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1 Pursuing Christian Love According to the Theology of John Wesley A Pursuing Christian Love According to the Theology of John Wesley A Thesis Submitted to the University of Manchester For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Faculty of Humanities 2017 Michael H. Browder, Jr. School of Arts, Languages, and Culture Nazarene Theological College Manchester 1 Contents List of Diagrams 5 Abbreviations 6 Abstract 7 Declaration 8 Copyright 9 Dedication 10 Acknowledgments 11 Chapter 1: Introducing Wesley’s Aims 12 Background to Wesley’s Ministry: A Search for True Religion 15 The Goal of Christian Living 18 Debates in Secondary Literature 20 Summary of this Project 30 Chapter 2: Active and Passive 32 A Mighty Typology 32 Highlights from Eighteenth Century Libertarians 38 Approach for Clarifying Active and Passive 40 Preliminary Illustrations 41 Illustrations of the Active Dimension 41 Illustrations of the Passive Dimension 43 Illustrations of Focus 44 Two Kinds of Spiritual Growth in John Wesley’s View of Moral Agency 48 For Wesley, Liberty is Action 50 Responding to Secondary Literature: Harris v. Long 53 Chapter 3: The Will and Liberty 59 Other Views of the Will 59 The Will “Properly Speaking” 63 Free Will 65 2 Responding to Edwards? 68 Responding to Secondary Literature: Outler on Liberty 71 Chapter 4: The Heart 77 Desires of the Heart 78 Happiness 81 The Language of Tempers, Dispositions, and Affections 83 The “Fire” and “Flames” of the Heart 88 Practical Reason and the Heart 91 Responding to Secondary Literature: Clapper, Maddox, and Collins on the Affections 94 Summarizing the First Task of this Project 96 Chapter 5: Fruitful Action and the Holy Spirit 98 The Shape of John Wesley’s Theology 99 Wesley’s View of Grace 103 Active and Passive Work of the Spirit 104 Key Features of Fruitful Action 108 Fruitful Action and Free will 111 Further Analysis 112 Responding to Secondary Literature: the Challenge of Using “Monergism” and “Synergism” 114 Chapter 6: From Sin to New Birth 118 The Impenitent Sinner 118 The Image of God 119 Prevenient Grace 119 The Moral Agency of an Impenitent Sinner 122 The Servant of God 124 Characteristics of the Servant of God 124 The Moral Agency of the Servant of God 129 The Child of the New Birth 130 The Beginning of Sanctification 130 Faith of the Newborn Child, Witness of the Spirit, and Justification 131 The Love of God Shed Abroad in the Heart 133 Instantaneous, Perceived, and Unpredictable Birth 134 Responding to Secondary Literature: More Debates 136 Chapter 7: From New Birth to Perfect Love & the Rewards of Heaven 141 The Child of the New Birth (continued) 141 The Repentance of Believers 141 Virtuous Action 143 The Moral Agency of the Newborn Child 144 The Child of Perfect Love 148 Faith of the Perfected Child, Pure Heart, and the Witness of the Perfected Child 149 3 Instantaneous, Perceived, and Unpredictable Beginning of Perfection 152 Not Absolute Perfection 153 The Moral Agency of the Perfected Child 155 The Inhabitant of Heaven 157 From Death to the Great Judgment 157 Final Justification and the Rewards of Heaven 158 The Moral Agency of the Inhabitant of Heaven 161 Responding to Secondary Literature: After Collins 162 Chapter 8: Final Reflections 168 Reflections on the First Task of this Project 169 Reflections on the Second Task of this Project 171 Conclusion of this Project 177 Appendix: Consistency in Wesley’s Thought 184 Bibliography 189 Word Count ( 79, 211 ) 4 List of Diagrams Diagram 2.1 178 Diagram 3.1 179 Diagram 4.1 180 Diagram 5.1 181 Diagram 6.1 182 Diagram 7.1 183 5 Abbreviations AM John Wesley, editor. The Arminian Magazine. vols. 1- 14. (London: Printed for the Editor, January 1778 – February 1791). (BE) Frank Baker, editor in chief, The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1975-). ENNT John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament (London: The Epworth Press, reprinted 1954). (Jackson) Thomas Jackson, editor. The Works of John Wesley. 14 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, reprinted 2007). Letters The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., Edited by John Telford. Standard edition. 8 vols. (London: Epworth Press, 1931) 6 Abstract The University of Manchester Michael Heath Browder, Jr. Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Pursuing Christian Love According to the Theology of John Wesley 2017 In this project, we will be exploring John Wesley’s view of pursuing Christian love, the greatest goal of Christian living. When exploring this matter, an important theme emerges. It is the theme of gift. Over the course of this project, it will be argued that according to the view of John Wesley, a person’s pursuit of the greatest goal of Christian living is an expression of God’s gift and that the giftedness of this blessing is illuminated by a critical examination of the work of the Spirit with respect to the active and passive dimensions of a human being. In order to support this thesis, we will carry out two general tasks. The first task will be to clarify the features of the soul. For Wesley, the soul includes a person’s spirit composed of understanding, will, and liberty. In order to illuminate the work of God’s grace as a person pursues the highest end of Christian living, one must first clearly show what the features of the soul are and how they work. This is because such a pursuit is rooted in the interplay of the features soul. The second task of this project will be to consider in more depth how the features of the soul relate to each other as an agent performs right action and pursues the highest goal of Christian living. For Wesley, the gospel is foundational for the pursuit of the highest end. It is through Christ’s atonement that one is able to receive the grace necessary for spiritual transformation. This spiritual transformation is integral to a person’s pursuit of the highest goal. During the Christian life, a person’s soul spiritually develops depending on his or her location along the “way of salvation,” Wesley’s roadmap for the Christian journey. In other words, the Christian life involves stages. Therefore, the second task of this project will consider Wesley’s view of the pursuit of the highest goal for each of the various stages of the Christian life. Once these steps are complete, it will have been shown to a greater degree how for Wesley, the pursuit of the greatest goal of Christian living is an expression of God’s gift. 7 Declaration No portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 8 Copyright I. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and he has given The University of Manchester and Nazarene Theological College certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. II. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. III. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trademarks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in this thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property Rights and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. IV. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure,publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyrightand any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described init may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=24420), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in theUniversity Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/about/regulations/) and inThe University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 9 Dedication For my parents Michael and Susan Browder, who brought me up in the life of the church. 10 Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my primary supervisor Dr. Kenneth J. Collins and my secondary reader Dr. Stephen Wright. Their guidance, stimulating conversation and careful critique of my thought and writing was invaluable. I would also like to thank Randy L. Maddox and James A. Harris for helpful guidance. 11 Chapter 1: Introducing Wesley’s Aims Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.1 -Jesus, Mark 12:30 - 31 In these words, Jesus, the One believed to be God in the flesh, sums up the greatest commandment for human living. As we will explore, it is this love that serves as the ultimate goal for John Wesley’s ministry and theology. For Wesley, it is a love that is not reachable by secular means or by a lazy kind of discipleship. It is a love that, as it is rooted in Christian faith, shows power and rigour.
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