Wesleyan Theology and the Doctrine of Salvation — Unit 10: Wesleyan Theology in Conversation: Reformed, Pentecostal and Catholic Partners

Key Verse

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Ephesians 4:4-6, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain what John Wesley meant by a "catholic spirit," and why it does not mean indifference to doctrine.

2. Name what Wesleyans share with Reformed Christians, and state the five points of disagreement with fairness and a short Wesleyan answer to each.

3. Describe the shared roots and the real differences between Wesleyans and Pentecostals on the Holy Spirit.

4. Describe what Wesleyans share with Roman Catholics and where they differ on authority, justification and worship.

5. Describe how a pastor cooperates with other Christians while keeping Wesleyan convictions.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Wesleyan tradition for Wesleyan students. It is theologically conservative: the Bible is the inspired and final authority, and God is one God in three persons. "We" means the evangelical Wesleyan-Holiness and Methodist churches. In this last unit we turn and look at our neighbors. We state what other Christians teach as they would state it, and we give our answer without bitterness. Scripture says, "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Units 2 to 9 taught our doctrine of salvation. The history of how Methodists came into contact and conflict with other traditions was told in Course 1, and the Wesleyan roots of Pentecostalism are told in the Pentecostal course. We do not repeat them here.

Why We Must Talk with Others

A Wesleyan pastor does not serve in a vacuum. In Latin America, Africa and elsewhere, his neighbors are Roman Catholics, Reformed and Baptist evangelicals, and Pentecostals. His church members marry them, work with them, and hear their preaching on the radio. A pastor who cannot explain his own convictions will lose his people. A pastor who cannot speak kindly of others will lose his witness.

Jesus prayed that His followers would be one, so that the world may believe (John 17:21). Paul writes that there is "one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism." The unity of Christians is a command, not an extra. But unity in the Bible is never unity at the cost of truth. We seek to hold both.

The Catholic Spirit

John Wesley wrote a sermon called "Catholic Spirit." Its text is the story in 2 Kings 10:15, where one man asks another whether his heart is right with his own, and offers a hand. The word "catholic" here means universal. Wesley taught that Christians who differ in opinions and forms of worship can still give each other the hand of love, if they share a heart that loves God and loves neighbor.

Wesley did not mean that all beliefs are equal. He held firmly to the doctrines of the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the atonement and justification by faith. He did not mean that a person with no settled convictions is more spiritual. He meant that on matters where faithful Christians differ, such as forms of church government or modes of worship, we should not break love. A practical way to remember this is to sort beliefs into three groups: the essentials of the faith, on which we cannot yield; our convictions as Wesleyans, which we hold and teach with joy; and opinions, on which we allow freedom. The skill of a wise pastor is knowing which is which.

Conversation with Reformed Christians

What we share. Wesleyans and Reformed Christians confess the Trinity, the full deity and humanity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, justification by faith alone, and the need for the new birth. Many of the great evangelical missionaries and preachers have been Reformed, and the Methodist revival was born in the same evangelical age. In Course 1, Unit 5, we saw that Wesley and George Whitefield disagreed about election yet remained brothers in Christ.

Where we differ. Reformed theology is often summarized in five points, taught in the Canons of Dort (1618-1619) and later arranged in the English word TULIP. We state each, with a short Wesleyan answer. Fuller answers are in Units 2 to 4 and 9.

1. Total depravity. Fallen humanity is wholly unable to turn to God. Wesleyans agree that sin has ruined every part of us, and that no one can save himself. But God's prevenient grace goes before all and restores the ability to respond (Unit 3).

2. Unconditional election. God chose some people for salvation, not on the basis of anything in them. Wesleyans teach that God's election is in Christ and is received by faith, grounded in His foreknowledge, and that He desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; Unit 4).

3. Limited atonement. Christ died only for the elect. Wesleyans teach that Christ died for all people (1 John 2:2; Unit 2).

4. Irresistible grace. God's saving call cannot fail with the elect. Wesleyans teach that grace is real and powerful but can be resisted (Unit 3).

5. Perseverance of the saints. All the elect will be kept to the end. Wesleyans teach conditional security, with the hope of restoration (Unit 9).

The Reformed objection and our reply. Some Reformed teachers say that our view gives man a share in salvation, makes God's purpose depend on human choice, and slides toward the error of trusting our own works. We reply that we teach salvation by grace alone through faith alone, as the Reformers did, and that even our response is the work of prevenient grace (Unit 8). We also remind our Reformed friends that their own teachers did not agree on all these points over the centuries. The discussion should be carried on with Scripture open and love in the heart.

