PLACING ALDERSGATE IN JOHN WESLEY'S ORDER OF SALVATION

by
DAVID L. CUDIE

On Wednesday, May 24, 1738, "About a quarter before nine," Wesley's heart was "strangely warmed," and, as he later witnessed, "I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."1 This year marks the 250th anniversary of this event, which is the birth-date of Methodism. Other events prior to this, though significant, are within the gestation period. Aldersgate is the moment of birth. But beyond its significance as a point of historic reference, what was Aldersgate?

To William R. Cannon it "must stand without dispute as the date of Wesley's conversion,2 but Francis J. McConnell derides such an analysis as too narrow, too reflective of the "cumbersome terminology [of] 'evangelical' con-version."3 Instead, McConnell interprets the experience at Aldersgate as a life passage from mechanistic legalism to "something more nourishing to the emotional life, something that he could feel," or as ' a passage... [from legalistic] despair. . . [to reception by] a Father who takes the will for the deed, ... who makes possible new starts with the dawning of every day."4 Maximin Piette's famous evaluation is that the experience was Wesley's conversion of love, the earlier date of 1725 being his conversion of "moral resolve and aspiration."5 John Telford simply affirms that "Wesley had now attained to the righteousness of faith.."6

One need not deny Cannon's definition of conversion-"God's own act in which a man is turned away from his former self, made to pass from darkness into light, delivered from the power of Satan unto God, made over in mind and spirit"7-"to make experience conform to theory," as McConnell notes.8 In reality, the moment of conversion and the moment of understanding that conversion has occurred may be distinct, and yet both may be significant soteriological events. Though Wesley was to change his mind about what Aldersgate meant in relation to his own state of salvation, he never wavered with reference to its doctrinal significance and its place in the revival. In 1788, he reaffirmed, at least twice, his evangelical principle: "All... true Christian believers . . . have 'the Spirit of Adoption' "; they know " the pardoning word,' the word which spoke all their sins forgiven."9

More specific with respect to the theological and evangelistic significance of 1738 is the following recollection written in 1746:

(2.) From the year 1729 to 1734,... I saw little fruit. . . . For I did not preach faith in the blood of the covenant. (3.) From 1734 to 1738, speaking more of faith in Christ, I saw more fruit.(4.) From 1738 to this time, speaking continually of Jesus Christ, laying Him only for the foundation... the 'word of God ran' as fire among the stubble; it was 'glorified' more and more; multitudes crying out, 'What must we do to be saved?' and afterwards witnessing, 'By grace we are saved through faith.' 10

Undeniably Aldersgate was the moment when the doctrine of Justification by Faith was sealed in his thinking. He had been progressively adopting this view, but Aldersgate equipped him to proclaim the pardoning word of God.

Wesley's interest in the order of salvation began early and remained with him in his several roles: as an Anglican spiritual director at Oxford, in Georgia' and over the United Societies. To quote Outler, "(Wesley) had an intensely practical concern with the order of salvation in the Christian life. The con-trolling theological inquiry throughout his life was into the meaning of becoming and being a Christian...."11 Before Aldersgate the order was expressed almost exclusively in terms of human effort. Advance in sanctification was perceived as reward rather than grace. In two very early sermons (1730 and 1731), he insisted that "when we have cleansed our own hearts 'We can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us!' "12 Somewhat later, the grace note was present but the overwhelming emphasis was upon human effort. This may be seen in his famous sermon, "The Circumcision of the Heart." In its original form (Jan. 1, 1733), this sermon has a limited emphasis upon grace. Circumcision of the heart proves to be a human act, evident in the clause, "unless his heart is circumcised by humility,"13 echoing Deuteronomy 10:16: "circumcise . . . your heart." (By contrast, Wesley's Notes Upon the New Testament, in commenting upon Romans 2:29, the text for this sermon, refers to Deuteronomy 30:6: "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart." The NT Notes were published in 1754.)14 The sermon's order of salvation follows the triad of faith, hope, and love found in Augustine's Enchiridion but adds the prior step of humility.15 Though the language of states and stages is not used in this sermon, there is an easy correlation here of faith, hope, and love with the stages and a correlation of humility with the state of a servant.16

That the concept of states was developing in Wesley's thinking well before Aldersgate is evidenced by a diary entry by Benjamin Ingham (Mar.17, 1734): "Breakfast with . . . John Wesley; religious talk of three different states of man: natural, Jewish (or fearful), and evangelical-the two last only, salvable."17 That Wesley was also thinking of stages as well as states some time before Aldersgate is expressed in a letter written to his mother a year later (Feb.14, 1735), in which he identifies certain liberties mature Christians enjoy which neither the natural man, nor the Jew, nor the awakened sinner, nor infant Christians have. Three of these liberties are significant: "1. A liberty from willful sin, which natural men have not. 2. A liberty from slavish fears, which awakened sinners have not. 3. A liberty in things of an indifferent nature, which . . . infant Christians have not."18

Still, evangelical truths had not yet become Wesley's own. His instruction in his sermon "The One Thing Needful" (1734) was "to regain the highest measure we can of that faith which works by love 19 In "The Trouble and Rest of Good Men' (1735), he compared "those who are yet weak in the faith" with one "who is full of the knowledge and love of Ged."20 Significantly, in contrast to his alter emphasis upon sanctification by faith in this life, this sermon describes physical death as the last step in sanctification: the righteous are not only delivered "from the troubling of the wicked" and from their own "folly and infirmity," but also "from sin."21

The idea of stages adumbrated in "The Circumcision of the Heart" became explicit soon after Aldersgate, both in his sermon "Christian Perfection" (1739,1741), where the stages are specified in the Johannine terms of babe, young man, and father,22 and in his "Preface" to Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740, 1741), where they are described developmentally, with the prefacing comment, "Indeed, how God may work, we cannot tell; but the general manner wherein He does work is this. . ''23

Wesley's developed doctrine of states and stages is apparently an attempt to explain Aldersgate.24 The questions he seems to be asking are: "How does this great evangelical experience fit within the overall order of salvation?" "What was my relationship to God before Aldersgate?" "In what state of grace were my parents and my devout Anglican friends before any heard the preaching of these evangelical truths?" (He had seen his father and his brother Samuel receive dying grace and subsequently had heard his mother testify to receiving the witness of the Spirit while partaking of the sacrament.) And a further question which as a loyal son of the church he sought to answer both for himself and others was: "In what state of grace are my fellow pious Anglicans who do not profess a clear evangelical experience?"

The place of Aldersgate, then, in Wesley's spiritual journey is subject to review for at least two reasons. First, Wesley himself was uncertain about its place in the order of salvation. Second, his way of stating the order, developed within the context of 18th-century Anglicanism, does not conform to our 20th-century evangelical language. We must not equate that which he calls "new birth" with that which we call "new birth" without careful examination of the evidence. Moreover, Wesley creates questions about what happened at Aldersgate by the emendationes et errata he entered at February 1,1738, in the 1774 and 1775 editions of his Journal25 The original entry was written in a period of intense Moravian influence when his love for the Moravians made him susceptible to their interpretation of the order of salvation (though he had begun to question some of their extreme positions almost immediately). The problematic entry and Wesley's emendationes et errata are as follows:

Journal: "I who went to American to convert others, was never myself converted to God."

