Pentecostal sanctification in wesley and early methodism

Pneuma

Volumn 21, Issue 1-2, 1999, Pages 251-287

  Wood, Laurence W ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 77955448843     PISSN: 02720965     EISSN: 15700747     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/157007499X00170     Document Type: Article

References (102)

1. In a letter to Charles Wesley (4 July 1774), contained in the Fletcher archival collection in The John Ryland Library of Manchester University. Cf. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 2nd ed. (London, England: John Mason, 1838), 166.
2. Minutes of the Methodist Conferences, 95.
3. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 145.
4. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 145.
5. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 144.
6. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 146.
7. Tyerman, Wesley's Designated Successor (London, England: Hodder and Stoughton, 1882), 171.
8. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 150.
9. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 152.
10. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 153.
11. Published for the first time in Tyerman, Wesley's Designated Successor, 182-183.
12. Posshumous Pieces of The Reverend John William de la Flechere, ed. Melville Home (Philadelphia, PA: Parry Hall, 1793), 100-101.
13. Cited in The Arminian Magazine 18 (May 1795): 258, "Mr. Fletcher's Letters (to Miss Hatton, August 8, 1765)."
14. Ibid. Cf. Fletcher, Works 1:453n, where Fletcher admits that he had not yet developed his doctrine of dispensations during the early years of his ministry. John Wesley, The Methodist Societies: History, Nature, and Design, ed. Rupert E. Davies, 9:64-65, "The Principles of a Methodist"
15. John Fletcher: "The Doctrine of the New Birth, as it is stated in these sheets, is directly or indirectly maintained by the most spiritual divines, especially in their sacred poems." An unpublished essay written in late 1775 or early 1776 by John Fletcher in his own handwriting, circulated among Fletcher's friends (especially Mary Bosanquet and Thomas Coke), and overlooked by subsequent historians (including Luke Tyerman and J. F. Hurst), which I discovered in a box of miscellaneous materials written by Fletcher. These materials are contained in the Fletcher archival collection as part of the Methodist Archives in the John Rylands Library of Manchester University, England. Several of these manuscripts are to be published in The Asbury Theological Journal (spring 1998) by permission of the John Rylands Library and the British Methodist Archives Committee.
16. Cf. Fletcher's letter to the Countess, published in Tyerman, Wesley's Designated Successor, 182.
17. Cf. Wesley's special edition of Fletcher, An Equal Check, 156.
18. A Being Filled with the Holy Spirit (London: 1670; reprinted, Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1867).
19. Cf. Thomas Jackson, The Life of John Goodwin (London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1872), 394-398.
20. Cf. Albert Outler, The Wesleyan Theological Heritage, ed. Thomas C. Oden and Leicester R. Longen (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 123, 147.
21. Outler, John Wesley, in The Wesleyan Theological Heritage, ed. Thomas C. Oden and Leicester R. Longden (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 107-108.
22. Lady Huntington and Her Friends, compiled by Mrs. Helen C. Knight (New York, NY: The American Tract Society), 169-170.
23. Telford, Letters, 5:166 (to Joseph Benson, 26 December 1769).
24. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 153;
25. cf. Fletcher's letter to Benson, 22 March 1771, in James MacDonald, Memoirs of the Rev. Joseph Benson, 20.
26. A transcription of this fragment is in M. Robert Fraser, "Strains in the Understandings of Christian Perfection in Early British Methodism," Vanderbilt University, diss., Vanderbilt, 1988 (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1989), 490-492. Cited hereafter as Fraser's Doctoral Dissertation.
27. We know that Fletcher's ideas on this subject did undergo some development. For example, three years later he said to Benson in a letter (March 20, 1774) that his Essay on Truth had developed a more consistent understanding of the doctrine of the Pentecostal baptism. Fletcher wanted Benson to know that his ideas had undergone further refinement, and he wanted to protect Benson from his earlier mistake. He wrote: "You will see my latest views of that important subject. My apprehensions of things have not changed since I saw you last; save that in one thing I have seen my error. An over-eager attention to the doctrine of the Spirit has made me, in some degree, overlook the medium by which the Spirit works, I mean the Word of Truth [italics mine], which is the word by which the heavenly fire warms us. I rather expected lightning, than a steady fire by means of fuel. I mention my error to you, lest you should be involved therein" (Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 166).
