나 자신을 믿는다. 그러나 죽음의 위험이 가까이 올 때에는 나의 마음은 공포에 빠진다. 오호라! 누가 나를 이 죽음의 공포에서 구원할 것인가?"

올더스게이트 회심[편집]

모라비안 페터 뵐러 목사와의 만남.[편집]

웨슬리는 1738년 2월 1일 우울한 모습으로 딜(Deal) 항구에 도착했다. 3일 후 웨슬리는 런던으로 가 오글소프와 조지아 이사들을 만나 사유서를 제출하고 선교사 임명장을 반환하였다. 갈 곳도 없던 웨슬리는 동생 찰스의 친구인 제임스 허턴(James Hutton)의 집에서 신세를 졌다. 허턴은 웨스트민스터 학교 근처에서 책방과 하숙집을 경영하고 있었는데, 웨슬리는 그곳에서 막 독일에서 온 모라비아 목사 피터 뵐러(Peter Boehler)를 만났다. 피터 뵐러는 웨슬리보다 9년 늦은 1712년 프랑크푸르트에서 태어나 예나(Jena) 대학교를 졸업했고, 친첸도르프(Zinzendorf) 백작 밑에서 신앙 지도를 받은 후 헤른후트(Hernhut) 형제단에 가입했다. 영국과 아메리카에서는 선교사로 활동했다. 웨슬리는 뵐러와 급속도로 친해졌으며, 뵐러와 긴 대화를 나누었다. 하지만 웨슬리는 뵐러가 하는 말을 온전히 이해하지 못했다.

믿음에 의지하다[편집]

뵐러는 웨슬리에게 "내 형제여, 내 형제여, 당신은 당신의 철학을 깨끗이 버려야 합니다(Mi frater, mi frater, excoquenda est ista tua philosophia)."라고 말했다. 웨슬리는 이 말을 이해할 수 없었다. 3월 5일 웨슬리는 병 중에 있던 동생 찰스를 보기 위해 옥스퍼드에 갔고 거기서 뵐러를 다시 만났다. 뵐러와의 대화 중에 웨슬리는 '우리에게 유일하게 구원을 가져오는 믿음(saving faith)'이 부족하다는 것을 분명히 알게 되었다. 뵐러는 대화를 거듭하며 웨슬리에게 성서로 돌아갈 것과 구원에 이르는 믿음을 소유해야 한다고 강조했다. 이것은 마르틴 루터의 '오직 믿음'의 교리(이신칭의)를 이야기한 것이었다. 웨슬리는 이 믿음을 어떻게 얻을 수 있냐고 묻자 뵐러는 회개하고 그 믿음 얻기를 구하라고 했다. 그리고 그 믿음은 어느 한 순간에 주어지는 것으로서 전적으로 하나님께서 값없이 주시는 선물이라고 하였다. 뵐러와의 대화 끝에 자신이 갖지도 못한 신앙에 대해 설교를 그만해야 하지 않나 번민하는 웨슬리에게 뵐러는 "믿음을 얻을 때까지 믿음에 대하여 설교하시오. 그리고 그 믿음을 얻게 되면 그 얻은 믿음을 가지고 설교하시오."라고 말해주었다. 다음날인 3월 6일부터 웨슬리는 뵐러의 권고에 따라 믿음에 대한 설교를 시작했다.

신약성서를 연구하다[편집]

3월 말에 피터 뵐러는 웨슬리에게 경건주의적 전통의 방식으로 구원을 가져다 주는 믿음의 본성을 설명해 주었다. 믿음의 본성은 거룩함(죄로부터의 자유)과 행복(용서받았다는 자각에서 오는 평화와 기쁨)으로 열매 맺는 것이며 거룩함과 행복은 불가분의 관계이다. 즉 뵐러는 구원을 가져다주는 믿음을, 칭의-법적인 변화와 연결시킬 뿐 아니라 중생-참여적 변화와도 연결시킨 것이다. 웨슬리는 뵐러의 말이 맞는지 살피기 위해 그리스어 신약성서를 연구하였다. 그 결과 웨슬리는 4월 말에 뵐러를 다시 만났을 때는 뵐러가 설명한 믿음의 본성에 대해 동의할 수 있었으며, 여러 간증을 듣고 "즉각적인 회심"에 대해서도 동의하였다. 그리고 웨슬리는 "이제 나의 논쟁은 끝났다. 주여! 믿음 없는 저를 도와주소서!"라고 울부짖었다.

성공회 교회와의 갈등[편집]

5월 1일 웨슬리는 뵐러의 충고에 따라 다른 영국 성공회 성직자들과 함께 "우리의 작은 신도회"를 설립하였고, 이것은 후에 "페터레인(Fetter Lane) 신도회로 발전했다. 5월 4일에는 뵐러가 아메리카로 떠났고, 웨슬리는 뵐러의 권고대로 계속 자신의 부족한 믿음에 대해 설교하였고, 영국 성공회의 전례와 다른 자유로운 기도를 하기 시작했다. 그러자 다른 영국 성공회 사제들이 웨슬리의 이러한 행보에 당황하기 시작했고, 웨슬리가 광신주의에 사로잡혔다고 비판하기 시작했다.

찰스 웨슬리[편집]

존 웨슬리가 구원에 이르는 믿음을 얻기 위해 고군분투하던 중, 동생 찰스 웨슬리도 병석에서나마 같은 확신을 얻기 갈망하고 있었다. 찰스도 뵐러와의 깊은 대화를 통해 구원에 이르는 믿음을 얻어야 한다고 깊게 소망하였다. 찰스는 5월 말 루터의 "갈라이다서 주석"을 읽기 시작하면서 당혹감을 일기에 기록하였다. "우리의 교회가 오직 믿음에 의한 칭의와 같이 이렇게 중요한 교리에 기초하고 있다고 누가 믿을 것인가? 특별히 우리의 강령과 설교가 폐기되지 않고 중심 가르침이 없어지지 않은 상태에서, 믿음에 의한 칭의 교리를 새로운 교리라고 생각해야 한다는 것은 놀라운 일이 아닌가?" 찰스는 머물고 있던 집의 주인인 존 브레이(John Bray)가 학문이 없는 임금 노동자였음에도 예수 그리스도만 알고 그리스도를 아는 지식으로 모든 것을 분별하며, 그 가족도 신앙 안에서 감사와 평화, 기쁨이 넘치는 모습을 보고 감동을 받았다. 5월 21일 오전 9시, 찰스는 존 웨슬리와 친구들의 방문을 받고 기도와 찬양을 하였다. 9시 30분쯤 되어서 홀로 남아 더욱 더 간절히 기도하다가 잠이 들었다. 잠결에 찰스는 누군가 방으로 들어오는 소리를 들었고 조용하지만 아주 분명한 음성을 들었다. "나사렛 예수의 이름으로 일어나 믿으라. 그리하면 네 모든 병이 나음을 얻으리라." 찰스는 이 음성이 브레이의 누이 무스그레이브(Musgrave) 부인이 말한 것으로 생각하였지만 사실은 그 이전부터 찰스를 간호하고 신앙적인 권고를 해온 터너(Turner) 부인의 목소리였다. 찰스는 무스그레이브를 불러달라고 터너 부인에게 이야기했고, 터너 부인이 내려간 사이 "이상한 마음의 떨림"을 경험하였다. 그리고는 "내가 믿습니다. 내가 믿습니다."라고 고백하며 중생의 은혜를 체험하였고 병도 나았다. 다음날 동생이 중생의 은혜를 체험했다는 소식을 듣고 웨슬리는 찰스를 방문하였고, 찰스는 형도 같은 은혜를 체험하도록 간절히 기도해주었다.

저녁기도, 루터의 로마서 주석[편집]

1738년 5월 24일, 이른 아침 존 웨슬리는 성서를 묵상하는 중에 성서 구절 하나를 우연히 읽게 되었다. "이로써 그 보배롭고 지극히 큰 약속을 우리에게 주사 이 약속으로 말미암아 너희로 정욕을 인하여 세상에서 썩어질 것을 피하여 신의 성품에 참예하는 자가 되게 하려 하셨으니(베드로후서 1:4)" 이 날 오후 웨슬리는 세인트 폴 교회에서 있었던 저녁 기도회에 참석하였다. 이때 찬양대는 푸셀의 "오! 깊은 곳으로부터 주님께 나아갑니다(Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord)"를 불렀다. 이 곡은 마음의 고뇌와 거룩한 열망에 휩싸여 있던 웨슬리의 영적 상태를 잘 표현하고 있는 것이었다. 저녁이 되자 웨슬리는 별로 내키지는 않았지만 올더스게이트 거리(Aldersgate Street)의 네틀턴 코트(Nettleton Court)에서 모이는 모라비아 교도의 기도회에 가기 위해 저녁 기도회에서 빠져 나와 성서를 펴니 "네게 하나님의 나라가 멀지 않도다"라는 구절이 눈에 들어왔다. 기도회 장소에 도착한 웨슬리는 뒷자리에 앉아서 한 사람이 루터의 로마서 서문을 읽는 것을 들었다.

"그러므로 믿음만이 우리를 의롭게 하며 성령으로 외적인 선한 사역을 기뻐한다면, 불신앙은 창세기 3장에 나오는 대로 낙원에서 아담과 하와에게 그랬듯이 죄를 짓게 하고 육체를 낳으며, 외적인 악한 사역을 기뻐한다. 그러므로 그리스도께서는 요한복음 16장 8-9절에 "그분이 오시면 죄와 의와 심판에 대하여 세상이 잘못 생각하고 있는 점을 깨우쳐 주실 것이다. 죄에 대하여라고 한 것은 사람들이 나를 믿지 않기 때문이다."라고 하였다. ...불신앙은 모든 죄의 뿌리요, 수액이며, 최고의 기도이다. 그러나 믿음은 우리를 변화시켜 하나님의 자녀로 새롭게 태어나게 하는 우리 안에 일어나는 하나님의 역사이다."

