FELLOWSHIP IN FERMENT:
A HISTORY OF THE WESLEYAN THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 1965-1984

[The article, "Fellowship in Ferment," is derived from John G. Merritt, "Wesleyan Theological Society," in Religious Periodicals of the United States. Charles H. Lippy, Ed. (Historical Guides to the World’s Periodicals and Newspapers, Greenwood Press, Inc. Westport, CT, 1986) pp 532-4. Copyright © 1986 by Charles H. Lippy. Reprinted by permission.]

by
Major John G. Merritt

FOUNDATIONS FOR FERMENT
 

In surveying developments in the study of John Wesley from 1960 to 1980, Dr. Frank Baker, a British Methodist who is professor emeritus of English church history at Duke University Divinity School, observes that

One sight of the theological ferment of these last twenty years is the presence since 1966 of The Wesleyan Theological Journal, which has published more than a hundred studies of various aspects of Wesley's theology, especially as that theology was focused on the work of the Holy Spirit in human life. The articles vary in quality — as do those of most journals — but most are well written and carefully documented; occasionally they are of major importance. The fact that membership in the publishing body, the Wesleyan Theological Society, is restricted by a conservative theological test -- one, however, to which Wesley himself would have had little difficulty subscribing may sound unpromising to many, but the thousand members are drawn from many different denominations, including both non Methodist and non-American.1

This rather favorable evaluation by an eminent scholar in Methodist studies accurately reflects the importance, orientation and scope of the Wesleyan Theological Journal (hereafter, WTJ) and suggests that its history is definitively bound up with the purpose and growth of the Wesleyan Theological Society (hereafter, WTS) — the theological commission of the Christian Holiness Association (hereafter, CHA).

Laying the Foundations
 

This connection with the CHA points to the broad context in which the WTS was born: the conviction of five educators in schools and denominations related to the Association, that there was the need for a fellowship of scholars in the Wesleyan Holiness tradition comparable to the Evangelical Theological Society. These men2 decided to contact their colleagues in the (then) National Holiness Association (hereafter, NHA) about the feasibility of such an organization, and if interest was sufficient a meeting to launch a learned society would be called during the April 1965 convention of the NHA/CHA in Detroit, Michigan. The response to their inquiries was positive and thus the meeting was convened which resulted in the formation of the Wesleyan Theological Society, with Dr. Leo G. Cox of Marion College being elected president. It was decided that the first annual meeting of the WTS would be held November 5-6 of that year at Spring Arbor College, with the summer and fall being devoted to the securing of charter members.3 This initial membership effort concluded January 1, 1966, and resulted in a charter membership of ninety-two persons.4

The interim executive committee met in Chicago at the Hoyne Avenue Wesleyan Methodist Church in August to plan the program for the first weekend of November 1965 — which set the chronological precedent for all subsequent annual meetings of the WTS. The inaugural event was attended by approximately sixty persons, and during the first business meeting of the Society, Dr. Cox proposed the possibility of an annual bulletin. Apparently the response to the idea was positive, for no objections were recorded in the minutes of the business session. After Lt. Colonel Milton S. Agnew of The Salvation Army and Dr. Wilber T. Dayton of Asbury Theological Seminary made suggestions about the financing of the venture, "(i)t was . . . moved and supported to refer the matter to the executive committee for a decision as to how the question of an annual bulletin can be resolved."5 Then in a question that indicated what the content would be, Professor Charles W. Carter of Marion College inquired if "the editorial board would have the right to select and edit papers presented on the conference floor for publishing." The minutes reveal that "(i)t was agreed that this was the function of this group. 6

Obviously, the "question of an annual bulletin (was) resolved," for Professor Carter (editor from 1965 to 1972), assisted by an editorial committee,7 produced the first number of the Wesleyan Theological Journal, which appeared in the spring of 1966. The significance of this decision was later expressed by Professor Robert A. Mattke of Houghton College — Buffalo Campus, WTS president in 1971-1972: "The publication of an annual Journal continues to be one of the more significant contributions of the Wesleyan Theological Society to the Holiness Movement."8

Two years later, serious discussion commenced about cooperatively expanding the WTJ to a quarterly publication. An ad hoc committee, composed of representatives of the WTS, Asbury Theological Seminary, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Western Evangelical Seminary, and the Nazarene Publishing House,9 and chaired by Dr. W. T. Purkiser (editor from 1973 to 1975), met in the Heritage Center of the Nazarene Publishing House, Kansas City, Missouri, to consider the possibilities of such a journal. With a positive consensus emerging from this August 1974 consultation,10 a report was presented to the annual meeting of the WTS at Bethel College, Mishawaka, Indiana, on November 1 of that year and produced a favorable response.11 The minutes of the annual meeting of the WTS at Circleville Bible College in 1975 recorded that "(j)oint publication of the Journal with the Seminaries was considered. Certain members spoke in favor of this."12 With this brief reference, the consideration of a jointly-sponsored quarterly journal apparently moves out of sight and never returns to view in any official WTS documents.