28. A transcription in Fraser 's Doctoral Dissertation, 491.
29. A transcription in Fraser s Doctoral Dissertation, 491.
30. The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, ed. John Telford (London: The Epworth Press, 1931), 6:137 (to Elizabeth Ritchie, 17 January 1775).
31. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Albert C. Outler, 1:333, "On Sin in Believers."
32. Telford, Letters, 5:228.
33. Cf. Fraser s Doctoral Dissertation, 489.
34. Minutes of the Conference, 4:524; 5:201.
35. Fletcher noted that this particular sermon on "Scriptural Christianity," based on Acts 4:31 - "Be filled with the Spirit" - was a sermon on Christian perfection (Fletcher Works, 1:591n., "An Equal Check"
36. Cf. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Outler, 1:160, 172ff.
37. Cf. John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley. The Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion and Certain Related Open Letters, ed. Gerald R. Cragg (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1989) 11:261, "A Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion." Wesley writes: "When ye were zealous of every good word and work, and abstained from all appearance of evil; when it was hereby shown that you were filled with the Holy Ghost and delivered from all unholy tempers; when ye were all 'unblameable and unrebukeable, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such things', a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, showing forth to all Jews, infdels and heretics, by your active, patient, spotless love of God and man." Here it is evident that Wesley equates "filled with the Spirit" with sanctification described as "spotless love of God and man" and "delivered from all unholy tempers."
38. The Works of John Wesley, The Appeals, ed. Cragg, 11:253, "A Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion, Part II."
39. "Mr. Benson's Sermon," TheArminian Magazine 17 (January 1799): 14-15.
40. MacDonald, Memoirs of the Rev. Joseph Benson, 80-81.
41. Benson, "Two Sermons on the Nature and Design of the Gospel of Christ," (printed by G. Prince, Hull), 14-16
42. Joseph Benson, Two Sermons on Sanctification (Leeds, 1782), 29.
43. Joseph Benson, "Thoughts on Perfection," The Arminian Magazine 4(October 1781): 553.
44. Cf. Benson. The Life of the Rev. Vohn W. De La Flechere, 391-401.
45. In a letter of 21 May 1776, first published by Luke Tyerman, Wesley's Designated Successor, 358.
46. "Account of the Rev. J. Creighton," The Arminian Magazine 8 (January 1785): 402. He was deeply influenced by reading Fletcher. Telford, Letters 6:28 (to James Creighton, 24 May 1773).
47. Published by Tyerman, Wesley s Designated Successor, 189.
48. Cf. Tyerman, Wesley's DesignatedSuccessor, 191.
49. Benson, The Life of the Rev. John W. De La Flechere, 156.
50. A letter from John Fletcher to Charles Wesley (August 14, 1774), contained in the Fletcher archival collection in the John Rylands Library of Manchester University. Cf. The Asbury Theological Journal (spring 1998) for the full text of the letter.
51. Wesley, An Equal Check, 167 ff.
52. Wesley, An Equal Check, 167 ff.
53. The Works of the Rev. John Fletcher, 2nd American edition, 3 (New York, NY: J. C. Totten, 1809).
54. Not even James Mudge suggested such a rift between Wesley and Fletcher, even though he quoted out of context the well-known statement to Benson that all who are babes in Christ have received the Spirit. Cf. Growth in Holiness Toward Perfection or Prolressive Sanctification (New York, NY: Hunt and Eaton, 1895)) 256-257.
55. "The Preface," Arminian Magazine 4 (January 1781): v.
56. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Outler, 1:54-55, "Introduction."
57. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Outler, 3:313-314, "On Zeal."
58. Cf. Arminian Magazine 4 (September and October 1781): 463-469, 520-525.
59. J. [oseph] B. [enson], "Thoughts on Perfection," The Arminian Magazine, 4 (October 1781): 553.
60. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Outler, 3:45, "On the Church." There are two other places where Wesley used the specific phrase "baptism with the Spirit" in his sermons which have been already described above. The first reference could have been interpreted to mean that he was describing it as a reference to perfect love; in the second reference he said it was a metaphor for water baptism. It was not unusual for Wesley to use some phrases differently at times to denote different meanings. Here in the sermon "On the Church" Wesley says clearly that water baptism and baptism with the Spirit are different in meaning, as his first reference to this phrase also maintained (in 1744), as opposed to his second use of this phrase in the undated fragment (1769) noted above. This latest use of the phrase comes after Fletcher had encoded it as a phrase for Christian perfection.