Emendatio: "I am not sure of this." (1774 ed.)

Journal:…all these things [his life of ministry and devotion before Aldersgate], though when ennobled by faith in Christ they are holy, and just, and good, yet without it are 'dung and dross,' meet only to be purged by 'the fire that never shall be quenched'"

Emendatio: "I had even then the faith of a servant, though not that of a son." (1774 ed.) [1775 ed. omits "meet . . . quenched."]

Journal: ". . 'alienated' as I am 'from the life of God,' I am 'a child of wrath; an heir of hell

Erratum: "I believe not." (1774 ed.) [1775 ed. omits the entire comment.]

Journal: "The faith I want

Emendatio: "The faith of a son." (1774 ed.)

In what state or stage was Wesley prior to Aldersgate? Because Wesley's mature judgment was that he was then in the state of a servant, it is essential to compare this state with the other states and stages and to examine its use chronologically in order to understand the changes in Wesley's under-standing of it.

Wesley viewed the order of salvation both generally, as it relates to God's saving activity with respect to all humankind, and particularly, as it relates to the specific Christian. These two perspectives are distinguished from each other in his vocabulary by the terms "state(s)" and "stage(s)." The states, by which all may be categorized, are: the natural man, the servant, and the son. The stages, by which Christians grow in holiness, are: the babe, the young man, and the father. These latter occur within the former, i.e., the stages occur within the state of the "son."

Consistently with his concept of states, Wesley suggests that under prevenient grace one is in one of two successive states: "preventing grace" and "convincing grace" These are followed by a third state, "the proper Christian salvation, whereby 'through grace' we 'are saved by faith.'...²⁶ In this paradigm and in each of the following analyses, the second state is that of the servant.

An early sermon, "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" (1739, 1746), describes these states from a variety of perspectives. From the perspective of the recipient of that grace the order is the "natural man," the man "under the law," and the man "under grace"; or those who are asleep, those who are awake, and those who believe; or again, a "child of the devil" or servant of sin, a servant of the law (of God), and a son of God. From the perspective of the quality of relation with God, "The 'natural' man neither fears nor loves God; one 'under the law' fears, one 'under grace' loves Him." Thus, "An unawakened child of the devil sins willingly; one that is awakened sins unwillingly; a child of God 'sinneth not, but keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not.' " Expressed from the perspective of the Evangelical Revival, the states are "the 'natural,' the 'legal,' and the 'evangelical' "27 As this early sermon verifies, the servant is one who is convinced of sin, is under the law, is awake to his condition, fears, and is under bondage to sin, though unwillingly.

Wesley's understanding of the states remains quite consistent throughout his life, though some changes do occur. An example of his consistency lies in his view that the servant state is the bridge between the "legal" and the "evangelical." That view does not change. What does change, however, is his understanding of the nature of the servant state, In "The Spirit of Bond age and of Adoption" (1739, 1746) the one awakened, though he serves the devil unwillingly, is "still. . [the devil's] servant."28 Later the "awakened" is described as the servant of God.29 At the earlier date Wesley would limit those "under grace" to those who, among other expressions of victory, "can continually cry, Abba, Father!' "30 Later the qualifier "continually" is applied to the stage of the young man.31

The term "dispensation" was also used at this time (1739/1746) as an equivalent of "states." Later (1775) it was used to describe all who in some sense were in saving grace, including servants and sons. John Fletcher developed the doctrine of dispensations of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as a means of describing the various degrees of religious knowledge in which one in the servant state could live before entering into the evangelical state of the Spirit. The dispensation of the Son ("Jesus in the flesh") included those who had not yet discovered evangelical grace but were "servant" Christians, a view in conflict with Wesley's early description of the servant as a "child of the devil." However, the following letter from Wesley to Alexander Knox (Aug.29, 1777), recommending Fletcher's dispensations, illustrates Wesley's later view of servant:

You should read Mr. Fletcher's Essay on Truth. He has there put it beyond all doubt that there is a medium between a child of God and a child of the devil namely, a servant of God. This is your state. You are not yet a son, but you are a servant; and you are waiting for the Spirit of adoption, which will cry in your heart, "Abba, Father" You have "received the Spirit of grace," and in a measure work righteousness. Without being pained for what you have not, you have cause to bless God for what you have, and to wait patiently till He gives the rest by revealing His Son in your heart.32

Notice that at this date, "a servant;' though he does not have "the Spirit of adoption;' is described as having "received the Spirit of grace;' as "in a measure [working] righteousness;' and as having "cause to bless God for what [one has]." What matters now is waiting "patiently till He gives the rest."

Wesley, and with him, Fletcher, sought to be comprehensive regarding God's saving work, teaching that all humankind are its objects. And, they sought to account as in some sense in the way of salvation all who work righteousness-even those who have never heard the Gospel.33 These latter, Wesley included among those who had come to the state of the "medium between a child of God and a child of the devil-namely, [the state of] a servant of God?'

This point of view becomes quite relevant to understanding Wesley's state or stage before and after Aldersgate. For he believed that God's saving activity reaches to all who are in the church, who are earnest seekers, believers, and obeyers. Among these are those "servants of God;' a class which now included Alexander Knox, and at one time had included such persons as Susanna Wesley and John Wesley himself.

Such a point of view seems to have satisfied Wesley, but is it adequate for our understanding? Is it appropriate that we simply repeat Wesley's affirmation that he had been in the state of a servant and presume that he was adopted into sonship at Aldersgate when no such category as the "stage of a servant" exists in our 20th-century holiness or evangelical terminology? Nor do we generally divide the life of holiness into three stages. So, before we can understand Aldersgate, we must more clearly understand the place of the new birth within the order of salvation as it was understood by Wesley and his contemporaries.

There are three distinct chronologies of grace expressed in the Evangelical Revival-the Moravian, the Calvinistic, and the Anglican-each having distinct experiential and ideological expectations as to what defines a Christian. For the Moravians it was fullness of faith; for the Calvinists Edwards and Whitefield it was assurance of their election; and for the Wesleys, at least prior to Aldersgate, it was a clean heart. Despite these different goals, the descriptions of the processes by means of which one moves toward these expectations contain strikingly similar phenomena. Moreover, each group, by defining the true Christian, sought to keep its members from a false profession. By being the true church within, they sought to revive the church.

The goal of the Moravians was fullness of faith. Their position, which in its extreme expression threw Wesley "into much perplexity" was that "whoever at any time felt any doubt or fear was not weak in faith, but had no faith at all; and that none hath any faith till the law of the Spirit of life has made him wholly free from the law of sin and death."34 The Moravians were not in agreement among themselves over this description. On the one hand it had been widely taught by one of their leaders, Christian David, prior to his mission to Greenland, but he had subsequently rejected it. 35 On the other hand, Philip Henry Molther advocated it and also taught a quietism which saw all means of grace as hindrances to full faith.36

"Fullness of faith" as a condition for salvation was not all that lay behind the misunderstanding between Wesley and the Moravian leader, Count Zinzendorf. By looking at the new birth as in some sense a perfection and fulfillment of Christian graces rather than as a beginning, we may understand Zinzendorf's affirmation that "when a man is justified, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit make his heart their dwelling place. And from then on, his heart is as pure as it will ever be."37 The new birth thus described is closer descriptively to the holiness movement's concept of entire sanctification than to its concept of the new birth.