8시 45분, 마지막 구절을 읽는 소리를 듣는 순간 웨슬리는 마음이 따듯해지는 경험을 하였다. 존 웨슬리가 중생의 은혜를 체험하고 회심한 것이다. 웨슬리는 이날 저녁에 일어난 일을 다음과 같이 일기에 썼다.

"저녁에 나는 별로 내키지 않는 걸음으로 올더스게이트 거리에 있는 한 신도회에 참석하였는데 거기에서 한 사람이 루터의 로마서 서문을 읽고 있었다. 8시 45분 경에 그 사람이 그리스도 안에 있는 믿음을 통해 하나님께서 마음에 변화를 일으키시는 일을 설명하고 있었다. 그때 나는 내 마음이 이상하게 따듯해지는 것을 느꼈다(I felt my heart strangly warmed). 나는 내가 그리스도를 신뢰하고 있으며, 구원을 위해 그리스도만을 믿고 있음과, 내 죄를 아니 내 죄까지를 다 거두어 가시고 나를 죄와 죽음의 법에서 구원하셨다는 확신을 얻었다."

웨슬리는 곧 마음에서 경험한 것을 거기 있는 사람들에게 간증하였고 밤 10시쯤 되어서는 신도회 회원들과 함께 동생 찰스에게로 가 이 기쁨을 나눴다.

감리교회에서의 활동과 별세[편집]

복음주의 운동에 대한 영국성공회의 제제와 직무파면으로 성공회 소속 교회에서 목회를 할 수 없게 되자, 존 웨슬리는 그 자신이 이룬 영국내 복음주의 운동이었던 감리교회에서 활동하였다. 그는 감리교회가 영국내에서 활동하고, 기독교 윤리적으로 무기력하던 영국성공회 내부에서 복음주의적 변혁의 힘이 되길 바랐다. 그래서 그는 감리회의 대표이며 대표 성직자인 동시에 직무를 박탈 당했어도 파면된 영국성공회 성직자의 자격은 남았다. 존 웨슬리 자신도 스스로를 성공회 사제라고 생각하였다. 1791년 3월 2일 친지들에게 "평안히 계십시오."라는 유언을 남기고 88세를 일기로 별세했다.

영향[편집]

존 웨슬리를 중심으로 한 복음주의(Evangelical) 운동은 개인적 복음과 사회적 복음의 입장을 지닌 감리교회로 발전하였고, 국가교회인 영국국교회로만 안주하는 것에 반대하는 복음주의적 생명력을 심으며, 잉글랜드 성공회가 현재의 성공회로 발전하는데 영향을 끼쳤다. 이러한 존 웨슬리의 복음주의 운동은 교회의 전통, 예전, 성사를 중요하게 생각한 옥스퍼드 운동(Oxford Movement)과 함께 영국신학의 전통으로 존중되고 있다. 전자는 저교회파(Low Church), 후자는 고교회파(High Church)로 불리기도 하였다.[5]

웨슬리에게 영향을 준 인물과 서적들[편집]

웨슬리는 다양한 인물에게서 영향을 받았다. 그 중에 토마스 아 켐피스의 <그리스도를 본받아>는 그의 종교적 열심을 증진시키는 데 공헌했으며 윌리엄 로우의 <경건한 삶을 위한 엄숙한 부르심>과 <그리스도인의 완전함>은 그의 성화론에도 영향을 미쳤다.[6]

존 웨슬리의 신학[편집]

존 웨슬리의 신학은 당시 교리 중심의 사상적 신학에 대비하여 당시로서는 획기적인 "실천중심"의 신학을 전개하였다.[7] 교리를 선택하는 문제로서 신앙이 아니라 "성화" 즉 "거룩한 삶을 살아가기"에 견주어 오로지 믿음으로만 가능하다고 설명했다. 특히 은총과 사랑은 웨슬리의 중요한 신학적 주제이며, 신학이 추구해야 할 하나님 안에서 거룩한 삶의 기준이 되며 최종적 칭의를 향한 능력으로 보았다. 이는 개신교의 교리를 형성했던 칼빈주의나 루터주의, 경건주의 등과 구별되는 신학적 방법론이었다.

실천신학적 접근[편집]

웨슬리의 신학적 접근은 교부신학자와 같이 성서에 기초하여 성서의 진리를 실현하며 전인적으로 가난한 사람들을 섬기는 일에 주목하는 실천적 신학을 전개하고자 하였다. 그에게 성서의 진리를 실현하는 신학은 세상을 낙관론이나 비관론적 입장이 아니라 양쪽의 긴장을 지닌 중도적 대안 또는 제3의 과정적 대안을 제시해야 한다고 보았다. 이 제3의 방법의 현실적 표상은 율법과 복음, 은총과 행위, 사랑 받음의 은총과 힘 입음의 은총, 칭의와 성화, 순간과 과정, 은총의 보편성과 은총의 제한적 실현, 하나님의 주도권과 인간의 응답, 최초 칭의와 최종 칭의와 같은 긴장 속의 주제에 대한 대안과 방법을 제시하며 나타났다.[8] 이 신학의 주제들은 은총의 개념으로 초점이 맞춰진다.

은총의 실천[편집]

은총의 개념은 초기 교부들과 고전 공의회의 신학을 뛰어넘어 결정적인 체험의 순간을 시작으로 은혜 위에 은혜를 더하는 발전의 과정을 수반한다고 보았다. 기독교인의 '삶'이란 구원을 주는 은총의 실천 속에서 일관되게 매일 성장을 가져오며, '의'도 내주하는 하나님의 성령을 통해 점차 자란다고 보았다.[9] 이를 위한 실천적 은총의 수단은 일반 수단과 특별 수단으로 구분하였다. 하나님의 여정 속에 있는 일반적 은총의 수단인 자신의 삶을 돌아보며 십자가를 지고 하나님을 깨달아가는 보편적 순종이고, 특별한 은총의 수단은 제도적 은총의 수단과 상황적 은총의 수단으로 구분하였다.

제도적 은총 수단: 성경과 전통[편집]

제도적 은총의 수단은 대부분의 신자가 생각하는 신앙공동체 안에서의 경건한 행위들이다. 그러나 경건의 모양만이 아니라 능력을 경험하는 체험도 존중하였다. 공중예배와 성경읽기, 성찬 참여, 가족기도, 개인기도, 성경공부, 속회와 금식과 절식이 제도적 은총의 수단이며 이들을 습관적으로 실천하고 그 안에서 영혼의 체험을 해야 한다고 보았다.[10] 이 중 특히 성례전인 성찬은 아우구스티누스의 구분을 따라 내적인 은총에 대한 외적인 징표이고 이로서 우리가 내적인 은총을 받는 수단이라고 강조하였다.[11] 그가 보았던 성찬은 기존의 성례전시각인 루터주의와 칼빈주의, 츠빙글리주의와 차이를 둔다. 그리스도의 죽으심에 대한 엄숙한 기념으로 이 기념인 온전한 기억과 참여를 통해 하나님의 몸의 현전이 아니라 실재적인 영적 현존이 있다고 구분하였고, 성례전을 통해 칭의와 성화의 현재적 구원 은총인 하나님의 사랑이 다시금 나타난다고 설명하였다.[12] 성례전으로 세례에 대해서도 그리스도 안에서 주님을 구세주로 믿음으로 믿고 행하여 하나님께 의롭다고 인정받는다는 칭의(稱義)론을 기독교인이 성령에 의해 거룩한 사람으로 자라가기 위한 전제로 보았다. 세례는 기독교인이 되는 첫단계이나 완전한 단계는 아니며, 죄를 짓는 과정 속에서 세례로 받은 주님의 자녀로 온전히 새롭고 깨끗하게 될 수 없기에 체험적인 온전한 마음의 변화와 경건한 성화의 삶이 따라야 한다고 밝혔다. 세례와 거듭남을 구분하였으므로 성인의 세례와 유아 세례를 묶어서 생각하였다.

상황적 은총의 수단: 이성과 경험[편집]

상황적 은총의 수단은 제도적 은총의 수단을 초월하는 성령의 인도로 은총 안에서 자라 가도록 하는 이성과 경험에 기초한 수단을 구분하였다. 선행 은총을 통해 생긴 도덕법은 신앙인의 양심과 상황에 맞춰 생각하도록 하였으나 상황적인 대응이 아니라 하나님, 그리스도론과 밀접한 도덕법으로서 윤리적 기준을 의미한다.[13]

관련저서[편집]

번역된 저서 중 1차 문헌[편집]

  • 그리스도인의 완전 (이후정 옮김, 감리교신학대학교 출판부)

    같이 보기[편집]

    각주[편집]

    1. ↑ 율리우스력으론 6월 17일
    2. ↑ 부인이 사별한 전 남편과의 사이에서 낳은 자녀들은 있었지만 친자식은 없었다.
    3. ↑ 16세기에 "잉글랜드교회"가 "영국국교회"로 공식적으로 불리었고 19세기 이후 영국식민지의 영국국교회를 정비하여 현재의 "성공회 교회"를 구성하였다. 인용: 강응천, 김덕련, 김형규, 백성현. 《세계사와 함께 보는 타임라인 한국사 3》. 서울: 다산에듀, 2013.
    4. ↑ 이 용어는 로마 가톨릭에서 선행을 많이 쌓아야 구원을 얻는다고 잘못 여기는 생각에 빗댄 표현이다. 로마 가톨릭과 개신교 모두 하느님의 은혜와 믿음으로써 구원을 받는다고 믿는다. 《인류의 영원한 고전 신약성서》/정승우 지음/아이세움
    5. ↑ 홍영선.《그리스도인이 되어가는 새로운 나, 우리》서울: 대한성공회. 136
    6. ↑ Kim, Kwang-nyŏl.; 김광열. (2000). 《Kŭrisŭdo ane innŭn kuwŏn kwa sŏnghwa》. Sŏul: Ch'ongsin Taehakkyo Ch'ulp'anbu. 120쪽. ISBN 89-8169-156-8.
    7. ↑ 케네스 콜린스. 《존 웨슬리의 신학: 거룩한 사랑과 은총》. 이세형 옮김. 서울: 도서출판 케이엠씨, 2012.
    8. ↑ Outler, A. C. Theology in the Wesleyan Spirit. Nashiville: Dixcipleship Resources-Tidings, 1975.
    9. ↑ O'Malley, J. S. "Pietistic Influence on John Wesley: Wesley and Gerhard Tersteege", Wesleyan Theological Journal. 31, no. 2 (Fall 1996): 64.
    10. ↑ 기독교대한감리회.《교리와 장정》. 서울: 기독교대한감리회, 2007.
    11. ↑ Borgen, O. E. John Wesley on the Sacraments. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Francis Asbury Press, 1985.
    12. ↑ 존 웨슬리 . 〈계속되는 성만찬의 의무〉. 《웨슬리 설교전집 6권》. 한국웨슬리학회 옮김. 서울: 대한기독교서회, 2006.
    13. ↑ Davies, R. E. The Works of John Wesley Volume 9: The Methodist Societies - History, Nature, and Design. Nashiville: Abindon Press, 1989.