61. The Arminian Magazine 6 (August 1783): 403.
62. Henry Moore, The Life of Mrs. Mary Fletcher (New York, NY: Hunt and Eaton, 188?), 398.
63. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Outler, 3:492-501, "On Faith."
64. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Outler, 2:426-427.
65. The Works of John Wesley, Sermons, ed. Outler, 2:454.
66. The Journal of Joseph Pilmore, 46.
67. Cf. Hurst, History of Methodism (New York, NY: Eaton and Mains, 1902), 3:1252.
68. See Frank Stanger, "Biographical Sketch of Joseph Pilmore," in The Diaries of Joseph Pilmore, 236
69. Wesley's many references to Coke and his dependence on Coke who travelled widely both in America and in Britain are indicated in Wesley's Journals. Cf. Warren A. Chandler, Life of Thomas Coke (Nashville, TN: Publishing House of M. E. Church, South, 1923), 3.
70. Cf. Bangs, A History of the Methodist Episcopal Church (New York, NY: G. Lane and C. B. Tippett, 1845) 1:155.
71. Cf. Tyerman, Wesley's Designated Successor, 330.
72. Hurst, History of Methodism, 938.
73. Copied from the original letter in the Wesleyan Mission House collection, Bishopsgate Street, London, by Luke Tyerman, Wesley's Designated Successor, 331.
74. Cited by John Vickers, Thomas Coke, Apostle of Methodism (London, England: Epworth Press, 1969).
75. Cf. Warren A. Candler, Life of Thomas Coke (Nashville. TN: Publishing House M.E. Church, South, 1923), 11.
76. Coke, A Commentary on the New Testament (London, England: G. Whitfield, tin '
77. Fletcher, Works, 4:385, A letter to Miss Loxdale, 22 June 1781. Fletcher explained later to her what he meant by "prophecy" according to the diary notes of Hester Ann Rogers: "To 'prophesy,' in the sense The meant, was to magnify God with the new heart of love and the new tongue of praise, as they did who on the day of Pentecost were filled with the Holy Ghost! and he insisted that believers are now called to make the same confession, seeing we may all prove the same baptismal fire." Cited in "Profession of Faith," The Guide to Christian Perfection 7 (August 1845): 91.
78. Henry Turner, "Mr. Fletcher's Preaching," Wesleyan Methodist Magazine 8 (August 1829): 528.
79. Cited by Henry Turner, "Mr. Fletcher's Preaching," The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, A Continuation of the Arminian or Methodist Magazine 8 (August 1829): 527-528.
80. Cf. Bradbum, God Shining Forth, from Between the Cherubim (Bolton: T. Garner, at the Minerva Printing Office, 1805), iv, 43.
81. Adam Clarke's autobiography, An Account of the Religious and Literarv Life of Adam Clarke (New York, NY: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), 162.
82. Cf. Richard Treffry, A Treatise on Christian Perfection (Boston, MA: McDonald, Gill, & Co., 1888), 5.
83. Cf. John Fletcher Hurst, History of Methodism 3:1325.
84. The Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review 27 (July 1835): 287-288, 296.
85. Francis Asbury, Journal 2:92 (12 June 1808).
86. Henry Boehm, Reminiscences, Historical and Biographical (New York, NY: Carlton & Porter, 1866), 151.
87. The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury in Three Volumes, ed. Elmer T. Clarke (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1958), 1:281 (24 September 1778).
88. The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, ed. Clarke, 1:440-441.
89. Hurst, History of Methodism 2:868.
90. Cf. Minutes Taken at the Several Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 83, 96.
91. Eliiah R. Sabin, Christian Perfection Displayed and the Objections Obviated: Being the Substance of Two Discourses Delivered at Warwick, Rhode Island, September 13, 1807 (Providence, RI: Jones and Wheeler, 1807), 14-15.
92. Jesse Lee, A Short History of the the Methodists, in the United States of America; Beginning in 1766, and Continued till 1809 (Baltimore, MD: Magill and Clime, 1810), 57.
93. Nathan Bangs, A Histoty of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 2:75.
94. Joseph Holdich, The Life of Willbur Fisk (New York, NY: Harper and Brothers, 1842), 72.
95. The Methodist Magazine 6 (1823): 258.
96. Memoir of Miss Eliza Higgins, The Arminian Magazine 5 (July 1822): 259.
97. Treffry, "A Sermon on Christian Perfection," The Arminian Magazine 5 (March-April 1822): 124-126.
98. Abel Stevens, Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, 350.
99. Stevens, Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, 52.
100. Mudge says Christian perfection "is always something to be accomplished in the future, never a work accomplished in the past." Cf. Mudge, Growth in Holiness Toward Perfection or Progressive Sanctification (New York, NY: Hunt and Eaton, 1895), 242.
101. John Fletcher Hurst, John Wesley the Methodist (New York, NY: The Methodist Book Concern, 1903), 204-205.
102. Memoirs of The Life and Writings of The Rev. Richard Watson, ed. Thomas Jackson (New York, NY: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1836), 470.