Jonathan Edwards, like John and Charles Wesley, responded to God's grace when a child. The following is from his vivid account:38

I had a variety of concerns... about my soul...; but had two... remarkable seasons of awakening before I met with that change by which I was brought to those new dispositions, and that new sense of things that I have since had. The first time was when I was a boy... at a time of remarkable awakening in my father's congregation. I was then very much affected for many months, and concerned about the things of religion, and my soul's salvation; and was abundant in duties.

He and his friends "built a booth in a swamp, in a very secret and retired place, for a place of prayer . . . where;' he said, "I used to retire by myself;

and used to be from time to time much affected." Yet in terms of saving grace, he evaluates these experiences negatively, for, "many are deceived with such affections, and such a kind of delight, as I then had in religion, and mistake it for grace."

A period followed when he "lost all those affections and delights, and left off secret prayer, at least as to any constant performance of it, and returned like a dog to his vomit, and went on in ways of sin." He describes his return to God, at age seventeen, in his last year at Yale:

God would not suffer me to go on with any quietness, but [after] violent inward struggles... I was brought wholly to break off all former wicked ways, and all ways of known and outward sin, and to apply myself to seek my salvation, and practice the duties of religion; but without that kind of affection and delight that I had formerly experienced.

There followed a struggle with the doctrine of election until he came to a place of rest regarding it. Then was renewed "that sort of inward, sweet delight in God and divine things, that I have lived much in since.... Yet even regarding this he adds, .... . it never came into my thought, that there was any thing spiritual, or of a saving nature in this."

The assurance came not long after, while he was walking in his father's pasture:

And as I was walking there, and looked up into the sky and clouds, there came into my mind, so sweet a sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God, that I know not how to express. I seemed to see them both in a sweet conjunction; majesty and meekness joined together: it was a sweet and gentle, and holy majesty; and also a majestic meekness; an awful sweetness; a high, and great, and holy gentleness.

He then gained that "great satisfaction as to my good estate" which he believed to be so necessary to his assurance of salvation.

Edwards' refusal to claim any degree of God's saving grace until a perfection of grace was realized received the same indictment from Wesley as did Molther's restriction of saving grace to fullness of faith. Edwards' view, Wesley commented, is liable to make "plain men and women... doubt of, if not wholly deny, all the work which God had wrought in their souls."39 But there is a kinship of idea between Edwards' search for a witness to his election and Wesley's own early view, derived from Macarius, that there is an experience, a beatific vision, which once attained would assure one's eternal salvation. Wesley did not wholly renounce the legitimacy nor the possibility of experiencing this witness to one's eternal estate,40 which he called "the plerophory or 'full assurance of hope' ";41 instead, he reserved it for "fathers in Christ," those who are identified in Wesley's order of salvation as having attained entire sanctification. Echoes of this witness are found in the 20th-century view that in entire sanctification God gives establishing grace.

George Whitefield also gives evidence of a Christian life preceding his "Aldersgate." Two or three years prior to his "conversion" experience, having read in Scougal's The Life of God in the Soul of Man "that 'true religion was union of the soul with God and Christ formed within us,' " he records that "a ray of divine light was instantaneously darted in upon my soul."42 He describes the significance of the moment: "not till then, did I know that I must be a new creature." This experience was followed by many of the results ordinarily ascribed to the new birth: he was "built ... up daily in the knowing edge and fear of God"; fasting and other "such exercises" "soon grew profitable and delightful." "The lively oracles of God were my soul's delight"; "God made me instrumental in converting one who is lately come into the Church"; and "I grew in favor both with God and man and used to be much lifted up with sensible devotion, especially at the blessed sacrament."

There followed a time when "God was pleased to permit Satan to sift me like wheat.. . :' He wrestled with the shame of being identified with the Wesleys. Moreover, when he was chided by the master of hi college for visiting the poor, his immediate response was that "if it displeased him, I would not:' But his "conscience. . . pricked [him] for this sinful compliance" and he "repented and visited the poor [at] the first opportunity During the six weeks of Lent (1735), he fasted, eating only coarse bread except on Saturdays and Sundays. In the sixth week he became ill and continued so for seven weeks. Then near Pentecost, as he records,

it was suggested to me that when Jesus Christ cried out, "I thirst;' His sufferings were near at an end. Upon which I cast myself down on the bed, crying out, "I thirst! I thirst!" Soon after this, I found and felt in myself that I was delivered from the burden that had so heavily oppressed me.

Thus were the days of my mourning ended. After a long night of desertion and temptation.... the Spirit of God [took] possession of my soul and, as I humbly hope, seal[ed] me unto the day of redemption.

As with Edwards, Whitefield's "Aldersgate" sealed his election.43

There are several things we should observe about Whitefield's experience: (1) the genuineness of Christian life before this moment of "great salvation" in which Whitefield was "sealed"; (2) the period of anguish during which he wrestled with sins which are identifiable not so much with willful transgressions as with "sins within"; (3) the tarrying and waiting in prayer for this experience; (4) the use of pneumatological language to describe the life which followed: "Now did the Spirit of God take possession of my soul," a reality in harmony with Pentecost; and (5) the tendency to identify this "new birth" experience as in some sense a perfecting grace.44 Whitefield, like Zinzendorf, rejected the degrees or stages of grace, at least as Wesley described them. Responding to Wesley's "Principles of a Methodist" (1742), he said: "I cannot agree with any one of the three paragraphs wherein you declare the three different states of a soul, before he comes to Christ, after he comes, and when he arrives at what you call sanctification, or the indwelling of the Spirit."45

John and Charles Wesley, with John Fletcher, represent the Anglican and Catholic tradition with its emphasis on personal righteousness and sanctification. This could include a minimal emphasis on outer righteousness and "doing the best you can"46 or a maximal one on inward righteousness. This latter position was taught by those who most influenced Wesley during his Holy Club years-Jeremy Taylor, Thomas a Kempis, and especially William Law.

Whatever may have been Wesley's experience with God in childhood and youth, it is evident that in the years 1725 and 1726 he made his mature choice for Christ. As he states-and notice the language of grace-"I determined, through his grace, (the absolute necessity of which I was deeply sensible of,) to be all-devoted to God, to give him all my soul, my body, and my substance."47 Was this also the moment when, as he testifies, "The light flowed in so mightily upon my soul that everything appeared in a new view. I cried to God for help. . . and I was persuaded that I should be accepted of him and that I was even then in a state of salvation"?48 This was in 1726, when he became a Fellow of Lincoin.49 His commitment occurred in connection with his reading of Law's Practical Treatise Upon Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. 50 Outler calls us to "note the striking parallels" between this account and that of Aldersgate.51

A popular bit of evidence often used to demonstrate that Wesley did not experience an evangelical conversion until Aldersgate was his presumed fear of death up to that time. Except in one instance, however, the phrasing of these accounts, at least in the Georgia entries in his Journal, is always of being unwilling to die' Notice the following: "About eleven I lay down in the great cabin, and in a short time fell asleep, though very uncertain whether I should wake alive, and much ashamed of my unwillingness to die. O how pure in heart must he be who would rejoice to appear before God at a moment's warning!"52 Even in the one instance where Wesley expresses fear of death-during a Georgia coastal trip-the contrasting ideal is desire for death: "This voice of God [the thunder], too, told me I was not fit to die; since I was afraid rather than desirous of it! O when shall I wish to be dissolved and to be with Christ? When I love him with all my heart."53 The language in these and other instances is not that of the fear of hell but of perfectionist expectations within an Augustinian understanding of Christian grace. The lover should desire to be with the heavenly Beloved rather than cling to this earthly life. Notice also his hunger for purity of heart.

