ART. V.-JOHN WESLEY'S THOUGHT DEVELOPMENT.

ONE of the attractive theories recently advanced is that every great thinker goes through a thought development which leaves him at a different point from that at which he started. He may have begun as an adherent of the school of thought dominant in the preceding epoch, in which case he will tend to be a philosopher working over toward the economist's point of view. Or he may have been a man unidentified with the thought traditions of the past and keenly alive to the new conditions of his own time. If so he will begin as an observer and tend to become a philosopher. The present study was made for the purpose of applying this theory in the case of John Wesley. The plan followed was to find the periods in his thought development and to analyze the chief influences upon and modifications of his thought in each. Wesley's thought life seems to fall naturally into these divisions: His childhood and young manhood up to the time of his ordination, from 1703 to 1725; his career at Oxford after his ordination, from 1725 to 1735; his experiences in Georgia, from 1735 to 1738; the crisis of Moravian influence, 1738-39; the beginning and development of the Methodist movement, from 1739 to about 1760; the period of the modification and growth of Methodism, from about 1760 to the end of Wesley's life, 1791.

John Wesley was born in 1703 at Epworth, where his father was rector. His father's father and grandfather and his mother's father had all been Dissenters, but his father and mother became Anglicans in their early life. His father was a man of decided and elevated character, his mother woman of unusual intellect who had the chief formative influence over Wesley. With her he most often corresponded on matters of religious and theological opinion during his years at Oxford, and her word had great weight with him.

When Wesley was twelve years of age Epworth Rectory

was visited by "Old Jeffrey," as the family called the rappings, rattlings, and groans which were said to have gone on there through six weeks and more, and of which such strangely circumstantial and calm records have come down to us. Between the ages of twelve and twenty-two, he says, he committed "many known sins" and was really indifferent to religion, although he still read the Bible, prayed, and went to communion three times a year. When he was about twenty-two his father urged him to take orders, but he resisted, doubting his own motives. At this time his mother wrote him:

Now, in good earnest, resolve to make religion the business of your life; for, after all, that is the one thing that, strictly speaking, is necessary. . . . I heartily wish you would now enter upon a strict examination of yourself, that you may know whether you have a reasonable hope of salvation.

In accordance with this advice Wesley took deacon's orders and began the study of divinity. He came strongly under the influence of the writings of Thomas à Kempis and Jeremy Taylor. From à Kempis he received his first clear conception of religion as an inward, spiritual life; but he was perplexed by à Kempis's asceticism and wrote to his mother for counsel. She differed from à Kempis's view that God has destined some men to unhappiness here on earth, and declared, "All the miseries incident to men here or hereafter proceed from themselves." Wesley replied, "You have so well satisfied me as to the tenets of Thomas à Kempis that I venture to trouble you again on a more dubious subject." This was Jeremy Taylor's statement that a human being cannot know whether his sins are forgiven. Wesley even then shared with his mother the view that to use his words "if we dwell in Christ, and he in us, certainly we must be sensible of it." But they then thought that one would be sensible of acceptance with God by the "evidences of one's own sincerity"-not through "the witness of the Spirit" in the sense in which Wesley later used that term. From Taylor John Wesley obtained his first conception of

Christian perfection; but at that time it meant to him only "purity of intention.” It led him, he said soon after, to resolve to dedicate all his life to God. This was really a

turning point in his career.

He soon sought the acquaintance of other men of like mind. "The Holy Club" was formed at Oxford, and the members set up for themselves the rigid discipline which won them the name "Methodists." They led the most ascetic lives, with strict adherence to High-Church forms. They visited the poor and sick and prisoners. They were careful and constant students, particularly of the Bible. At about this time Wesley read William Law's Christian Perfection and Serious Call, which carried on the effect already produced by à Kempis and Jeremy Taylor. Wesley then believed that his constant endeavor to keep God's whole law, inward and outward, would insure his salvation. This is shown by his sermon on "The Circumcision of the Heart," preached before the university in 1733. In it, as before, his test as to whether one is a child of God seems to be the witness furnished by one's own consciousness of sincerity of life and purpose, though Wesley himself in after life regarded that sermon as containing the substance of all his later ideas on the witness of the Spirit.

