70). The emphasis that Wesley placed on Christians having a conscience set a standard and a tone for what Methodists would do many decades later in the United States. Some may argue that prominent Methodists taking positions on social issues (like terrible workers' conditions in factories; the slaughter of Native Americans; etc.) was out of the purview of a Christian organization, nonetheless "human morality" was on the line for Methodists many times, including 1894 in Chicago when the Pullman workers went on strike.
Taking a page out of Wesley's book, Rev. William H. Carwardine of the Methodist church showed the conscience of a true Christian and "…came to the defence of the rights of the workers"
(Norwood, 1974, p. 344). Carwardine's sermon "made the front pages of the Chicago papers" and was reported nationwide, Norwood explains (p. 344). But because Carwardine had the moral courage to challenge the conscience of the nation on workers' rights -- even in the face of "vicious" attitudes in the press (including the Methodist press) -- the country began to face up to "the unanticipated, but unavoidable, problems of the Industrial Revolution" (Norwood, p. 344). And eventually the Methodists adopted their "Social Creed" in a general conference "which incorporated all the principles" that the Pullman workers were fighting for in 1894. Hence, the Methodists made a contribution to the Christian movement in the U.S. By standing up for what they believe the true Christian principles should be, including justice and fairness.
When it came to justice for Native Americans, the Methodist Episcopal newspaper, Western Christian Advocate (1876) denounced any "war of extermination" prior to the disastrous events at Wounded Knee, and indeed the Methodist publication advocated dealing " honestly and fairly with the Indian" (Norwood, p. 346).
On the topic of Methodist polity, there are two important contributions Methodists have made to the Christian community: "connectionalism" and "itinerancy." As for connectionalism, John Wesley was a pathfinder in reaching out and connecting with people, even administering the Sacrament to "the unecclesiastical setting of Kingswood" (the desperately poor neighborhood) (Heitzenrater,...
Wesley comes and underlines this fact by connecting the humanly actions, registered by the good deeds and the honest and austere way of life, with the state of perfect. Thus, the Christian becomes perfect when he has attained the complete love for God. This is due, in his belief, to the absolution of sins and thus returns to the original state at birth. This final aspect is significant particularly because
For those who have achieved or been granted certain comforts, I would impress upon the congregation, such fortune has been accompanied by God's desire to see that this good fortune is shared. I would use my role in the Church to find ways to engage with poorer communities outside of our own, to create and empower an internal volunteer corps through which congregants can reach these communities and to establish
67). Of all of the events that chronicled in the book, the fire stands out as the most poignant force that helped to shape John Wesley's life. After this, Wesley developed the idea that god had saved him because he had a purpose for his life. Thinking all was lost, Wesley's father knelt in prayer when John was rescued just before the building collapsed (Collins, p. 14). Samuel Wesley prayed
It is never something we are meant to earn; it is a gift from God. Faith is necessary as a condition of justification by faith, and salvation is for the penalty and the plague of sin (Maddox 144). Maddox writes that argues that Wesley's view of salvation is best expressed as a via salutis, a way to salvation" rather than a more reformed or scholastic expression of ordo salutis, a
John Wesley's understanding of the via salutis, identifying each component. Does John Wesley successfully maintain his emphasis both on God's goodness and on humanity's responsibility throughout this entire process? The term "via salutis" translates into the "path of salvation." In the view of John Wesley, the path of salvation consisted of two distinct components, that of justification and sanctification (Wesley, 1980, p.271). Justification was an act of God's forgiveness and
Section A 1. Each edition of The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church since 1972 has contained the formulation that has come to be widely known as the “Wesleyan [or Methodist] Quadrilateral”— the claim that “the living core of the Christian faith is revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason.” At the conclusion of their “conference” about the Quadrilateral, published as
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