Wesley's concern as he approached Aldersgate was that at a minimum a Christian life should be victorious both without and within. His aspirations were as high as those of the Moravians, who expected that at their new birth they would receive fullness of faith. He wrote, "The faith I want is, 'a sure trust and confidence in God, that through the merits of Christ my sins are forgiven, and I reconciled to the favor of God.' " But he went further. He wanted a faith whereby whosoever hath it is 'freed from sin'; 'the whole body of sin is destroyed' in him. He is freed from fear.... And he is freed from doubt..."54 (Some fifty years ago my father, a "holiness preacher," wrote in the margin at this passage, "This seems almost the standard of holiness.") As Wesley approached Aldersgate his expectation was for a clean heart His struggle was not with the deeds of sin but with inward sin.

The spiritual struggles of these men-Christian David and the Moravian Brethren, Whitefield, Edwards, and the Wesleys-were not the struggles of men in want of evangelical grace but rather, speaking from the perspective of the modern holiness movement, of those seeking after holiness of heart.

Aldersgate was a perfectionist experience; that is, to say, Wesley, along with others who participated in both the Evangelical Revival and the Great Awakening, in reaction against the prevailing tendency to identify Christians by sacrament, creed, or allegiance, set the standards of who is a Christian at a level of perfection. Although Wesley sought to avoid setting either Christian perfection or the standard for identifying a Christian too high, he nevertheless did so by placing himself and many other genuine Christians in the state of a servant. He did this on the basis of two tests: a theological test faith in a pardoning God"- and an experiential test-"the abiding witness of the Spirit" These tests were rigorously applied in the immediate con-text of Aldersgate, both before and after, but they were made less normative as the century advanced. This change was influenced by Wesley's continuing evaluation of those impacted by the revival and by his ongoing dialogue with such honored fellow

Anglicans as his brother Samuel and the Rev. Arthur Bedford immediately after Aldersgate and with "John Smith" between 1745 and 1748.55

What was the nature of Wesley's experience in Christ prior to Alders-gate, and what state or stage within his order of salvation best fits Alders-gate? We are cautioned about the difficulty of such a question by Wesley's observation in 1739: "Perhaps one reason why so many think of themselves more highly than they ought to think, why they do not discern what state they are in, is because these several states of soul are often mingled together, and in some measure meet in one and the same person. ''56

The servant state is frequently described as entailing many Christian graces. Charles Wesley seems to have had this state in mind when he described his mother's life as "a legal night of seventy years."57 John Wesley observed that "even she (as well as her father, and grandfather, her husband, and her three sons) had been, in her measure and degree, a preacher of righteousness"58 Possibly John was thinking of his mother when, in 1746, he wrote:

few of those who have the spirit of bondage and fear remain always without hope. The wise and gracious God rarely suffers this. Therefore, at such times as he seeth good he gives a dawning of light unto them that sit in darkness.... They see the promise which is by faith in Christ Jesus, though it be yet afar off; and hereby they are encouraged to "run with patience the race which is set before them."59

Wesley seems to reflect on his own state in a subsequent observation. After listing the various good works, both charitable and religious, which a natural man may do and yet be "equally a stranger to the spirit of fear [which a servant experiences] and to that of love," he raises a question and goes on to answer it.

... suppose there were added to all this a deep conviction of sin, with much fear of the wrath of God; vehement desires to cast off every sin, and to fulfill all righteousness; frequent rejoicing in hope, and touches of love often glancing upon the soul: yet neither do these prove a man to be "under grace," to have true, living, Christian faith, unless the Spirit of adoption abide in his heart, unless he can continually cry, "Abba, Father!"60

Notice the qualifiers in this statement: "true, living Christian faith" and "continually," A servant could have a lower kind of faith, and while a servant may cry, "Abba, Father!" a servant cannot utter that cry consistently. So Wesley exhorts those "in a legal state" to press on into what sounds like Christian perfection: "Now 'present' thyself 'a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.' " The person in the state of a servant is presumed to be in a state of grace:" 'Whereunto thou hast already attained,' 'hold fast.' .. ." It is from this servant state that one is to reach forth" 'unto those things which are before'; until 'the God of peace... make thee perfect in every good work, working in thee that which is well-pleasing in his sight."61

Wesley's "Principles of a Methodist;' written within the same time period as the sermon from which the preceding citations were taken (1742), identifies some of the limitations which are peculiar to the natural and legal states as limitations of the immature Christian. Thus he writes:

After justification. The moment a man comes to Christ (by faith) he is justified, and born again; that is, he is born again in the imperfect sense, (For there are two [if not more] degrees of regeneration,) and he has power over all the stirrings and motions of sin, but not a total freedom from them. Therefore he hath not yet, in the full and proper sense, a new and clean heart But being exposed to various temptations, he may and will fall again from this condition, if he hath not attain to a more excellent gift.62

The distinction that Wesley makes is that the babe "has power over all stirrings and motions of sin," but a servant does not. He is not talking about willful deeds but "stirrings and motions;' over which he himself did not claim victory, even by 1763, when he said: "Resentment of an affront is sin. It is avoia, disconformity to the law of love. This has existed in me a thousand times. Yet it did not, and does not, reign.... Here... there is sin with-out either guilt or power"63 The "more excellent gift" that is necessary to keep one from falling is "sanctification, the last and highest state of perfection in this life. For then are the faithful born again in the full and perfect sense. Then is there given unto them a new and clean heart; and the struggle between the old and new man is over:'64 "Servants" are not outside the covenant of grace but are received "through Christ."65 in fact, Wesley teaches in his "Minutes of Some Late Conversations. . .III" (1746) that since the Fall

All mankind were under the covenant of grace, from the very hour that the original promise was made. . . . [and] it will stand... even to the end of the world; that is, If we "do this;' we shall live; if not, we shall die eternally: If we do well, we shall live with God in glory; if evil, we shall die the second death.66

"If we do well" defines a very broad category, which includes both those who earnestly look to Christ but have not yet found rest in Him as well as those who have never heard the Gospel or know only the law of Moses, or even those in the church to whom Christianity means little more than doing right. A distinction indicated in Fletcher's doctrine of dispensations needs to be made, a distinction between those "servants" who know nothing of the saving merits of Christ and those who do.

