Wesleyan Theology
Recent Posts on the United Methodist Quadrilateral
Thursday/May/2013 09:33
Since I just linked to some posts from a United Methodist blogger already this morning, I also want to draw attention to the recent controversy in the Methoblogosphere over the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Read More...Comments
Hopeful Inclusivism (Some Quotes)
Thursday/May/2013 14:40
Various quotes from theologians — new and old — supporting the view I call Hopeful Inclusivism. Read More...Grace & the Unevangelized
Monday/April/2013 15:50
While Wesleyan theology does not teach or imply Universal Salvation it does teach Universal Grace. The scope of grace is seen as being wider than it might be from some other points of view. Read More...Eradication of the Sin Nature? Huh?
Monday/April/2013 10:51
Why did the Holiness writers in the Wesleyan tradition speak of the “eradication of the sin nature”? What on earth did they mean by that? Read More...Some Helpful Wesleyan Perspectives
Thursday/April/2013 12:14
Reflections on some quotations from an essay by Jerry Walls and Kyle Blanchette. Read More...John Wesley the Hopeful Inclusivist
Thursday/April/2013 12:07
”…I have no authority from the Word of God ‘to judge those that are without.’ Nor do I conceive that any man living has a right to sentence all the heathen and Mahometan world to damnation.” Read More...Holiness Texts: Romans 2:29
Tuesday/April/2013 09:17
"But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God." Read More...Wesley: Two Paths
Thursday/April/2013 10:46
A quote from John Wesley: Christians have “the choice of walking in the higher or the lower path.” Read More...Ben Witherington: Why a Wesleyan Approach to Theology?
Thursday/April/2013 08:02
Yes, this is another video in the excellent 7 Minute Seminary series from Asbury Theological Seminary. Read More...Holiness Texts: John 17:17-23
Tuesday/April/2013 11:26
"'Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.'" Read More...Holiness Texts: John 8:34-36
Tuesday/April/2013 12:45
"Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed'." (John 8:34-36, NASB.) Read More...Holiness Texts: Matthew 22:37
Thursday/March/2013 11:54
"And He said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’" — Matthew 22:37, NASB. Read More...Holiness Texts: Matthew 6:10
Monday/March/2013 09:57
Holiness & The Means of Grace
Thursday/March/2013 07:50
A quote from an old (1946) study of the theology of John Wesley (emphasis mine)… Read More...Holiness Texts: Matthew 5:48
Tuesday/March/2013 14:16
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." — Matthew 5:48, NASB. Read More...Lindström: God's Law Keeps Us Alive
Friday/March/2013 16:17
A brief quote on the function of the moral law in the Christian life.Holiness Texts: Ezekiel 36:25, 26, 29
Thursday/March/2013 14:28
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:25,26, NASB. "Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you." Ezekiel 36:29, NASB. Read More...Lindström: Forgiveness & Sanctification
Thursday/March/2013 09:26
“Forgiveness and sanctification are the two cardinal factors in [John Wesley’s] idea of salvation….” Read More...Lindström: Faith & Final Salvation
Wednesday/March/2013 12:42
“Thus the condition necessary to final salvation coincides fairly closely with that necessary to the maintenance of the Christian life in general. In both cases it is a matter of the faith active in love.” Read More...Holiness Texts: Matthew 5:8
Wednesday/February/2013 16:37
The Holiness Texts of John Wesley
Friday/February/2013 16:21
John Wesley taught that people cannot have the kind of the faith that brings them into a new or deeper experience of God's grace unless they first had "a Divine evidence and conviction... that God hath promised it in the Holy Scripture." Read More...Matt's Reply
Thursday/February/2013 13:05
Today I just want to briefly note that Matt O’Reilly responded to my post from yesterday…. Read More...A Wesleyan Voice? #AndCanItBe
Tuesday/February/2013 18:48
A brief response to some concerns and ideas raised by Kevin Watson & Matt O’Reilly. Read More...Holiness and the Bible
Wednesday/February/2013 12:27
I have this crazy notion that even if people forgot about Wesley and Fletcher and Clarke and Finney and Mahan, etc. but would just come to the Bible with open hearts & minds, the holiness themes would re-assert themselves. Read More...Evangelical, Wesleyan, Egalitarian