Although, for whatever reasons, the quarterly publication of the journal under wider auspices did not materialize, the WTS did decide in the 1978 annual meeting at Mount Vernon Nazarene College at least to consider expanding the WTJ to two numbers per year, with the editorial committee also being instructed to look into the inclusion of "book reviews, research abstracts, responses to papers and other materials relevant to the purposes of the Society."13 Actually, the matter of book reviews had already been realized by the editor, Dr. Leon O. Hynson, in his report to the Society which met the preceding year at Huntington College in Indiana.14 This suggestion was adopted in 1980 15 and implemented in the fall issue of 1981, with eighteen reviews having appeared since that time in five of the eight numbers that have been published up through Spring 1984. Also, flowing out of the 1978 directive to the editorial committee was the publishing of the responses to at least some of the major papers, a feature which commenced with the Spring 1981 number but which, in part at least, may have been prompted by the intense exchange of views regarding the relation of the baptism with the Holy Spirit to the experience of entire sanctification, which particularly surfaced in the issues extending from 1978 through 1980. The executive committee in its meeting on November 1, 1979, during the annual conference at Marion College, decided that with Volume 15 in 1980, two numbers of the Journal would be published.16 However, the enlargement apparently commenced immediately, because the fall issue (the second number) of Volume 14 for 1979 appeared in early 1980.

In a period which overlapped 1978 and 1979, there was particular effort expended to publicize the WTS and the WTJ in the two major magazines of American Protestantism; viz., Christianity Today and the Christian Century — unfortunately, not always with gratifying results due, on the one hand, to editorial procedures and, on the other hand, to space limitations.17 However, Dr. Hynson did mention in his 1978 editor's report that "(i)n his review of books in Christianity Today (September 8, 1978), p. 33, Donald Tinder refers to the 'important collection of essays' in the last Wesleyan Theological Journal.' "18 Also Professor Donald Dayton, promotional secretary of the Society, was able to report that the material deleted from the Christian Century in 1979 — in which he "attempted to feature the work of the society in an essay on Holiness and Pentecostal churches," which included "specific information about the journal"19 — "was restored to the essay which will appear . . . in a book edited by Martin Marty, Where the Spirit Leads (Abingdon Press, 1980)."20

Professor Dayton's promotional efforts in other directions have been more rewarding in the making of positive contacts with and participation in (along with other members of the WTS) the Oxford Institute of Methodist Studies in England and the John Wesley Theological Institute near Chicago — aspects of "networking that also have involved promotion of the WTJ."21 This has included the display of the WTJ at a meeting of the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature in a joint venture with other evangelical scholarly journals, with Dayton helping to staff the booth. In a letter from Allan Fisher, Baker Book House textbook editor who initiated the project, to Dr. Wayne Caldwell of Marion College and, from 1976 to 1984, secretary treasurer of the WTS, the comment was made that "this should give both your journal and your society greater visibility, and it will certainly add balance to the display" — an accurate remark, given the fact that the WTJ was the only journal featured which was Wesleyan-Arminian in orientation.22 Such visibility and balance was then and is now imperative for scholarly and ecclesiastical interaction with the academic and church world for, as Dayton noted:

In the last few years I have been drawn into certain "ecumenical" discussions where I have been able to represent the WTS and the CHA constituency to some extent. In this process I have discovered the alarming extent to which we are not even on the intellectual map of many church leaders. We tend to be lost amongst the Evangelicals or confused with the Pentecostals. We have only recently, for example, begun to be counted among the "world confessional bodies."23

Although Dayton's 1983 comments focus on the need for the WTS to move out into and be correctly recognized by the larger ecclesiastical world, a converse concern was indicated as far back as 1975 in which Dr. Eldon Fuhrman of Wesley Biblical Center and Society president that year, "raised the question relative to inviting those of other theological positions to participate in W.T.S. conventions." Although the ensuing discussion during the business session revealed mixed reactions, the minutes state that a motion was passed "that the Program Committee be instructed to prepare guidelines for bringing scholars of other theological positions. Such scholars may be brought in next year, if the committee wishes to do so." In response to the question of Dr. Richard S. Taylor of Nazarene Theological Seminary that "if this procedure is followed, would the editorial committee have to include the papers in the Journal. . ., (t)he answer is no."24

Whether or not the program committee did exercise its discretionary liberty to invite non Wesleyan scholars to participate in the 1976 annual meeting at the Houghton College — Buffalo Campus, there is no evidence that this kind of dialogue was pursued until the 1983 annual meeting at Anderson College and Graduate school of Theology, at which John Howard Yoder, a Mennonite scholar at the University of Notre Dame, provided a commentary from an Anabaptist perspective on a panel discussion of Wesley's "primitivism," and Dr. William Hasker, a member of the Disciples of Christ but a professor in Holiness oriented Huntington College, responded to a discussion of "Christian Holiness and the Problem of Systemic Evil" by Dr. Albert Truesdale of Nazarene Theological Seminary. Although Dr. Yoder's commentary has not yet appeared in the WTJ, Dr. Hasker's response was printed in the first number of Volume 19 for Spring 1984. At least we may say that there is no evidence of inter-confessional dialogue in the context of the WTS on the basis of what articles have appeared in the Journal since 1977 (which featured papers from the 1976 conference) up until the spring of 1984. Indication of a movement toward a more dialogical orientation in the WTJ may be suggested in Number 2 of Volume 18 for the fall of 1983 in which there are some papers — none of which, however, was presented at a Society annual meeting — that are by scholars in non Wesleyan schools and/or were presented in non Holiness settings, but all of which do impinge on Wesleyan concerns.

