Expressions of Faith. Comparing Views on Two Foundational Doctrines in the Protestant Church
This post is taking the slot of my Acts-based Expressions of Faith post for this week, although it is related directly to last week's EOF. Posts commenting on Acts resume in two weeks.
“Appointed” is a term that’s caused division among Christians for centuries.
In Romans 8, Paul uses “foreknew” and “predestined,” terms similar in generating conflict.
John Calvin lived in the 16th Century.
John Wesley lived in the 18th Century.
While parts of their theologies are compatible, there are five specific points where there is SIGNIFICANT difference in their interpretation of concepts.
Let’s start with a post on the Holiness Today website.
Q: I've read that John Wesley said that he was a "hair's breadth" from Calvinism. What did Wesley mean by, and what was the context of, that statement?
A: The phrase, "a hair's breadth," was a common 18th century English idiom that is scattered throughout the writings of John Wesley. While this particular idiom was used in different circumstances, the specific context in question does contain a few dominant threads that make clear what Wesley meant when he declared that he came within a "'hair's breadth' of Calvinism."
In the Minutes of Some Late Conversations (1745), a part of the query was over how close the truth of the gospel is to Calvinism. John Wesley replied that it comes "within a hair's breadth." When pressed further, Wesley believed we come to the "very edge of Calvinism" when we ascribe all good to the free grace of God, deny all natural free will and all power antecedent to grace, as well as excluding all merit from humankind, even when done by the grace of God. [emphasis mine]
Twenty years later, (1765) in a letter to his friend, John Newton, Wesley makes it clear regarding the doctrine of justification that he does not differ "a hair's breadth" from John Calvin. In the context of that comment, Wesley reminds his friend that the real doctrine in dispute between them is Christian perfection, which is why he and his brother, Charles, opposed with all of their strength the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, not merely as theological opinion, but as a dangerous mistake that subverts the foundation of Christian experience.
Finally, it could be said that the distinctive nature and legacy of John Wesley's theology is found in the nuances that come within "a hair's breadth." This is the spirit of the middle way in Wesley's Church of England.—ksm http://holinesstoday.org/QA-John-Wesley
The table below outlines five major points of disagreement in two primary lines of protestant churches.
*These five points as the heart of Calvinism (Reformed Tradition) actually developed from the Synod of Dordtrecht in 1618-19 in response to the Remonstrants' (followers of James Arminius) five points that challenged Reformed orthodoxy, especially the double predestination of Theodore Beza, a follower of John Calvin. Calvin's theological system was broader ranging than these five points. However, these five points came to encapsulate the Calvinist/Reformed position against Arminius and later John Wesley. (See The Canons of Dordt). Dennis Bratcher, Author. "Copyright © 2018 CRI/Voice Institute" - All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
Compare the contents of the cells titled “Unconditional Election, Conditional Election” and “Limited Atonement, Unlimited Atonement.” Calvin is less open to humanity having a choice in the matter of eternal life than is Wesley.
John Wesley’s theology on election and atonement is clear in this quote on Acts 13:48 in his Explanatory Notes.
As many as were ordained to eternal life - St. Luke does not say fore - ordained. He is not speaking of what was done from eternity, but of what was then done, through the preaching of the Gospel. He is describing that ordination, and that only, which was at the very time of hearing it. During this sermon those believed, says the apostle, to whom God then gave power to believe. It is as if he had said, "They believed, whose hearts the Lord opened;" as he expresses it in a clearly parallel place, speaking of the same kind of ordination, Acts 16:14 , &c. It is observable, the original word is not once used in Scripture to express eternal predestination of any kind. The sum is, all those and those only, who were now ordained, now believed. Not that God rejected the rest: it was his will that they also should have been saved: but they thrust salvation from them. Nor were they who then believed constrained to believe. But grace was then first copiously offered them. And they did not thrust it away, so that a great multitude even of Gentiles were converted. In a word, the expression properly implies, a present operation of Divine grace working faith in the hearers.
Indiana Wesleyan University offer this in their Summary of Wesleyan Beliefs.
Personal Choice
We believe that humanity’s creation in the image of God included the ability to choose between right and wrong. This means humans are morally responsible for our choices. But ever since the fall of Adam, people in their own strength have been unable to do the right because of original sin.
Original sin is not just following Adam’s example, but reflects the corruption of the human nature. Found in every person, this corruption is passed on from parent to child. Original sin leaves us all far from being what God intended us to be. We are, by nature, always inclined to evil. We cannot even call on God or exercise faith to be saved. But through Jesus Christ,
God’s grace makes possible what we never could or would do on our own. This prevenient grace (i.e. grace which precedes human response) is freely given to every person, enabling all who choose to turn and be saved. ix
ix Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Deut. 30:19; Josh. 24:15; 1 Kings 20:40; Ps. 51:5; Isa. 64:6; Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Luke 16:15; John 7:17; Rom. 3:10-12; 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 Tim. 2:5; Titus 3:5; Heb. 11:6; Rev. 22:17.
I close with this quote from Dr. Robert Smith, a long-time professor at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. I asked him for the Nazarene “take” on predestination while my Sunday school class was studying Romans.
Predestination in the "Wesleyan" Theology of the Church of the Nazarene
The God of biblical Revelation and the God of the theology of the Christian church is a BIG God. While contemporary theologians might argue about the extent of God's knowledge of future events, none doubts that God's ways are beyond the ways of humanity (cf. Isaiah 40:12-31). Calvinism, grounded deep within Platonic philosophy (as well as Newtonian physics [the universe operates on the basis of cause and effect]), taught that God was unchangeable. In theological terms, God was sovereign, that is, God's rule is supreme only all human and earthly experiences. Nothing that happens outside of the sovereign will of God. In this theological system no room exists for the idea of human free will with regard to salvation. Salvation was the result of God's decree: God decreed that some were elected to salvation while through the decree others were elected to damnation. The decrees of God were unchangeable; God cannot change. Thus, humanity cannot thwart the divine decrees by (somehow) accepting or rejecting the grace of God. So, if you have been elected to damnation, then you will go to hell for the glory of God, thereby fulfilling God's will.
From a Wesleyan (and Nazarene) perspective God is no less powerful or mighty than in other any theological system. Wesley, however, did not focus on God's grace as sovereign; rather, grace was defined as prevenient (the grace that precedes any experience of salvation; grace that woos humanity to God). This powerful God has restricted divine power by allowing human to accept or reject saving grace. Thus, God's grace may be rejected; it is not irresistible. For a Wesleyan, free grace does not challenge the character of God, for God has provided the means of salvation "by grace…through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). Further, for a Wesleyan, the refusal of God's grace tells us more about humanity than it does about the character of God. Within the scheme of Wesleyan theology, sin has the ability to separate humanity from God, even after one has accepted the grace of God. Thus, salvation can be lost, something unthinkable in a strict Calvinistic theology system.
I’ve spent 62-years of my life in the Church of the Nazarene.
It was founded on Wesleyan theology.
I am glad that my belief system has a human choice to follow God as a key theological cornerstone.
Regardless of your theological bent, I pray that your life and your testimony reflect a God of love who is
“…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9b
I’m posting an addendum to this post next week. It will be my interpretation of this idea. I hope you’ll be back for that read, too.
The next Expressions of Faith is A personal look at some of Wesley's Theology
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