In 1735 he sailed for Georgia as a missionary to the Indians. There were a number of Moravians on the vessel, and Wesley was much impressed by their humility and gentleness, and most of all by their entire calmness during the fearful storms which filled him with terror.

During John Wesley's three years in Georgia he was an austere and ascetic High-Churchman, his conduct marked by the most extreme ritualism. He found no opportunity to work among the Indians, which had been his object in coming. He made many enemies by his uncompromising attitude. Altogether, he was glad to sail for England in 1738. His Journal during the voyage reflects his unhappiness and his unrest. He was full of fear of death in every storm and was led to the most minute introspection and self

analysis. He concluded, "I went to America to convert the Indians; but O, who shall convert me?" Wesley's first sermon after he reached London was so intense and unusual that he was informed he could not preach in that church again, and in the same way he was excluded from one pulpit after another. Just at this time he came under the influence of Peter Böhler, a Moravian preacher and a friend of those he had known in Georgia.

To go back a little: The day after Wesley landed in Georgia he had met the Moravian pastor Spangenberg, whom he asked to advise him as to his work. He records their conversation in his Journal:

Mr. Spangenberg said, "My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions: Have you the witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God?" I was surprised, and knew not what to answer. He observed it, and asked, "Do you know Jesus Christ?" I paused, and said, "I know he is the Saviour of the world." "True," replied he, "but do you know he has saved you?" I answered, "I hope he has died to save me." He only added, "Do you know yourself?" I said, "I do." But I fear they were vain words.

This new doctrine did not impress him particularly until he met it again in London. Böhler became his spiritual father; and he by degrees accepted, as new to him, Böhler's teaching of the possibility of dominion over sin and of peace and joy arising from an instantaneous consciousness of forgiveness. I say "by degrees," because it was six weeks and more before he was fully convinced of the possibility and a number of months before he proved it by personal experience. Finally, on May 24, 1738, he felt his "heart strangely warmed;" but at intervals during the succeeding months he was in considerable doubt as to his spiritual state. At this time he certainly was thoroughly mixed up by the Moravian mysticism and extravagance of expression.

In the period including the beginning and development of the Methodist movement, from 1739 to about 1760, events moved swiftly. Wesley found himself hurried on into new lines of action and points of view. Societies were formed

because many people who had heard him preach wished to consult him, and so he set a fixed time. Outdoor preaching he adopted because the colliers and other folk whom he desired to reach would not come to a church, and also because the church pulpits were closed to him. Lay preachers were made use of because the Church of England clergymen were almost entirely indifferent to the needs of the time and the people, and because, in Wales and elsewhere, movements similar to the Methodist movement had begun independently under laymen who now wished to unite with Wesley. Meetinghouses were built by the societies, that they might have some place of their own for their gatherings, and when Wesley or any other clergyman came to them they could have the sacrament from him. From a very small and informal beginning developed the Annual Conferences of the Methodist preachers, both cleric and lay, who came together to consider "what to preach, how to teach, and what to do.” Wesley now was being accused of starting a schism and separating from the Church of England. This he flatly denied, defending his course by references to the historic customs and rubrics of the Church. He was still a strict HighChurchman, insisting on episcopal baptism and ordination and believing in the regenerating power of infant baptism. His asceticism is shown in the first set of questions drawn up for the "bands," in which the members were to answer such inquiries as, "What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?" "What temptations have you met with ?"

The movement spread and grew with astonishing rapidity. Wesley began the wonderful journeyings through England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales which he continued to the month of his death, and which certainly influenced him greatly. The open-air life and exercise proved exceedingly beneficial to his health, and the constant change of scene brought him variety and interest, which explain in part his invariable cheerfulness, optimism, and sanity. His travels and his keen powers of observation gave him a more than or