The Precursors of Ferment
 

Having staked out the organizational parameters in which the Wesleyan Theological Journal was born and has matured, we can turn our attention to the thematic tone that was struck in the first issue of the Journal and the implications therein for the two major theological crises through which the Wesleyan Theological Society has gone and/or through which it may still be going. The first number of the WTJ occupies more than an obviously historical place in the WTS; it also enjoys a seminal status, in a way perhaps unrecognized in 1966, in the theological witness and movement of the Society. This proposition is rooted in the fact that the first number contains some of the basic, distinctive emphases of the Wesleyan Holiness Movement. This is apparent in the lead article, "Entire Sanctification as Taught in the Book of Romans."25 In this essay, Dr. Wilber T. Dayton proposes that the characteristic Wesleyan focus on holiness as including "entire sanctification," which is stressed in the title, justifies, m a way legitimated by Scripture itself, the use of the term in Biblical contexts that do not explicitly employ that particular expression. Dayton's interpretive approach sets a hermeneutical tone and interfaces with the exegetical basis suggested for the various aspects of the Wesleyan understanding of holiness that spin off from the crucial term of "entire sanctification." But in doing this, there appears to be, even in the papers read at the first meeting of the WTS, a recognition and fear of a decreasing emphasis on the Wesleyan doctrine of perfect love. Thus, we may ask, although the expressed purpose of the founding of the Society was the creation of a forum for the scholarly study and presentation of the doctrine of Christian perfection as understood by John Wesley, is there implicitly present, also, the purpose of preserving, on a scholarly basis, a doctrine that is perceived to be receiving diminishing emphasis in the Holiness churches?

The late Kenneth Geiger, then general superintendent of the United Missionary Church, who, in the early 1960S presidentially led the National Holiness Association through a particularly productive theological period, commences his paper on "The Biblical Basis for the Doctrine of Holiness" with a reference to the inerrancy of the original autographs of Scripture, stating that "(t)his is the official position of the National Holiness Association and, quite uniformly, the view of Wesleyan-Arminians everywhere."26 This unequivocal pronouncement causes us to wonder if Geiger is speaking too emphatically and generally, for developments that occurred within the first three years of the founding of the WTS point away from such universality of agreement regarding Scripture. Also, the statement in reference to the NHA makes enigmatic the later affirmation of the WTS by the Association in a meeting occasioned by the decision of the Society to remove from its doctrinal statement the reference to Scripture as "inerrant in the originals."27

Recalling Dr. Frank Baker's observation of the focus in the WTJ on the place of the Holy Spirit in the thought of John Wesley, Lt. Colonel Milton S. Agnew's discussion of "The Works of the Holy Spirit," particularly in the section dealing with the relation of Pentecost to holiness and purity,28 doubtless is a precursor of the intense and varied understandings of that connection in Wesley's theology which critically surfaced in the WTJ between 1978 and 1980. If these observations — made in light of the total historical context of the WTJ — are correct, then even in the first meeting of the Society and in the inaugural issue of its journal, we already see emerging two concerns which eventually become the most important areas of critical discussion thus far in the existence of the WTS and the WTJ.

THE FERMENT ERUPTS

Thematic Directions
 

But how is the thematic tone, which was created in the Wesleyan Theological Journal, worked out in the subsequent numbers in a way that both characterizes the Journal as distinctly Wesleyan Holiness and anticipates the theological crises mentioned above? Without doing so in terms of exact precision, yet, hopefully, not in an inaccurate and / or arbitrary manner, we may see the articles in Volume 1 (Spring 1966) through Volume 19 (Spring 1984) falling — sometimes in an overlapping way — under twelve basic rubrics. Let us survey each thematic category in terms of:

1. The number of authors involved (exclusive of those who made assigned responses, in order to keep the various emphases in correct, relative balance);

2. The number of denominations and schools which these authors represent;

3. The distribution of each thematic category by decades.
 

THEMATIC SURVEY OF THE WESLEYAN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
   

A rough composite of this tabulation indicates that of the 155 contributors (some of whom wrote more than one article, which would thereby make the actual figure lower), the following representations ranked the highest regarding denominations and schools:

The Four Denominations with the Largest Representations:

The Four Schools with the Largest Representations:

With the exception of The United Methodist Church (which is not a member of the CHA), the denominational distribution of authors reflects the relative numerical strength of the other three churches in the CHA. The distribution of schools reflects the relative size of each institution. The composite findings also indicate that of the articles contributed by those representing the top four schools in terms of participation, a noticeable majority were written by those teaching at the graduate level; however, in the total tabulation, a majority of the essays were prepared by those teaching in undergraduate settings. The other nine denominations represented are the Brethren in Christ, Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), Church of God (Holiness), Evangelical Congregational Church, Evangelical Methodist Church, Friends Church, Korean Holiness Church, The Missionary Church (which includes the former United Missionary Church), and The Salvation Army.

