JOHN WESLEY'S ATTACKS ON CLASSIC CHRISTIAN (CALVINISM) DOCTRINE - JUSTIFICATION, SANCTIFICATION, etc.
+ Some heresies and errors of John Wesley
With his faith in free will, not only predestination but also the doctrines of total depravity, particular atonement, irresistible grace and the perseverance of the saints had to go (pp. 71, 96, 171), contrary to articles 9, 15 and 17 of the Thirty-Nine Articles. At the 1770 Methodist Conference, Wesley’s doctrine of justification by free will led him to espouse an even more crude heresy: justification by works (pp. 171-173). Briefly, Wesley dropped the formula that the conference had approved but “almost immediately afterwards” he printed a defence of the original minutes (p. 173).
Tomkins makes no reference to the controversial subject of Wesley’s denial of the imputed righteousness of Christ in justification.
Wesley’s doctrine of entire sanctification by the free will of man fits with his teaching of justification by the free will of man, though not with articles 9 and 15 of the Thirty-Nine Articles. He was already teaching perfectionism in the “Holy Club” at Oxford University in 1733 (p. 38).
From http ://ar minia nhere sy.bl ogspo t.com /2006 _06_0 1_arc hive. html (CUT & PASTE THIS LINK)
+ Wesley’s heretical theology revealed itself very clearly in his (doctrinally significant) abridgement of the Thirty-Nine Articles for the American Methodists (1784).
Tomkins notes,
He left out 15 of the Thirty-Nine Articles, extensively abridging the remainder. The missing articles included ‘Christ Alone Without Sin’ [15], which denied perfection, ‘Predestination and Election’ [17], for obvious reasons, and most notably ‘Works Before Justification’ [13], which, with its overstatement [sic] of the contrast before and after justification, was maybe too much like hard-line evangelicalism for Wesley’s mature tastes (p. 187).
A further comparison of the Thirty-Nine Articles with Wesley’s American Methodist Articles of Religion (1784) -- both found in Philip Schaff’s The Creeds of Christendom (vol. 3) -- reveals other striking omissions.
Gone is the confession of the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed (8), probably because of the “overconfident damnations” of the lost (p. 187). More than half of the article on original sin (9) is removed, for it speaks of the inevitable conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. Article 18, “Of obtaining eternal salvation only by the name of Christ,” is gone, as is the second half of article 19, “Of the church,” which states that Rome has not only erred in ceremonies “but also in matters of faith.” The articles on ordination (36) and against lay preaching and lay administering of the sacraments (23) were omitted for obvious reasons. Key phrases are dropped, for example, the denial of “passions” to God (1) and the eternal generation of the Son, “begotten from everlasting of the Father” (2).
A defence could at least be made of some of the other omissions. Christ’s descent into hell is not clearly explained in article 3. The homilies (35, 11), the Erastianism of articles 21 (“General councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of princes”) and 37 (the monarch’s “chief government” of “ecclesiastical or civil” affairs), and the English provenance of articles 35, 36 and 37, would hardly fit with the new American situation. But the doctrinally significant omissions are a sure mark of the apostasy of John Wesley. His heresies finally resulted in his “gutting” the creed; such is often the case.
From http ://ar minia nhere sy.bl ogspo t.com /2006 _06_0 1_arc hive. html (cut and paste this link into your browser) + FOR FURTHER STUDY:
"In the history of the church’s sanctification I don’t believe there has been a more valuable extra-biblical resource and tool than the Puritan Hard Drive... It holds some of the most priceless Reformed works of God-centered and Christ-glorifying truth that were ever penned." - Dr. Matthew McMahon, A Puritan's Mind.
In a letter to his brother Charles in June 1766, the Arminian evangelist John Wesley, now in his sixties, wrote, "I do not love God. I never did. Therefore I never believed, in the Christian sense of the word. ... I never had any other evidence of the eternal or invisible world than I have now; and that is none at all, unless such as faintly shines from reason’s glimmering ray. I have no direct witness (I do not say, that I am a child of God, but) of anything invisible or eternal." See the SWRB blog on SermonAudio at http://ow.ly/kk2wt or http://www.sermonaudio.com/new_details3.asp?ID=13559 for more context for the quote above, as well more information on other surprising and disturbing beliefs held by John Wesley. For example, you will see that "Wesley taught that unconverted Muslims and other heathen will be accepted by God on the basis of their good works" and also wrote, "Prayer for the dead, the faithful departed, in the advocacy of which I conceive myself clearly justified."
Hey Hilary looks like you're the only one here posting on this. So I thought I'd intrude just to say "Oh dear! Oh dear!" Where d'ya get that Whitefield was more entertaining and popular or that Wesley produced more genuine converts?
D'ya read much? Please supply chapter and verse from your authorities. Thanks.
Its unfortunate people are very biased towards a minister who preaches a type of doctrine they support.
George Whitefield was indeed an entertaining and great minister of the Word who preached to many people but being popular does not mean being the most effective. John Wesley - love him or hate him - was a great minister of the Word who won more souls for Jesus Christ than Whitefield.
Wesley had a more effective way of producing genuine converts than Whitefield mainly because of his Christian perfectionism doctrine (Matthew 5:48; 1 Thessalonians 5:23)
The greatest evangelist in history is obviously D.L. Moody, followed by John Wesley, then others
God is love, His offer for salvation is open to every soul in the world. If anyone repents of their sin and believes in Jesus they shall be saved.
The issue is that people are desperately wicked; they love darkness. God knew all along who would repent & accept this offer of salvation and who would reject it so He wrote it in the Lamb's Book of life (Rev 13:8) before the beginning.