    =====

    John Wesley

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    This article is about the 18th-century Methodist leader. For other people named John Wesley, see John Wesley (disambiguation).
    The Reverend

    John Wesley
    Portrait (c. 1789) of Wesley by George Romney, at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
    Born28 June [O.S. 17 June] 1703
    Epworth, Lincolnshire, England
    Died2 March 1791 (aged 87)
    London, England
    Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
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    Mary Vazeille
    ​
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    (m. 1751; sep. 1758)​
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    ReligionChristian (Anglican / Methodist)
    ChurchChurch of England
    Ordained1725
    Offices held
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    Tradition or movementMethodism, Wesleyan–Arminianism
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    John Wesley (/ˈwɛsli/;[1] 28 June [O.S. 17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day.

    Educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford, Wesley was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1726 and ordained as an Anglican priest two years later. At Oxford, he led the "Holy Club", a society formed for the purpose of the study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life. After an unsuccessful two year ministry in Savannah, Georgia, he returned to London and joined a religious society led by Moravian Christians. On 24 May 1738, he experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion. He subsequently left the Moravians and began his own ministry.

    A key step in the development of Wesley's ministry was to travel widely and preach outdoors, embracing Arminian doctrines. Moving across Great Britain and Ireland, he helped form and organise small Christian groups (societies and classes) that developed intensive and personal accountability, discipleship, and religious instruction. He appointed itinerant, unordained evangelists—both women and men—to care for these groups of people. Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of the day, including the abolition of slavery and support for women preachers.

    Although he was not a systematic theologian, Wesley argued for the notion of Christian perfection and against Calvinism. His evangelicalism, firmly grounded in sacramental theology, maintained that means of grace sometimes had a role in sanctification of the believer; however, he taught that it was by faith a believer was transformed into the likeness of Christ. He held that, in this life, Christians could achieve a state where the love of God "reigned supreme in their hearts", giving them not only outward but inward holiness. Wesley's teachings, collectively known as Wesleyan theology, continue to inform the doctrine of Methodist churches.

    Throughout his life, Wesley remained within the established Church of England, insisting that the Methodist movement lay well within its tradition.[2] In his early ministry years, Wesley was barred from preaching in many parish churches and the Methodists were persecuted; he later became widely respected, and by the end of his life, was described as "the best-loved man in England".[3]

    Early life[edit]

    Samuel Wesley
    Susanna Wesley

    John Wesley was born on 28 June [O.S. 17 June] 1703 in Epworth, 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Lincoln. He was the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna Wesley (née Annesley).[4] Samuel Wesley was a graduate of the University of Oxford and a poet who, from 1696, was rector of Epworth. He married Susanna, the twenty-fifth child of Samuel Annesley, a dissenting minister, in 1689. Ultimately, she bore nineteen children, of which nine lived beyond infancy. She and Samuel Wesley had become members of the Church of England as young adults.[5]

    As in many families at the time, Wesley's parents gave their children their early education. Each child, including the girls, was taught to read as soon as they turned five years old. They were expected to become proficient in Latin and Greek and to have learned major portions of the New Testament by heart. Susanna Wesley examined each child before the midday meal and before evening prayers. The children were not allowed to eat between meals and were interviewed singly by their mother one evening each week for the purpose of intensive spiritual instruction. In 1714, at age 11, Wesley was sent to the Charterhouse School in London (under the mastership of John King from 1715), where he lived the studious, methodical and, for a while, religious life in which he had been trained at home.[6]

    The rescue of the young John Wesley from the burning rectory. Mezzotint by Samuel William Reynolds.

    Apart from his disciplined upbringing, a rectory fire which occurred on 9 February 1709, when Wesley was five years old, left an indelible impression. Some time after 11:00 pm, the rectory roof caught on fire. Sparks falling on the children's beds and cries of "fire" from the street roused the Wesleys who managed to shepherd all their children out of the house except for John who was left stranded on an upper floor.[7] With stairs aflame and the roof about to collapse, Wesley was lifted out of a window by a parishioner standing on another man's shoulders. Wesley later used the phrase, "a brand plucked out of the fire", quoting Zechariah 3:2, to describe the incident.[7] This childhood deliverance subsequently became part of the Wesley legend, attesting to his special destiny and extraordinary work. Wesley was also influenced by the reported haunting of Epworth Rectory between 1716 and 1717. The Wesley family reported frequently hearing noises and occasionally seeing apparitions which they believed were caused by a ghost called 'Old Jeffery'.[8]

    Education[edit]

    Christ Church, cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford, Wesley's college chapel and place of ordination

    In June 1720, Wesley entered Christ Church, Oxford. After graduating in 1724, Wesley stayed on at Christ Church to study for his master's degree.[9]

    He was ordained a deacon on 25 September 1725—holy orders being a necessary step toward becoming a fellow and tutor at the university.[10] On 17 March 1726, Wesley was unanimously elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. This carried with it the right to a room at the college and regular salary.[11] While continuing his studies, he taught Greek and philosophy, lectured on the New Testament and moderated daily disputations at the university.[11] However, a call to ministry intruded upon his academic career. In August 1727, after completing his master's degree, Wesley returned to Epworth. His father had requested his assistance in serving the neighbouring cure of Wroot. Ordained a priest on 22 September 1728,[10] Wesley served as a parish curate for two years.[12]

    In the year of his ordination he read Thomas à Kempis and Jeremy Taylor, showed his interest in mysticism,[13] and began to seek the religious truths which underlay the great revival of the 18th century. The reading of William Law's Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life gave him, he said, a more sublime view of the law of God; and he resolved to keep it, inwardly and outwardly, as sacredly as possible, believing that in obedience he would find salvation.[14] He pursued a rigidly methodical and abstemious life, studied Scripture, and performed his religious duties diligently, depriving himself so that he would have alms to give. He began to seek after holiness of heart and life.[14]

    Wesley returned to Oxford in November 1729 at the request of the Rector of Lincoln College and to maintain his status as junior fellow.[15]

    Holy Club[edit]

    Further information: Holy Club

    During Wesley's absence, his younger brother Charles (1707–88) matriculated at Christ Church. Along with two fellow students, he formed a small club for the purpose of study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life.[15] On Wesley's return, he became the leader of the group which increased somewhat in number and greatly in commitment. The group met daily from six until nine for prayer, psalms, and reading of the Greek New Testament. They prayed every waking hour for several minutes and each day for a special virtue. While the church's prescribed attendance was only three times a year, they took Communion every Sunday. They fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays until nones (3:00 pm) as was commonly observed in the ancient church.[16] In 1730, the group began the practice of visiting prisoners in gaol. They preached, educated, and relieved gaoled debtors whenever possible, and cared for the sick.[17]

    Given the low ebb of spirituality in Oxford at that time, it was not surprising that Wesley's group provoked a negative reaction. They were considered to be religious "enthusiasts", which in the context of the time meant religious fanatics. University wits styled them the "Holy Club", a title of derision. Currents of opposition became a furore following the mental breakdown and death of a group member, William Morgan.[18] In response to the charge that "rigorous fasting" had hastened his death, Wesley noted that Morgan had left off fasting a year and a half since. In the same letter, which was widely circulated, Wesley referred to the name "Methodist" with which "some of our neighbors are pleased to compliment us."[19] That name was used by an anonymous author in a published pamphlet (1732) describing Wesley and his group, "The Oxford Methodists".[20] This ministry, however, was not without controversy. The Holy Club ministered and maintained support for Thomas Blair who in 1732 was found guilty for sodomy.[21] Blair was notorious among the townspeople and his fellow prisoners, and Wesley continued to support him.[22]

    For all of his outward piety, Wesley sought to cultivate his inner holiness or at least his sincerity as evidence of being a true Christian. A list of "General Questions" which he developed in 1730 evolved into an elaborate grid by 1734 in which he recorded his daily activities hour-by-hour, resolutions he had broken or kept, and ranked his hourly "temper of devotion" on a scale of 1 to 9. Wesley also regarded the contempt with which he and his group were held to be a mark of a true Christian. As he put it in a letter to his father, "Till he be thus contemned, no man is in a state of salvation."[23]

    Journey to Savannah, Georgia[edit]

    Statue of Wesley in Savannah, Georgia, United States

    On 14 October 1735, Wesley and his brother Charles sailed on The Simmonds from Gravesend in Kent for Savannah in the Province of Georgia in the American colonies at the request of James Oglethorpe, who had founded the colony in 1733 on behalf of the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America. Oglethorpe wanted Wesley to be the minister of the newly formed Savannah parish, a new town laid out in accordance with the famous Oglethorpe Plan.[24]