The forty-two schools represented, by affiliation, in the WTJ, are:
 

This thematic overview provides the larger framework within which to pinpoint the two areas which have been the most crucial in the history of the WTS: (1) the problem of Biblical inerrancy/infallibility and (2) the debate over the relation of the expression "baptism with the Holy Spirit" to the central Wesleyan distinctive of "entire sanctification." As proposed above, both controversies were anticipated — no doubt without design — in the seminal, inaugural issue of the WTJ in the spring of 1966 and periodically have surfaced in varying degrees of intensity throughout the Journal. However, an understanding of the discussion requires a contextual awareness which is found only in the various of ficial papers of the, Society, which, at the time the research for this paper was conducted, were at Marion College, but now are deposited at Asbury Theological Seminary.

The Problem of the Nature of Scripture
 

The extended reflection on the nature of Scripture commenced during the business session at the first annual meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society in a way that (1) addressed the integrating center and purpose of the Society — the scholarly consideration of the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection; (2) impinged on the doctrinal statement of the Society and its developing articulation in the Journal; and (3) helped to clarify and establish the nature of the relationship of the WTS to the National Holiness Association/Christian Holiness Association. The crucial question which precipitated all this concerned the commitment to Biblical "infallibility" as a condition for membership in the WTS.32

The debate about the nature of the Bible centered as much, or more, in the problematic concept of "inerrancy," for two years after the historic discussion in the first business meeting of the WTS the third annual conference of the Society at Malone College in 1967 included a panel discussion on "Biblical Inerrancy." Moderated by Dr. Richard S. Taylor, immediate past president of the WTS, the panel involved three presentations: "Facing Objections Raised Against Biblical Inerrancy" (Dr. W. Ralph Thompson, Spring Arbor College), "The Concept of the Universal in Relation to Biblical Inerrancy" (Dr. Stephen W. Paine, president of Houghton College), and "Theology and Biblical Inerrancy" (Dr. Wilber T. Dayton).33 The first and third papers, preceded by the essay of Dr. William M. Arnett, Asbury Theological Seminary, on "John Wesley and the Bible," appeared in the Spring 1968 issue of the WTJ.

A pivotal sequel to this is that two years after the 1967 conference, Dr. Thompson concluded his 1968-1969 report as secretary treasurer of the Society with this conciliatory appeal:

Considerable discussion has taken place on the subject of Biblical inerrancy. Those who know me best know that I tend to take a stand in favor of the doctrine.... Many of my brethren do not see the matter as I do; yet they appear to believe as strongly as I do in the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures.... I wonder if a position which we hold but cannot prove should debar from membership in this Society those whose minds do not operate exactly as ours. Let us be exceedingly careful lest we take any step that will weaken our position with respect to the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures. But if a change in the wording in our doctrinal statement could be made that would protect our position and at the same time respect that of our brethren whose intellectual honesty will not allow them to subscribe to our statement, I recommend that such an action be taken.34

The statement to which Dr. Thompson referred and which was found in the first issue of the WTJ, said: "We believe.... That both Old and New Testaments constitute the divinely inspired Word of God, inerrant in the originals, and the final authority for life and truth."35 The problem was that prior to 1970 no official doctrinal statement was possible because the WTS did not have a constitution. Rather, the Society had a doctrinal statement of mutual agreement which served it up through 1969.36 But at the 1969 annual conference at Marion College, a constitution was adopted in which the doctrinal affirmation of Scripture was revised to read:

We believe.... In the plenary dynamic and unique inspiration of the Bible as the divine Word of God, the only infallible (i.e., "absolutely trustworthy and unfailing in effectiveness or operation" — RHD), sufficient and authoritative rule of faith and practice.37

The adoption of an official constitution with its revised statement on Scripture — which first appeared in the 1970 edition of the WTJ — necessitated discussion with the National Holiness Association regarding the facile relationship of the WTS to the Association. Thus Dr. Charles W. Carter, editor of the WTJ, met with the executive committee of the NHA during the Association's Implementation Conference on Cooperative Ministries in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 7-9, 1970. The importance and clarifying function of this meeting was indicated by Dr. Carter in "An Open Letter to the WTS Membership" in the 1971 issue of the Journal:

After due consideration by all members present, including Dr. Leo Cox and other founders of the WTS. . ., the consensus appeared to prevail that an assumed relationship had existed between the WTS and the NHA for which there appeared never to have been any official action taken. The WTS had indeed borrowed unofficially, and printed in its annual Journals certain doctrinal statements as general guidelines for its organization, from the NHA Constitution.38

The doctrinal and organizational result of this meeting is recorded in the annual meeting minutes of the WTS for November 6, 1970:

The primary purpose of that meeting, (Dr. Carter) said, was to discuss the wording of the doctrinal statement relating to the Scriptures which is contained in the Constitution that was adopted by this Society at its last annual conference. Complete approval of the Wesleyan Theological Society's action, he said, was given by the National Holiness Association's Executive Committee.... Dr. Carter's report to (WTS president) Dr. (Ralph) Perry dealt not only with the doctrinal statement in the Constitution but with the relationship of the WTS to the NHA. The NHA Executive Committee, however, expressed its desire, he said, that the WTS be a commission of the NHA with full responsibility for the NHA doctrinal seminars and for any publications which NHA should authorize.39

This revised expression of the doctrinal statement on Scripture continued to appear in each number of the WTJ until, following the revision of the Constitution on November 4,1978, the statement underwent some modification, so that since 1979 it has appeared thus in the WTJ:

We believe.... In the plenary and unique inspiration of the Bible as the divine Word of God, the only infallible, sufficient, and authoritative rule of faith and practice.40

Although the debate over the doctrinal expression about Scripture appears largely to have subsided, the publication of two articles in the 1981 numbers of the WTJ — "John Wesley's Approach to Scripture in Historical Perspective," by Dr. R. Larry Shelton of Seattle Pacific University,41 and "Early Wesleyan Views of Scripture," by Professor Daryl McCarthy of Kansas City Bible College42 — indicate that some kind of tension over this issue may still continue to exist in the Society. A viewing of these two historically oriented articles in light of the more theologically slanted essays by Thompson and Dayton in 1968 suggests that the problem in the debate is about the form and content of Scripture: "inerrancy" is related primarily to the form and "infallibility" to the content. All seem to agree that the content is infallible — but what is the relation of infallible content to inerrant form? Are any aspects of the form errant in terms of history, science, and geography? Is the nature of Biblical authority affected if one does not perceive perfect correspondence between content (which all writers in the WTJ apparently agree is salvifically and doctrinally infallible) and form (which all writers may not agree is inerrant historically, scientifically, and geographically)?

But whatever theological developments may be present in this spectrum of articles regarding Biblical authority, a central issue appears to involve the search for an epistemological base that is historically sensitive (one which does not read twentieth century presuppositions back into the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries) and a theological articulation that does not involve Wesleyans in matters that are not central to the essence of Biblical authority. Whether or not the membership is unanimous in its reaction to such questions, the present doctrinal statement suggests that the more adequate confessional response is felt to be in terms of "infallibility" rather than "inerrancy." Thus, for whatever reason, although the early Journal expressions of Biblical authority seem to come down on the side of inerrancy, it appears that the preference for infallibility over inerrancy, as recorded in the minutes of the executive and plenary business sessions of the WTS, prevailed in terms of official doctrinal confession in the WTJ. Further — and perhaps just as important — the attempt to wrestle with a problem that is not uniquely Wesleyan from the perspective of Wesleyan presuppositions and within a historical context shaped by Wesleyan precedents points to a healthy sense of identity and a developing theological maturity in the American Holiness tradition.43

The Problem of Expressing the Doctrine of Entire Sanctification
in Pneumatological Language
 

Although the factors which make up the complex structure of the second basic crisis in the history of the Wesleyan Theological Society had been present since at least 1970 and possibly reach back to Lt. Colonel Milton S. Agnew's article in the first issue of the Wesleyan Theological Journal, they began to come together in a rather explicit way in 1972 and 1973. For during the business session of the 1972 annual conference, Dr. Delbert Rose of Asbury Theological Seminary and Program chairman

expressed to the body his desire for suggestions concerning creative things which the WTS might do during the coming year. In a response George Turner (of Asbury Theological Seminary) suggested a panel on the subject of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, with Reformed, Pentecostal, and Wesleyan representation and participation.44

The following year, Dr. Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, theologian-in-residence at Nazarene Theological Seminary, reported to the WTS membership during the annual conference at Asbury Theological Seminary that "(the plan ... (for) the doctrinal seminar at C.H.A.... is to deal with the Holy Spirit in relation to sanctification."45 Could it be that these two proposals were prompted by and cast light on each other because of the provocative paper presented by the Reverend Herbert McGonigle, a British Nazarene pastor-scholar, at the 1972 conference? For by his essay (which appeared in the 1973 volume of the WTJ), McGonigle possibly was the first in an annual meeting — certainly the first in the WTJ — to raise the issue about whether the Wesleyan use of pneumatological terminology in relation to entire sanctification finds a precedent in Wesley and early Methodism.46

