I. Introduction
As the title proclaims, grace is not a static concept or materialized in order to maintain the existing state or form of that which it inhabits. In his Instructions for Children, John Wesley defined grace as “the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to behave and love and serve God.” We learn from Wesley that where we find the Holy Spirit there is also Christ and that it is the Holy Spirit that brings forth our faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit is the divine agent that saves us from perpetuating sin in the world. Therefore, in order to understand what it means to experience grace and salvation in the theology of John Wesley, this respective discourse must privilege Spirit talk with the pneumatological assumption that grace is both the gift and evidence of the divine activity of the Spirit at work in humanity.
The objective of this work is to describe Wesley’s understanding of grace and salvation as derivative of his engagement with both Western and Eastern theological anthropology and pneumatology. By identifying the influence of scholars such as Jacobus Arminius, Jeremy Taylor, Thomas à Kempis, and William Law, this work will also note the ways in which Wesley’s doctrine of grace and salvation is more fully consummated in his engagement with the African and Greek Christian traditions represented in the work of the Cappadocians, St. Macarius of Egypt, and Ephrem Syrus. We can attribute the optimism in Wesley’s theological anthropology to these sources as well his understanding of the Spirit as both a generative force that is active in the creation of humanity as well as a regenerative force active in the Christ event and in the re-creation of humanity in communion with God. The second objective of this wo...
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...tion in Pseudo-Macarius and John Wesley”Pacifica 11 (February 1998) 54-62
John Wesley, The Means of Grace, 2:1
Ibid. 2:6-7
Ibid.5:4
John D. Zizioulas, Being in Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Press, 1985) 18
Ibid. 19
Ibid. 20-21
Ibid, 22
Ted A. Campbell, “Methodist Ecclesiologies and Methodist Sacred Spaces,” in Orthodox and Wesleyan Ecclesiology edited by S.T. Kimbrough (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2007) 218;
John Wesley, Works of John Wesley, 18: 537
Ibid, 20:321
Cf. Zizioulas, Being as Communion, 220 as the author describes the ‘relational reality of the church’ as being a manifestation of the trinitarian God. Here, I am drawing continuity between Zizioulas’ description and how Wesley refers to the transformation of the believer because of his or her new birth in the Spirit.
"Conversion." In New Catholic Encyclopedia, edited by Bernard L. Marthaler, 231-242. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2003.
Grace is freely given favor or pardon, unmerited, unconditional god-like love. This grace has been shown in the many instances of unmerited love and forgiveness freely given in the book, The Grace That Keeps This World. In the beginning of the story, Kevin and his Dad, Gary Hazen, were at odds with one another. After the tragic accident where Gary Hazen accidentally shot his son, and Officer Roy’s fiancé, Gary David, Kevin, and his father, Gary Hazen, and Officer Roy, all extended grace toward one another. Then Gary extended grace toward himself. This grace helped to emotionally and physically sustain them, hence the title The Grace That Keeps This World.
Garrett’s concise treatment of an array of relevant questions is reflected in chapter titles like “Faith and Belief”, “The Bible and Theology”, “Sacramental Faith”, “Spiritual Practice”, “The Kingdom of God”, “The End of Things”, and “Friends or Rivals: Living in a Multifaith World”. Each chapter is a vivid explanation on how our life should be based on love, nothing else but the love of Christ, it contrasts the modern day depiction of God bein...
As the founder of the Methodist movement, and later the Methodist Church, it is important to examine John Wesley’s influence and worship within the church. Before the establishment of the Methodist Church, John Wesley frequented the scholars of his local university and realized there was more to Christianity than what he was receiving through the Anglican Church. He pondered what worship meant to him, what he believed, and in what capacity those two things should be undertaken.
From the Catholic observation point, the Church presents two parts: One representing its divine nature as the untarnished body of Christ, and one direc...
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
I was intrigued by John Wesley’s family background. Of how, “John Wesley began life as a happy by-product of a family dispute” (p. 3, Abraham) of praying for King William III. I find it hard to consider that the leader of the Methodist movement was the result of conflict resolution. John was the fifteenth child of a family of nineteen children. His parents, “Susanna and Samuel Wesley was both Dissenter, those who rejected the vision of Christianity developed by the Anglican Church after the Reformation” (p. 4, Abraham). John grandfather, Susanna’s father, was a “distinguished Dissenting Preacher” (p. 4, Abraham). His family tree was rich with ancestors who did not go along with the establishment if it did not match with spiritual truths.
Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy. Trans. John W. Harvey. New York: Oxford UP, 1958. Print.
The term Wesleyan Quadrilateral is a theological method used to study scripture. It was believed that theologian John Wesley studied scriptures in the Bible using three lenses, hence where the Wesleyan Quadrilateral gets its name. These three lenses are tradition, reason, and experience. While quad means four and tradition, reason, and experience are only three terms, they each communicate a way that scripture can be studied, therefore the term scripture completes the quadrilateral. It is important to study scripture using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral because Wesley was known as being a relevant theologian and his views on scripture have lasted over two centuries. The Wesleyan quadrilateral is still relevant today as it provides a method for discovering the things of God, ourselves, and lets us know who God really is. For the purposes of this reflection paper I would like to summarize the four components of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and then reflect personally upon each term as how it relates to the Christian theologian.
Reason is the first of the complimentary Quadrilateral factors. Wesley’s belief went against that of the “Enlightenment Period” which believed that reason was above scripture. This is confirmed by Wesley’s ideology that scripture is first and through scripture we gain faith and faith comes through hearing the Word of God. He also belie...
One of the more surprising features of the Christian faith is that it produced at its very beginning a substantial body of writings. That this should be the case is by no means a necessity: not all religious movements produce writings. Furthermore, that these writings should be collected into one book and thus become a sacred corpus, and that this sacred corpus should continue to influence the life of believers and to determine the content and the practices of the faith two thousand years later is also remarkable.
...s distributed in Theology 101 at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle on 22 April 2008.
Emery, G. (2007). The Trinitarian Theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas. New York, New York: Oxford University Press Inc.
The doctrine of salvation contains various aspects. The intent of this research paper is to provide a general overview of salvation from the angle of justification, propitiation, grace, redemption, and sanctification.
To attempt to address these questions, Gundry compiles a collection of responses from the views of five scholars representing the Weslyan (Melvin E. Dieter), Reformed (Anthony A. Hoekema), Pentecostal (Stanley M. Horton), Keswick (J. Robertson McQuilkin), and Augustinian-Dispensational (John F. Walvoord). Each contributor provides an overview and introduction to their specific evangelical position and at the same time compare and critique as they response to the other views presented. This is an excellent study as it helps to clarify the essentials as well as the distinctiveness of each position.