    It was on the voyage to the colonies that the Wesleys first came into contact with Moravian settlers. Wesley was influenced by their deep faith and spirituality rooted in pietism. At one point in the voyage a storm came up and broke the mast off the ship. While the English panicked, the Moravians calmly sang hymns and prayed. This experience led Wesley to believe that the Moravians possessed an inner strength which he lacked.[24] The deeply personal religion that the Moravian pietists practiced heavily influenced Wesley and is reflected in his theology of Methodism.[24]

    An engraving, usually titled John Wesley preaching to the Indians, artist unattributed.[25]

    Wesley arrived in the colony in February 1736, and lived for a year at the parsonage that stood on the site of today's Oliver Sturges House.[26] He approached the Georgia mission as a High churchman, seeing it as an opportunity to revive "primitive Christianity" in a primitive environment.[27] Although his primary goal was to evangelize the Native American people, a shortage of clergy in the colony largely limited his ministry to European settlers in Savannah. While his ministry has often been judged to have been a failure in comparison to his later success as a leader in the Evangelical Revival, Wesley gathered around him a group of devoted Christians, who met in a number of small group religious societies. At the same time, attendance at Communion increased over the course of nearly two years in which he served as Christ Church's parish priest.[28]

    Nonetheless, Wesley's High Church ministry was controversial among the colonists and it ended in disappointment after Wesley fell in love with a young woman named Sophia (or Sophy) Hopkey. He hesitated to marry her because he felt that his first priority in Georgia was to be a missionary to the Native Americans, and he was interested in the practice of clerical celibacy within early Christianity.[29] Following her marriage to William Williamson, Wesley believed Sophia's former zeal for practicing the Christian faith declined. In strictly applying the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer, Wesley denied her Communion after she failed to signify to him in advance her intention of taking it.[30] As a result, legal proceedings against him ensued in which a clear resolution seemed unlikely. On 22 December 1737, Wesley fled the colony and returned to England.[31]

    It has been widely recognized that one of the most significant accomplishments of Wesley's Georgia mission was his publication of a Collection of Psalms and Hymns. The Collection was the first Anglican hymnal published in America, and the first of many hymn-books Wesley published. It included five hymns he translated from German.[32]

    Wesley's "Aldersgate experience"[edit]

    Aldersgate memorials
    Plaque erected in August 1926 at the probable site of the Altersgate experience by the Drew Theological Seminary of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
    The "Aldersgate Flame" commemorates the event and features text from Wesley's journal describing his experience.

    As a result of his experience in Georgia, Wesley became depressed. While on his voyage home to England, he had the opportunity to think about his own religious faith. He found that, although he had committed to the life of following Christ, he was dissatisfied with his spiritual soundness and felt inadequate to preach, especially after witnessing the confident way in which the Moravians had preached their faith. Both he and Charles received counsel from Moravian minister Peter Boehler, who was temporarily in England awaiting permission to depart for Georgia himself. Boehler encouraged Wesley to "preach faith until you have it".[33]

    Wesley's noted "Aldersgate experience" of 24 May 1738, at a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, in which he heard a reading of Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, revolutionised the character and method of his ministry.[34] The previous week he had been highly impressed by the sermon of John Heylyn, whom he was assisting in the service at St Mary le Strand. Earlier that day, he had heard the choir at St Paul's Cathedral singing Psalm 130, where the Psalmist calls to God "Out of the depths."[35]

    But it was still a depressed Wesley who attended a service on the evening of 24 May. Wesley recounted his Aldersgate experience in his journal:

    "In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."[36]

    A few weeks later, Wesley preached a sermon on the doctrine of personal salvation by faith,[37] which was followed by another, on God's grace "free in all, and free for all."[38] Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. Burnett writes: "The significance of Wesley's Aldersgate Experience is monumental ... Without it, the names of Wesley and Methodism would likely be nothing more than obscure footnotes in the pages of church history."[39] Burnett describes this event as Wesley's "Evangelical Conversion".[40] May 24 is commemorated in Methodist churches as Aldersgate Day.[41]

    After Aldersgate: Working with the Moravians[edit]

    When forbidden from preaching from the pulpits of parish churches, Wesley began open-air preaching.

    Wesley allied himself with the Moravian society in Fetter Lane. In August 1738 Wesley travelled to Germany, specifically to see Herrnhut in Saxony, as he wished to study at the Moravian headquarters there.[42] On his return to England, Wesley drew up rules for the "bands" into which the Fetter Lane Society was divided and published a collection of hymns for them.[43] He met frequently with this and other religious societies in London but did not preach often in 1738, because most of the parish churches were closed to him.[44]

    Wesley's Oxford friend, the evangelist George Whitefield, was also excluded from the churches of Bristol upon his return from America. When Wesley reached Bristol, the city was booming with new industrial and commercial development.[45] Because of this, there were social uproars with riots and religious troubles.[45] About a fifth of the population were Dissenters, while many of the Anglicans possessed a religious enthusiasm that made them receptive to Wesley's message and approach.[46] Going to the neighbouring village of Kingswood, in February 1739, Whitefield preached in the open air to a company of miners.[47] Later he preached in Whitefield's Tabernacle. Wesley hesitated to accept Whitefield's call to copy this bold step. Overcoming his scruples, he preached the first time at Whitefield's invitation a sermon in the open air, at a brickyard, near St Philip's Marsh, on 2 April 1739.[48] Wesley wrote,

    I could scarce reconcile myself to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he [Whitefield] set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life till very lately so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.[49]

    Wesley was unhappy about the idea of field preaching as he believed Anglican liturgy had much to offer in its practice. Earlier in his life he would have thought that such a method of saving souls was "almost a sin."[50] He recognised the open-air services were successful in reaching men and women who would not enter most churches. From then on he took the opportunities to preach wherever an assembly could be brought together, more than once using his father's tombstone at Epworth as a pulpit.[51][52] Wesley preached to create repentance, prayed for conversion, dealt with hysterical behavior, and preached to upwards of thousands through field preaching.[45] Wesley continued for fifty years—entering churches when he was invited, and taking his stand in the fields, in halls, cottages, and chapels, when the churches would not receive him.[51]

    Late in 1739 Wesley broke with the Moravians in London. Wesley had helped them organise the Fetter Lane Society, and those converted by his preaching and that of his brother and Whitefield had become members of their bands. But he believed they fell into heresy by supporting quietism, so he decided to form his own followers into a separate society.[53] "Thus," he wrote, "without any previous plan, began the Methodist Society in England."[54] He soon formed similar societies in Bristol and Kingswood, and Wesley and his friends made converts wherever they went.

    Persecutions and lay preaching[edit]

    From 1739 onward, Wesley and the Methodists were persecuted by clergy and religious magistrates for various reasons.[55] Though Wesley had been ordained an Anglican priest, many other Methodist leaders had not received ordination. And for his own part, Wesley flouted many regulations of the Church of England concerning parish boundaries and who had authority to preach.[56] This was seen as a social threat that disregarded institutions. Clergy attacked them in sermons and in print, and at times mobs attacked them. Wesley and his followers continued to work among the neglected and needy. They were denounced as promulgators of strange doctrines, fomenters of religious disturbances; as blind fanatics, leading people astray, claiming miraculous gifts, attacking the clergy of the Church of England, and trying to re-establish Catholicism.[56]

    Wesley felt that the church failed to call sinners to repentance, that many of the clergy were corrupt, and that people were perishing in their sins. He believed he was commissioned by God to bring about revival in the church, and no opposition, persecution, or obstacles could prevail against the divine urgency and authority of this commission. The prejudices of his High-church training, his strict notions of the methods and proprieties of public worship, his views of the apostolic succession and the prerogatives of the priest, even his most cherished convictions, were not allowed to stand in the way.[57]

    Seeing that he and the few clergy co-operating with him could not do the work that needed to be done, Wesley was led, as early as 1739, to approve local preachers. He evaluated and approved men who were not ordained by the Anglican Church to preach and do pastoral work. This expansion of lay preachers was one of the keys of the growth of Methodism.[58]

    Chapels and organisations[edit]

    The first Methodist chapel, called "The Foundery"
    Wesley's Chapel, originally known as "City Road Chapel"

    As his societies needed houses to worship in, Wesley began to provide chapels, first in Bristol at the New Room,[59] then in London (first The Foundery and then Wesley's Chapel) and elsewhere. The Foundery was an early chapel used by Wesley.[60] The location of the Foundery is shown on an 18th-century map, where it rests between Tabernacle Street and Worship Street in the Moorfields area of London. When the Wesleys spotted the building atop Windmill Hill, north of Finsbury Fields, the structure which previously cast brass guns and mortars for the Royal Ordnance had been sitting vacant for 23 years; it had been abandoned because of an explosion on 10 May 1716.[61]

    The Bristol chapel (built in 1739) was at first in the hands of trustees. A large debt was contracted, and Wesley's friends urged him to keep it under his own control, so the deed was cancelled and he became sole trustee.[62] Following this precedent, all Methodist chapels were committed in trust to him until by a "deed of declaration", all his interests in them were transferred to a body of preachers called the "Legal Hundred".[63]

    When disorder arose among some members of the societies, Wesley adopted giving tickets to members, with their names written by his own hand. These were renewed every three months. Those deemed unworthy did not receive new tickets and dropped out of the society without disturbance. The tickets were regarded as commendatory letters.[64]

    Statue of Wesley on horseback, by A. G. Walker, in the courtyard of the "New Room" chapel in Bristol. Bristol was Wesley's base for much of the 1740s and 1750s.