Whether or not Pastor McGonigle's address was at least part of the occasion for the above mentioned program emphases, the climate of the WTS in the early 1970s was characterized by a gradually increasing interest — from historical, Biblical and theological perspectives — in the relation between the terminology of Pentecost and the experience of entire sanctification. This was becoming definitely evident by the time of the 1976 annual conference in Buffalo, New York, for at that conference two things transpired which, in the larger context of this issue, have more than a tangential relationship. First, the late Dean Willard H. Taylor of Nazarene Theological Seminary affirmed, on exegetical grounds, that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a "promise of grace" which effects the sanctifying purpose of God as part of the full redemptive message of the gospel.47 Second, during the executive committee meeting the day preceding Dr. Taylor's presentation, Professor Donald Dayton conveyed

the interest of Timothy Smith in presenting a paper at the 1977 meeting that would reflect his most recent study of questions of the development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the 19^th century. A possible format of a corresponding paper or response by Don Dayton was discussed.48

That format was eventually approved, for in a letter referring to those who had committed themselves to present papers during the 1977 conference at Mount Vernon Nazarene College, Dr. Melvin E. Dieter of Asbury Theological Seminary and program chairman said that "(t)he Smith Dayton papers should be very significant."49 This comment written to Dr. W. Ralph Thompson was more prophetic than Dr. Dieter probably realized at the time, for with the 1977 conference that which had been an enlarging stream of interest reached cascade proportions which poured forth from the WTJ from 1978 through at least 1980. This controversial atmosphere was sensed in the editor's report of Lee M. Haines in November 1979:

This has been a challenging year to the Editorial Committee. We stepped into the middle of an on-going two-year discussion of the historical theological and exegetical theological developments of Wesleyan thought, particularly as these related to the use of Holy Spirit baptism terminology. A new Editor and one new committee member assumed office at the close of last year's annual meeting in which significant differences of opinion had been expressed, and the Committee faced the responsibility of publishing papers which had already provoked questions and other papers were expected to be written in response. The latter expectation was due to the bold move by the Society to publish two numbers of the Journal rather than one for the first time in its history.50

Without attempting to be evaluative, we may observe the direction which this debate took in the pages of the WTJ. The movement of the exchange led from (1) the affirmation of the baptism with the Holy Spirit as indeed related to entire sanctification (Mattke, 1979)51 to (2) whether or not Wesley himself and the early Methodists made such a connection (McGonigle, 1973), to (3) a defense of making the association largely in reference (a) to the American Holiness tradition rather than to Wesley (Rose, 1974)52 and (b) to Scripture (Taylor, 1977). With its rootage located between (a) and (b) there was (4) consideration of why the connection was made in the American Holiness Movement, particularly in terms of Oberlin's Asa Mahan and Charles G. Finney, as well as in reference to the historical and theological significance of the shift toward the association (Dayton, 1974).53 This line of approach (5) was expanded in 1978 (Knight, Coppedge, Hamilton, Smith and Dayton)54 to debating (6) whether it was consistent with Scripture and early Wesleyan tradition to relate the baptism with the Spirit with the experience of perfect love (Spring 1979: Lyon, Deasley, Turner and Wynkoop; Fall 1979: Agnew, Arnett, Grider and Wood; Spring 1980: Smith and Wood Fan 1980: Grider and Lyon).55 No consensus has yet been reached nor has a synthesis emerged — either during the annual conferences or in the Journal — from the diverse angles of the debate. Thus the issue apparently lies where it was in the Fall 1980 number of the Wesleyan Theological Journal.

Summary and Conclusion
 

In summarily comparing the two major doctrinal crises which the Wesleyan Theological Society has encountered in the first twenty years of its history and which have been expressed both in its journal and of ficial papers, we may make at least two observations: (1) The first crisis, regarding Scripture, was a philosophical one with historical overtones and theological consequences. (2) The debate over the relation of Spirit baptism to Christian perfection was a hermeneutical one — both Biblically and historically — which bore profound theological significance for the Wesleyan Holiness tradition in North America. But as disturbing as these debates and controversies may have been to the constituency of the WTS and the readers of the WTJ, they are empirical evidence for Dr. Frank Baker's assessment of the Wesleyan Theological Journal. It is "(o)ne sight of the theological ferment" in the current study of John Wesley and the variegated movement that bears his name.

Notes
 

1Frank Baker, "Unfolding John Wesley: A Survey of Twenty Years' Studies in Wesley's Thought," Quarterly Review, Advance Edition (Fall 1980): 44-45.

2Dr. William M. Arnett (Methodist), Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Ky.; Dr. Leo G. Cox (Wesleyan Methodist), Marion College, Marion, Ind.; Dr. Wilber T. Dayton (Wesleyan Methodist), Asbury Theological Seminary; Professor Merne Harris (Wesleyan Methodist), Vennard College, University Park, Iowa; and Dr. W. Ralph Thompson (Free Methodist), Spring Arbor College, Spring Arbor, Mich. Source: Dr. Leo G. Cox, interview with author, Marion, Ind., November 15, 1984.

