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The Pattern of Revival: John Wesley’s Vision of ‘Iniquity’ and ‘Godliness’ in Church History
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2016
Extract
On 24 August 1744, in a sermon at St Mary’s, Oxford, John Wesley indicted what he perceived to be a poverty of ‘Scriptural Christianity’ within the University. Wesley began his homily by portraying an early declension of the Church; already in apostolic times, he maintained, the ‘mystery of iniquity’ had grown up alongside the ‘mystery of godliness’. Wesley then painted a dramatic picture of enduring conflict between these two forces throughout church history, declaring, ‘Here we tread a beaten path: the still increasing corruptions of the succeeding generations have been largely described from time to time, by those witnesses God raised up, to show that he had “built his church upon a rock, and the gates of hell should not” wholly “prevail against her”.’
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Studies in Church History , Volume 44: Revival and Resurgence in Christian History , 2008 , pp. 142 - 153
- Copyright
- Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 2008
References
1 Wesley, John, Sermon 4, ‘Scriptural Christianity’, in Sermons I-IV, ed. Outler, Albert C., vols 1–4 of The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley, ed. Baker, Frank and Heitzenrater, Richard (Nashville, TN, 1976-) [hereafter: WJW], 1: 161–9 Google Scholar, sections I—II, quote at 169, II.9, with reference to Matt. 16: 18. For background on this sermon, see 1: 109, 113–16.
2 Significantly more attention has been given to the broader subject of Wesley’s engagement with Christian tradition(s). Articles dealing with Wesley’s historical interpretation are referenced below.
3 Sermon 61, The Mystery of Iniquity’ (1783), WJW 2: 452–70, Sermon 68, The Wisdom of God’s Counsels’ (1784), 2: 552–66, and Sermon 102, ‘Of Former Times’ (1787), 3: 442–53. Sermon 104, ‘On Attending the Church Service’ (1787), 3: 469–70, §§13–16, contains a shorter, but characteristic, summary. These sermons appeared first in Wesley’s Arminian Magazine and then in his four-volume continuation (vols five through eight) to Sermons on Several Occasions (London, 1788).
4 ‘Mystery of Iniquity’, WJW 2: 455–61, §§11–23, quotes at 460–1, §§21, 23; see also ‘Former Times’, 3: 451, §18. Whilst Wesley’s interest in ‘primitive’ Christianity is evident in the source material, his statement here reminds that his primitivism can be overstated. Compare Keefer, Luke L. Jr, ‘John Wesley: Disciple of Early Christianity’, Wesleyan Theological Journal 19: 1 (1984), 23–32, at 28, 30 Google Scholar, who acknowledges Wesley’s perception of the ‘mystery of iniquity’ early in church history, but maintains that his primitivism is ‘a hermeneutical key to his life’.
5 Ibid., 461–2, §§24–6, quote at 462, §26; see also ‘Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, 2: 555, §9. Wesley defended Montanus in a separate essay, distinguishing him from other ‘heretics’ espousing more suspect theology, and, whilst acknowledging varied opinions, concluding that ‘Montanus was not only a truly good man, but one of the best men then upon earth’. Wesley, , ‘The Real Character of Montanus’, in The Works of John Wesley, vol. 11 (3rd edn, Grand Rapids, MI, 1979), 485–6 Google Scholar.
6 ‘Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, WJW 2: 555–6, §9.
7 ‘Mystery of Iniquity’, WJW 2: 462–3, §27; other examples of Wesley’s scorn for Constantine include Sermon 66, The Signs of the Times’, 2: 529, §7, and ‘Former Times’, 3: 449–50, §§15–16.
8 ‘Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, WJW 2: 555, §8, with allusion to II Tim. 3: 5; see also ‘Attending the Church Service’, 3: 470, §14.
9 Rack, Henry D., Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of Methodism (2nd edn, London, 1992), 349 Google Scholar.
10 ‘Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, WJW 2: 556–7, §10, quote at 556.