    When the debt on a chapel became a burden, it was proposed that one in 12 members should collect offerings regularly from the 11 allotted to him. Out of this grew the Methodist class-meeting system in 1742. To keep the disorderly out of the societies, Wesley established a probationary system. He undertook to visit each society regularly in what became the quarterly visitation, or conference. As the number of societies increased, Wesley could not keep personal contact, so in 1743 he drew up a set of "General Rules" for the "United Societies".[65] These were the nucleus of the Methodist Discipline, still the basis of modern Methodism.[66]

    Wesley laid the foundations of what now constitutes the organisation of the Methodist Church. Over time, a shifting pattern of societies, circuits, quarterly meetings, annual conferences, classes, bands, and select societies took shape.[65] At the local level, there were numerous societies of different sizes which were grouped into circuits to which travelling preachers were appointed for two-year periods. Circuit officials met quarterly under a senior travelling preacher or "assistant." Conferences with Wesley, travelling preachers and others were convened annually for the purpose of co-ordinating doctrine and discipline for the entire connection. Classes of a dozen or so society members under a leader met weekly for spiritual fellowship and guidance. In early years, there were "bands" of the spiritually gifted who consciously pursued perfection. Those who were regarded to have achieved it were grouped in select societies or bands. In 1744, there were 77 such members. There also was a category of penitents which consisted of backsliders.[65]

    Wesley's house, next to Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London

    As the number of preachers and preaching-houses increased, doctrinal and administrative matters needed to be discussed; so John and Charles Wesley, along with four other clergy and four lay preachers, met for consultation in London in 1744. This was the first Methodist conference; subsequently, the Conference (with Wesley as its president) became the ruling body of the Methodist movement.[67] Two years later, to help preachers work more systematically and societies receive services more regularly, Wesley appointed "helpers" to definitive circuits. Each circuit included at least 30 appointments a month. Believing that the preacher's efficiency was promoted by his being changed from one circuit to another every year or two, Wesley established the "itinerancy" and insisted that his preachers submit to its rules.[68]

    John Wesley had strong links with the North West of England, visiting Manchester on at least fifteen occasions between 1733 and 1790. In 1733 and 1738 he preached at St Ann's Church and Salford Chapel, meeting with his friend John Clayton. In 1781 Wesley opened the chapel on Oldham Street—part of the Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Methodist Mission,[69] now the site of Manchester's Methodist Central Hall.[70]

    Wesley travelled to Ireland for the first time in 1747 and continued through 1789.[71] He rejected the Catholic Church, so he worked to convert the people of Ireland to Methodism.[71] Overall, the numbers grew to over 15,000 by 1795.[71]

    Following an illness in 1748 Wesley was nursed by a classleader and housekeeper, Grace Murray, at an orphan house in Newcastle. Taken with Grace, he invited her to travel with him to Ireland in 1749 where he believed them to be betrothed though they were never married. It has been suggested that his brother Charles Wesley objected to the engagement,[72] though this is disputed. Subsequently, Grace married John Bennett, a preacher.[73]

    Ordination of ministers[edit]

    Life-size statue at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, United States

    As the societies multiplied, they adopted the elements of an ecclesiastical system. The divide between Wesley and the Church of England widened. The question of division from the Church of England was urged by some of his preachers and societies, but most strenuously opposed by his brother Charles. Wesley refused to leave the Church of England, believing that Anglicanism was "with all her blemishes, [...] nearer the Scriptural plans than any other in Europe".[2] In 1745 Wesley wrote that he would make any concession which his conscience permitted, to live in peace with the clergy. He could not give up the doctrine of an inward and present salvation by faith itself; he would not stop preaching, nor dissolve the societies, nor end preaching by lay members. In the same year, in correspondence with a friend, he wrote that he believed it wrong to administer sacraments without having been ordained by a bishop.[74]

    When, in 1746, Wesley read Lord King's account of the primitive church, he became convinced that apostolic succession could be transmitted through not only bishops, but also presbyters (priests). He wrote that he was "a scriptural episkopos as much as many men in England." Although he believed in apostolic succession, he also once called the idea of uninterrupted succession a "fable".[75]

    Edward Stillingfleet's Irenicon led him to decide that ordination (and holy orders) could be valid when performed by a presbyter rather than a bishop. Nevertheless, some believe that Wesley was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1763 by Erasmus of Arcadia,[76] and that Wesley could not openly announce his episcopal consecration without incurring the penalty of the Præmunire Act.[77]

    In 1784, he believed he could no longer wait for the Bishop of London to ordain someone for the American Methodists, who were without the sacraments after the American War of Independence.[78] The Church of England had been disestablished in the United States, where it had been the state church in most of the southern colonies. The Church of England had not yet appointed a United States bishop to what would become the Protestant Episcopal Church in America. Wesley ordained Thomas Coke as superintendent[79] of Methodists in the United States by the laying on of hands, although Coke was already a priest in the Church of England. He also ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as presbyters; Whatcoat and Vasey sailed to America with Coke. Wesley intended that Coke and Francis Asbury (whom Coke ordained as superintendent by direction of Wesley) should ordain others in the newly founded Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. In 1787, Coke and Asbury persuaded the American Methodists to refer to them as bishops rather than superintendents,[80] overruling Wesley's objections to the change.[81]

    His brother, Charles, was alarmed by the ordinations and Wesley's evolving view of the matter. He begged Wesley to stop before he had "quite broken down the bridge" and not embitter his [Charles'] last moments on earth, nor "leave an indelible blot on our memory."[82] Wesley replied that he had not separated from the church, nor did he intend to, but he must and would save as many souls as he could while alive, "without being careful about what may possibly be when I die."[83] Although Wesley rejoiced that the Methodists in America were free, he advised his English followers to remain in the established church.[84]

    Doctrines, theology and advocacy[edit]

    Wesley preaching to his assistants in the City Road Chapel (now Wesley's Chapel), London. Detail of a stipple engraving by T. Blood, 1822.
    Further information: Wesleyan theology

    The 20th-century Wesleyan scholar Albert Outler argued in his introduction to the 1964 collection John Wesley that Wesley developed his theology by using a method that Outler termed the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.[85] In this method, Wesley believed that the living core of Christianity was contained in Scripture (the Bible), and that it was the sole foundational source of theological development. The centrality of Scripture was so important for Wesley that he called himself "a man of one book,"[86] although he was well-read for his day. However, he believed that doctrine had to be in keeping with Christian orthodox tradition. So, tradition was considered the second aspect of the Quadrilateral.[85] Wesley contended that a part of the theological method would involve experiential faith. In other words, truth would be vivified in personal experience of Christians (overall, not individually), if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended rationally. He did not divorce faith from reason. Tradition, experience and reason, however, were subject always to Scripture, Wesley argued, because only there is the Word of God revealed "so far as it is necessary for our salvation."[87]

    Bronze statue of Wesley in St Paul's Churchyard, London. A marble version stands inside Methodist Central Hall, Westminster.

    The doctrines which Wesley emphasised in his sermons and writings are prevenient grace, present personal salvation by faith, the witness of the Spirit, and entire sanctification.[88][89] Prevenient grace was the theological underpinning of his belief that all persons were capable of being saved by faith in Christ. Unlike the Calvinists of his day, Wesley did not believe in predestination, that is, that some persons had been elected by God for salvation and others for damnation. He understood that Christian orthodoxy insisted that salvation was only possible by the sovereign grace of God. He expressed his understanding of humanity's relationship to God as utter dependence upon God's grace. God was at work to enable all people to be capable of coming to faith by empowering humans to have actual existential freedom of response to God.

    Wesley defined the witness of the Spirit as: "an inward impression on the soul of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to their spirit that they are the children of God."[90] He based this doctrine upon certain Biblical passages (see Romans 8:15–16 as an example).[citation needed] This doctrine was closely related to his belief that salvation had to be "personal." In his view, a person must ultimately believe the Good News for himself or herself; no one could be in relation to God for another.

    Wesley mezzotint by J. Faber, 1743

    Entire sanctification he described in 1790 as the "grand depositum which God has lodged with the people called 'Methodists'."[89][91] Wesley taught that entire sanctification was obtainable after justification by faith, between justification and death.[89] Wesley defined it as:

    "That habitual disposition of soul which, in the sacred writings, is termed holiness; and which directly implies, the being cleansed from sin, 'from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;' and, by consequence, the being endued with those virtues which were in Christ Jesus; the being so 'renewed in the image of our mind,' as to be 'perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect."[92]

    The term "sinless perfection" was one which Wesley avoided using "because of its ambiguity,"[93] rather, he contended that a Christian could be made "perfect in love". (Wesley studied Eastern Orthodoxy and embraced particularly the doctrine of Theosis).[94] This love would mean, first of all, that a believer's motives, rather than being self-centred, would be guided by the deep desire to please God. One would be able to keep from committing what Wesley called, "sin rightly so-called." By this he meant a conscious or intentional breach of God's will or laws.

    Secondly, to be made perfect in love meant, for Wesley, that a Christian could live with a primary guiding regard for others and their welfare. He based this on Christ's quote that the second great command is "to love your neighbour as you love yourself." In Wesley's view, this orientation would cause a person to avoid any number of sins against his neighbour. This love, plus the love for God that could be the central focus of a person's faith, would be what Wesley referred to as "a fulfilment of the law of Christ."[95] He maintained that individuals could have assurance of perfection, akin to a second conversion or instantaneous sanctifying experience, through the testimony of the Spirit. Wesley collected and published such testimonies.[96]

    John Wesley's statements against the Islamic faith are well known. Wesley assumed the superiority of Christianity vis-a-vis to Islam, based on his commitment to the biblical revelation as "the book of God". His theologic interpretation of Christianity was seeking its imperative rather than considering other Abrahamic and Eastern religions to be equal. He often regarded the lifestyles of Muslims as an "ox goad" to prick the collective Christian conscience.[97]

    Advocacy of Arminianism[edit]

    Portrait of Wesley by William Hamilton, 1788. Currently on display in John Wesley's House, City Road, London.

