1.
Howell Harris
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Howell Harris was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland and William Williams Pantycelyn. Harris was born at Talgarth in Brecknockshire on 23 January 1714 and he underwent a religious conversion in May 1735 after listening to a sermon by the Rev. Pryce Davies, the Sunday before Easter, in the parish church on the necessity of partaking of Holy Communion. This led to weeks of self-examination. This reached a climax at Communion on Whit Sunday, May 1735, after what is described as answering the devils accusations, he received Communion, and came to the conviction that he had received mercy through the blood of Christ. This resulted in a sense of great joy and he immediately began to tell others about this and to hold meetings in his own home encouraging others to seek the same assurance that he had of Christs forgiveness. His preaching often led him into danger, and he endured considerable persecution. From 1738 he was supported by Marmaduke Gwynne who was a local squire, in 1752, inspired by the example of the Moravians, he founded a religious community there, known as Teulu Trefeca with himself as father. However, Harris had not given up preaching, and resumed his activities in 1763. When he died, ten years later, and was buried close to his birthplace at Talgarth, there is a memorial to Harris in Rhydyclafdy near Pwllheli, where he preached. He was effectively the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, Harris kept a detailed diary, in addition to a careful filing of letters he sent and received during his ministry. His papers afford access to a first eye witness of the Welsh Methodist revival, after his death, they were left to gather dust for over a century until O. M. Edwards, in the 1880s, noted their importance and suggested they ought to be cared for. By this time, the once-home of Harris at Trefeca had been turned into a college, the deputy head of the College, Edwin Williams, took on the task of putting the papers in order. They were kept at Trefeca until 1910 when the Presbyterian church of Wales decided to set up a committee whose responsibility it would be to care of the papers. By 1913 the scale of the work needing to be done on the papers became apparent, as many of the papers were in Latin, it was estimated that it would take much of a decade and a vast sum of money to ready the papers for publication. It is believed that around 1932, the papers were moved from Trefeca to the denominations theological College in Aberystwyth and those papers, along with others from Coleg y Bala, were taken in 1934 to be stored safely at the National Library of Wales. The papers are in the vaults to this day, recently Dr. Davies, Gwyn, A light in the land, Christianity in Wales, 200–2000, Bridgend, Bryntirion Press. ISBN 1-85049-181-X Tudur, Geraint, Papurau Howell Harris in Cof Cenedl XVI, Harris, Howel 1714–1773 at Welsh Biography Online, National Library of Wales Lloyd-Jones, Martyn, Howell Harris and revival. Reproduction of article first published in 1973, powys Digital History Project, Howell Harris 1714–1773 Howell Harris at 100 Welsh Heroes
2.
William Williams Pantycelyn
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William Williams Pantycelyn, also known as William Williams, William Pantycelyn, and Pantycelyn, is generally seen as Waless most famous hymn writer. As a writer of poetry and prose, he is today considered one of the great literary figures of Wales. He was equally distinguished in the world of religion, as one of the key leaders, along with Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland, of the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival. Williams was born at Cefn-coed farm in the parish of Llanfair-ar-y-bryn, near the town of Llandovery, in 1717, John died in 1742, and Dorothy later moved to the nearby farm of Pantycelyn. William Williams was educated locally and then at a nonconformist academy near Talgarth and he had intended to become a doctor, but this changed in 1737/38, when he was converted by the preaching of the evangelical Methodist revivalist Howell Harris in Talgarth. For much of his life, Williams lived in the parish of Llanfair-ar-y-bryn and he died at Pantycelyn in January 1791, at the age of 74, and is buried in Llanfair-ar-y-bryn churchyard. He is also commemorated by a chapel in Llandovery. William Williams felt called to the priesthood, and in 1740, despite his familys links with the Nonconformist branch of Christianity and he first appointment was as curate to Theophilus Evans in the parishes of Llanwrtyd, Llanfihangel Abergwesyn and Llanddewi Abergwesyn. Around this time he involved in the Methodist movement and in June 1742 his disapproving parishioners reported his activities to the Archdeacons Court. Methodism was originally a reformist faction within the Church of England and was not intended to be a separatist movement or church. It was nevertheless seen as a threat to the Anglican establishment and in 1743 and his choice was between a comfortable but conformist career in the Anglican Church or the financially precarious, but perhaps spiritually richer life of a Methodist preacher outside of the Church. This was, unfortunately, the time that Williams was beginning his own career in the Church. Williams paid a price for his beliefs than did the Wesleys. Williams was shut out of the Establishment at the start of his career, Welsh Methodism predates 1739 and can be traced back to the conversions of the two main leaders of the Welsh Methodists, Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland, in 1735. Charles Wesley declared that his own Methodism was not incompatible with his Anglicanism, John Wesleys doctrine was more favourable to Arminianism than to Calvinism. In 1811, the Welsh Calvinist Methodists, who are now called the Presbyterian Church of Wales, seceded from the Anglican Church. Williams Pantycelyn travelled throughout Wales preaching the doctrine of Calvinistic Methodism and he needed to be not only a theologian and an advocate for the new Connexion, but an organiser and administrator. Williams had to organise, and then maintain, these seiadau as he went around the country, each successful visit to a new locality in turn required a new seiat
3.
Methodism
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Methodism, or the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and Johns brother Charles Wesley were also significant leaders in the movement and it originated as a revival within the 18th century Church of England and became a separate Church after Wesleys death. Because of vigorous missionary work, the movement spread throughout the British Empire, Wesleys theology focused on sanctification and the effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist doctrines include an assurance of salvation, imparted righteousness, the possibility of perfection in love, the works of piety and the primacy of Scripture. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is available for all, in theology and this teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has pre-ordained the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several others were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the latter position, Methodism emphasises charity and support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the works of mercy. These ideals are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens and schools to follow Christs command to spread the gospel, the movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. In Britain, the Methodist Church had an effect in the early decades of the making of the working class. In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who later formed black churches in the Methodist tradition. The Methodist revival began with a group of men, including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles, the Wesley brothers founded the Holy Club at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College. The club met weekly and they set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury and frequently visited the sick, the fellowship were branded as Methodist by their fellow students because of the way they used rule and method to go about their religious affairs. John, who was leader of the club, took the attempted mockery, unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help to Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church, at a Moravian service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his heart strangely warmed. Charles had reported an experience an few days previously. Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had pre-ordained an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield, Howell Harris, and Selina Hastings, George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly to become a national crusade
4.
John Wesley
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John Wesley was an Anglican cleric and theologian who, with his brother Charles and fellow cleric George Whitefield, founded Methodism. Educated at Charterhouse School and Christ Church, Oxford, Wesley was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford in 1726, after an unsuccessful ministry of two years at Savannah in the Georgia Colony, Wesley returned to London and joined a religious society led by Moravian Christians. On 24 May 1738 he experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion and he subsequently departed from the Moravians, beginning his own ministry. A key step in the development of Wesleys ministry was, like Whitefield, to travel, in contrast to Whitefields Calvinism, Wesley embraced the Arminian doctrines that dominated the Church of England at the time. Moving across Great Britain and Ireland, he helped form and organise small Christian groups that developed intensive and personal accountability, discipleship, most importantly, he appointed itinerant, unordained evangelists to travel and preach as he did and to care for these groups of people. Under Wesleys direction, Methodists became leaders in social issues of the day, including prison reform. Although he was not a theologian, Wesley argued for the notion of Christian perfection and against Calvinism—and, in particular. He held that, in life, Christians could achieve a state where the love of God reigned supreme in their hearts. Throughout his life, Wesley remained within the established Church of England, in 2002, he was placed at number 50 in the BBCs poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. John Wesley was born in 1703 in Epworth,23 miles north-west of Lincoln, as the child of Samuel Wesley. Samuel Wesley was a graduate of the University of Oxford and a poet who and he married Susanna, the twenty-fifth child of Samuel Annesley, a dissenting minister, in 1689. Ultimately, she bore nineteen children, of nine lived beyond infancy. She and Samuel Wesley had become members of the Church of England as young adults, as in many families at the time, Wesleys parents gave their children their early education. Each child, including the girls, was taught to read as soon as they could walk and talk and they were expected to become proficient in Latin and Greek and to have learned major portions of the New Testament by heart. Susanna Wesley examined each child before the meal and before evening prayers. Children were not allowed to eat meals and were interviewed singularly by their mother one evening each week for the purpose of intensive spiritual instruction. In 1714, at age 11, Wesley was sent to the Charterhouse School in London, apart from his disciplined upbringing, a rectory fire which occurred on 9 February 1709, when Wesley was five years old, left an indelible impression. Some time after 11,00 p. m. the rectory roof caught on fire, with stairs aflame and the roof about to collapse, Wesley was lifted out of a window by a parishioner standing on another man’s shoulders
5.
History of Methodism in the United States
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The history of Methodism in the United States dates back to the mid-18th Century with the ministries of early Methodist preachers such as Laurence Coughlan and Robert Strawbridge. Following the American Revolution most of the Anglican clergy who had been in America came back to England, Methodism thrived in America thanks to the First and Second Great Awakenings beginning in the 1700s. Various African-American denominations were formed during this period, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in the early 20th century, many of the splintered Methodist groups joined together to form The Methodist Church. Another merger in 1968 resulted in the formation of United Methodist Church from the Evangelical United Brethren, in 1735, the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, went to the Georgia Colony to minister to the colonialists and teach the Gospel to the Native American tribes. John Wesley returned to England and met with a group of clergymen he respected, the ministers retained their membership in the Church of England. Though not always emphasized or appreciated in the Anglican churches of their day, their teaching emphasized salvation by Gods grace, apprehended through faith in Christ. Three teachings they saw as the foundation of Christian faith were, People are all, by nature, dead in sin and they are justified by faith alone. Faith produces inward and outward holiness, very quickly, these clergymen became popular, attracting large congregations. The nickname students had used against the Wesleys was revived, they, in 1766, Reverend Laurence Coughlan arrived in Newfoundland and opened a school at Black Head in Conception Bay. In the late 1760s, two Methodist lay preachers emigrated to America and formed societies, philip Embury began the work in New York at the instigation of fellow Irish Methodist Barbara Heck. Soon, Captain Webb from the British Army aided him and he formed a society in Philadelphia and traveled along the coast. In 1770, two authorized Methodist preachers, Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor, arrived from the British Connexion and they were immediately preceded by the unauthorized Robert Williams who quietly set about supporting himself by publishing American editions of Wesleys hymnbooks without obtaining permission to do so. These men were followed by others, including Francis Asbury. Asbury reorganized the work in accordance with the Wesleyan model. Missionaries displaced most of the preachers and irritated many of the leading lay members. During the American Revolution, the work diminished, and, by 1778. He remained in Delaware during this period, Robert Strawbridge began a Methodist work in Maryland at the same time as Embury began his work in New York. They did not work together and did not know of others existence
6.
Anglicanism
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Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion, the word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
7.