11 ‘Mystery of Iniquity’, WJW 2: 465, §29; see also ‘Former Times’, 3: 449, §14, and ‘Attending the Church Service’, 3: 470, §15. In the latter, Wesley tempered this judgement, saying that the Reformation had brought internal transformation and reintroduced ‘[m]ore of the ancient, scriptural Christianity’ throughout Europe; but its results were not lasting.
12 ‘Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, WJW 2: 557–8, §§11–12; also ‘Former Times’, 3: 449, §§13–14.
13 ‘Mystery of Iniquity’, WJW 2: 466–70, §§31–6.
14 ‘Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, WJW 2: 554, §6.
15 Ibid., 554–65, §§7–21, quote at 558, §12; see also Sermon 63, ‘The General Spread of the Gospel’ (1783), W]W 2: 490–2, §§13–15. Outler sets Wesley’s thoughts here within the context of his journey from London to Edinburgh, during which he recorded his ‘mixed feelings about the uneven progress of the Revival, his alarm over various signs of weakened discipline within the Methodist ranks’ (551).
16 Ibid., 565–6, §§22–4, quote at 565, §22.
17 ‘Former Times’, WJW 3: 448–51, §§11–18, quote at 451, §18.
18 Ibid., 449, 451–2, §§13, 19, 21.
19 Ibid., 452–3, §§20, 22. See Sermon 112, ‘On Laying the Foundation of the New Chapel’ (1777), WJW 3: 577–92, esp. 587–9, II. 6–13, for a parallel description of the Revival as unprecedented in English, possibly broader, church history.
20 ‘Former Times’, 3: 453, §23.
21 Cameron, Euan, Interpreting Christian History: the Challenge of the Churches’ Past (Oxford, 2005), 149–52 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
22 Maclaine’s work, entitled An Ecclesiastical History, Antient and Modern, from the Birth of Christ, to the Beginning of the Present Century:&, was reissued in 1767, with four subsequent editions within Wesley’s lifetime (1768, 1774, 1782, 1790). References to Maclaine’s editions are from Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Gale Group, available at: http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/ECCO. Wesley did not elucidate his precise sources; in his Preface, he spoke loosely of Mosheim’s work ‘published thirty or forty years ago’, and Maclaine’s translation published ‘a few years since’. Wesley, , A Concise Ecclesiastical History, from the Birth of Christ, to the Beginning of the present Century, 4 vols (London, 1781), 1: iii–iv Google Scholar.
23 Wesley, , Concise Ecclesiastical History, 1: v–vi Google Scholar.
24 Ibid., vii-viii (emphasis in original).
25 Ibid., 113–14, §§10–11, esp. §11 (Montanus), 151–3, §§7–8, esp. final paragraph of §7 (Constantine), 245–8, §§17–19, esp. 248 n. ‘a’ (Pelagius), compared with Mosheim, , Ecclesiastical History, trans. Maclaine, Archibald, 5 vols (new edn, London, 1774), 1: 192–4 Google Scholar, §§23–4, 261–5, §§7–9. 421–4, §§23–4. On Montanus and Pelagius, Wesley fulfilled his purpose, stated in his Preface, to redeem ‘the Character of truly good men’ to whom Mosheim and Maclaine had ‘not done justice’ (1: vii).
26 Ibid., 4: 169–281.
27 Ibid., 4: 169, §1. Rupert E. Davies terms the ‘Short History’ a ‘corrective’ to Maclaine. He refers to Maclaine’s 1768 edition, but the table appears already in 1765: Mosheim, , Ecclesi astical History, trans. Maclaine, 2 vols (London, 1765), 2: 624 Google Scholar. For Davies’ comments, see The Methodist Societies: History, Nature and Design, ed. Davies, vol. 9 of WJW, 425, and 426 n. 3, also 426–503 for his critical edition of the ‘Short History’.
28 WJW 9: 425, echoed by Ken MacMillan, ‘John Wesley and the Enlightened Historians’, Methodist History 3 8: 2 (2000), 121–32, at 127.
