2 March 1791 A.D. John Wesley Dies—Dr. Lee Gatiss on Wesley & Pelagius
2 March 1791 A.D. John Wesley Dies—Dr. Lee
Gatiss on Wesley & Pelagius
John Wesley was a hot Arminian and 1/2 theologian. His acolytes were his brother, Charles Wesley,
fellow cleric George Whitefield, and Walter Sellon. Arminian John founded the sectarian group of dissenters called Methodists. His work and writings also played a leading role in the
development of the Holiness movement , Pentecostalism and
the modern disease of Neo-Montanism.
Now for a word from Dr. Gatiss.
Gatiss, Lee. “Wesley and Pelagius.” Reformation21.org. 22 Dec 2014. http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2014/12/wesley-and-pelagius.php. Accessed 22 Dec 2014.
For century after
century, one man has been the bogeyman of Western theology. He's the bad guy.
The one nobody wants to be like. Yes, you guessed it: that old Welsh heretic, Pelagius.
For
centuries the malign influence of his worksy free will religion has been
resisted. Bede narrates in his history of the English church how persistently
both Celtic and Catholic Christians opposed in these fair Isles the poison of
Pelagianism, which the great Augustine of Hippo had refuted so clearly, and
which was condemned by an early church council at Carthage (418) and
excommunicated.
In
the East, they are not such fans of Augustine. But in the West, he the man, and
so his enemy is our enemy, so to speak. Identification with Pelagius has been
"a bad thing" throughout our history.
Which
makes it so strange that the great and famous John Wesley was actually a fan of
Pelagius. Am I being nasty now? Am I being offensive: "a cynic, a bear, a
Toplady" (to use Wesley's own sour put down)? Not at all. Here it is in
Wesley's own words.
Discussing
how the gates of hell have not prevailed against the true church, Wesley writes
that, "God always reserved a seed for himself; a few that worshipped him
in spirit and truth." He has often wondered, he says, "whether these
were not the very persons whom the rich and honourable Christians, who will
always have number as well as power on their side, did not stigmatise, from
time to time, with the title of heretics."
Which
heretics in particular do you think have been unfairly stigmatised by the
glitterati, Mr Wesley? The first he mentions is "that arch-heretic, Montanus",
who he thinks might well have been "one of the holiest men in the second
century" (despite his rather absurd doctrines and practices).
But
then he affirms that Pelagius too was one of the holiest men of his age.
Certainly better than Augustine who was "as full of pride, passion,
bitterness, censoriousness, and as foul-mouthed to all that contradicted
him."
Mr
Wesley continues, "I verily believe, the real heresy of Pelagius was
neither more nor less than this: The holding that Christians may, by the grace
of God (not without it; that I take to be a mere slander,) 'go on to perfection.'"
Augustine
may have "bespattered" poor old Pelagius, but "his word is not
worth a rush" says Mr Wesley. Why? "And here is the secret: St
Augustine was angry at Pelagius: hence he slandered and abused him, (as his
manner was)". See The Works of Wesley (Third Edition. Baker, 2007),
volume 6 pages 328-329.
So
there we have it: holy Pelagius, one of the righteous remnant of church
history, unfairly stigmatised by that nasty brute Augustine and his upper class
pals, and who taught -- well, what do you know! -- the same things as John
Wesley himself, regarding free will and perfectionism.
It's
very unusual in the whole history of Christian theology for anyone to
voluntarily identify themselves and their theology with Pelagius. But here we
have it from the horse's mouth. What are we to make of that...?
Dr
Gatiss promises that he's not just trying to drum up interest in his
new book "Strangely Warmed: Whitefield, Toplady, Simeon and Wesley's
Arminian Campaigns" (Latimer Trust), which was based on his recent St
Antholin's Lecture (for the audio, click here).
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