The Take-Away - Methodism

 John Wesley

John Wesley saw many of his classmates at Christ Church College (in Oxford) have a more rigorous faith in God, and he felt a desire for more faith himself.  "In 1725, he wrote that his desire was no longer to be a 'nominal' Christian but to be a 'real' Christian" (113).  He met with a group of college students who also had similar beliefs to go deeper in the faith.  They worshiped together and sought to pursue acts of charity in their community.  Critics called them "Methodists" because of their methodical approach to the pursuit of holiness.  John Wesley did not set out to form a new denomination; he simply encouraged its beginnings as a renewal movement within the Church of England.

He was shaped by both the Enlightenment (search for logic and reason) and the Pietist Movement (skeptical of reason).  "This union of reason with the desire for a personal faith would become a defining characteristic of Methodism.  To this day United Methodists see themselves as people who bring together both a reasonable faith that is intellectually satisfying and a passionate and emotionally compelling faith that touches the heart" (113). 

Wesley sought to experience assuarance of salvation.  In 1738, while listening to the words of Martin Luther being read, Wesley said he "felt [his] heart strangely warmed" with a new passion and vitality.  Many describe Wesley and other early Methodists as being "reasonable enthusiasts" because they could hold together reason AND a passionate faith.

Once Wesley began preaching outdoors, he found satisfaction there.  He declared that the world was his parish, and he spent the rest of his life traveling by horseback preaching and calling people to follow Christ.

General Rules
1.  Avoid doing what you know is wrong.
2.  Do all the good you can to everyone you can.
3.  Pursue the spiritual disciplines, including prayer, worship, Scripture reading, and fasting, among others.

Practicies that Shaped Methodism (in early times and today)
1.  Outstanding preaching
2.  Organiztion of small groups (holding each other accountable and helping each other growing in grace)
3.  Singing
4. Social reform

Characteristics of Methodism
1.  Wesley and subsequent generations of Methodists were ecumenical and willing to work with and learn from Christians of other denominations.  "United Methodists tend to build bridges with other Christians rather than erect walls that separate" (119).
2.  Methodists believe in bringing their intellect to their faith.  "United Methodists still value the intellect and believe they are not to 'check their brain at the door' when they enter the church" (119).
3.  Wesley and the early Methodists valued passion and experience.  The "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" added Experience to the Anglican three-legged stool of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason.

 
4.  Wesley and the Methodists, drawing from the Pietist movement, placed major emphasis on a personal faith.
5.  Wesley and the Methodists stood against Calvin's teaching on predestination.
6.  Wesley brought together the high-church tradition of the Anglicans with the low-church simplicity of worship that characterized Puritan churches.
7.  Wesley placed major emphasis on two seemingly contradictory ideas: grace and holiness.  we have life and salvation only by God's grace (God's undeserved favor and blessings).  Methodists also believe that we are saved from sin in order to do good works.  Wesley also emphasized sanctification (Christian perfection) as a lifelong goal of the believer.  It means to have one's heart so transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit that one expresses perfect love for God and neighbor.  Holiness, for Methodists, has two dimensions - personal holiness (love of God and surrendering to God while avoiding anything that would offend God in one's thoughts, words and deeds) and social holiness (love of neighbor, which includes addressing injustice and shaping our communities so they are patterned on the kingdom of God).


According to Bishop Scott Jones of the Kansas Area, Methodists "tend to be a people of the extreme center.  The extreme center means that The United Methodist Church at its best is conservative in some areas and liberal in other areas.  We don't fit a stereotype very well.... By occupying the extreme center, we see the value of both sides and try to carve out a position , whether it involves theology or social justice, that embraces the whole gospel" (122-123).


John Wesley's Passions
1.  To change lives
2.  To transform the community
3.  To revitalize the church


"United Methodists invite other Christians to listen to and learn from one another; to recognize that truth is often found most fully not on the extremes, but in the center; and to pursue the life of faith by maintaining a balance between grace and holiness, intellect and emotion, evangelism and social justice" (124).

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Hamilton, Adam.  Christianity's Family Tree.   Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.