John Wesley Beliefs And Beliefs

John Wesley is a man who is essential to the birth of Methodism. He may be a man standing at the beginning of the Methodist movement and theology. I believe that the trigger to have established Methodist movement, Methodist church, and United Methodist church in earnest is that John Wesley was convinced the assurance of salvation at Aldersgate experience.
It will, therefore, be one of the most important moments in the history of Methodism, especially in the formation of early British Methodism. Wesley's experience of Aldersgate was not suddenly occurred but encountered situations where he encountered the presence of God over the foundation of his faith, which Wesley had learned and experienced, which made him realize the present state
of his faith. I believe that this was God's guidance that showed beyond the tradition of seeking salvation that the way of salvation can begin only by God’s grace first, not by human beings’ attempt. Therefore, through this paper, I will first explore the background of Wesley's tradition of theology, the spiritual experience in Georgia, which led him to the pursuit of assurance of salvation by faith, and those who inspired Wesley.

Wesley's family It is clear to Wesley that his family gave him many religious and theological inspirations.
The manner in which his father Samuel and his mother Susanna nurtured John and his siblings had played a significant role in Wesley's pursuit of a godly life in accordance with the traditions of the Church of England.
In fact, his parents’ religious background was originally not from the church of England. According to Barrie W. Tabraham, “Both the Wesley’s grandfathers were Dissenting ministers, one of them being imprisoned on more than one occasion for his opposition to the Act of Uniformity.” In spite of such backgrounds, Samuel Wesley and Susan Wesley converted from Puritanism to the heritage of the Church of England. His father, Samuel, was a priest of Epworth Diocese, a fervent advocate of the Movement of Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). SPCK는 Richard P. Heitzenrater explains about SPCK, “their approach was aimed more toward quality than quantity and was grounded more in the process of nurture than conversion.” SPCK not only focused on a pietistic life based on Scripture but also on social sanctification and education. Samuel Wesley was greatly influenced by SPCK and adopted the small religious society movement which SPCK pursued into Epworth, where he was ministering with moralism and pietism that SPCK led at that time. His intent of his religious society shows what he sought through the society, “First to pray to God; secondly, to read the Holy Scriptures and discourse upon religious matters for their mutual edification; and thirdly, to deliberate
about the edification of our neighbor and the promoting of it.” In this circumstance, It would be clear that this Epworth environment had been a great motivation for John Wesley to form the Societies and to conduct the holiness movement. In addition, John Wesley seems to have a great impact by his mother as much as his father did. Tabraham argues, “Samuel’s frequent absences placed heavy responsibility upon Susanna, not just for bringing up the children, but also for the spiritual life of the parish and these she willingly accepted.” His mother, Susanna, rigidly disciplined his children, especially in conquering the will of her children through a strict and regular life. The reason is that she thought that this method was effective for religious education. It can see how Susanna Wesley thinks about the perspective of nurturing her children in her letter to his son, John Wesley, “when this is thoroughly done, then a child is capable of being governed by the reason and piety of its parents until his own understanding comes to maturity and the principles of religion have taken root in the mind.” This Samuel Wesley’s ministry and Susanna Wesley's nurturing naturally led John Wesley to understood that restraining life and achieving piety is the most important element of having faith. And, this background eventually played an important role in the birth of Oxford Methodism