    Wesley entered controversies as he tried to enlarge church practice. The most notable of his controversies was that on Calvinism. His father was of the Arminian school in the church. Wesley came to his own conclusions while in college and expressed himself strongly against the doctrines of Calvinistic election and reprobation. His system of thought has become known as Wesleyan Arminianism, the foundations of which were laid by Wesley and his fellow preacher John William Fletcher.[98] Although Wesley knew very little about the beliefs of Jacob Arminius and arrived at his religious views independently of Arminius, Wesley acknowledged late in life, with the 1778 publication of The Arminian Magazine, that he and Arminius were in general agreement. Theology Professor W. Stephen Gunther concludes he was "a faithful representative" of Arminius' beliefs.[99] Wesley was perhaps the clearest English proponent of Arminianism.[100]

    By contrast, Whitefield inclined to Calvinism; in his first tour in America, he embraced the views of the New England School of Calvinism. Whitefield opposed Wesley's advocacy of Arminianism, though the two maintained a strained friendship. When in 1739 Wesley preached a sermon on Freedom of Grace, attacking the Calvinistic understanding of predestination as blasphemous, as it represented "God as worse than the devil," Whitefield asked him not to repeat or publish the discourse, as he did not want a dispute. Wesley published his sermon anyway. Whitefield was one of many who responded. The two men separated their practice in 1741. Wesley wrote that those who held to unlimited atonement did not desire separation, but "those who held 'particular redemption' would not hear of any accommodation."[101]

    George Whitefield by Joseph Badger, c. 1745 (Harvard University Portrait Collection)

    Whitefield, Howell Harris (leader of the Welsh Methodist revival),[102] John Cennick, and others, became the founders of Calvinistic Methodism. Whitefield and Wesley, however, were soon back on friendly terms, and their friendship remained unbroken although they travelled different paths. When someone asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven, Whitefield replied, "I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him."[103]

    In 1770, the controversy broke out anew with violence and bitterness, as people's view of God related to their views of men and their possibilities. Augustus Toplady, Daniel Rowland, Sir Richard Hill and others were engaged on one side, while Wesley and Fletcher stood on the other. Toplady was editor of The Gospel Magazine, which had articles covering the controversy.[104]

    In 1778, Wesley began the publication of The Arminian Magazine, not, he said, to convince Calvinists, but to preserve Methodists. He wanted to teach the truth that "God willeth all men to be saved."[105] A "lasting peace" could be secured in no other way.

    Some have suggested that later in life Wesley may have embraced the doctrine of universal salvation,[106][107] although this is disputed. The claim is supported by a letter Wesley wrote in 1787 in which he endorsed as "one of the most sensible tracts I have ever read"[108] a work by Charles Bonnet in which the author's conclusion was, "There will therefore be a perpetual advance of all the individuals of humanity towards greater perfection or greater happiness."[109]

    Support for abolitionism[edit]

    Later in his ministry, Wesley was a keen abolitionist,[110][111] speaking out and writing against the slave trade. Wesley denounced slavery as "the sum of all villainies" and detailed its abuses.[112] He addressed the slave trade in a polemical tract, titled Thoughts Upon Slavery, in 1774.[112][113] He wrote, "Liberty is the right of every human creature, as soon as he breathes the vital air; and no human law can deprive him of that right which he derives from the law of nature".[114] Wesley influenced George Whitefield to journey to the colonies, spurring the transatlantic debate on slavery.[115] Wesley was a mentor to William Wilberforce, who was also influential in the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.[116]

    It is thanks to Wesley's abolitionist message that a young African American, Richard Allen, converted to Christianity in 1777 and later founded, in 1816, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), in the Methodist tradition.[117][118]

    Support for women preachers[edit]

    Women had an active role in Wesley's Methodism, and were encouraged to lead classes. In 1761, he informally allowed Sarah Crosby, one of his converts and a class leader, to preach.[119] On an occasion where over 200 people attended a class she was meant to teach, Crosby felt as though she could not fulfill her duties as a class leader given the large crowd, and decided to preach instead.[120][121] She wrote to Wesley to seek his advice and forgiveness.[122] He let Crosby to continue her preaching so long as she refrained from as many of the mannerisms of preaching as she could.[123] Between 1761 and 1771, Wesley wrote detailed instructions to Crosby and others, with specifics on what styles of preaching they could use. For instance, in 1769, Wesley allowed Crosby to give exhortations.[124]

    In the summer of 1771, Mary Bosanquet wrote to John Wesley to defend hers and Sarah Crosby's work preaching and leading classes at her orphanage, Cross Hall.[125][126] Bosanquet's letter is considered to be the first full and true defense of women's preaching in Methodism.[125] Her argument was that women should be able to preach when they experienced an 'extraordinary call,' or when given permission from God.[125][127] Wesley accepted Bosanquet's argument, and formally began to allow women to preach in Methodism in 1771.[128][127] Methodist women, including preachers, continued to observe the ancient practice of Christian head covering.[129]

    Personality and activities[edit]

    Sketch of an electrical machine designed by Wesley

    Wesley travelled widely, generally on horseback, preaching two or three times each day. Stephen Tomkins writes that "[Wesley] rode 250,000 miles, gave away 30,000 pounds, ... and preached more than 40,000 sermons... "[130] He formed societies, opened chapels, examined and commissioned preachers, administered aid charities, prescribed for the sick, helped to pioneer the use of electric shock for the treatment of illness,[131] and superintended orphanages and schools (including Kingswood School).[132]

    Wesley practised a vegetarian diet and in later life abstained from wine for health reasons.[133] He wrote, "thanks be to God, since the time I gave up flesh meals and wine I have been delivered from all physical ills." Wesley warned against the dangers of alcohol abuse in his famous sermon, The Use of Money,[134] and in his letter to an alcoholic.[135] In his sermon, On Public Diversions, Wesley says: "You see the wine when it sparkles in the cup, and are going to drink of it. I tell you there is poison in it! and, therefore, beg you to throw it away".[136] These statements against alcohol use largely concerned "hard liquors and spirits" rather than the low-alcohol beer, which was often safer to drink than the contaminated water of that time.[137] Methodist churches became pioneers in the teetotal temperance movement of the 19th and 20th centuries, and later it became de rigueur in British Methodism.[138]

    He attended music concerts, and was especially an admirer of Charles Avison.[139] After attending a performance in Bristol Cathedral in 1758, Wesley recorded in his journal: "I went to the cathedral to hear Mr. Handel's Messiah. I doubt if that congregation was ever so serious at a sermon as they were during this performance. In many places, especially several of the choruses, it exceeded my expectation."[140]

    Stipple engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi, 1760

    He is described as "rather under the medium height, well proportioned, strong, with a bright eye, a clear complexion, and a saintly, intellectual face".[141] Though Wesley favoured celibacy rather than marital bond,[142][143] he married very unhappily in 1751, at the age of 48, to a widow, Mary Vazeille, described as "a well-to-do widow and mother of four children."[144] The couple had no children. John Singleton writes: "By 1758 she had left him—unable to cope, it is said, with the competition for his time and devotion presented by the ever-burgeoning Methodist movement. Molly, as she was known, was to return and leave him again on several occasions before their final separation."[144] Wesley wryly reported in his journal, "I did not forsake her, I did not dismiss her, I will not recall her."[145]

    In 1770, at the death of George Whitefield, Wesley wrote a memorial sermon which praised Whitefield's admirable qualities and acknowledged the two men's differences: "There are many doctrines of a less essential nature ... In these we may think and let think; we may 'agree to disagree.' But, meantime, let us hold fast the essentials..."[146] Wesley may have been the first to use "agree to disagree" in print—in the modern sense of tolerating differences—though he himself attributed the saying to Whitefield, and it had appeared in other senses previously.[147]

    Wesley was gravely ill during a visit to Lisburn in Ireland in June 1775. He stayed at the home of a leading Methodist, Henrietta Gayer, where he recovered.[148]

    Death[edit]

    Wesley on his deathbed: "The best of all is, God is with us". Mezzotint by John Sartain.

    Wesley's health declined sharply towards the end of his life and he ceased preaching. On 28 June 1790, less than a year before his death, he wrote:

    This day I enter into my eighty-eighth year. For above eighty-six years, I found none of the infirmities of old age: my eyes did not wax dim, neither was my natural strength abated. But last August, I found almost a sudden change. My eyes were so dim that no glasses would help me. My strength likewise now quite forsook me and probably will not return in this world.[149]

    Wesley's death mask, exhibited in the Museum of Methodism, London

    Wesley was cared for during his last months by Elizabeth Ritchie and his physician John Whitehead. He died on 2 March 1791, at the age of 87.[150] As he lay dying, his friends gathered around him, Wesley grasped their hands and said repeatedly, "Farewell, farewell." At the end, he said, "The best of all is, God is with us", lifted his arms and raised his feeble voice again, repeating the words, "The best of all is, God is with us."[151] He was entombed at his chapel on City Road, London.[152] Ritchie wrote an account of his death which was quoted from by Whitehead at his funeral.[150]

    Because of his charitable nature he died poor, leaving as the result of his life's work 135,000 members and 541 itinerant preachers under the name "Methodist". It has been said that "when John Wesley was carried to his grave, he left behind him a good library of books, a well-worn clergyman's gown" and the Methodist Church.[151]

    Literary work[edit]

    Main article: John Wesley bibliography
    Wesley's shorthand writing

    Wesley wrote, edited or abridged some 400 publications. As well as theology he wrote about music, marriage, medicine, abolitionism and politics.[153] Wesley was a logical thinker and expressed himself clearly, concisely and forcefully in writing. Between 1746 and 1760, Wesley compiled several volumes of written sermons, published as Sermons on Several Occasions; the first four volumes comprise forty-four sermons which are doctrinal in content.[154] His Forty-Four Sermons and the Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament (1755) are Methodist doctrinal standards.[155] Wesley was a fluent, powerful and effective preacher; he usually preached spontaneously and briefly, though occasionally at great length.