Arminianism
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Arminianism is based on theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. His teachings held to the five solae of the Reformation, but they were distinct from particular teachings of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Jacobus Arminius was a student of Theodore Beza at the Theological University of Geneva. Arminianism is known to some as a diversification of Protestant Calvinist Christianity. However, to others, Arminianism is a reclamation of early Church theological consensus, Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance, a theological statement signed by 45 ministers and submitted to the States General of the Netherlands. The Synod of Dort was called by the States General to consider the Five Articles of Remonstrance, must be more particularly determined from the Scriptures. These points, note Drs. Keith D. Stanglin and Thomas H. McCall, are consistent with the views of Arminius, indeed and those who signed this remonstrance and others who supported its theology have since been known as Remonstrants. Some falsely assert that Universalists and Unitarians in the 18th and 19th centuries were theologically linked with Arminianism. The original beliefs of Jacobus Arminius himself are commonly defined as Arminianism, but more broadly, the term may embrace the teachings of Hugo Grotius, John Wesley, and others as well. Classical Arminianism, to which Arminius is the contributor, and Wesleyan Arminianism. Wesleyan Arminianism is often identical with Methodism, some schools of thought, notably Semipelagianism—which teaches that the first step of salvation is by human will, —are confused as being Arminian in nature. But classical Arminianism holds that the first step of salvation is solely the grace of God, the two systems of Calvinism and Arminianism share both history and many doctrines, and the history of Christian theology. Arminianism is related to Calvinism historically, however, because of their differences over the doctrines of divine predestination and election, many people view these schools of thought as opposed to each other. In short, the difference can be seen ultimately by whether God allows His desire to save all to be resisted by an individuals will or if Gods grace is irresistible, put another way, is Gods sovereignty shown, in part, through His allowance of free decisions. Some Calvinists assert that the Arminian perspective presents a system of Salvation and therefore is not only by grace. Many consider the differences to be crucial differences in doctrine. Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch pastor and theologian in the late 16th and he was taught by Theodore Beza, Calvins hand-picked successor, but after examination of the scriptures, he rejected his teachers theology that it is God who unconditionally elects some for salvation. Instead Arminius proposed that the election of God was of believers, Arminiuss views were challenged by the Dutch Calvinists, especially Franciscus Gomarus, but Arminius died before a national synod could occur. Arminiuss followers, not wanting to adopt their leaders name, called themselves the Remonstrants, when Arminius died before he could satisfy Hollands State Generals request for a 14-page paper outlining his views, the Remonstrants replied in his stead crafting the Five articles of Remonstrance
8.
First Great Awakening
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It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. It had little impact on most Anglicans, Lutherans, Quakers, throughout the colonies, especially in the south, the revivalist movement increased the number of African slaves and free blacks who were exposed to and subsequently converted to Christianity. The Second Great Awakening began about 1800 and reached out to the unchurched, 18th-century American Christians added an emphasis on outpourings of the Holy Spirit to the evangelical imperatives of Reformation Protestantism. Revivals encapsulated those hallmarks and spread the newly created evangelicalism in the early republic, Evangelical preachers sought to include every person in conversion, regardless of gender, race, and status. The evangelical revival was international in scope, affecting predominantly Protestant countries of Europe, historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom sees it as part of a great international Protestant upheaval that also created Pietism in Germany, the Evangelical Revival and Methodism in England. Revivalism was a component of the Great Awakening, and actually began in the 1620s in Scotland among Presbyterians. The idea of a great awakening has been contested by Butler as vague and exaggerated, the First Great Awakening led to changes in Americans understanding of God, themselves, the world around them, and religion. In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the country regions. In the southern Tidewater and Low Country, northern Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both white and black people, whether enslaved or free, evangelist leaders in the southern colonies had to deal with the issue of slavery much more frequently than those in the North. Still, many leaders of the revivals proclaimed that slaveholders should educate their slaves so that they could become literate and be able to read, consequently, many Africans were finally provided with some sort of education. Africans hoped that their newly acquired spiritual equality would translate into earthly equalities, as black people started to make up substantial proportions of congregations, they were given a chance to momentarily forget about their bondage and enjoy a slight sense of freedom. Before the American Revolution, the first black Baptist churches were founded in the South in Virginia, South Carolina, the revival began with Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards came from Puritan, Calvinist roots, but emphasized the importance and power of immediate, Religious experience had to be immediate, he taught. Scientific inquiry was useless, he taught that only a personal experience can be valid and his sermons were solemn, with a distinct and careful enunciation, and a slow cadence. His sermons were powerful and attracted a large following, both Edwards and Whitefield were slave owners and believed that blacks would acquire absolute equality with whites in the Millennial church. Winiarski examines Edwardss preaching in 1741, especially his famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, at this point, Edwards countenanced the noise of the Great Awakening, but his approach to revivalism became more moderate and critical in the years immediately following. The arrival of young Anglican preacher George Whitefield sparked the Great Awakening, Whitefields reputation preceded his visit as a great pulpit and open-air orator. He traveled through the colonies in 1739 and 1740 and he attracted large and emotional crowds everywhere, eliciting countless conversions as well as considerable controversy
9.
Nonconformist
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In English church history, a nonconformist was a Protestant Christian who did not conform to the governance and usages of the established Church of England. Broad use of the term was precipitated after the Restoration of the British monarchy in 1660, by the late 19th-century the term specifically included the Reformed Christians, plus the Baptists and Methodists. The English Dissenters such as the Puritans who violated the Act of Uniformity 1559 — typically by practising radical, sometimes separatist, in England and Wales in the late 19th century the new terms free churchman and Free Church started to replace dissenter or Nonconformist. One influential nonconformist minister is Matthew Henry, who beginning in 1710 published his multi-volume Commentary that is still used, issac Watts is an equally recognized nonconformist minister whose hymns are still sung by Christians worldwide. The Act of Uniformity of 1662 required churchmen to use all rites and ceremonies as prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer. Consequently, nearly 2,000 clergymen were ejected from the church for refusing to comply with the provisions of the act. The Great Ejection created an abiding public consciousness of non-conformity, thereafter, a Nonconformist was any English subject belonging to a non-Anglican church or a non-Christian religion. More broadly, any person who advocated religious liberty was typically called out as Nonconformist, culturally, in England and Wales, discrimination against Nonconformists endured even longer. Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Calvinists, other reformed groups, following the act, other groups, including Methodists, Unitarians, Quakers, Plymouth Brethren, and the English Moravians were officially labelled as Nonconformists as they became established. A religious census in 1851 revealed Nonconformist comprised about half that of the people who attended services on Sundays. In the larger manufacturing areas, Nonconformists clearly outnumbered members of the Church of England, in Wales in 1850, Nonconformist chapel attendance significantly outnumbered Anglican church attendance. Historians distinguish two categories of Dissenters, or Nonconformists, in addition to the evangelicals or Low Church element in the Church of England, Old Dissenters, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, included Baptists, Congregationalists, Quakers, Unitarians, and Presbyterians outside Scotland. New Dissenters emerged in the 18th century and were mainly Methodists, the Nonconformist Conscience was their moral sensibility which they tried to implement in British politics. The Nonconformist conscience of the Old group emphasized religious freedom and equality, pursuit of justice, and opposition to discrimination, compulsion, the New Dissenters stressed personal morality issues, including sexuality, temperance, family values, and Sabbath-keeping. Both factions were active, but until mid-19th century the Old group supported mostly Whigs and Liberals in politics. In the late 19th the New Dissenters mostly switched to the Liberal Party, the result was a merging of the two groups, strengthening their great weight as a political pressure group. The joined together on new issues especially regarding schools and temperance, by 1914 the linkage was weakening and by the 1920s it was virtually dead. Dissenters demanded removal of political and civil disabilities that applied to them, the Anglican establishment strongly resisted until 1828
10.
Pietism
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Pietism was an influential movement within Lutheranism that combined Lutheran emphasis on Biblical doctrine with the Reformed emphasis on individual piety and living a vigorous Christian life. Although the movement was active exclusively within Lutheranism, it had a impact on Protestantism worldwide, particularly in North America. Pietism spread from Germany to Switzerland and the rest of German-speaking Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltics, and it was further taken to North America, primarily by German and Scandinavian immigrants. The movement reached its zenith in the century, and declined through the 19th century. A substantial part of the Pietistic Protestants was formed by German Sectarians, Norwegian Lutherans, Swedish Lutherans, as the forerunners of the Pietists in the strict sense, certain voices had been heard bewailing the shortcomings of the Church and advocating a revival of practical and devout Christianity. The direct originator of the movement was Philipp Jakob Spener and he studied theology at Strasbourg, where the professors at the time were more inclined to practical Christianity than to theological disputation. In 1675, Spener published his Pia desideria or Earnest Desire for a Reform of the True Evangelical Church and this was originally a pejorative term given to the adherents of the movement by its enemies as a form of ridicule, like that of Methodists somewhat later in England. While large numbers of orthodox Lutheran theologians and pastors were deeply offended by Speners book, in 1686 Spener accepted an appointment to the court-chaplaincy at Dresden, which opened to him a wider though more difficult sphere of labor. In Leipzig, a society of young theologians was formed under his influence for the learned study, the theological chairs in the new university were filled in complete conformity with Speners proposals. Orthodox Lutherans rejected this viewpoint as a simplification, stressing the need for the church. Spener died in 1705, but the movement, guided by Francke and fertilized from Halle, spread through the whole of Middle, Spener stressed the necessity of a new birth and separation of Christians from the world. Many Pietists maintained that the new birth always had to be preceded by agonies of repentance, the whole school shunned all common worldly amusements, such as dancing, the theatre, and public games. Some believe this led to a new form of justification by works and its ecclesiolae in ecclesia also weakened the power and meaning of church organization. These Pietistic attitudes caused a counter-movement at the beginning of the 18th century, one leader was Valentin Ernst Löscher, a movement which cultivated religious feeling almost as an end itself. Yet some claim that Pietism contributed largely to the revival of Biblical studies in Germany and to making religion once more an affair of the heart and of life and it likewise gave a new emphasis to the role of the laity in the church. Then came a time when another intellectual power took possession of the minds of men, bonhoeffer denounced the basic aim of Pietism, to produce a desired piety in a person, as unbiblical. Pietism is considered the influence that led to the creation of the Evangelical Church of the Union in Prussia in 1817. The King of Prussia ordered the Lutheran and Reformed churches in Prussia to unite and this union movement spread through many German lands in the 1800s
11.