29 Wesley, Concise Ecclesiastical History, 4: 176–7, §13; 178, §16; 181–3, §§23–5; 183, §28; 194–5. §34; 200–1, §40; 207–8, §47 as examples.
30 Ibid., 187, §30.
31 Ibid., 169, §1; 280–1, §82. Biblical allusions (indexed in WJW 9, ed. Davies) are to Matt. 5: 11 and Acts 20: 24; these also appear at 176–7, §13.
32 Ibid., 180, §21.
33 Walsh, , ‘“Methodism” and the Origins of English-Speaking Evangelicalism’, in Noll, Mark A., Bebbington, David W., and Rawlyk, George A., eds, Evangelicalism: Comparative Studies of Popular Protestantism in North America, the British Isles, and Beyond, 1700–1990, Religion in America series, ed. Stout, Harry S. (Oxford, 1994), 19–37, at 32 Google Scholar.
34 For examples, ‘Mystery of Iniquity’, WJW 2: 453, §7; “Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, 2: 556, §10, and 558, §12; and ‘General Spread’, 2: 485–8, §§1–8.
35 ‘Mystery of Iniquity’, WJW 2: 457, §15, and 462, §26. Compare ‘Scriptural Christianity’, 1: 167–9, H-5–8, for an early articulation of this belief.
36 ‘Former Times’, WJW 3: 453, §23. This counters Outler’s pessimistic rendering of Wesley’s conception as ‘a tragic drama of fallings away and partial restorations from each of which, in its turn, there then followed yet another falling away’ (Introduction to ‘Mystery of Iniquity’, WJW 2: 451). I am grateful to Reginald Ward for emphasizing to me the importance of Wesley’s eschatological outlook for his historical interpretation.
37 ‘Former Times’, WJW 3: 489, §10 (emphasis in original); also ‘Signs of the Times’, 2: 526, §3; 530, §8.
38 ‘General Spread’, WJW 2: 490–3, §§13–17, quotes at 493, §17. Walsh, , ‘“Methodism” and the Origins of English-Speaking Evangelicalism’, 33 Google Scholar, observes Wesley’s contrast, in letters, between more dramatic but short-lived revivals in Scotland and America, and the steadier, longer-lasting progression of the Methodist Revival.
39 ‘General Spread’, WJW2: 492–3, §16.
40 On Wesley and Enlightenment historiography, see Campbell, Ted A., ‘John Wesley and Conyers Middleton on Divine Intervention in History’, Church History 55 (1986), 39–49 Google Scholar, and MacMillan, , ‘John Wesley’; also Rack, , Reasonable Enthusiast, 32–3, 167–8, 383–8 Google Scholar, for general descriptions of Wesley’s engagement with Enlightenment thinking.
41 Campbell, Ted A., ‘Christian Tradition, John Wesley, and Evangelicalism’, Anglican Theological Review 74: 1 (1992), 54–67, at 65–6 Google Scholar.
42 Richey, Russell E., ‘Methodism and Providence: a Study in Secularization’, in Robbins, Keith, ed., Protestant Evangelicalism: Britain, Ireland, Germany, and America, c. 1750-c. 1910: Essays in Honour of W. R. Ward, SCH.S 7 (Oxford, 1990), 51–77, at 55 Google Scholar.
43 Crawford, Michael J., in Seasons of Grace: Colonial New England’s Revival Tradition in Its British Context, Religion in America series, ed. Stout, Harry S. (New York and Oxford, 1991), 127 Google Scholar, suggests briefly, with Edwards’s History in view, that eighteenth-century British and American evangelicals shared a unique historical interpretation which focused on revivals.
44 Seaborn, Joseph W. Jr, in ‘Wesley’s Views on the Uses of History’, Wesleyan Theological Journal 21 (1986), 129–36, at 130 Google Scholar, observes Wesley’s critique of David Brainerd, who in his journal (extracted by Jonathan Edwards) appeared to ‘usurp God’s prerogative in prescribing the pattern for revival in the New World’.
45 ‘Wisdom of God’s Counsels’, WJW 2:553, §5.
46 Ibid., 566, §25.