3Ibid

4Seventy-nine full members (holding B.D., M.A., Th.M., Th.D., or Ph.D. degrees), nine associate members and four student members. Source: Dr. Wayne E. Caldwell, secretary treasurer of the Wesleyan Theological Society, letter to author, October 7, 1982.

5Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Spring Arbor, Mich., November 5, 1965, p. 3.

6Ibid Cf. "Editorial Policy for the 'Wesleyan Theological Journal,' " Wesleyan Theological Journal 18 (Fall 1983): 113.

    "1. In selecting materials to be included in the Journal the Editorial Committee shall give preference to papers assigned for and presented at the annual meetings of the Wesleyan Theological Society and the WTS seminar at the annual convention of the Christian Holiness Association.
    "5. For assigned papers, the Editor and one additional member of the Editorial Committee have the authority to ask for a response for a paper by another scholar, or they may decline to publish an assigned paper.
    "6. For papers voluntarily submitted for publication, it shall require a majority of the Editorial Committee to approve publication."

7Dr. Arthur M. Climenhaga (Brethren in Christ), Dr. Wilber T. Dayton (Wesleyan Methodist) and the Reverend Armor D. Peisker, M.A. (Pilgrim Holiness). Wesleyan Theological Journal 1 (Spring 1966): outside back cover.

8Wesleyan Theological Society president's report to the Christian Holiness Association board of administration,104th annual meeting of the Christian Holiness Association, Indianapolis, Ind., April 4-7, 1972, p. 1.

9Representatives: Wesleyan Theological Society: Dr. Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, president; Dr. W. T. Purkiser, editor. Asbury Theological Seminary: Dr. Donald Joy. Nazarene Theological Seminary: Dr. William M. Greathouse, president; Dr. Willard H. Taylor, dean; Dr. Paul M. Bassett; Dr. Harvey Finley. Western Evangelical Seminary: Dr. Leo Thornton, president. Nazarene Publishing House: Bud Lunn, manager; J. Fred Parker, book editor and secretary of the committee. Source: Minutes of the ad hoc committee, Kansas City, Mo., August 22, 1974.

10Ibid.

11Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Mishawaka, Ind., November 1, 1974.

12Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Circleville, Ohio, November 7, 1975.

13Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Mount Vernon, Ohio, November 3, 1978, p. 3.

14Editor's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Huntington, Ind., November 2, 1977.

15Executive committee minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Kansas City, Mo., November 6, 1980.

16Executive committee minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Marion, Ind., November 1, 1979.

17Donald Dayton, promotional secretary's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Mount Vernon, Ohio, November 3,1978, and Marion, Ind., November 2. 1979.

18Editor's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Mount Vernon, Ohio, November 2, 1978.

19Promotional secretary's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Marion, Ind., November 2, 1979.

20Promotional secretary's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Kansas City, Mo., November 7, 1980.

21Promotional secretary's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Wilmore, Ky., November 6, 1981, and Colorado Springs, Colo., November 4, 1982. Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Colorado Springs, Colo., November 4, 1982, p. 2.

22Promotional secretary's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Wilmore, Ky., November 6,1981, p.2. Letter: Allan Fisher to Wayne E. Caldwell, July 2, 1981.

23Promotional secretary's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2, 1984, p. 2.

24Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Circleville, Ohio, November 8, 1975.

25Wilber T. Dayton, "Entire Sanctification as Taught in the Book of Romans," Wesleyan Theological Journal 1 (Spring 1966): 1-10.

26Kenneth E. Geiger, "The Biblical Basis for the Doctrine of Holiness," Wesleyan Theological Journal 1 (Spring 1966): 43, italics added.

27Wesleyan Theological Journal 4 (Spring 1969): inside back cover.

28Lt.-Colonel Milton S. Agnew, "The Works of the Holy Spirit," Wesleyan Theological Journal 1 (Spring 1966): 37ff.

29The single largest sub-division in this category is on the "ethical," which reflects Wesley's focus on perfect love as his theological center. Although various kinds of references to the experience may be peppered throughout the Journal, only two articles in this category specifically treat the crisis aspect of entire sanctification — a surprisingly small number given the fact that holiness as a crisis subsequent to conversion is a central distinctive in the Wesleyan Holiness Movement. Only four articles in the category are devoted specifically to the doctrine of sin — again a surprising tabulation since it is its doctrine of sin that helps the Wesleyan Movement define its primary focus on entire sanctification as cleansing from inbred sin. Twelve articles deal with the Biblical basis of holiness.

30This category will be of particular importance later in the paper as a basis for touching on the first major theological crisis that confronted the WTS.

31This category will be of particular importance later an the paper as a basis for touching on the second major theological crisis that confronted the WTS.

32Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Spring Arbor, Mich., November 4, 1966.

33Program brochure for the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, November 1967.

34Secretary-treasurer's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, November 1967.

35Wesleyan Theological Journal 1 (Spring 1966): inside back cover.

36Charles W. Carter, interview with author, Marion, Ind., November 14, 1984.