Wesleyanism
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Wesleyanism, manifest today in Methodist and holiness churches, is named for its founders, the Wesleys. In 1736, these two brothers traveled to the Georgia colony in America as missionaries for the Church of England, both of them subsequently had religious experiences, especially John in 1738, being greatly influenced by the Moravian Christians. They began to organize a movement within the Church of England to focus on personal faith. The Wesleyan churches are similar to Anglicanism, yet have added a strong emphasis on personal faith. At its heart, the theology of John Wesley stressed the life of Christian holiness, to love God with all heart, mind, soul and strength. Wesley’s teaching also stressed experiential religion and moral responsibility, the doctrine of Wesleyan-Arminianism was founded as an attempt to explain Christianity in a manner unlike the teachings of Calvinism. Arminianism is a study conducted by Jacobus Arminius, from the Netherlands. After the death of Arminius the followers, led by Simon Episcopius and this document is known today as the five articles of Remonstrance. Arminianism was officially recorded and presented to Dutch leaders in 1610 A. D. about one hundred, the doctrine is based upon five essential beliefs that are purposely biblical in nature. The first of five points is the reason for the conflict between Calvinism and Arminianism in its basic foundation, it is the concept of free will. Arminius believed that even after the fall of humankind, all persons had the responsibility to accept Jesus Christ, the second point of Arminianism declares conditional election. Arminius states that the choosing of the elect is based upon the foreknowledge of God as to who would believe and it is this choosing by Gods grace to accept Jesus Christ that elects one to inherit salvation. Thus, salvation is made to initially by Gods prevenient grace and then ones free will. Third, Arminianism explains that redemption is based on the fact that God loves everyone, that Christ was sacrificed for all, the crucifixion of Christ satisfied Gods wrath, provided the means by which forgiveness can occur, and Christs resurrection enables the forgiven to inherit life. However, once again, one must choose Christ in order to be saved, hence Christ died for every person who has lived and will ever live, but only those that freely choose to follow Jesus are elected unto salvation. Fourth, the idea of Obstructable Grace states that since God does desire all persons to be saved, God sent the Holy Spirit to encourage, yet, again because of free will, one may choose to reject salvation and thus resist Gods will. God wills all people to be saved and worship God in spirit and in truth, in the early 1770s, John Wesley, aided by the theological writings of John William Fletcher emphasized Arminian doctrines in his controversy with the Calvinistic wing of the evangelicals in England. Then, in 1778, he founded a journal which he titled the Arminian Magazine
12.
Methodist doctrine
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Methodism, or the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and Johns brother Charles Wesley were also significant leaders in the movement and it originated as a revival within the 18th century Church of England and became a separate Church after Wesleys death. Because of vigorous missionary work, the movement spread throughout the British Empire, Wesleys theology focused on sanctification and the effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist doctrines include an assurance of salvation, imparted righteousness, the possibility of perfection in love, the works of piety and the primacy of Scripture. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is available for all, in theology and this teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has pre-ordained the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several others were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the latter position, Methodism emphasises charity and support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the works of mercy. These ideals are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens and schools to follow Christs command to spread the gospel, the movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. In Britain, the Methodist Church had an effect in the early decades of the making of the working class. In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who later formed black churches in the Methodist tradition. The Methodist revival began with a group of men, including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles, the Wesley brothers founded the Holy Club at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College. The club met weekly and they set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury and frequently visited the sick, the fellowship were branded as Methodist by their fellow students because of the way they used rule and method to go about their religious affairs. John, who was leader of the club, took the attempted mockery, unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help to Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church, at a Moravian service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his heart strangely warmed. Charles had reported an experience an few days previously. Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had pre-ordained an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield, Howell Harris, and Selina Hastings, George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly to become a national crusade
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Articles of Religion (Methodist)
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The Articles of Religion are an official doctrinal statement of Methodism. John Wesley abridged the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, removing the Calvinistic parts among others, the Articles were adopted at a conference in 1784 and are found in paragraph 103 of the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline. They have remained unchanged since 1808 by Methodists worldwide. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Article IV - Of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical books of the Old, all the books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive and account canonical. Wherefore they are not to be heard who feign that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises. Article IX - Of the Justification of Man We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, wherefore, that we are justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort. Article XI - Of Works of Supererogation Voluntary works—besides, over and above Gods commandments—which they call works of supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy, article XII - Of Sin After Justification Not every sin willingly committed after justification is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after justification. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned who say they can no more sin as long as they live here, there are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same, they have an effect or operation. The Baptism of young children is to be retained in the Church, the body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is faith, the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was not by Christs ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshiped. Every particular church may ordain, change, or abolish rites and ceremonies, and the said states are a sovereign and independent nation, and ought not to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction. Article XXIV - Of Christian Mens Goods The riches and goods of Christians are not common as touching the right, title, notwithstanding, every man ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor, according to his ability
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Assurance (theology)
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Assurance is a Protestant Christian doctrine that states that the inner witness of the Holy Spirit allows the justified disciple to know that he or she is saved. Based on the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo, assurance was historically an important doctrine in Lutheranism and Calvinism. John Wesley believed that all Christians have a faith which implies an assurance of Gods forgiving love, and this understanding is grounded in Pauls affirmation. ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. The same Spirit beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God and this experience was mirrored for Wesley in his Aldersgate experience wherein he knew he was loved by God and that his sins were forgiven. I felt my heart strangely warmed, I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that He had taken my sin, even mine. - from Wesleys Journal Early in his ministry Wesley had to defend his understanding of assurance, in 1738 Rev. Arthur Bedford had published a sermon in which he misquoted Wesleys teachings. Bedford had understood Wesley as saying that a Christian could be assured of persevering in a state of salvation, the Calvinist view. In a letter dated September 28,1738 Wesley wrote, The assurance of which I alone speak I should not choose to call an assurance of salvation, but rather, the assurance of faith. Lutheranism accepts monergism, which states that salvation is by Gods act alone, Lutherans believe that the elect are predestined to salvation. According to Lutheranism, Christians should be assured that they are among the predestined, Lutherans believe that all who trust in Jesus alone can be certain of their salvation, for it is in Christs work and his promises in which their certainty lies. However, they disagree with those that make predestination the source of rather than Christs suffering, death. Unlike Calvinists, Lutherans do not believe in a predestination to damnation, Calvinism teaches that believers may have assurance of their salvation especially through the work of the Holy Spirit and also by looking at the character of their lives. The idea that good works necessarily result from true faith one can gain assurance by observing evidences of faith in their life is called the practical syllogism. This assurance is not, however, a consequence of salvation. Indeed, the Westminster Confession of Faith affirms that assurance is attainable though the wait for it may be long, and this is especially important because the Reformed position says that works can never enter into the faith that procures the justification because works are all in sanctification. So, if works can never enter into the faith that one needs for justification how can they ever qualify the faith that one needs for justification, so, now there is a double-dilemma. Catholics recognize that a certainty of faith is ascribed to St. Paul, Jesus Christ as man, however, did not need to believe since he knew it. The point in question is however certain, the hope must retain its proper name
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Conditional preservation of the saints
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Arminians find the Scriptures describing both the initial act of faith in Christ, whereby the relationship is effected, and the persevering faith in Him whereby the relationship is sustained. The relationship of the believer to Christ is never a static relationship existing as the consequence of a past decision, act. Rather, it is a living union proceeding upon a living faith in a living Savior and this living union is captured in this simple command by Christ, Remain in me, and I in you. According to Arminians, biblical saving faith expresses itself in love, Arminians believe that It is abundantly evident from the Scriptures that the believer is secure. Furthermore, believers have assurance in knowing there is no power or circumstance that can separate them from the love of God they enjoy in union with Christ. Therefore, Arminians seek to follow the writers in warning believers about the real dangers of committing apostasy. A sure and biblical way to avoid apostasy is to admonish believers to mature spiritually in their relationship with God in union with Christ, Arminius himself and the original Remonstrants avoided a clear conclusion on this matter. Those tendencies indicated by the questions raised did not take long to reach fruition, prior to the time of the debate between Calvinists and the Arminians at the Synod of Dort, the view in the early church appears to be on the side of conditional security. From his research of the writings of the church fathers. On another occasion he notes that such a view was never reckoned as a heretical opinion, so that it is not possible for them, by any of the cunning craftiness or power of Satan, to be either seduced or dragged out of the hands of Christ. On the other hand, certain passages are produced for the doctrine which are worthy of much consideration. For Arminius the believer’s security is conditional—provided they stand prepared for the battle, implore his help, and be not wanting to themselves. In another place he writes, wills that they, who believe and persevere in faith, shall be saved, but that those, after the death of Arminius in 1609, the Remonstrants maintained their leaders view on conditional security and his uncertainty regarding the possibility of apostasy. They formalized their views in The Opinion of the Remonstrants, True believers are able to fall through their own fault into shameful and atrocious deeds, to persevere and to die in them, and therefore finally to fall and to perish. John Goodwin was a Puritan who presented the Arminian position of falling away in Redemption Redeemed which drew a lot of attention from Calvinists, in his book, English bishop Laurence Womock provides numerous scriptural references to the fifth article concerning perseverance delivered by the later Remonstrants. Philip van Limborch penned the first complete Remonstrant Systematic Theology in 1702 that included a section on apostasy, in 1710, a minister in the Church of England, Daniel Whitby, published a major work criticizing the five points of Calvinism—which involves their doctrine of unconditional perseverance. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was a defender of conditional security. In 1751, Wesley defended his position in a work titled, in it he argued that a believer remains in a saving relationship with God if he continue in faith or endureth in faith unto the end
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Wesleyan Quadrilateral
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The Wesleyan Quadrilateral, or Methodist Quadrilateral, is a methodology for theological reflection that is credited to John Wesley, leader of the Methodist movement in the late 18th Century. The term itself was coined by 20th century American Methodist scholar Albert C and this method based its teaching on four sources as the basis of theological and doctrinal development. These four sources are scripture, tradition, reason, and Christian experience, upon examination of Wesleys work, Outler theorized that Wesley used four different sources in coming to theological conclusions. Wesley believed, first of all, that the core of the Christian faith was revealed in scripture as the sole foundational source. The centrality of scripture was so important for Wesley that he called himself a man of one book, however, doctrine had to be in keeping with Christian orthodox tradition. So, tradition became in his view the second aspect of the so-called Quadrilateral, in other words, truth would be vivified in personal experience of Christians, if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended rationally and he did not divorce faith from reason. Tradition, experience, and reason, however, are always to scripture. Each of the legs of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral must be taken in balance, none of these should be taken in isolation without the balancing effect of the others, and always Scripture should have the central place of authority. Scripture Wesley insisted that scripture is the first authority and contains the only measure whereby all other truth is tested and it was delivered by authors who were divinely inspired. It is a sufficient of itself. It neither needs, nor is capable of, any further addition, the scripture references to justification by faith as the gateway to scriptural holiness are well known to true Wesleyans, Deut. 5,48,22,37, Luke 1,69, John 17, 20-23,5,23, Titus 2, 11-14, I John 3,8,4,17. Tradition Wesley wrote that it is supposed that traditional evidence is weakened by length of time. Although other evidence is stronger, he insisted, Do not undervalue traditional evidence. Let it have its place and its due honour and it is highly serviceable in its kind, and in its degree. Wesley states that those of strong and clear understanding should be aware of its full force, for him it supplies a link through 1,700 years of history with Jesus and the apostles. He states quite clearly that without reason we cannot understand the essential truths of Scripture, reason, however, is not a mere human invention