Many characteristics of a child of God are evident in the dialogue recorded in "Minutes. . . III," characteristics which Wesley ascribes to a servant but which are better identified with his stage 6f a babe. (He does, in fact, identify them thus at a later date.) In conversing with Jonathan Reeves, Wesley describes a kind of pre-Pentecost Christian who has "a degree of peace" and an "earnest" of "a low degree of justifying faith." "But this abides for a short time only; nor is this the proper Christian faith:' This faith is akin to that by which "the Apostles [were] clean before Christ died," which is "a Jewish faith: For 'the Holy Ghost was not then given.' " This pre-Pentecost Christian is "one in whose heart God hath not yet shined, to give him the light of the glorious love of God in the face of Jesus Christ." He is one whom Wesley, in this reference, calls "a servant of God: One who sincerely obeys him out of fear."67

Not only is a low degree of justifying faith characteristic of such a person but also a "lowest species" of sincerity, which Wesley defines as "willingness to know and do the whole will of God" and "a constant disposition to use all the grace given." Such a person he also appears to call "a sincere believer" "One that walks in the light, as God is in the light." And yet the faith of such a person is not, he says, the proper Christian faith. It is not the faith which one cannot have . . . and not be justified."68

In the same conversation the question was also raised, "[whether] some degree of the love of God [may not] go before a distinct sense of justification." Wesley answered, "We believe it may." Again it was asked, "Can any degree of sanctification or holiness [go before] a distinct sense of justification?" Wesley answered, "Many degrees of outward holiness may; yea, and some degree of meekness, and several other tempers which would be branches of Christian holiness, but," he adds, "they do not spring from Christian principles. For the abiding love of God cannot spring but from faith in a pardoning God."69

Wesley includes two concepts with this "love of God... [springing] from faith in a pardoning God" which the modern holiness movement associates with Pentecost. The one who truly believes is not only "a new creature," he is also both "sanctified, pure in heart... and... a temple of the Holy Ghost." In the introductory question of this section of the conversations this latter pneumatological concept is referred to as "the inspiration of the Holy Ghost:'70 a his sermon "On Working Out Our Own Salvation," Wesley divided salvation that precedes "the proper Christian salvation" between "preventing grace" and "convincing grace:' The former he described as "the begin-fling of . . . deliverance," while the latter, which belongs to the state of a servant, he described in terms which contemporary evangelicals would apply to Christians: "convincing grace," he says, is "usually in Scripture termed repentance,' which brings a larger measure of self-knowledge, and a farther deliverance from the heart of stone."71

Wesley continued to re-evaluate Aldersgate Ah early distinction described the babe, the child of God, as having made a distinct advance over the servant in that a child of God has "faith in a pardoning God" (1746).72 The sermon 'On the Discoveries of Faith," published in 1788, gives indication that the "pardoning word" may belong not only to the stage of the babe but also to the stage of the young man. He states that " 'the word of God abiding in' them [I John 2:14].... may not improbably mean 'the pardoning word,' the word which spoke all their sins forgiven. In consequence of which they have the consciousness of the divine favour, without any intermission."73 In this sermon Wesley describes a babe in Christ by concepts which he had previously applied to one who was a servant, or under the law, or experiencing "convincing grace": the babe is one in whom "many doubts and fears . . still remain... while he is weak in faith and the pardoning word is there but with intermission:74 it is not constant. Constancy had previously been ascribed to the state of a son, though not to that of a servant. Here constancy is ascribed to the second evangelical stage, the stage of a young man, but not to the stage of a babe. Furthermore, the language of full assurance is now applied to the stage of the young man: "when his faith is strengthened, when he receives faith's abiding impression, . . . when he has received the abiding witness off the Spirit, doubts and fears vanish away. He then enjoys the plerophory or 'full assurance of faith,' excluding all doubt, and all 'fear that hath torment: "75

This application of the 'pardoning word" to the stage of the young man is a major change of view from that held while under the immediate influence of Aldersgate. However, even in 1738, Wesley attributed a kind of incompleteness to "the plerophory of faith (any or all of which I take to be the witness of the Spirit with our spirit that we are the sons of God).. . ."76Apparently what mattered was the object of faith, "faith in a pardoning God." Nevertheless, the characteristics once ascribed to the servant are now ascribed to the babe and the "consciousness... without any intermission;' which is ascribed to the young man, includes the "pardoning voice." This ascription suggests that Aldersgate could also belong to the stage of the young man.

What was the quality of Wesley's life (in terms of spirituality) before Aldersgate? We are well aware of his ministry to the poor and those in prison, his self-denial for the sake of these poor, his spiritual discipline, his evangelical ministry of bringing sinners to repentance and faith in Christ while at Oxford, and his very admirable life as a pastor while in Georgia, both at Savannah and Frederica. But what was the quality of Wesley's relationship with God before Aldersgate? What was his consciousness of God's presence?

Here, we turn to Wesley's diaries, recently decoded and published by Richard P Heitaenrater.77 The decoding helps us understand what Wesley meant when he referred to "frequent rejoicing in hope, and touches of love often glancing upon the soul;" which, nonetheless, one may have without the abiding presence of "the Spirit of adoption:"78 And it helps clarify the minute-by-minute record of spiritual feelings and devotional practices found in Wesley's Georgia diary. The diary contains frequent references to "lively zeal" and "fervent meditation." Added to this is the cross symbol (+), which, according to Heitzenrater, is "difficult to transliterate (representing [as it does] some positive spiritual blessing, usually in association with 'lively zeal'). . . ."79 State of "Grace" ratings are also included, with the possible range of 1-9, from "dead" to highest zeal."80

How did Wesley rate himself? As Heitzenrater notes, "A 'temper of devotion' rating of 7 was about as good as Wesley would score himself, 4 was about the minimum; 6 seems to have been an acceptable level:'81 More important than the numbers is what Wesley associated with them. The numerical value of seven is almost always associated with the grace rating of "lively zeal." In my own perusal of the diary I noticed only one time that "lively zeal" scored as high as 8; yet there were frequent 7's. On the lower side of the scale, Wesley does not rate himself at 1, 2, or 3, even at the toughest times. Four was a symbol of wrestling with temptations. For example, on May 4,1736, Wesley writes that he was "preserved from w4." The "w" is his symbol for group of questions which begins," 'Have I felt, entertained, or appeared to approve any un[chaste] thought?' "82 On another day (Monday, Jan. 5,1736), when he was "Preserved from w4/l," the lowest rating given any point in that day was 6: "Grace: 7 rating thrice. . . ; 6 ten times?'83

What is amazing, in light of the usual negative description of his spiritual state in Georgia, is how rare those "blue days" were. There was no emotional instability. There were struggles, but during his trip to Georgia, throughout his stay, and on his return trip he maintained a positive sense of God's grace. His relationship with Sophia Hopkey is a case in point.