    In his Christian Library (1750), he writes about mystics such as Macarius of Egypt, Ephrem the Syrian, Madame Guyon, François Fénelon, Ignatius of Loyola, John of Ávila, Francis de Sales, Blaise Pascal, and Antoinette Bourignon. The work reflects the influence of Christian mysticism in Wesley's ministry from the beginning to the end,[13] although he ever rejected it after the failure in Georgia mission.[156]

    Wesley's prose, Works, were first collected by himself (32 vols., Bristol, 1771–74, frequently reprinted in editions varying greatly in the number of volumes). His chief prose works are a standard publication in seven octavo volumes of the Methodist Book Concern, New York. The Poetical Works of John and Charles, ed. G. Osborn, appeared in 13 vols., London, 1868–72.

    In addition to his Sermons and Notes are his Journals (originally published in 20 parts, London, 1740–89; new ed. by N. Curnock containing notes from unpublished diaries, 6 vols., vols. i–ii, London and New York, 1909–11); The Doctrine of Original Sin (Bristol, 1757; in reply to John Taylor of Norwich); An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion (originally published in three parts; 2nd ed., Bristol, 1743), an elaborate defence of Methodism, describing the evils of the times in society and the church; and a Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1766).

    Wesley's Sunday Service was an adaptation of the Book of Common Prayer for use by American Methodists.[157] In his Watchnight service, he made use of a pietist prayer now generally known as the Wesley Covenant Prayer, perhaps his most famous contribution to Christian liturgy.[158] He was a noted hymn-writer, translator and compiler of a hymnal.[159]

    Wesley also wrote on physics and medicine, such as in The Desideratum, subtitled Electricity made Plain and Useful by a Lover of Mankind and of Common Sense (1759).[160] and Primitive Physic, Or, An Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases.[161]

    In spite of the proliferation of his literary output, Wesley was challenged for plagiarism, for borrowing heavily from an essay by Samuel Johnson, published in March 1775. Initially denying the charge, Wesley later apologised officially.[162]

    Commemoration and legacy[edit]

    Wesley continues to be the primary theological influence on Methodists and Methodist-heritage groups the world over; the Methodist movement numbers 75 million adherents in more than 130 countries.[163] Wesleyan teachings also serve as a basis for the Holiness movement, which includes denominations like Free Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army, and several smaller groups, and from which Pentecostalism and parts of the Charismatic movement are offshoots.[164] Wesley's call to personal and social holiness continues to challenge Christians who attempt to discern what it means to participate in the Kingdom of God.

    He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on 2 March with his brother Charles. The Wesley brothers are honoured[165] with a Lesser Feast on 3 March in the Calendar of Saints of the Episcopal Church,[166] and on 24 May (Aldersgate Day, with a Lesser Festival) in the Church of England's Calendar.[167]

    In 2002, Wesley was listed at number 50 on the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons, drawn from a poll of the British public.[168]

    Wesley's house and chapel, which he built in 1778 on City Road in London, are still intact today and the chapel has a thriving congregation with regular services as well as the Museum of Methodism in the crypt.[169]

    Numerous schools, colleges, hospitals and other institutions are named after Wesley; additionally, many are named after Methodism. In 1831, Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, was the first institution of higher education in the United States to be named after Wesley. The now secular institution was founded as an all-male Methodist college.

    A replica of the rectory where Wesley lived as a boy was built in the 1990s at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. This was an addition to a group of buildings built starting in the 1950s for the World Methodist Council, including a museum which housed letters written by Wesley[170] and a pulpit Wesley used.[171] The museum was already having difficulty staying open, and the COVID-19 pandemic finally made closing the museum necessary. Its contents went to Bridwell Library of Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.[170]

    In film[edit]

    In 1954, the Radio and Film Commission of the British Methodist Church, in co-operation with J. Arthur Rank, produced the film John Wesley. This was a live-action re-telling of the story of the life of Wesley, with Leonard Sachs in the title role.[172]

    In 2009, a more ambitious feature film, Wesley, was released by Foundery Pictures, starring Burgess Jenkins as Wesley. The film was directed by the award-winning filmmaker John Jackman.[173]

    In musical theatre[edit]

    In 1976 the musical Ride! Ride!, composed by Penelope Thwaites AM and written by Alan Thornhill, premiered at the Westminster Theatre in London's West End. The piece is based on the true story of eighteen-year-old Martha Thompson's incarceration in Bedlam, an incident in Wesley's life. The premier ran for 76 performances.[174] Since then it has had more than 40 productions, both amateur and professional, including a 1999 concert version, issued on the Somm record label, with Keith Michell as Wesley.[175]

    See also[edit]

    Notes and references[edit]

    Citations[edit]