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Covenant theology
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Covenant theology is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible. It uses the concept of a covenant as an organizing principle for Christian theology. Historical Reformed systems of thought treat covenant theology not merely as a point of doctrine or as a central dogma, as a framework for biblical interpretation, covenant theology stands in contrast to dispensationalism in regard to the relationship between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Many covenant theologians have also seen a distinct future promise of restoration for unregenerate Israel. The nature of Gods covenantal relationship with his creation is not considered automatic or of necessity, rather, God chooses to establish the connection as a covenant, wherein the terms of the relationship are set down by God alone according to his own will. Having created man in His image as a creature with knowledge, righteousness. Like Adam, they have trespassed the covenant is the reference to the covenant of works. The covenant of works, also called the covenant of life, was made in the Garden of Eden between God and Adam who represented all mankind as a federal head and it promised life for perfect and perpetual obedience and death for disobedience. Adam, and all mankind in Adam, broke the covenant, the covenant of works continues to function after the fall as the moral law. The term foedus operum was first used by Dudley Fenner in 1585, the covenant of works became common in Reformed theology by 1590, though it was not adopted by all, and some members of the Westminster Assembly in the 1640s opposed it. While John Calvin had spoken of a period for Adam, a promise of life for obedience. It has also noted that Jeremiah 33, 20–26 compares the covenant with David to Gods covenant with the day and the night. This has led some to all of creation as covenantal. The covenant of works might then be seen as the moral law component of the broader creational covenant, the covenant of grace promises eternal life for all people who have faith in Christ. He also promises the Holy Spirit to the elect to give them willingness, Christ is the substitutionary covenantal representative fulfilling the covenant of works on their behalf, in both the positive requirements of righteousness and its negative penal consequences. It is the expression of the eternal covenant of redemption. Genesis 3,15, with the promise of a seed of the woman who would crush the head, is usually identified as the historical inauguration for the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace runs through the Old and New Testaments, under the law, the sacrifices, prophesies, and other types and ordinances of the Jews signified Christ, and men were justified by their faith in him just as they would be under the gospel
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Imparted righteousness
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Imparted righteousness, in Methodist theology, is that gracious gift of God given at the moment of the new birth which enables a Christian disciple to strive for holiness and sanctification. John Wesley believed that imparted righteousness worked in tandem with imputed righteousness. Jeremiah 31, 33-34 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord, ’ for they all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. ”2 Corinthians 3,18 And we all, with unveiled face, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. This comes through in the Wesleyan hymnody such as his famous hymn And can it be, the last verse reads, No condemnation now I dread, Jesus, and all in Him, is mine. Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine, Bold I approach the throne, And claim the crown. Ephesians 6,14 says Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, preachers and theologians from various Protestant traditions use the term imparted righteousness to identify the righteous principle imparted by God to believers when He regenerates them. Believers thereby become partakers of the divine nature and it is this principle of righteousness imparted to men in regeneration which is ever in conflict with the old Adamic nature. It is somewhat problematic for some Christians to call the doctrine imparted righteousness, for that which is imparted is a righteous principle into mans nature and this section is a precis of N. T. Wrights work in What Saint Paul Really Said. He relates the court-room metaphor, pointing out there are three parties in the Hebrew court - two parties in disagreement and one judge. The judge decides the dispute between the parties declaring one to be correct and the other incorrect, the one who is declared correct in court is called righteous in the matter that was judged. The righteousness of God, referring to Gods faithfulness to the covenant relationship, can be neither imputed nor imparted to anybody, righteousness from God is roughly equivalent to vindication, meaning that God is pronouncing that particular party to be correct/vindicated/righteous/acquitted in their dispute with the other party. The dispute in question in Christian theology is between those of faith, and the wicked, meaning everybody opposed to those of faith. Paul was positing that the people of faith are vindicated when Messiah returns, being declared righteous. This means that we do not receive the righteousness of God in the classical Evangelical vernacular, the righteousness of God remains His alone, and our righteousness from God means that we are found to be of the people of God. Pauls argument is that it has always been so, but what has changed is that the Messiah, in Jesus of Nazareth, has now appeared. An important verse to note is 2 Cor 5,21, For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, which has traditionally been interpreted to mean that the Christian has, in some way, become righteous, in exchange for Jesus sinlessness
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Ten Commandments
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The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Different religious groups follow different traditions for interpreting and numbering them, the Ten Commandments are listed twice in the Hebrew Bible, first at Exodus 20, 1–17, and then at Deuteronomy 5, 6–21. Both versions state that God inscribed them on two tablets, which he gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. Modern scholarship has found likely influences in Hittite and Mesopotamian laws and treaties, but is divided over exactly when the Ten Commandments were written and who wrote them. In biblical Hebrew, the Ten Commandments are called עשרת הדברים and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות, the Tyndale and Coverdale English translations used ten verses. The Geneva Bible used tenne commandements, which was followed by the Bishops Bible, Most major English versions use commandments. The stone tablets, as opposed to the commandments inscribed on them, are called לוחות הברית, Luchot HaBrit, the biblical narrative of the revelation at Sinai begins in Exodus 19 after the arrival of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. The people were afraid to hear more and moved afar off, and Moses responded with Fear not. And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there, and I will give thee tablets of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written, that thou mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua, the mount was covered by the cloud for six days, and on the seventh day Moses went into the midst of the cloud and was in the mount forty days and forty nights. The passages in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 contain more than ten imperative statements, different religious traditions divide the seventeen verses of Exodus 20, 1–17 and their parallels at Deuteronomy 5, 4–21 into ten commandments or sayings in different ways, shown in the table below. Some suggest that the ten is a choice to aid memorization rather than a matter of theology. Traditions, LXX, Septuagint, generally followed by Orthodox Christians, P, Philo, same as the Septuagint, but with the prohibitions on killing and adultery reversed. S, Samaritan Pentateuch, with an additional commandment about Mount Gerizim as 10th, T, Jewish Talmud, makes the prologue the first saying or matter and combines the prohibition on worshiping deities other than Yahweh with the prohibition on idolatry. C, Catechism of the Catholic Church, largely follows Augustine, R, Reformed Christians follow John Calvins Institutes of the Christian Religion, which follows the Septuagint, this system is also used in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. All scripture quotes above are from the King James Version, click on verses at top of columns for other versions. The Ten Commandments are written with room for varying interpretation, reflecting their role as a summary of fundamental principles and they are not as explicit or detailed as rules or many other biblical laws and commandments, because they provide guiding principles that apply universally, across changing circumstances. They do not specify punishments for their violation and their precise import must be worked out in each separate situation
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Born again (Christianity)
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In some Christian movements, particularly in Evangelicalism, to be born again is a popular phrase referring to spiritual rebirth, or a regeneration of the human spirit from the Holy Spirit. This is contrasted with the physical birth everyone experiences, in contemporary Christian usage, the term is distinct from sometimes similar terms used in mainstream Christianity to refer to being or becoming Christian, which is linked to baptism. Individuals who profess to be born again often state that they have a relationship with Jesus Christ. The phrase born again is also used as an adjective to describe members of the movement who espouse this belief. The term is derived from an event in the New Testament in which the words of Jesus were not understood by a Jewish pharisee, Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. How can someone be born when they are old, surely they cannot enter a second time into their mothers womb to be born. Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. The Greek phrase in the text in itself is not so clear, resulting in a wordplay in which Jesus meaning, born again is rendered as born from above, in translations such as the NET. Historically, Christianity has used various metaphors to describe its rite of initiation, that is, spiritual regeneration via the sacrament of baptism by the power of the water and the spirit. This remains the common understanding in most of Christendom, held, for example, in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and in much of Protestantism. This same belief is, historically, also a part of Methodist doctrine. Such Rebirth has often been identified with a definite, temporally datable form of conversion, with the intellectual type, it leads to an activation of the capabilities for understanding, to the breakthrough of a vision. With others it leads to the discovery of a beauty in the order of nature or to the discovery of the mysterious meaning of history. With still others it leads to a new vision of the life and its orders. Each person affected perceives his life in Christ at any time as “newness of life. ”According to Melton. It is an experience when everything they have taught as Christians becomes real. According to Purves and Partee, Sometimes the phrase seems to be judgemental, descriptive, like the distinction between liberal and conservative Christians. Occasionally, the phrase seems historic, like the division between Catholic and Protestant Christians, furthermore, the term usually includes the notion of human choice in salvation and excludes a view of divine election by grace alone
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Plain dress
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Plain dress is a practice among some religious groups, primarily some Christian churches in which people dress in clothes of traditional modest design, sturdy fabric, and conservative cut. It is intended to show humility and preserve communal separateness from the rest of the world, Amish, Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites share the same Swiss-German/South-German Anabaptist tradition. Among the Amish and other groups, plain dress is not considered to be a costume. Plain, simple dress is governed by a code of conduct, called ordnung among Anabaptists. Plain dress is attributed to reasons of theology and sociology, in general, plain dress involves the covering of much of the body, with minimal ornamentation, rejecting print fabrics, trims, fasteners, and jewelry. Non-essential elements of such as neckties, collars, and lapels may be minimized or omitted. Practical garments such as aprons and shawls may be layered over the basic ensemble, Plain dress garments are often handmade and may be produced by groups of women in the community for efficiency and to ensure uniformity of style. Plain dress practices can extend to the grooming of hair and beards and may vary somewhat to accommodate stages in the life cycle such as allowing children, within these general practices, distinctions abound. In some groups, for example, the womens preferred head covering is lacy or translucent, in others, the traditional plain dress worn by the Anabaptists and other religious groups has long sleeves with a set waist, long skirt, and no adornment. It denotes utility, modesty, long wear and inconspicuousness, does not display any trademark, shawl, aprons, bonnets and cap are part of plain dress. Plain dressing Christians cite Pauls advice to the Romans, Be not conformed to this world, other scripture passages counsel women to wear head coverings while praying, not to cut their hair, and for men not to shave or cut their beards. Plain dress may establish a sense of belonging within the community while also marking the groups members as different in the wider society, some practitioners describe their dress as a protection from unwanted attention. Quaker minister Elizabeth Fry considered her plain dress to serve as a hedge against the world, marketing through the internet has these sites which propagate plain dress, Quaker Jane, Plain and Simple Headcoverings, Rachel’s Seamstress Services and Mennonite Maidens. Simple dress, considered sensible and useful and necessary, is hard to find as the clothing market is dictated by fashion conscious people who consider plain dress dull. Dressing heroines in Victorian literature in plain dress is often assumed to be a way of making characters appear classless and sexless, additionally, plain dress may signify a characters rejection of societal norms and willingness to leave the household to act on her desires. Plain people Journeyman uniform in Germany Normcore
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Prevenient grace