Monday/December/2012 12:57
I guess it is a paradigm shift for a lot of people but, the fact is that the Methodist acceptance of women in ministry was well ahead of the modern, secular feminist movement — and is, in that sense, unrelated to it! Read More...On Assurance and Faith
Thursday/November/2012 11:07
I am sure that neither the Calvinists nor the Anglican Arminians of Wesley’s day could foresee the deadly way Calvinism and Arminianism would become mingled together in the popular evangelicalism of our day. Read More...More on Wesley and the Gospel
Wednesday/November/2012 13:27
Movements often become embarrassed with themselves as the generations come and go, and this seems to be part of what happened to Methodism. Read More...Why I Still Find Wesleyan Theology Interesting
Tuesday/November/2012 14:11
It may seem strange — since I am very far from being a legalistic person myself — that I find the teachings of the early Methodists and the preachers of the Holiness Movement so interesting. Read More...How I Still Think Like a Methodist
Tuesday/October/2012 12:00
I still believe in a here-and-now Gospel that changes people for the better and impacts the world for the better. Read More...Christ & Non-Christians
Saturday/October/2012 10:42
Question: What do we do with the fact that there have been billions of people who died before Christ came to be among us on this earth? Or what about those who never learned about the saving power of Christ? How is it fair that these never had a chance for salvation? What guidance do the Scriptures give us on this issue, and what has the historic Church said about it? Read More...Outler on “Christian Perfection”
Tuesday/September/2012 12:45
Some comments by the late Albert Outler (1908-1989) about John Wesley’s sermon on “Christian Perfection” (and the fears it arouses)…. Read More...Active Faith that Lives Within
Thursday/August/2012 09:01
Great words from Charles Wesley….Spirit Baptism: Wesleyanism & Pentecostalism
Saturday/May/2012 14:30
There is a relationship between early Methodist teachings and the later development of Pentecostal teaching. In fact, a direct line can be traced between the teaching of the early Methodists and the teaching of the early Pentecostals. Read More...Quotes from Cleansed and Abiding
Wednesday/May/2012 11:57
Here are some quotes I recently shared on Twitter, from Cleansed and Abiding: A Proposed View of Christian Perfection by James-Michael Smith. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fresh re-interpretation of Wesley’s doctrine of Christian Perfection — and for anyone who wonders about it.Read More...
Lindström: We Either Wax or Wane
Tuesday/May/2012 14:43
“There is no perfection 'which does not admit of a continual increase.’”Toward a Wesleyan Eschatology
Monday/May/2012 11:24
Here’s a question that often comes up. Where do John Wesley and his early followers fit in the familiar end-time schemas? Read More...Some Things That Methodism Stands For
Thursday/April/2012 17:05
Here's a great old article about Methodism and what the Methodist churches teach — and seek to live. The author summarizes the things that have made Methodism a distinctive movement within Christianity. Read More...A Test of Spiritual Experiences
Friday/April/2012 11:07
"Another ground of these, and a thousand mistakes, is, the not considering deeply, that love is the highest gift of God….” Read More...Desire for God
Tuesday/March/2012 18:39
Words of wisdom from The Wesley Study Bible. The Path of Moral Progress
Tuesday/March/2012 12:11
A quote from C. H. Dodd on the theology of the apostle Paul — and sanctification by faith. Read More...Faith is Not a Work
Wednesday/March/2012 11:35
“Unite the pair so long disjoined"
Tuesday/March/2012 15:10
What are Methodists, Anyway?
Monday/February/2012 10:00
A summary statement, loosely based on John Wesley’s essay The Character of a Methodist. Read More...Sanctification as a Central Theme
Wednesday/January/2012 14:01
I originally built this web site to be primarily about the Wesleyan Doctrine of Christian Perfection. And, that is still my intention. Read More...Reversing the Flow of Contagion
Wednesday/December/2011 12:19