Methodist in Oxford He grew up and entered Oxford in 1720.
Here he began to pursue a godly life under the religious and theological traditions of the Church of England. Heitzenrater’s reference about John Wesley’s mention shows John Wesley’s theology in early oxford, “The balance between faith and good works, the following of virtuous tempers, and the use of all the traditional means of grace that God provided, would help one have the mind that was in Christ and walk as he walked.” It was natural for him to chase a godly life under his theological background and move toward it. While in Oxford, John Wesley began to learn and follow the tradition of holy life by reading pietistic books such as Thomas a Kempis or Jeremy Taylor. Heitzenrater indicates Wesley’s reflection about pietism, “The most significant theological consequence of the Pietist influence was Wesley’s discovery that holiness was an inner reality – that true religion was seated in the heart and that God’s law extended to all our thoughts as well as words and actions.” Accessing the theology of the pietists through this readings, John Wesley realized that the holiness of life becomes a testimony of true faith and begins to practice thought in life. Meanwhile, in May 1729, John Wesley, by the request of his brother Charles, met with Charles' friend William Morgan, and sometimes Bob Kirkham, to go to church together or to engage in religious and academic conversation, and Heitzenrater says that this was the starting point of
"Oxford Methodism". Since the winter of this year, the meeting has become a regular meeting. Their group read classics and joined worship and sacrament, and later began works for charity. Heitzenrater has an account for John Wesley’s first experience of visiting Castle prison, “The Wesley brothers accompanied Morgan to the old fortifications of the Castle on the afternoon of August 24 and were so satisfied by the experience with the prisoners that they agreed to go thereafter at least weekly.” These charitable works later became a stepping stone for social sanctification, one of the great features of the Methodist Church, and show a religious character of John Wesley and the Methodists who were with him at the time. Tabraham insists Wesley’s conviction for the faith at that time, “In his pastoral work, tending to the needs of the poor, visiting prisoners and so on, Wesley saw the necessity for combining a deep inward faith with its practical outworking.” In this view, for him, a philanthropy could be a concrete way of embodying his faith through his life. Wesley began to focus on these Oxford Methodist meetings over time, and their devout pursuit of life and charitable activities got the attention of friends in Oxford and got the nickname "The Holy Club.” Through these activities, John Wesley has tried to pursue his inner maturity in an overly perfect way, and Heitzenrater states about Wesley’s attitude, “His seemingly frantic attempts to omit no duty either to God or man evidenced his inner search for a sense of assurance, a desired conviction that he was a child of God.” In this view, John Wesley would be convinced that he will be the best for being holy and will bring him assurance of salvation at this time. However, his faith based on his own morality did not give him assurance of salvation and peace. Therefore, Heitzenrater assesses Wesley’s spiritual status, “Even though he was disclaiming perfection (here understood as perfect obedience) as either a measure or goal of life, the intensive reliance upon his own sincerity in the face of constant moral choices placed an equal burden of responsibility upon him” It seems that his burdens came as a sense of anxiety rather than assurance, and brought about obsession with godliness. His obsession with and reflection on piety became more severe over time. In the years 1733-1734, Wesley's obsession and troubles can be seen in his diary. Heitzenrater introduces Wesley’s the exacter diary, “every hour in minute detail the resolutions broken and kept, his temper of devotion on a rating scale from 1 to 9, his level of simplicity and recollection, in addition to the usual record of his reading, visiting, writing, conversing, and other activities, often evaluated as to his degree of attention.” But the pursuit of his moral perfection made him rather noticed more failures and mistakes in his life, which led him to anxiety that undermined the conviction that he had built through legal actions. Through this, he considered that sincerity, not perfection, is a basis for salvation, which indicates that he was in an ambiguous state of uncertainty as to what conclusions were to be made between act and faith. Therefore, Heitzenrater argues Wesley’s attitude in Oxford, “He was still trying to do his best in all things, trusting his own sincerity to be the basis for his assurance.” In this situation, John Wesley was asked for being a missionary in Georgia and he accepted and left England. By forming the holy club in Oxford and pursuing a pietistic life, Wesley pursued the conviction of salvation. And, he eventually felt that he is limited to get assurance of salvation through pursuing Christian perfection by his own efforts and went to Georgia. Even though he seems to have failed at that time, it was a chance to experience the grace of God little by little. Also, due to the limitations of his experiential feelings in the Oxford Methodist Society, he seemed to feel incompetence and failure at that time, but, because of this failure, he began to experience little by little the whole grace of God. Although, at this time, John Wesley's pursuit and interest in holiness did not lead him to assurance of salvation and how he could pursue perfection as a Christian, which became the trigger to establish the doctrine of the Christian perfection of the Methodist Church.