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Prevenient grace is a Christian theological concept rooted in Arminian theology, though it appeared earlier in Catholic theology. It is divine grace that precedes human decision and it exists prior to and without reference to anything humans may have done. Prevenient grace is embraced primarily by Arminian Christians who are influenced by the theology of Jacob Arminius or John Wesley, whereas Augustine held that grace cannot be resisted, Wesleyan Arminians believe that it enables, but does not ensure, personal acceptance of the gift of salvation. Wesley typically referred to it in 18th-century language as prevenient grace, in modern English, the phrase preceding grace would have a similar meaning. Arminian Free Will Baptist theologian Robert E. Picirilli says that the word prevenient in prevenient grace comes from an archaic English usage meaning anticipating, coming before, Picirilli says that a good synonym for prevenient grace is enabling grace, as it enables sinful mankind to believe. The United Methodist Book of Discipline defines prevenient grace as. the divine love that all humanity and precedes any. This grace prompts our first wish to please God, our first glimmer of understanding concerning Gods will, Gods grace also awakens in us an earnest longing for deliverance from sin and death and moves us toward repentance and faith. The Church of the Nazarene has made prevenient grace one of its sixteen Articles of Faith found in the Nazarene Manual, predecessor to the Nazarene Articles of Faith are the Articles of Religion, which John Wesley adapted for use by American Methodists. Thomas Oden of Drew University defines prevenient grace as. the grace that begins to one to choose further to cooperate with saving grace. By offering the will the restored capacity to respond to grace, infant baptism is seen in Methodism as a celebration of prevenient grace. Although infant baptism is important for the journey of the faithful disciple. This grace goes before, accompanies, and follows, it excites, assists, operates that we will, No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Every time we begin to pray to Jesus it is the Holy Spirit who draws us on the way of prayer by his prevenient grace. The Second Council of Orange of 529 stated that faith, though a free act, resulted even in its beginnings from the grace of God, enlightening the human mind, in canon 23 it is said that God prepares our wills that they may desire the good. Canon 25 states, “In every good work, it is not we who begin, but He first inspires us with faith and love of Him, through no preceding merit on our part. Wesley insisted on prevenient grace as a solution to two problems in Christianity, the belief of original sin and the Protestant doctrine of salvation by grace alone. Wesley thought that prevenient grace enabled the doctrines of sin and salvation by grace to co-exist while still maintaining Gods sovereignty. Scriptures used to support the doctrine include, Jeremiah 1,5, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Jeremiah 31,3. I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee
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Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist
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By contrast, the doctrine is rejected by the Radical Reformers and their followers. Efforts at mutual understanding of the range of beliefs led in the 1980s to consultations on Baptism, Eucharist and these consultations included the Catholic Church. Contrary positions were taken by Paschasius Radbertus and Ratramnus, Ratramnus held that the body of Christ was present spiritually but not physically, while Paschasius emphasized the true presence of the body of Christ. This caused a controversy which led to the clarification of the doctrine of the Eucharist. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council used the word transubstantiated in its profession of faith, scholasticism cast Christian theology in the terms of Aristotelianism. Medieval philosophers who used Aristotelian concepts frequently distinguished between substantial forms and accidental forms, for Aristotle, a substance is an individual thing, which may possess accidental forms as non-essential properties. During the later period, the question was debated within the Western Church. Following the Protestant Reformation, it became a topic of division between the various emerging confessions. The Lutheran doctrine of the presence, known as the Sacramental Union, was formulated in the Augsburg Confession of 1530. Luther decidedly supported the doctrine, publishing The Sacrament of the Body, zwinglis view became associated with the term Memorialism, suggesting an understanding of the Eucharist held purely in memory of Christ. Eastern Orthodoxy did not become involved in the prior to the 17th century. It became virulent in 1629, when Cyril Lucaris denied the doctrine of transubstantiation, to counter the teaching of Lucaris, Metropolitan Petro Mohyla of Kiev drew up in Latin an Orthodox Confession in defense of transubstantiation. This Confession was approved by all the Greek-speaking Patriarchs in 1643, and again by the 1672 Synod of Jerusalem. One hymn of the Church, Ave Verum Corpus, greets Christ in the Eucharist as follows, Hail, true body, born of Mary Virgin, nor does its use in the Orthodox Church commit theologians to the acceptance of Aristotelian philosophical concepts. 10.16,11. 23-29 or the discourse in John 6. 26-58, in light of this fact, it teaches that the gifts should be treated with reverence throughout the entirety of the service. We dont know the time in which the change takes place. The Eastern Orthodox Church Synod of Jerusalem declared, We believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be present, not typically, nor figuratively, nor by superabundant grace, the Lutheran doctrine of the real presence is more accurately and formally known as the Sacramental Union. For Lutherans, there is no Sacrament unless the elements are used according to Christs institution and this was first articulated in the Wittenberg Concord of 1536 in the formula, Nihil habet rationem sacramenti extra usum a Christo institutum
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Sabbatarianism
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Its historical origins lie in Puritan Sabbatarianism, which delineated precepts for keeping Sunday holy in observance of Sabbath commandment principles. This observance of Sunday is the purest form of first-day Sabbatarianism, Seventh-day Baptists leave most other Sabbath considerations of observance to individual conscience. The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Church of God have similar views, non-Sabbatarianism is the view opposing all Sabbatarianism, declaring Christians to be free of mandates to follow such specific observances. It includes all Catholics and Orthodox, and most Protestant denominations, Sabbath in the Bible is informed by the Genesis creation narrative and has a formal origin before the giving of the Ten Commandments. By the time of Jesus, an emphasis on freedom from legalistic Sabbaths had arisen, some of Jesuss teachings are considered as redefining the Pharisees Sabbath laws. Later, Church fathers Justin Martyr and Augustine also taught specifically that Sabbath according to the Decalogue does not apply in a fashion to Christians. Judaizing influences diminished and almost disappeared as all of Christianity, east and west, most of it remains so today. Not seeking to re-establish Mosaic Law or Hebrew Sabbath practices, their connection to Judaizing was limited to the use of a code by which Christians might be judged. Most identify with the early Jewish Christians, and consider early church condemnations of Judaizing to be the marks of a Great Apostasy in early Christianity, differences among non-Sabbatarians in their views of Christian law reflect both their interpretation of Christian liberty and the nature of their rejection of Sabbatarianism. For others, it is liberty from the law, considered to be replaced along with the Mosaic covenant. For yet others, it is founded on the belief that all or some of Mosaic law has been set aside or abrogated. The common ground in non-Sabbatarianism, though, is the rejection in principle of the force of any required code of Sabbath-related conduct. However, in recent decades, the expression of the difference between Sabbath and Sunday has been blurred through a looser, non-doctrinal application of terminology, often used among non-Sabbatarians in regions where Sabbatarianism itself has had its greatest prominence, it signifies a contrast with seventh-day Sabbatarianism. First-day Sabbatarian is often applied to more accurately described non-Sabbatarians, because of their Sunday worship. But not all non-Sabbatarians would agree to being called first-day Sabbatarians, wishing to disassociate with all of Sabbatarianism, however, many non-Sabbatarians resist that usage as inaccurate. Most continue to make a distinction or separation between the Sabbath and Sunday, arguing that the Christian observances on Sunday stand on their own without any necessary connection. The Puritans of England and Scotland brought a new rigour to the observance of the Christian Lords Day, in reaction to the customary Sunday observance of the time, Sunday Sabbatarianism is enshrined in its most mature expression, the Westminster Confession of Faith, in the Calvinist theological tradition. Chapter 21, Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day, the confession holds that not only is work forbidden in Sunday, but also works, words, and thoughts about worldly employments and recreations
25.
Teetotalism
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Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of complete personal abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is said to be teetotal. The teetotalism movement was first started in Preston, England, in the early 19th century, there is some dispute over the origin of the word teetotaler. One anecdote attributes the origin of the word to a meeting of the Preston Temperance Society in 1833, the story attributes the word to Richard Turner, a member of the society, who in a speech said Ill be reet down out-and-out t-t-total for ever and ever. A variation on the account is found on the pages of The Charleston Observer, Teetotalers. --The origin of this convenient word, is, we imagine, known. Hence total abstainers have been called teetotalers, an alternative explanation is that teetotal is simply a reduplication of the first T in total. It is said that as early as 1827 in some Temperance Societies signing a T after ones name signified ones pledge for total abstinence, according to historian Daniel Walker Howe the term was derived from the practice of American preacher and temperance advocate Lyman Beecher. He would take names at his meetings of people who pledged alcoholic temperance, such persons became known as Teetotallers. Some common reasons for choosing teetotalism are psychological, religious, health, medical, familial, philosophical and social, alcoholism, or sometimes it is simply a matter of taste or preference. When at drinking establishments, teetotalers either abstain from drinking completely, or consume non-alcoholic beverages such as water, juice, tea, coffee, most teetotaler organizations also demand from their members that they do not promote or produce alcoholic intoxicants. Methodists also historically abstained from alcohol, though many Methodist denominations no longer teach this, members are also required to refrain from selling such products. A translation of the New Testament, the Purified Translation of the Bible, abstention from alcohol is a tenet of a number of religious faiths, including those of the Sikhs, Baháís, Hare Krishnas, Hindus, Jains, and Meivazhi-ites, Pillays. Khamr is the term for all intoxicants which are prohibited in Islam, a number of Christian denominations also forbid the consumption of alcohol, including the Amish, Seventh-day Adventists, Mennonites, Church of the Brethren members, and Christian Scientists. Many Christian groups, such as Methodists, Mormons, and Quakers, are associated with teetotalism due to their traditionally strong support for temperance movements. However, tenets forbidding the consumption of alcohol are variably practiced, in many Christian denominations, abstinence is not a religious requirement, but the tradition is strong enough to make ritual and recreational alcohol consumption a controversial issue among members. Members of the Salvation Army make a promise on joining the movement to observe lifelong abstinence from alcohol, several authors have conducted research looking at the social and subjective experiences of young people who do not drink alcohol in varied social settings. A2015 study by the Office for National Statistics showed that young Britons were more likely to be teetotallers than their parents
26.
Christian perfection
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Christian perfection is the name given to various teachings within Christianity that describe the process of achieving spiritual maturity or perfection. The ultimate goal of process is union with God characterized by pure love of God. Various terms have been used to describe the concept, such as Christian holiness, entire sanctification, perfect love, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the second blessing. Certain traditions and denominations teach the possibility of Christian perfection, including the Catholic Church and it is also taught in Methodist churches and the holiness movement, in which it is sometimes termed Wesleyan perfectionism. Other denominations, such as the Lutheran and Reformed churches, reject teachings associated with Christian perfection as contrary to the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, the terms perfect and perfection are drawn from the Greek teleios and teleiōsis, respectively. The root word, telos, means an end or goal, in contemporary translations, teleios and teleiōsis are often rendered as mature and maturity, respectively, so as not to imply infallibility or the absence of defects. Rather, in the Christian tradition, teleiōsis has referred to progressing towards spiritual wholeness or health, in antiquity, baptism was commonly referred to as the perfecting of the Christian. In another work, the Stromata, Clement discussed three stages in Christian life that led to a more mature perfection, the first stage was marked by the change from heathenism to faith and initiation into the Christian religion. The second stage was marked by a knowledge of God that resulted in continuing repentance from sin. The third stage led to contemplation and agape love, origen also proposed his own stages of spiritual ascent beginning with conversion and ending with perfect union with God in love. Gregory of Nyssa defined human perfection as constant growth in the good, for Gregory, this was brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit and the self–discipline of the Christian. By the 4th century, the pursuit of the life of perfection was identified with asceticism, especially monasticism, in the 12th century, Bernard of Clairvaux developed the idea of the ladder of love in his treatise, On the Love of God. This ladder had four rungs or degrees, the first and lowest degree was love of self for self. The second degree was love of God for what he gives, the third degree was love of God for his own sake, it would not be difficult, according to Bernard, for those who truly loved God to keep his commandments. The fourth degree was love of self only for Gods sake, thomas Aquinas wrote of three possible levels of perfection. The first, absolute perfection, is where God is loved as much as he can be loved, the second level, where love for God fills a person constantly, is possible after death but not in life. The lowest level of perfection was thought to be possible to achieve while living, noble described Aquinass view of this level of perfection as follows, All Christians have the grace of caritas infused into them at baptism and this love for God excludes all mortal sins. Such sins are not impossible, and, if committed, require the grace of penance and that is incompatible with the state of grace
27.