Though Wesley's decision not to marry "Miss Sophy" is often portrayed as the result of the cast of the lot, his manuscript Journal describes it as occurring during a profound spiritual struggle. In fact, it resulted in a decisive religious experience, which Martin Schmidt labeled Wesley 5 visionary experience84 Wesley's own narrative taken from the manuscript Journal is as follows:

Tuesday the 8th [of Feb., 1737], I was obliged to go down to Savannah. There I stayed about an hour. And there again I felt and groaned under the weight of an unholy desire. My heart was with Miss Sophy all the time. I longed to see her, were it but at a distance and for a moment. And when I was called to take boat, it was as the sentence of death; but believing it was the call of God, I obeyed. I walked awhile to and fro on the edge of the water, heavy laden and pierced through with many sorrows. There, one came to me and said, "You are still in doubt what is best to be done. First then cry to God that you may be wholly resigned, whatever shall appear to be his will." I instantly cried to God for resignation. And I found that and peace together. I said, Sure it is a dream. I was in a new world. The change was as from death to life.85

This was the decisive moment. Later his pastoral relationship with Miss Sophy again brought his longing for her to the fore. This occasioned the famous lot, which included three possibilities: " 'Marry'; . . . 'Think not of it this year,' " and" 'Think of it no more.' "As is well known, the third was drawn. Wesley's important self-discovery came with the drawing of this lot: "Instead of the agony I had reason to expect, I was enabled to say cheerfully, 'Thy will be done.' "86

Another factor we must consider if we are to evaluate Wesley's spiritual state prior to and after Aldersgate is whether certain statements in his journals and diaries, positive and negative, should be considered as exercises in devotion rather than objective descriptions in our contemporary sense. Self-abnegation, for example, was a recommended discipline In 'A Scheme of self-examination: Used by the First Methodists in Oxford" (1729-1735), there is an exercise in dependency and humility which reads: "Have I at the beginning of every prayer or paragraph owned I cannot pray?"87 Similarly, in "A Collection of Forms of Prayer For Every Day in the Week" (1 733),88 which Wesley used to teach his early followers to pray, he wrote:

Pour into me the whole spirit of humility; fill, I beseech thee, every part of my soul with it.... Herein may I exercise myself continually, when I lie down and when I rise up, that I may always appear poor, and little, and mean, and base, and vile in mine own eyes. O convince me that "I have neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy." Give me a lively sense that I am nothing, that I have nothing, and that I can do nothing. Enable me to feel that I am all ignorance and error, weakness and uncleanness, sin and misery; that I am not worthy of the air I breathe, the earth I tread upon, or the sun that shines upon me. And let me be fully content when all other men think of me as I do of myself. 89

The practice of the positive mood of zeal was also recommended. Wesley's "Scheme of self-examination" asks, "Have I begged [my Redeemer's] assistance. . . ? Have I done this deliberately. . . and fervently as I could?" Similarly, the "virtue of the day" is to be prayed for "deliberately, seriously, fervently." Zeal is especially applied to the Collects, which are to be used "at nine, twelve, and three." He asks: 'Have I used a Collect . . . deliberately, seriously, fervently?"90

That these exercises were not mere form is affirmed by John Gambold, Oxford companion of Wesley and later Moravian bishop.91 While the Wesleys were in Georgia, he wrote to a friend concerning Wesley: 'I have seen him come out of his closet with a serenity of countenance, which was next to shining

Again, Gambold reports that Wesley was "always cheerful, but never triumphing, he so husbanded the secret consolations which God gave him, that they seldom left him"; and "He used many arts to be religious, but none to seem so."92

How should we evaluate Wesley's state of grace before Aldersgate? God's prevenient grace was as broad as humankind and His saving grace was inclusive of all who "fear him, and work righteousness."93 This broad, inclusive view, affirmed in 1754, was held throughout his life except for that brief period around Aldersgate when he was under the immediate and intense influence of the Moravians. Thus in 1746, in his "Minutes of Some Late Conversations …III" and in some of his sermons written in the same period, he refers to "a believer under the Jewish dispensation" who is "a servant of God," "one who sincerely obeys him out of fear."94

Without denying Wesley's doctrine that God's prevenient grace operates as a saving work to those who respond and truly seek Him, it must be said that when Wesley ascribes the state of a servant to his followers, to pious Anglicans, and to himself, he does it not so much to describe prevenient as saving grace, and his description of the servant, when applied to such, better fits his concept of a babe in Christ. Similarly, his description of the stage of the young man better fits what happened at Aldersgate. At that stage, Wesley notes, God sends "the Holy Ghost to comfort them, to bear witness continually with their spirits that they are the children of God."95 Furthermore, regarding the young man, he observes: "when his faith is strengthened, when he receives faith's abiding impression, . . . when he has received the abiding witness of the Spirit, doubts and fears vanish away. He then enjoys the plerophory or 'full assurance of faith,' excluding any doubt, and all 'fear that hath torment.' "96 And again, "Ye have quenched the fiery darts of the wicked one, the doubts and fears wherewith he disturbed your first peace, and the witness of God that your sins are forgiven now 'abideth in your heart.'"97

At this stage, that of the young man, there is a consistent emphasis upon the "abiding" and "continuous" characteristics of God's grace. Thus Wesley speaks of the abiding witness of the Spirit and states that the Holy Ghost is sent "to bear witness continually with their spirit...."98 This concept of abiding, ascribed to the stage of the young man, is even extended to the concept of a witness to the forgiveness of sins. To "young men" he says, "the witness of God that your sins are forgiven now 'abideth in your heart.'"99 Distinctions among the stages are maintained but not always consistently. Often, rather than drawing a radical distinction between stages, Wesley describes progression towards the goal, which suggests that Wesley's (and also Fletcher's( chief concern was not so much for the ordo salutis as it was for the via salutis.100

Aldersgate was a further stage in Wesley's Christian life rather than the moment of his evangelical conversion. Wesley's own statement may suggest otherwise but does so because his order of salvation differs from modern evangelical terminology, including that of the holiness movement. Moreover, over time, he changed his description of some of the states and stages. Characteristics once identified with the state of a servant later were assigned to the stage of the babe in Christ, and those of the babe applied to that of the young man. Thus in terms of Wesley's own mature understanding regarding the characteristics of the babe, pre-Aldersgate would better be defined as belonging to the stage of babe and Aldersgate itself as belonging to the stage of the young man.

The content of Wesley's servant state (the identification he makes, after much reflection, of his own state prior to Aldersgate), when applied to earnest Christians of any century, describes characteristics which, instead of being prevenient to the Christian life, are, in fact, the first stage of it as the late twentieth century would define it. Wesley would refer to the first stage of the Christian life itself as the stage of a babe, but most twentieth-century holiness people would consider one who had entered upon that stage to be a pre- Pentecost Christian. Experientially, at least for Christian David, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley and others of like Christian commitment, it is a stage of striving for a further goal in the Christian life and of hungering for God to fulfill His promises. This waiting is closely analogous to the modern holiness exhortation, "Ye are witnesses off these things . . . but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:48-49, KJV).

Wesley's own Christian life prior to Aldersgate was fully in harmony with the modern holiness understanding regarding the pre-Pentecost Christian.

Thus Aldersgate, if placed descriptively in the context of the modern holiness movement, was Pentecost: a moment of cleansing and preparation for a life of service. This is not to deny its importance as an evangelical experience, because it was in that moment that the evangelical doctrine that it is by grace we are saved by faith was both intellectually and experientially verified. There a child of God, delivered from bondage to the law, testified: "I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Notes

ABBREVIATIONSBE The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley. Editor in Chief, Frank Baker. Nashville: Abingdon, 1984ff (Volumes 7, 11, 25, and 16 originally appeared as the Oxford Edition of the Works of John Wesley, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975-1985).

