Wesley’s Anglican Preaching and Perfectionism
When John Wesley, an Anglican minister and leader of a club at Oxford derisively termed the “Methodists,” had a conversion experience in May 1738 at a meeting of the Moravian brethren, it set him on a course of itinerant preaching that would revolutionize the nature of Protestantism. Wesley’s expounding of his doctrine of perfectionism led to an internalization of religion by those who accepted it – those who, like Wesley, were converted by intense emotional experiences. Methodism had far-reaching consequences; more than just religion, it affected politics and social structure.
Wesley, as an Anglican minister, had been a missionary before his conversion – unsuccessfully. His time spent as a minister in the debtors’ colony of , however, did have a great impact on the long-term success of his ministry; it was on his voyage to that he first came in contact with Moravian brethren, a group of Christians who emphasized the emotional experience of religion over the external evidence. It was at one of their meetings, which Wesley, by his own admission, attended unwillingly, that he felt his heart “strangely warmed” and became assured of his salvation. Immediately following this conversion, Wesley began teaching his new doctrine and found himself banned from preaching in many Anglican churches.
Undeterred by being rejected by the Anglicans, Wesley began preaching his doctrine of perfectionism – that true Christianity was an emotional conversion that led to the external doing of good works because of the desire to do God’s will – in fields. Soon, the man who had returned from his mission in because he was dissatisfied with the results was preaching to crowds of thousands. Those who heard him were greatly affected by his preaching; members of his audiences began having conversion experiences of their own. More than Wesley’s simple warming of the heart, his sermons saw new converts writhing in agony, and then miraculously healed by the “grace of God.”
Perfectionism, by its very nature, emphasized an intense, emotional, and – most importantly – personal relationship with God. This personal relationship did not bode well for the future of the Methodists in the Anglican Church. Although Wesley intended that his followers continue to attend Anglican worship services, their new faith proved incompatible with the strictly organized character of Anglicanism. Wesley, throughout his ministry, had been organizing prayer societies among his followers. Eventually, these were incorporated into the United Society of Methodists, which was, in effect, a new Protestant denomination.
The doctrine of perfectionism also posed problems for conventional social order. The Methodists, having experienced their own personal conversions, were mainly concerned with their own salvation – they spent their time helping the less fortunate; Wesley himself was involved with teaching condemned prisoners. They, unlike more conventional Protestants, were not concerned with enforcing their morals on those around them; they were more concerned with teaching them, therefore producing a conversion experience and the desire to do good works.
This relative indifference to the morals of society was also contrary to the authoritarian structure of government that prevailed in Protestant Europe. With Lutheranism and Anglicanism as established state religions, and Calvinism largely controlling the government in areas where it was prevalent, the government was able to enforce its laws through the structure of religion, and religion was able to enforce its morals through the government. Methodism, emphasizing personal relationships with God, had no real need for leaders or an organized power structure. The government soon found itself less able to use religion to promote its political agenda.
Wesley’s preaching and new doctrine, while a result of one man’s own personal conversion, had broad effects in religion, societal morals, and politics. Emphasizing personal faith at the expense of structured religion, perfectionism undermined the power of the church and the ability of the government to legislate through it.