Works of mercy
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Works of mercy are practices which Christians perform. The practice is common in the Catholic Church as an act of penance and charity. In addition, the Methodist church teaches that the works of mercy are a means of grace which lead to holiness, the works of mercy have been traditionally divided into two categories, each with seven elements, Corporal works of mercy which concern the material needs of others. Spiritual works of mercy which concern the spiritual needs of others, another notable devotion associated with the works of mercy is the Divine Mercy, which are reputed to be apparitions of Jesus Christ to Saint Faustina Kowalska. Based on Jesus doctrine of the sheep and the goats, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are a means of grace as good deeds and these works may require a definitely superior level of authority or knowledge or an extraordinary amount of tact. The other works of mercy, however, are considered to be an obligation of all faithful to practise unconditionally, in an address on the 2016 World Day of Prayer for Creation, Pope Francis suggested care for creation as a new work of mercy. Corporally, it means simple daily gestures of peace and love, spiritually, Corporal works of mercy are those that tend to the bodily needs of other creatures. They come from Isaiah 58 and the mitzvah of hospitality, the seventh work of mercy comes from the Book of Tobit and from the mitzvah of burial, although it was not added to the list until the Middle Ages. The works include, To feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty. To visit the imprisoned, or ransom the captive, just as the corporal works of mercy are directed towards relieving corporeal suffering, the aim of the spiritual works of mercy is to relieve spiritual suffering. The works include, To instruct the ignorant, to bear patiently those who wrong us. To pray for the living and the dead, in Methodist teaching, doing merciful acts is a prudential means of grace. Along with works of piety, they are necessary for the believer to move on to Christian perfection, in this sense, the Methodist concern for people at the margins is closely related to its worship. As such, these beliefs have helped create the emphasis of the gospel in the Methodist Church
28.
Charles Wesley
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Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, most widely known for writing more than 6,000 hymns. Wesley was educated at Oxford, where his brothers had also studied, John Wesley later joined this group, as did George Whitefield. Charles followed his father and brother into the church in 1735, in 1749, he married Sarah Gwynne, daughter of a Welsh gentleman who had been converted to Methodism by Howell Harris. She accompanied the brothers on their journeys throughout Britain, until Charles ceased to travel in 1765. Despite their closeness, Charles and John did not always agree on questions relating to their beliefs, in particular, Charles was strongly opposed to the idea of a breach with the Church of England into which they had been ordained. Charles Wesley was the child of Susanna Wesley and Samuel Wesley. He was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, where his father was rector and he was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was ordained. At Oxford, Charles formed a group among his fellow students in 1727, his elder brother, John, joined in 1729, soon becoming its leader. They focused on studying the Bible and living a holy life, other students mocked them, saying they were the Holy Club, Sacramentarians, and the Methodists, being methodical and exceptionally detailed in their Bible study, opinions and disciplined lifestyle. After graduating with a degree in classical languages and literature. On 14 October 1735, Charles and his brother John sailed on The Simmonds from Gravesend, Kent for Savannah in Georgia Colony in British America at the request of the governor, matters did not turn out well, and he was largely rejected by the settlers. In July 1736, Charles was commissioned to England as the bearer of dispatches to the trustees of the colony, on 16 August 1736, he sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, never to return to the Georgia colony. Charles Wesley experienced a conversion on 21 May 1738 — John Wesley had an experience in Aldersgate Street just three days later. It reads, Adjoining this site stood the house of John Bray, scene of Charles Wesleys conversion by faith in Christ on May 21st 1738. Wesley felt renewed strength to spread the Gospel to ordinary people and it was not until 1739 that the brothers took to field preaching, under the influence of George Whitefield, whose open-air preaching was already reaching great numbers of Bristol colliers. After ceasing field preaching and frequent travel due to illness in 1765, Wesley settled and worked in the area around St Marylebone Parish Church. On his deathbed he sent for the rector, John Harley, and told him Sir, whatever the world may say of me, I have lived, and I die. I pray you to me in your churchyard
29.
George Whitefield
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George Whitefield, also spelled George Whitfield, was an English Anglican cleric who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at the University of Oxford in 1732, there he joined the Holy Club and was introduced to the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, who he would work closely with in his later ministry. Whitefield was ordained after receiving his BA and he immediately began preaching, but he did not settle as the minister of any parish. Rather he became an itinerant preacher and evangelist, in 1740, Whitefield traveled to America, where he preached a series of revivals that came to be known as the Great Awakening. His methods were controversial and he engaged in debates and disputes with other clergymen. Whitefield received widespread recognition during his ministry, he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million listeners in Great Britain, Whitefield could enthrall large audiences through a potent combination of drama, religious rhetoric, and imperial pride. Whitefield was born on 27 December 1714 at the Bell Inn, Southgate Street, Whitefield was the fifth son of Thomas Whitefield and Elizabeth Edwards who kept an inn at Gloucester. He was educated at the Crypt School, Gloucester, and Pembroke College, because business at the inn had become poor, Whitefield did not have the means to pay for his tuition. He was a part of the Holy Club at the University with the Wesley brothers, John, an illness, as well as Henry Scougals The Life of God in the Soul of Man, influenced him to turn to the Church. Following a religious conversion, he became passionate for preaching his new-found faith, the Bishop of Gloucester ordained him a deacon. Whitefield preached his first sermon at St Mary de Crypt Church in his town of Gloucester. He had earlier become the leader of the Holy Club at Oxford when the Wesley brothers departed for Georgia, in 1738 he went to Savannah, Georgia, in the American colonies, as parish priest. While there he decided that one of the needs of the area was an orphan house. He decided this would be his lifes work and he returned to England to raise funds, as well as to receive priests orders. While preparing for his return, he preached to large congregations, at the suggestion of friends he preached to the miners of Kingswood, outside Bristol, in the open air. Because he was returning to Georgia he invited John Wesley to take over his Bristol congregations, Whitefield accepted the Church of Englands doctrine of predestination and disagreed with the Wesley brothers views on the doctrine of the atonement, Arminianism. As a result, Whitefield did what his friends hoped he would not do—hand over the ministry to John Wesley. Whitefield formed and was the president of the first Methodist conference, the society meeting at the second Kingswood School at Kingswood, a town on the eastern edge of Bristol, was eventually also named Whitefields Tabernacle
30.
Richard Allen (bishop)
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Richard Allen was a minister, educator, writer, and one of Americas most active and influential black leaders. In 1794 he founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the United States and he opened his first AME church in 1794 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked to upgrade the status of the black community, organizing Sabbath schools to teach literacy. Richard Allen was born into slavery on February 14,1760, when he was a child Allen and his family were sold to Stokeley Sturgis, who had a plantation in Delaware. When Sturgis had financial problems he sold Richards mother and three of his five siblings, Allen had an older brother and sister left with him and the three began to attend meetings of the local Methodist Society, which was welcoming to slaves and free blacks. They were encouraged by their master Sturgis, although he was unconverted, Richard taught himself to read and write. He joined the Methodists at age 17 and he began evangelizing and attracted criticism from local slave owners. Allen and his brother redoubled their efforts for Sturgis so no one could say his slaves did not do well because of religion, the Reverend Freeborn Garrettson, who had freed his own slaves in 1775, began to preach in Delaware. He was among many Methodist and Baptist ministers after the American Revolutionary War who encouraged slaveholders to emancipate their people, when Garrettson visited the Sturgis plantation to preach, Allens master was touched by this declaration and began to give consideration to the thought that holding slaves was sinful. Sturgis was soon convinced that slavery was wrong and offered his slaves an opportunity to buy their freedom, Allen performed extra work to earn the money and bought his freedom in 1780, after which he changed his name from Negro Richard to Richard Allen. Allens first wife was named Flora and they were married on October 19,1790. She worked very closely with him during the years of establishing the church from 1787 to 1799. They attended church school and worked together purchasing land, which was donated to the church or rented out to families. Flora Allen died on March 11,1801, after a long illness, scholars do not know if they had any children. After moving to Philadelphia, Allen married Sarah Bass, a slave from Virginia. She had moved to Philadelphia as a child and the couple met around 1800, Richard and Sarah Allen had six children. Sarah Allen was highly active in what became the AME Church and is called the Founding Mother, Allen was qualified as a preacher in 1784 at the Christmas Conference, the founding of the Methodist Church in North America at Baltimore, Maryland. He was one of the two black attendees of the conference along with Harry Hosier, but neither were permitted a vote during deliberations, Allen was subsequently allowed to lead services at 5 AM, which were attended mostly by blacks
31.
Francis Asbury
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Francis Asbury was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. Asbury spread Methodism in America, as part of the Second Great Awakening and he also founded several schools during his lifetime, although his own formal education was limited. His journal is valuable to scholars for its account of frontier society, Francis Asbury was born at Hamstead Bridge, Staffordshire, England on August 20 or 21,1745, to Elizabeth and Joseph Asbury. The family moved to a cottage at Great Barr, Sandwell and his boyhood home still stands and is open as Bishop Asbury Cottage museum. Wanting him to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, his mother read the Bible to him, sang him hymns, Asbury worshipped as a Methodist at nearby Wednesbury. He had an apprenticeship as a blacksmith, Asbury became a local lay preacher for Methodist meetings at age 18. At age 22, John Wesley appointed him as a traveling preacher, in 1771 he volunteered to travel to America. Within the first 17 days of being in the colonies, Asbury had preached in Philadelphia, during the first year he was Wesley’s assistant and preached in 25 different settlements. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, he, in 1780, he met the freedman Henry Black Harry Hosier, a meeting Asbury considered providentially arranged. Hosier served as his driver and guide and, though illiterate and he eventually became a famous preacher in his own right, the first African American to preach directly to a white congregation in the United States. In 1784, John Wesley named Asbury and Thomas Coke as co-superintendents of the work in America, the Christmas Conference that year marked the beginning of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. It was during this Conference that Asbury was ordained by Coke, for the next 32 years, Asbury led all the Methodists in America. However, his leadership did not go unchallenged and his idea for a ruling council was opposed by such notables as William McKendree, Jesse Lee, and James OKelly. Eventually a General Conference to which delegates could be sent was established on the advice of Coke in 1792, like Wesley, Asbury preached in myriad places, courthouses, public houses, tobacco houses, fields, public squares, wherever a crowd assembled to hear him. For the remainder of his life he rode an average of 6,000 miles each year, preaching virtually every day and conducting meetings, under his direction, the church grew from 1,200 to 214,000 members and 700 ordained preachers. Among the men he ordained was Richard Allen in Philadelphia, the first black minister in the United States, in the fall of 1800, Asbury attended one of the events of the Revival of 1800 as he travelled from Kentucky into Tennessee. The experience, recorded in his journal, illustrates an early identity between religious revivalism and what would become a staple of nineteenth-century Methodism, the camp meeting. In 1813, Asbury wrote his will and this was a time when “the greatest membership gain in the history of the church” was achieved
32.