Jackson The Works of john Wesley. Thomas Jackson, ed. (14 vols.; 3d ed.). London: Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, 1872; reprint edd., Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 19584959; Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1979.

Curnock The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A. M. Nehemiah Curnock, ed. (8 vols.). London: Epworth, 1909-1916.

Telford The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M John Telford, ed. (8 vols.). London: Epworth, 1931.

NT Notes Explanatory Notes Upon the New testament 2 vol. London: Bowyer, 1755; reprint ed. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1986.

WTJ Wesleyan Theological Journal

1Journal, May 19, 1738 (BE 18:249-50).

2William Ragsdale Cannon, The Theology of John Wesley (Nashville:

Abingdon, 1946), p.68.

3Francis J. McConnell, John Wesley (Nashville: Abingdon, 1939), p.60.

4lbid., pp.59, 63, respectively.

5Maximin Piette, John Wesley in the Evolution of Pro tes tan tism (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1937), pp.306-07; Cannon, ibid., p.67.

6John Telford, The Life of John Wesley (London: Epworth, n. d.; reprint ed., 1960), p.102.

7Cannon, ibid., p.68.

8Cf. McConnell, ibid., p.59, where this accusation is levelled at Tyerman.

9The first quotation is from Sermon: "Walking by Sight and Walking by Faith" (1788)1 (BE 4:49); the second is from Sermon: "On the Discoveries of Faith" (1761-1768)14 (BE 4:37). Where two dates are given for a sermon, the first is taken from Timothy L. Smith, "A Chronological List of Wesley's Sermons and Doctrinal Essays;' WTJ 17 (Fall, 1982), 88-110; the second is taken from BE 4:555-73.

10"Principles of a Methodist Farther Explained" 6:1 (Jackson VIII:468-69). Charles, from the closer perspective of August 10, 1739, told William Law that "the reason why I did not come sooner to [Christ], was, my seeking to be sanctified before I was justified:' (Cf. Thomas Jackon, ed., The Journal of the Rev. Charles Wesley, M A. f2 vols.; London: Wesleyan Methodist Book-Room, 1849], 1:159.) On October 19, 1739, Charles Wesley further described himself as "one who too plainly demonstrates... that his knowledge of the new birth is mostly in theory:' (Cf. ibid. 1:191).

11BE 1:13. For a thorough discussion of Wesley's order of salvation see Harald Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification (London: Epworth, 1946), ch. 3; William Greathouse in Paul M. Bassett and William M. Greathouse, Exploring Christian Holiness, VoL 2: Historical Foundations (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1985), pp.208-24; and Albert Outler, BE 1:55-66 ("Introduction" and fun.); David Cubie, "Perfection in Wesley and Fletcher" WTJ 11 (Spring, 1976), 22-37.

12Sermon: "The Wisdom of Winning Souls" (1731)11 (BE 4:315). Also see Sermon: "The Image of God" (1730) passim (BE 4:290-303).

13Sermon: "The Circumcision of the Heart" (1733)11.1 (BE 1:409).

14NT Notes: Romans 2:29.

15sSermon: "The Circumcision of the Heart" 1.2 (BE 1:403).

16Cf. ibid. 1.2-4 (BE 1:403-04).

17As reported by Albert Outler. Cf. BE 1:248.

18Letter: John Wesley to Susanna Wesley, February 14, 1735 (BE 25:418).

19Sermon: "One Thing Needful" (1734)111.3 (BE 4:359).

20Sermon: "The Trouble and Rest of Good Men" (1735)1.2 (BE 3:535).

21Cf. ibid. 11.4 (BE 3:539). Also see ibid. intro. (BE 3:534), where Wesley states that "Death shall destroy at once the whole body of sin."

22Cf. Sermon: "Christian Perfection" (1739, 1741)11.1 (BE 2:105). Also see E 2:97-98 concerning the Wesley's variation in dates for this sermon. See n9 supra regarding the general question of sermon dates.

23"Preface," Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740; Jackson XIV:327). Also see "Plain Account of Christian Perfection" 13 (Jackson XI:380-82).

245ee my article, "Perfection in Wesley and Fletcher," WTJ 11 (Spring, 1976), and my unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Wesley's Concept of Perfect Love: A Motif Analysis (Boston University, 1965), pp. 253-270.

25Most of these are included in Jackson 1:76-77. A few additional are noted in BE 18:214-15. This paper follows the latter edition. Wesley published his Journal serially. The first part was published at about the end of May,

1740, as a defense of his conduct in Georgia, against the accusations made on an affidavit sworn before the mayor of Bristol, England, March 14/25, 1740. Cf. BE 18:121n5.

26Sermon: "On Working Out Our Own Salvation" (173211785)11.1 (BE 3:203-204). Although this sermon was not published until 1785, Outler, BE 3:199, notes that Wesley preached from this text (Phil. 2:1243) twice in 1732, twice in 1734, and only once thereafter (in 1781).

27Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" (1739, 1746; BE 1:250 263). From the perspective of the recipient of grace, e.g., intro 5 (natural man, one under the law, one under grace); II 1.8 (those asleep, those awake, and those believing); 11.9 (child of the devil, servant of sin, servant of the law); 111.1 (son of God). From the perspective of the quality of relation with God, e.g., 111.8 (the natural man, neither fearing nor loving; one under law, fearing; one under grace, loving; the unawakened child of the devil who sins willingly, etc.); From the perspective of the Evangelical Revival, cf. IV.1 (the natural, legal, and evangelistic states). Also cf. 1.7 and 11.9.

28Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" IV.1 (BE 1:264).

29Cf. Letter: John Wesley to Alexander Knox, August 29,1777 (Telford VI:272-273).

30Sermon: The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" IV.3 (BE 1:266).

31Cf. Sermon: "On the Discoveries of Faith" 15 (BE 4:37):" 'the pardoning word' . . . without any intermission."

32Letter: John Wesley to Alexander Knox, August 29, 1777 (Telford VI:272-273).

33Cf. NT Notes, Acts 10:35. Wesley's comment on the Apostle Peter's statement is as follows: "Is accepted of him-Through Christ, though he knows Him not. The assertion is express, and admits of no exception. He is in the favour of God, whether enjoying His written word . . - or not."

34Journal, June 6, 1738 (BE 18:254).

35Journal, August 10,1738 (BE 18:279-81).

36Cf. Curnock II:35n4, 312n1.

37Cf. Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), p.371.

38A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.... To Which Is Prefixed, A Sketch of the Life of the Author (Philadelphia: James Crissy, 1821), pp. xxu-xvi.

395ee John Wesley, "List of Works, Revised and Abridged From Various Authors With the Prefaces by Which They Are Accompanied," LXXXVII: A Treatise on Religious Affections. In Three Parts. By the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, ..... . Abridged by the Rev. John Wesley, "To the Reader," 2 (Jackson XIV:270).

40CL Macarius, Homily XIV.5 in John Wesley, ed., A Christian Library (30 vols.; London: T. Cordeus, 1819), 1:111; also cf. Wesley's comment on Macarius, Sermon: "The Scripture Way of Salvation" (1758, 1765)1:7 (BE2:159); Journal, August 24, 1743 (Curnock 111:86). See his recantation of this view in 'A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" 13 (Jackson XI:379-380).