37Wesleyan Theological Journal 5 (Spring 1970): inside back cover. "RHD" refers to Random House Dictionary, Carter interview.

38Charles W. Carter, "An Open Letter to the WTS Membership," Wesleyan Theological Journal 6 (Spring 1971): 94.

39Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, November 6, 1970, pp. 1-2.

40Wesleyan Theological Journal 14-19 (Spring 1979-Spring 1984): inside back cover.

41R. Larry Shelton, "John Wesley's Approach to Scripture in Historical Perspective," Wesleyan Theological Journal 16 (Spring 1981): 23-50.

42Daryl McCarthy, "Early Wesleyan Views of Scripture," Wesleyan Theological Journal 16 (Fall 1981) 95-105.

43Further Journal evidence of this salutary growth is seen directly in John E. Hartley, "Old Testament Studies in the Wesleyan Mode," Wesleyan Theological Journal 17 (Spring 1982): 58-76, and Sherrill F. Munn, "A Response to the Paper Presented by John E. Hartley," Wesleyan Theological Journal 17 (Spring 1982): 77-84 — in a less direct manner in Paul Bassett "The Fundamentalist Leavening of the Holiness Movement: 1914-1940," Wesleyan Theological Journal 13 (Spring 1978): 65-91.

44Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, November 3, 1972.

45Annual meeting minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Wilmore, Ky., November 2, 1973.

46Herbert McGonigle, " Pneumatological Nomenclature in Early Methodism," Wesleyan Theological Journal 8 (Spring 1973): 61-72.

47"The Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Promise of Grace or Judgment?" paper read by Willard H. Taylor at the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, November 5, 1976. Brochure of the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Buffalo, N.Y., November 4-5, 1976. Printed, Wesleyan Theological Journal 12 (Spring 1977): 16-25.

48Executive committee minutes, Wesleyan Theological Society, Buffalo, N.Y., November 4, 1976.

49Letter, Melvin E. Dieter to W. Ralph Thompson, March 16, 1977.

50Editor's report to the annual meeting, Wesleyan Theological Society, Marion, Ind., November 1979.

51Robert A. Mattke, "The Baptism with the Holy Spirit as Related to the Work of Entire Sanctification," Wesleyan Theological Journal 5 (Spring 1970): 22-32.

52Delbert R. Rose, "Distinguishing Things that Differ," Wesleyan Theological Journal 9 (Spring 1974): 5-14.

53Donald W. Dayton, "Asa Mahan and the Development of American Holiness Theology," Wesleyan Theological Journal 9 (Spring 1974): 60-69.

54John A. Knight, "John Fletcher's Influence on the Development of Wesleyan Theology in America," Wesleyan Theological Journal 13 (Spring 1978): 13-33. Allan Coppedge, "Entire Sanctification in Early American Methodism: 1812-1835," ibid., pp. 34-50. James E. Hamilton, "Nineteenth Century Philosophy and Holiness Theology: A Study in the Thought of Asa Mahan," ibid, pp. 51-64. Timothy L. Smith, "The Doctrine of the Sanctifying Spirit: Charles G. Finney's Synthesis of Wesleyan and Covenant Theology," ibid, pp. 92-113. Donald W. Dayton, "The Doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Its Emergence and Significance," ibid, pp. 114-126.

55Robert W. Lyon, "Baptism and Spirit-Baptism in the New Testament," Wesleyan Theological Journal 14 (Spring 1979): 14-26. Alex R. G. Deasley, "Entire Sanctification and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit: Perspectives on the Biblical View of the Relationship," ibid, pp. 27-44. George Allen Turner, "The Baptism with the Holy Spirit in the Wesleyan Tradition," ibid, pp. 60-76. Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, "Theological Roots of the Wesleyan Understanding of the Holy Spirit," ibid, pp. 77-98.

Milton S. Agnew, "Baptized with the Spirit," Wesleyan Theological Journal 14 (Fall 1979): 7-14. William M. Arnett, "The Role of the Holy Spirit in Entire Sanctification in the Writings of John Wesley," ibid, pp. 15-31. J. Kenneth Grider, "Spirit-Baptism the Means of Entire Sanctification," ibid. pp. 31-50. Laurence W. Wood, "Exegetical-Theological Reflections on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit," ibid. pp. 51-63. Timothy L. Smith, "How John Fletcher Became the Theologian of Wesleyan Perfectionism, 1770-1776," Wesleyan Theological Journal 15 (Spring 1980): 68-87. Laurence W. Wood, "Thoughts upon the Wesleyan Doctrine of Entire Sanctification with Special Reference to Some Similarities with the Roman Catholic Doctrine of Confirmation," ibid., pp. 88-99. J. Kenneth Grider, "Evaluation of Timothy Smith's Interpretation of Wesley," Wesleyan Theological Journal 15 (Fall 1980): 64-69. Robert W. Lyon, "The Baptism with the Spirit-Continued," ibid, pp. 70-79.

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