Thomas Coke (bishop)
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Thomas Coke was the first Methodist bishop and is known as the Father of Methodist Missions. Born in Brecon, South Wales, his father, Barthomolew, was a well-to-do apothecary, on returning to Brecon he served as mayor in 1772. In the same year as his mayoralty he was ordained in the Church of England and he had already allied himself with the Methodist movement, and this made for trouble when a new rector arrived in the parish. Coke had begun to hold services and open services of the sort promoted by John Wesley. He was dismissed from his post on Easter Sunday 1777, and his parishioners celebrated at the rectors behest by ringing the church bells and he returned to Petherton in 1807 and preached to a crowd of 2,000. He met John Wesley in August 1776, becoming one of his closest assistants, Wesley called Coke the flea because he seemed always to be hopping around on his missions. He was appointed Superintendent of the London District in 1780 and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland in 1782 - a function he was to many times in the coming decades. Following the American Revolution, most of the Anglican clergy who had been in America came back to England, Wesley asked the Bishop of London to ordain some ministers for the New World, but he declined. At this point Wesley still considered only a consecrated bishop capable of conferring Holy Orders. However, in September 1784, in Bristol, Wesley consecrated Coke as Superintendent, since Coke was already a priest or presbyter in the Church of England, some interpret this consecration as the equivalent of episcopal consecration. Wesleys action took two months before the consecration in Aberdeen of Samuel Seabury as bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA. Coke set sail for New York, during the voyage he read Augustines Confessions, Virgils Georgics, biographies of Francis Xavier and David Brainerd, Coke returned to England in June 1785 and made eight further visits to America, his final visit being in 1803. While in America he spoke out against slavery and wrote a letter on the subject to George Washington, Washington met Coke twice and even invited him to preach before Congress. After spending some months travelling throughout Great Britain and Ireland, Coke made his first mission to the West Indies in 1786, making further visits in 1788-89,1790, and 1792-93. Following Wesleys death in 1791 Coke became Secretary to the British Conference and he was President of the Conference in 1797 and 1805, on both occasions trying to persuade the Conference to confer on him the official title of Bishop. In the same year he went to Paris and preached in French and he established a mission in Gibraltar in 1803 and then spent five years travelling in the cause of Methodist missions, including visiting Sierra Leone. He promoted others in setting up missions in Canada and Scotland, on 1 April 1805, at the age of 58, Coke married Penelope Goulding Smith, a wealthy woman who happily spent her personal fortune furthering the missions. She travelled with him until her death on 25 January 1811 and that same year in December he married for a second time, to Anne Loxdale, and his wife died the following year,5 December 1812
33.
John William Fletcher
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John William Fletcher, English divine, was born at Nyon in Switzerland, his original name being de la Fléchère. Fletcher was a contemporary of John Wesley, a key interpreter of Wesleyan theology in the 18th century, of French Huguenot stock, his given name was actually Jean Guillaume de la Fléchère. Fletcher was renowned in the Britain of his day for his piety and generosity and he was educated at Geneva, but, preferring an army career to a clerical one, went to Lisbon and enlisted. An accident prevented his sailing with his regiment to Brazil, and after a visit to Flanders and he had harbored a secret desire to travel to England, and had studied the English language prior to his arrival in London. In the autumn of 1751 he became tutor to the sons of Thomas and Susanna Hill, a wealthy Shropshire family, who spent part of the year in London. On one of the stays in London, Fletcher first heard of the Methodists and became personally acquainted with John and Charles Wesley, as well as his future wife. In addition to performing the duties of his curacy, he preached with John Wesley. As a preacher in his own right, but also as one of Wesleys coadjutors, indeed, much of Fletchers controversial theological writings claimed their foundation was the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Homilies of the Church of England. John Wesley had chosen Fletcher to lead the Methodist movement upon Wesleys passing, in 1781, Fletcher returned from the Continent where he had been convalescing from a severe respiratory disorder. Mr. Fletcher and Miss Bosanquet carried on a correspondence during the summer of 1781 and they were married at Batley Church in Yorkshire on 12 November 1781. Fletcher exchanged pulpits with the vicar of Bradford, John Crosse. They returned to Madeley together on 2 January 1782 and their marriage was to be short-lived, for Fletcher died less than four years later, on 14 August 1785. After his death, Mary Fletcher was allowed to continue living in the vicarage by the new vicar, Henry Burton and this she did for the next thirty years. She died in the parish and was buried in the grave as her husband in December 1815. In theology he upheld the Arminian doctrines of free will, universal redemption and general atonement, against the Calvinist doctrines of unconditional election and his Arminian theology is most clearly outlined in his famous Checks to Antinomianism. He attempted to confront his theological adversaries with courtesy and fairness and his resignation on doctrinal grounds of the superintendency of the countess of Huntingdons college at Trevecca left no unpleasantness. Fletcher was characterized by saintly piety, rare devotion, and blamelessness of life, and he characterized him as the holiest man he had ever met, or ever expected to meet this side of eternity. Southey said that no age ever provided a man of more fervent piety or more perfect charity, and no church ever possessed a more apostolic minister
34.
Albert Outler
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Albert Cook Outler was a 20th-century American Methodist theologian and philosopher. Outler is generally considered to be one of the most important Wesley scholars in the history of the Church as well as the first real United Methodist theologian and he was also a key figure in the 20th century ecumenical movement. Outler was born and raised in Georgia and was an ordained Methodist Elder who served in several appointments. He was a delegate to Consultation on Church Union, served on the Faith & Order board of the World Council of Churches and was an observer at the Second Vatican Council. This understanding of Wesleyan theology is prevalent throughout Methodism, particularly in The United Methodist Church, using this model, Outler was a key figure in organizing the theological statement put forth by The United Methodist Church after its formation in 1968. With his many references to the early Church, Outlers work has proven very influential to those in the movement and contemporary evangelicalism. Albert Outler wrote and edited a great many works, many of his writings have been collected in the Albert Outler Library series by Bristol House publishers. Albert Outler, The Churchman Albert C, Outler, The Gifted Dilettante by Bob W. Outler Ordeal of a Happy Dilettante by Albert C. Outler Works by Albert Outler at LibriVox
35.
James Varick
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James Varick was the first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. James Varick was born near Newburgh, New York, on January 10,1750 and his mother was possibly a slave of the Varicks, or Van Varicks. His father, Richard Varick, was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the family lived in New York City while James Varick was young, where he acquired an elementary education in New York schools. For many years, he worked as a shoemaker and later as a cutter to support himself and his family. About 1790, he married Aurelia Jones, the couple had four sons and three daughters. The important events in Varicks life were associated with his religious avocation, Varick joined the John Street Methodist Church in New York City at an early date, possibly in 1766, the year after the church held its first meeting. As early as 1780, black members of the John Street Church were holding separate class, in 1796, Varick was among those black leaders who established separate meetings on a firmer footing. The group met for prayer on Sunday afternoons and heard preachers and exhorters on Wednesday evenings in a house in Cross Street, in 1799, the group decided to erect a building and form a separate church. They dedicated the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a building at the corner of Church and Leonard Streets. The name of the church, Zion, was officially added to the denominations name in 1848. In March 1801 the church was incorporated under New York law. This incorporation placed the church and its property firmly under the control of the trustees, who were required to be of African descent. It acquired a ground in 1807 and laid plans to buy the lots it had leased, along with another adjacent one. After the Allenites were rebuffed by Zion, they organized their own New York church on Mott Street, not all Zion members were estranged from the Allenites. Varick opened a meeting for Allen during the Mott Street dedication ceremonies, further negotiations between the denominations failed, creating ongoing bitterness to both. After this, Varick reappeared in a role in the Zion church. In Rushs account, the trustees met at Varicks house in July 1820 and decided to pursue the ordination of black ministers, Varick must have been coming to the fore in church affairs earlier than this, but his name does not appear on early documents. A general meeting of the church on August 11,1820 resulted in two decisions, a refusal to join Allen and a refusal to return to white control, the problem of elders for the separate church now became crucial
36.
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon
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She played a major role in financing and guiding early Methodism. Selina was the first female principal of a college in Wales. She financed the building of 64 chapels in England and Wales, wrote often to George Whitfield and John Wesley and she is best remembered for her adversarial relationships with other Methodists who objected to a woman having power. Selina Hastings was born Lady Selina Shirley, the daughter of Washington Shirley, 2nd Earl Ferrers and Mary Levinge, at Staunton Harold. She married Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon on 3 June 1728 and she gave birth to seven children in the first ten years of the marriage, and suffered some poor health. In 1739, Lady Huntington joined the first Methodist society in Fetter Lane, some time after the death of her husband in 1746, she threw in her lot with John Wesley and George Whitefield in the work of the great revival. In the earlier part of her life Isaac Watts, Mary, Lady Abney, Philip Doddridge, Lady Anne Erskine, was her closest friend and companion for many years in the latter part of Lady Huntingdons life. She held large parties at which Whitefield preached to the gathered dignitaries after they had eaten. She partly funded the independent Surrey Chapel of Rowland Hill and she appointed ministers to officiate in them, under the impression that as a peeress she had a right to employ as many chaplains as she pleased. In her chapel at Bath there was a curtained recess dubbed Nicodemus Corner where bishops sat incognito to hear services. Following the expulsion of six Methodist students from St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1768 the Countess founded a training college at Trefeca near Talgarth, in Mid Wales. George Whitefield preached at the opening ceremony, the college moved to Hertfordshire in 1792, and was renamed Cheshunt College. It moved to Cambridge in 1906, the college merged with Westminster College, part of Cambridge University and the training college of the Presbyterian Church of England, in 1967. The Presbyterian Church of Wales college at Trevecca is approximately 400m south of the Countesss college and it is said that Lady Huntingdon expended £100,000 in the cause of religion. During the mid-1760s, she met and befriended Mohegan preacher Samson Occom and she also sent missionaries to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to attend to the Black Loyalists. Until her death in London, Lady Huntingdon exercised an active, on the Countesss death in 1791, the 64 chapels and the college were bequeathed to four trustees. Amongst them were Dr Ford, and Lady Ann who was requested to occupy and reside in Lady Huntingdons house, adjoining Spa Fields Chapel, and carry on all needful correspondence and she did this on dutifully until her own death in 1804, and burial at Bunhill Fields. He made every effort to ensure the Connexion kept as close to the Church of England as was possible, many chapels became part of the Free Church of England in 1863
37.