41Cf. Sermon: "On the Discoveries of Faith" (1761, 1788)17 (BE 4:37).

42 See Whitefield's account of his conversion, quoted in Timothy L. Smith, White field and Wesley on the New Birth (Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press of Zondervan, 1986), pp.42-49.

43Frank Baker says, 'The moment and the spiritual mechanism of Whitefield's conversion remain unknown Cf. BE 25:234n2.

44For Whitefield's statements pertinent to the discussion see: Letter to John Wesley, Savannah, March 26, 1740 (BE 26:11); Letter to John Wesley, Boston, September 25, 1740 (BE 26:31-32); Letter from Charles Wesley to John Wesley, September 28, 1741 (BE 26:60), quoting some correspondence received by Charles Wesley; Letter to John Wesley, Aberdeen, September 28. 1741 (BE 26:66); Letter to John Wesley, London, March 11.1741/42 (BE 26:74): Letter to John Wesley, Edinburg, October 11, 1742 (BE 26:87); Letter to John Wesley, London, December 5,1742 (BE 26:93); Letter to John Wesley, London, December 21, 1742 (BE 26:97).

45Letter from George Whitefield to John Wesley, December 21, 1742 (BE 26:97). Also see Jackson VIII:373-74, for this reference to "Principles of a Methodist" 29.3.

461n the 1732 ed. of the sermon, "The Duty of Constant Communion" (published, with changes, 1789). Wesley distinguished between the Adamic covenant and that of fallen humanity: "Whereas the first agreement was, 'Do this and live,' the second was ['Do what thou canst']. "Try to do this and live.'

... Perfect obedience was made the condition of the first covenant; ear-nest, hearty obedience [the condition] of the second:' These are Wesley's own additions to the original, which was an abridgement of Robert Nelson's sermon, The Great Duty of Frequenting the Christian Sacrifice" (1707). Cf. BE 4:526-28.

See John Clayton's letter to John Wesley, August 2, 1734 (BE 25:391-93) for a rather complete statement of an Anglican concept as it applies to varying degrees of being Christian.

47A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" 4 (Jackson XI:367(.

48Cf. BE 1:39n41. Also see "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" 3-4 (Jackson XI:366-67), and Journal, May 24, 1738, (BE 18:244, 249-50) 5, 14, respectively. The quotation is from Journal, May 19,1738.

49Cf. BE 18:244n39.

50Cf. "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" 4 (Jackson XI:367(.

51Cf. BE 1:39n41.

52Journal, January 17,1736 (BE 18:141).

53Journal, July 10, 1736 (BE 18:165).

54Journal, February 1, 1738 (BE 18:215-16). This is the end of Journal "Number I."

55Cf. the following correspondence between John Wesley and Samuel Wesley, Jr.: October 30, 1738; November 15,1738: and November 30, 1738 (BE 25:575-79, 594); Letter from John Wesley to the Rev. Arthur Bedford, September 28, 1738 (BE 25:562-66); and correspondence between John Wesley and John Smith between May, 1745 and March 22, 1748 (BE 26:1 38ff.). For John Wesley's letters to John Smith, cf. Jackson XII:56-105.

56Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" (1739,1746) IV.2 (BE 1:264-65).

57Cf. Journal, August 1, 1742 (Jackon 1:384).

58Journal, August 1, 1742 (Jackson 1:385).

59Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" IV.2 (BE 1:265).

60Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" IV.3 (BE 1:266).

61Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" IV.4 (BE 1:266).

62"Principles of a Methodist" 29:2 (Jackson VII 1:373). Wesley quotes with approval here, as a "consistent account of my principles," a summary of his teachings set forth by an opponent named Tucker.

63Sermon: "Sin in Believers" (1763) IV.10 (BE 1:331).

64"Principles of a Methodist" 29.3 (Jackson VI 11:373-74). The use of the term "sanctification" to mean "entire sanctification" here is Wesley's own. It is not from Tucker's summary.

65Cf. NT Notes, Acts 10:35.

66Minutes of Some Late Conversations "Conversation III;' Question 24 (Jackson: VII 1:289). Hereinafter abbreviated Minutes Conv. III, Q. 24 (Jackson: VIII:289), etc.

67Minutes Conv. III, Qq. 7-11 (Jackson VIII:286-87).

68Minutes (Conv III, Qq. 12, 20,16, 21, respectively (Jackson VIII:288-89).

69Minutes (Conv. III [10 a.m.], Qq. 5, 6 (Jackson VIII:290).

70Minutes Conv. III [10 am.], Qq. 7, 1, respectively (Jackson VIII:290-91).

71Sermon: "On Working Out Our Own Salvation" 11.1 (BE 3:203-04).

72Minutes Conv. III [10 a.m.], Qq. 4-6 (Jackson VIII:290).

73Sermon: "On the Discoveries of Faith" 15 (BE 4:36-37).

74Ibid. 15 (BE 4:36-37).

75Ibid. 15 (BE 4:36).

76Letter from John Wesley to Samuel Wesley, Jr., October 30, 1738 (BE 25:577).

77BE 18. Hearty thanks is due Professor Heitzenrater for his decoding and publication of Wesley's diaries.

78Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" (1739, 1746) IV.3 (BE 1:266).

79BE 18:307.

80BE 18:303.

81BE 18:303.

82BE 18:382. Cf. BE 18:306, 310, for Heitzenrater's explanation.

83BE 18:337.

84Cf. Martin Schmidt, John Wesley: A Theological Biography (Norman Goldhawk, tr.; 3 vols.; Nashville: Abingdon, 1962), 1:207.

85"Manuscript Journals" February 8,1737 (BE 18:478).

86Cf. BE 18:480.

87"A Scheme of self-examination 2 (Jackson XI:521).

88Cf. Curnock VIII:265-268, esp. 268, where Curnock quotes a letter in which one of the Oxford Methodists describes Wesley's use of these forms and goes on to say, "He taught them (besides what occurs in his Collection of Prayers) to take account of their actions in a very exact manner, by writing a constant diary." Quotation in Curnock is from "A Letter from the Rev. Mr. Gambold to a Friend. Wrote about the time when Mr. Wesley was in America;' Methodist Magazine (1798), pp.117-21, 168-72.

89"A Collection of Forms of Prayer for Every Day in the Week" (1733) Tuesday Morning (Jackson XI:214).

90"A Scheme of self-examination Sunday, 3.4 (Jackson XI:522).

91Cf. Curnock I:439n2.

92Curnock VIII:267-68.

93Cf. NT Notes, Acts 10:35.

94Minutes Conv. III, Qq. 10-11 (Jackson VIII:287-88). Also see e.g., Sermon: "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption" (1739,1746) Intro. 5,11.1-10.

95"A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" 13 (Jackson XI:381); italics mine.

96Sermon: "On the Discoveries of Faith" (1761, 1788) 15 (BE 4:36); italics mine.

97Sermon: "Christian Perfection" (1739, 1741)11.1 (BE 2:105).

98Cf. Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740) "Preface," 1 (Jackson XIV:327); italics mine.

99Cf. Sermon: "Christian Perfection" 11.1 (BE 2:105).

100 I am indebted to Stephen Gunter for this helpful distinction, proffered at the Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society, 1988.

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