    1. ^ Wells 2008, Wesley. The founder of Methodism was/ˈwɛsli/, though often pronounced as /ˈwɛzli/
    2. ^ Jump up to:a b Thorsen 2005, p. 97.
    3. ^ Kiefer 2019.
    4. ^ BBC Humberside 2008.
    5. ^ Ratcliffe 2019.
    6. ^ Johnson 2002.
    7. ^ Jump up to:a b Wallace 1997.
    8. ^ Crain (2009), p. 114.
    9. ^ Tomkins 2003, p. 22.
    10. ^ Jump up to:a b Young 2015, p. 61.
    11. ^ Jump up to:a b Tomkins 2003, p. 27.
    12. ^ Tomkins 2003, p. 23.
    13. ^ Jump up to:a b Wesley & Whaling 1981, p. 10.
    14. ^ Jump up to:a b Law 2009.
    15. ^ Jump up to:a b Tomkins 2003, p. 31.
    16. ^ Stoughton 1878, p. 296.
    17. ^ Iovino 2016.
    18. ^ Tomkins 2003, p. 37.
    19. ^ Wesley 1931, letter 1732.
    20. ^ The Methodist Church 2011.
    21. ^ Heitzenrater 1972, p. 393.
    22. ^ Heitzenrater 1972, p. 392.
    23. ^ Wesley & Benson 1827, p. 108.
    24. ^ Jump up to:a b c Ross & Stacey 1998.
    25. ^ NYPL Digital Collections.
    26. ^ Georgia SP Sturges, Oliver, House – National Archives Catalog
    27. ^ Hammond 2014, p. 13.
    28. ^ Hammond 2014, p. 191.
    29. ^ Hodges 2014.
    30. ^ Tomkins 2003, pp. 54–55. "Biographers have debated whether Wesley was acting from spite or priestly duty here. The most likely answer seems to be that he convinced himself that the one was the other [...] the decision was doubtlessly fueled by spite."
    31. ^ Wesley, John (1826). The Works of the Rev. John Wesley : in ten volumes. Princeton Theological Seminary Library. New York : Printed by J. & J. Harper. p. 45.
    32. ^ Hammond 2014, p. 106.
    33. ^ Joy, James Richard (1937). John Wesley's Awakening. Commission On Archives & History.
    34. ^ Hurst 1903, pp. 102–103.
    35. ^ Wesley 2000a.
    36. ^ Dreyer 1999, p. 27.
    37. ^ Wesley & Jackson 1979, Sermon #1: Salvation By Faith.
    38. ^ Wesley & Jackson 1979, Sermon #128: Free Grace.
    39. ^ Burnett 2006, p. 36.
    40. ^ Burnett 2006, pp. 36–37.
    41. ^ Waltz 1991.
    42. ^ Dose 2015.
    43. ^ Wesley 1831, p. 192.
    44. ^ Green 2019.
    45. ^ Jump up to:a b c Goodwin, Charles H. (1996). "John Wesley: Revival and Revivalism, 1736–1768". Wesleyan Theological Journal. 31 (1).
    46. ^ Morgan, Kenneth (1990). John Wesley and Bristol (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 75), p.4.
    47. ^ LAMC 2019.
    48. ^ Morgan, Kenneth (1990). John Wesley and Bristol (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 75), p.3.
    49. ^ Buckley 1898.
    50. ^ Tomkins 2003, p. 69.
    51. ^ Jump up to:a b BBC 2011.
    52. ^ Brownlow 1859.
    53. ^ Smith 2010, p. 2.
    54. ^ Oden 2013.
    55. ^ Tooley 2014.
    56. ^ Jump up to:a b Lane 2015.
    57. ^ Bowen 1901.
    58. ^ Burdon 2005, p. 23.
    59. ^ Morgan, Kenneth (1990). John Wesley and Bristol (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 75), p.5.
    60. ^ The Asbury Triptych 2019.
    61. ^ Tooley 1870, p. 48.
    62. ^ Bates 1983.
    63. ^ Hurst 1903, Chapter XVIII – Setting His House in Order.
    64. ^ Parkinson 1898.
    65. ^ Jump up to:a b c Hurst 1903, Chapter IX – Society and Class.
    66. ^ Patterson 1984, p. 77.
    67. ^ Graves 2007.
    68. ^ Spiak 2011.
    69. ^ Hindle 1975, pp. 78–79.
    70. ^ Manchester City Council 2019.
    71. ^ Jump up to:a b c O'Brien, Glen (June 2021). ""I Wish Them Well, but I Dare Not Trust Them": John Wesley's Anti‐Catholicism in Context". Journal of Religious History. 45 (2): 185–210. doi:10.1111/1467-9809.12736. ISSN 0022-4227. S2CID 236399013.
    72. ^ Collins 2003.
    73. ^ Bunting 1940, pp. 277–278.
    74. ^ Tucker 2008, pp. 84–85.
    75. ^ Holden 1870, pp. 57–59.
    76. ^ Wesleyan Methodist Magazine 1836. Mr. Wesley thus became a Bishop, and consecrated Dr. Coke, who united himself with ... who gave it under his own hand that Erasmus was Bishop of Arcadia, ...
    77. ^ Cooke 1896, p. 145. Dr. Peters was present at the interview, and went with and introduced Dr. Seabury to Mr. Wesley, who was so far satisfied that he would have been willingly consecrated by him in Mr. Wesley would have signed his letter of orders as bishop, which Mr. Wesley could not do without incurring the penalty of the Præmunire Act.
    78. ^ UMC of Indiana 2019.
    79. ^ Wesley 1915, p. 264. I have accordingly appointed Dr. Coke and Mr. Francis Asbury to be joint superintendents over our brethren in North America...
    80. ^ Lee 1810, p. 128. This was the first time that our superintendents ever gave themselves the title of Bishops in the minutes. They changed the title themselves without the consent of the conference; and at the next conference they asked the preachers if the word Bishop might stand in the minutes; seeing that it was a scripture name, and the meaning of the word Bishop, was the same with that of Superintendent. Some of the preachers opposed the alteration... but a majority of the preachers agreed to let the word Bishop remain.
    81. ^ Wesley 1915. How can you, how dare you, suffer yourself to be called Bishop? I shudder, I start at the very thought! Men may call me a knave or a fool, a rascal, a scoundrel, and I am content; but they shall never, by my consent, call me Bishop! For my sake, for God's sake, for Christ's sake, put a full end to this!
    82. ^ Wesley 2000b, p. 434.
    83. ^ Wesley 1931, letter 1785b.
    84. ^ Watson 1990, p. 26.
    85. ^ Jump up to:a b Mellor 2003.
    86. ^ Craik 1916.
    87. ^ Patterson 1984, Article IV – The Holy Bible.
    88. ^ McDonald 2012, p. 117.
    89. ^ Jump up to:a b c Loyer 2014, p. 19.
    90. ^ Wesley 1984, p. 296.
    91. ^ Miller 2012.
    92. ^ John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, Third Edition., vol. 11 (London: Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, 1872), 367.
    93. ^ H. Orton Wiley, Christian Theology, vol. 2 (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1940–1952), 499.
    94. ^ McCormick 1991.
    95. ^ Jones 2002, p. 33.
    96. ^ Wesley 1766, pp. 58, 62–69. Wesley insisted that the goal of 'Christian perfection' was achievable and that he could name some of those who had "reached perfection's height". At the same time he admitted that he himself had not and that that was the case with most of the rest of us too. See his sermon.
    97. ^ Richie T. (2003). "John Wesley and Mohammed" core.ac.uk. Accessed 11 April 2023.
    98. ^ Knight 2018, p. 115.
    99. ^ Gunter 2007, p. 69.
    100. ^ Stanglin & McCall 2012, p. 153.
    101. ^ Stevens 1858, p. 155.
    102. ^ Evans 1961.
    103. ^ Wiersbe 1984, p. 255.
    104. ^ Tyerman 1876, p. 56.
    105. ^ Gunter 2011, p. 4.
    106. ^ Allin, Thomas (1905). Christ Triumphant. pp. 187–188.
    107. ^ Ellison, James A. (2014). John Wesley and Universalism. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1499270563.
    108. ^ John Wesley's commendation of "Conjectures Considering the Nature of Future Happiness" by Charles Bonnet of Geneva (1787). https://specs-fine-books.myshopify.com/products/1787-john-wesley-trans-conjectures-considering-the-nature-of-future-happiness-by-charles-bonnet-of-geneva
    109. ^ Bonnet, Charles (1787). Conjectures Considering the Nature of Future Happiness. p. 24.
    110. ^ Carey 2005, pp. 145–151.
    111. ^ Carey 2003.
    112. ^ Jump up to:a b Wesley 1774.
    113. ^ Field 2015, p. 3.
    114. ^ Yrigoyen 1996.
    115. ^ Yoon 2012.
    116. ^ Field 2015, p. 6.
    117. ^ Anon 1941, p. 62.
    118. ^ "Richard Allen: American clergyman". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
    119. ^ English 1994.
    120. ^ Burge 1996, p. 9.
    121. ^ Jensen 2013, p. 120.
    122. ^ Lloyd 2009, p. 33.
    123. ^ Chilcote 1991, pp. 121–122.
    124. ^ Tucker & Liefeld 2010, p. 241.
    125. ^ Jump up to:a b c Chilcote 1993, p. 78.
    126. ^ Burton 2008, p. 164.
    127. ^ Jump up to:a b Lloyd 2009, p. 34.
    128. ^ Eason 2003, p. 78.
    129. ^ Dunlap, David (1 November 1994). "Headcovering-A Historical Perspective". Uplook Ministries. Retrieved 24 June 2019. Although women were allowed to preach in the Methodist ministry, the veil covering a woman's head was required as a sign of her headship to Christ. Concerning the theological significance of the veil, Wesley wrote, "For a man indeed ought not to veil his head because he is the image and glory of God in the dominion he bears over the creation, representing the supreme dominion of God, which is his glory. But the woman is a matter of glory to the man, who has a becoming dominion over her. Therefore she ought not to appear except with her head veiled as a tacit acknowledgement of it."
    130. ^ Oakes 2004.
    131. ^ Johnstone 2000, p. 152.
    132. ^ Ryan 2017.
    133. ^ Preece 2008, p. 239. Thanks be to God, since the time I gave up flesh meals and wine I have been delivered from all physical ills.
    134. ^ Wesley & Jackson 1979, Sermon #50: The Use Of Money.
    135. ^ Anderson 2001.
    136. ^ Wesley & Jackson 1979, Sermon #140: On Public Diversions.
    137. ^ "Methodists meet craft beer: fundraiser supports charity". Advance Publications. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
    138. ^ Curtis 2016.
    139. ^ Fay 2017.
    140. ^ Wesley 1835, p. 7.
    141. ^ Carroll 1953, p. 310.
    142. ^ Coe 1996.
    143. ^ Lawrence 2011, p. 134–136.
    144. ^ Jump up to:a b Busenitz 2013.
    145. ^ Southey 1820, p. 137.
    146. ^ Wesley & Jackson 1979, Sermon #53: On The Death of The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield.
    147. ^ Martin 2019.
    148. ^ "DMBI: A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland". dmbi.online. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
    149. ^ Williams 2012.
    150. ^ Jump up to:a b Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/63471. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63471. Retrieved 9 March 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
    151. ^ Jump up to:a b Hurst 1903, p. 298.
    152. ^ Historic England.
    153. ^ The Methodist Church 2019.
    154. ^ Wesley 2015, p. 134–135.
    155. ^ The Methodist Church 2020, p. 213.
    156. ^ Heath 2010, pp. 60–61.
    157. ^ Tucker 1996.
    158. ^ Parkes 1997.
    159. ^ Wesley 1779.
    160. ^ Wesley 1759. It is highly probable Electricity is the general Instrument of all the Motion in the Universe.
    161. ^ Wesley 1744.
    162. ^ Abelove 1997.
    163. ^ Cracknell & White 2005, p. vii.
    164. ^ Dayton 1987, p. 48.
    165. ^ Anon. 2010, p. 257.
    166. ^ Campbell 2019, p. 89.
    167. ^ Buchanan 2006, p. 470.
    168. ^ BBC News 2002.
    169. ^ Wesley's Chapel 2017.
    170. ^ Jump up to:a b Hyatt 2021.
    171. ^ "Here's to 100 more years for Lake Junaluska". Asheville Citizen-Times. 8 July 2013. p. A7 – via newspapers.com.
    172. ^ Cheetham 2003, p. 30.
    173. ^ IMDb 2019.
    174. ^ The Guide to Musical Theatre 2014.
    175. ^ Thwaites 2000.

    Sources[edit]

    Books[edit]

    Articles[edit]

    Further reading[edit]

    • Abraham, William J. (2005). Wesley for Armchair Theologians. Louisville: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
    • Benge, Janet; Benge, Geoff (2011). John Wesley: The World His Parish. Seattle, WA: YWAM Publishing.
    • Blackman, Francis 'Woodie' (2003). John Wesley 300: Pioneers, Preachers and Practitioners. Babados: Panagraphix Inc.
    • Borgen, Ole E. (1985). John Wesley on the Sacraments: a Theological Study. Grand Rapids, MI.: Francis Asbury Press.
    • Collins, Kenneth J. (1989). Wesley on Salvation: A Study in the Standard Sermons. Grand Rapids, MI.: Francis Asbury Press.
    • Collins, Kenneth J. (1997). The Scripture Way of Salvation: The Heart of John Wesley's Theology. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
    • Collins, Kenneth J. (2007). The Theology of John Wesley: Holy Love and the Shape of Grace. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
    • Green, Richard (1905). John Wesley, evangelist. London: Religious tract Society.
    • Hammond, Geordan (2014). John Wesley in America: Restoring Primitive Christianity'. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    • Harper, Steve (2003). The Way to Heaven: The Gospel According to John Wesley. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
    • Jennings, Daniel R. (2005). The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley. Sean Multimedia.
    • Lindström, Harald (1946). Wesley and Sanctification: A Study in the Doctrine of Salvation. London: Epworth Press.
    • Maddox, Randy L.; Vickers, Jason E. (2010). The Cambridge Companion to John Wesley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    • Oden, Thomas (1994). John Wesley's Scriptural Christianity: A Plain Exposition of His Teaching on Christian Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
    • Synan, Vinson (1997). The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
    • Taylor, G. W. (1905). "John Wesley and the Anglo-Catholic Revival". Making of the Modern World, Part III (1890–1945). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
    • Tedford, John (1885). The life of John Wesley. New York: Eaton & Mains.
    • Vickers, Jason E. (2009). Wesley: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: T & T Clark.

    Historiography

    • Collins, Kenneth J. (2016). A Wesley Bibliography. Wilmore, Kentucky: First Fruits Press.

    External links[edit]

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Wesley.
    Archives at
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