Richard Watson (Methodist)
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Richard Watson was a British Methodist theologian who was one of the most important figures in 19th century Methodism. In Britain, he was an opponent of slavery. Watson was a writer and theologian. In 1818 he wrote a reply to Adam Clarkes doctrine of the eternal Sonship of Christ, Watson believed that Clarkes views were unorthodox and, therefore, in 1823 he began to publish his Theological Institutes, which remained a standard for many years. It was the first attempt to systematize John Wesleys theology and, by extension, in 1831, he wrote a well-regarded life of John Wesley. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Watson. Theological Institutes by Richard Watson Sermon, The New Birth by Richard Watson Practical Divinity, Theology in the Wesleyan Tradition by Thomas A. Langford Biographical sketch
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Methodist Church of Great Britain
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The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in Britain and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, the World Council of Churches, in July 2014 the church had approximately 202,000 members in 4,650 congregations, and 575,000 adherents in total. Methodism began primarily through the work of John Wesley, who led a revival in 18th century Britain. His preaching centred upon the universality of Gods grace for all, the effect of faith on character and he organised the new converts locally and in a Connexion across Britain. In the 19th century, the Wesleyan Methodist Church experienced many secessions, the main streams of Methodism were reunited in 1932, forming the Methodist Church as it is today. Methodist circuits, containing several local churches, are gathered into thirty-one districts, the movement which would become the Methodist Church began in the mid-18th century within the Church of England. A small group of students, including John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield and they focused on methodical study of the Bible and living a holy life. Other students mocked them, saying they were the Holy Club, the first Methodist movement outside the Church of England was associated with Howell Harris in Wales. This was to become the Calvinistic Methodist Church, another branch of the Methodist revival was under the ministry of George Whitefield, resulting in the Countess of Huntingdons Connexion. The largest branch of Methodism in England was organised by John Wesley and he took to open-air preaching to recruit followers to his movement. He formed small classes in which his followers would receive religious guidance, most importantly, Wesley appointed itinerant evangelists to travel and preach as he did and to care for these groups of people. It is a tribute to Wesleys powers of oratory and organisational skills that the term Methodism is today assumed to mean Wesleyan Methodism unless otherwise stated, Methodist preachers were famous for their enthusiastic sermons and often accused of fanaticism. Theophilus Evans, a critic of the movement, even wrote that it was the natural Tendency of their Behaviour, in Voice and Gesture and horrid Expressions. In one of his prints, William Hogarth likewise attacked Methodists as enthusiasts full of Credulity, Superstition, other attacks against the Methodists were physically violent—Wesley was nearly murdered by a mob at Wednesbury in 1743. The Methodists responded vigorously to their critics and thrived despite the attacks against them, as Wesley and his colleagues preached around the country they formed local societies, authorised and organised through Wesleys leadership and conferences of preachers. Wesley insisted that Methodists regularly attend their local church as well as Methodist meetings. In 1784, Wesley made provision for the governance of Methodism after his death through the Yearly Conference of the People called Methodists and he nominated 100 people and declared them to be its members and laid down the method by which their successors were to be appointed. The Conference has remained the governing body of Methodism ever since, as his societies multiplied, and elements of an ecclesiastical system were successively adopted, the breach between Wesley and the Church of England gradually widened
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Free Methodist Church
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The Free Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has its roots in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition, the Free Methodist Church has 77,000 members in the United States and 850,000 members worldwide in 82 nations. The Light & Life Magazine is their official publication, the Free Methodist Church World Ministries Center is in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Free Methodist Church was organized at Pekin, New York, under the leadership of the Rev. Benjamin Titus Roberts, a graduate of Wesleyan University and an able and eloquent preacher, the movement spread rapidly. Societies were organized, churches built and the work established, before the founding of the church, Roberts began publication of a monthly journal, The Earnest Christian. In 1868, The Free Methodist was begun, a publishing house was established in 1886 to produce books, periodicals and Sunday school curriculum and literature. The name Methodist was retained for the organized church because the founders felt that their misfortunes had come to them because of their adherence to doctrines. However, according to World Book Encyclopedia, the principle was freedom from secret. Free Methodist headquarters were located in Winona Lake, Indiana, until 1990 when the denomination moved its headquarters to Indianapolis, the church has about 77,000 members in the United States and an average attendance of 107,000 at its Sunday services. Worldwide its membership is over 800,000 with large segments of membership in the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, many question the difference between the United Methodist Church and the Free Methodist Church. Both denominations share a common heritage linked to the Methodist revival in England during the 18th century, there is very little difference in doctrine. There are more differences in practice and polity, the tolerance of the United Methodist Church for allegorical hermeneutics has caused it to be generally thought of as liberal whereas the Free Methodist Church is usually considered conservative. As concerns worship style, the Free Methodist Church is less ceremonial than the United Methodist Church and is likely to follow even a modified liturgical format during worship. While some clergy in the Free Methodist Church wear the pulpit robe, the first general superintendent, B. T. Roberts, was in favor of ordaining women, but never saw it take place in his lifetime. Out of his own conviction he wrote Ordaining Women, Biblical and Historical Insights, the impact of his writings eventually prevailed in the church. The Free Methodist Church affirmed the ordination of women in 1911, as of June 2008, out of 2,011 ordained clergy,216 were women. Twenty-six percent of all candidates are women. Free Methodists recognize and license unordained persons for particular ministries and they mandate lay representation in numbers equal to clergy in the councils of the church
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United Methodist Church
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The United Methodist Church is a mainline Protestant denomination, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor—the Methodist Church—was a leader in Evangelicalism and it was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, United States, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the movement of John. As such, the theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces both liturgical and evangelical elements and it has a connectional polity, a typical feature of a number of Methodist denominations. The United Methodist Church, with at least 12 million members as of 2014, is the largest denomination within the wider Methodist movement of approximately 80 million people across the world. In the United States, the UMC ranks as the largest mainline Protestant denomination, the largest Protestant church after the Southern Baptist Convention, and the third largest Christian denomination. In 2014, its membership was distributed as follows,7.2 million in the United States. It is a member of the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, the movement which would become The United Methodist Church began in the mid-18th century within the Church of England. A small group of students, including John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield and they focused on Bible study, methodical study of scripture and living a holy life. Other students mocked them, saying they were the Holy Club, eventually, the so-called Methodists started individual societies or classes for members of the Church of England who wanted to live a more religious life. In 1735, John and Charles Wesley went to America, hoping to teach the gospel to the American Indians in the colony of Georgia, instead, John became vicar of the church in Savannah. His preaching was very legalistic and full of rules. After two years in America, he returned to England dejected and confused, Peter believed a person is saved solely through the grace of God and not by works, and John had many conversations with Peter about this topic. On May 25,1738, after listening to a reading of Martin Luthers preface to Romans, John finally understood that his works could not save him. For the first time in his life, he felt complete peace, in less than two years, the Holy Club disbanded. John Wesley met with a group of clergy, the ministers retained their membership in the Church of England. Though not always emphasized or appreciated in the Anglican churches of their day, their teaching emphasized salvation by Gods grace, three teachings they saw as the foundation of Christian faith were, People are all by nature dead in sin and consequently, children of wrath
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World Methodist Council
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The World Methodist Council, founded in 1881, is a consultative body and association of churches in the Methodist tradition. It comprises 80 member denominations in 133 countries which together represent about 80.5 million people, the highest organ of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Conference meeting every five years. The last conference, gathering under the theme Jesus Christ - for the Healing of the Nations, was held in August 2011 in Durban, South Africa. On 24 July 2006, Sunday Mbang stepped down as chairperson of the council, in 2006, it formally approved the historical Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The World Methodist Council has offices in, Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee, New York City, current officers are, General Secretary, Bishop Ivan M. Abrahams President, Bishop Paulo Lockmann Vice-President, Gillian Kingston Treasurer, Kirby Hickey Jr. It is also working towards a dialogue with the Orthodox Church, Education is concerned with education in churches and with Methodist educational institutions. It has organized an international Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, the association links representatives from over 700 Methodist related schools and colleges all over the world. It has worked out the World Methodist Social Affirmation which was approved in 1986 and is part of the literature of several Methodist denominations, theological Education focuses on training for ministry based on basic Christian beliefs and distinctive emphases from the Wesleyan tradition. The World Methodist Peace Award is the highest honor bestowed by Methodists around the world, since 1977, it is given annually by the World Methodist Council. This award is given to individuals or groups who have significant contributions to peace, reconciliation and justice, considering courage, creativity. One ministry of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Evangelism Institute in Atlanta and it is an educational institution committed to the task of world evangelization and connected to a major university, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
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Holiness movement
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The movement is defined by its emphasis on John Wesleys doctrine of a second work of grace leading to Christian perfection. As of 2015 Holiness-movement churches had an estimated 12 million adherents, though it became a multi-denominational movement over time and was furthered by the Second Great Awakening which energized churches of all stripes, the Holiness movement has its roots in Wesleyanism. The Methodists of the 19th century continued the interest in Christian holiness that had started by their founder. They continued to publish Wesleys works and tracts, including his famous A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, in 1835, Palmers sister, Sarah A. Lankford, started holding Tuesday Meetings for the Promotion of Holiness in her New York City home. In 1837, Palmer experienced what she called entire sanctification and had become the leader of the Tuesday Meetings by 1839, at first only women attended these meetings, but eventually Methodist bishops and hundreds of clergy and laymen began to attend as well. At the same time, Methodist minister Timothy Merritt of Boston founded a journal called the Guide to Christian Perfection and this was the first American periodical dedicated exclusively to promoting the Wesleyan message of Christian holiness. In 1865, the Palmers purchased The Guide which at its peak had a circulation of 30,000, at the Tuesday Meetings, Methodists soon enjoyed fellowship with Christians of different denominations, including the Congregationalist Thomas Upham. Other non-Methodists also contributed to the Holiness movement in the U. S. in 1836, Mahan experienced what he called a baptism with the Holy Spirit. Mahan believed that experience had cleansed him from the desire. Finney believed that experience might provide a solution to a problem he observed during his evangelistic revivals. Some people claimed to experience conversion but then slipped back into their old ways of living, finney believed that the filling with the Holy Spirit could help these converts to continue steadfast in their Christian life. This phase of the Holiness movement is referred to as the Oberlin-Holiness revival. Hannah Whitall Smith, an English Quaker, experienced a personal conversion. Sometime in the 1860s, she found what she called the secret of the Christian life—devoting ones life wholly to God and her husband, Robert Pearsall Smith, had a similar experience at the camp meeting in 1867. The couple became figureheads in the now-famous Keswick Convention, which rise to what is often called the Keswick-Holiness revival. Also representative was the revivalism of Rev. James Caughey, an American missionary sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to work in Ontario and he brought in the converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851–53. Phoebe Palmers ministry complemented Caugheys revivals in Ontario circa 1857, at least two major Wesleyan denominations broke away from Methodism during this period. In 1843 Orange Scott organized the Wesleyan Methodist Connection at Utica, roberts and John Wesley Redfield founded the Free Methodist Church on the ideals of slavery abolition, egalitarianism, and second-blessing holiness
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