Conversation with Pentecostal Christians

What we share. Wesleyans and Pentecostals share a deep family tie. The Pentecostal movement of the early twentieth century grew from the Holiness movement, itself a child of Wesley's teaching (Course 1, Unit 7; Pentecostal Course 1, Unit 2). Many early Pentecostal leaders came from Holiness churches. We share a love for the Holy Spirit, for fervent prayer and worship, for evangelism, and for the hope that God's people can be changed. Some Pentecostal bodies still teach the Holiness pattern of salvation, then entire sanctification, and then Spirit baptism. Others teach a shorter pattern, and Pentecostal history records disagreement on this.

Where we differ. The main difference concerns the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals, as their own course explains, teach that it is an experience after conversion, with power for witness, and that speaking in tongues is the first sign of it. They cite Acts 1:8, 2:4, 10:46 and 19:6. The Church of the Nazarene was once named the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, but in the early twentieth century it dropped the word "Pentecostal" from its name, because the word had come to be connected with the tongues movement. Holiness churches have generally taught that the fullness of the Spirit is the cleansing of the heart and perfect love, and have not made tongues a necessary sign.

The Pentecostal objection and our reply. Pentecostals may say that Wesleyans reduce the Spirit's fullness to a quiet inner holiness, and that we neglect the gifts and power the Bible describes. We reply with three points. First, we agree that Scripture speaks of power for witness (Acts 1:8), and we do not wish to limit the Holy Spirit. Second, the New Testament links the Spirit's coming to the purifying of the heart: when God gave the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles, He did so while "purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:8-9). Third, Paul asks, "Do all speak with tongues?" (1 Corinthians 12:30), and does not make one gift the necessary sign for all. At the same time he writes, "do not forbid to speak with tongues" (1 Corinthians 14:39), and he puts love above every gift (1 Corinthians 13). Wesleyan bodies differ in how open they are to the gifts, and the tradition does not bind members to one view. We receive Pentecostal brothers and sisters as fellow believers, and we ask that every claimed gift be tested by Scripture and by love.

Conversation with Roman Catholics

What we share. Wesleyans and Roman Catholics confess the Trinity, the incarnation of the Son of God, His death and resurrection, and the creeds of the early church. Wesleyans honor the sacraments as means of grace and value the church's long devotional life. Wesley himself drew on ancient Christian writers and on Christian devotional books of earlier centuries. Both traditions care that salvation changes a person's life, and both have a long history of care for the poor.

Where we differ. The differences are serious, and honesty requires us to say so.

Authority. We hold that Scripture is the final authority for faith and life, and that tradition, reason and experience serve it (Unit 1). The Roman Catholic Church holds that Scripture and sacred tradition together are interpreted by the church's teaching office, headed by the Pope.

Justification. As Unit 8 explained, Rome teaches at Trent that justification includes an inward making-righteous, and speaks of merit. We hold that justification is a pardon received by faith alone, with holiness as its fruit.

Mary, the saints and the Pope. Catholic teaching gives Mary and the saints a place of honor and intercession, and the Pope an office of universal authority. We find no clear basis for these in Scripture, and we pray to God alone through Christ, our one Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).

The Lord's Supper. Rome teaches transubstantiation. Wesley held that Christ is truly present in the Supper by the Spirit, and that it is a real means of grace, but not that the bread and wine change substance (Course 4, Unit 8).

Wesley's attitude. Wesley did not become a Roman Catholic, and he disagreed with Rome on these doctrines. Yet he wrote a letter to a Roman Catholic asking for mutual love, and in "Catholic Spirit" he taught that differences do not forbid us from loving and praying for one another.

Dialogue today. In recent decades, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and of the Methodist family have met in official talks. Lutheran and Catholic churches issued a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999, and the World Methodist Council later associated itself with it, in 2006. Some Wesleyans welcome this as progress. Others, including many evangelical Wesleyans, worry that agreement on the words about justification leaves open the questions of authority and merit. A pastor should know both views.

A word for pastors in Latin America. Many of our hearers were raised Catholic. A pastor should speak of the Catholic faith with accuracy and respect, not with mockery. He should state clearly what the Bible teaches about salvation by grace through faith and about Christ as the only Mediator, and he should rejoice whenever a Catholic neighbor loves the Lord.

Two Mistakes to Avoid

The first mistake is isolation: saying that only our church is Christian, refusing to pray with others, and caricaturing what they believe. Wesley's catholic spirit corrects this. The second mistake is indifference: saying that all churches are the same and that it does not matter what is taught. Wesley's firm doctrine corrects this. Scripture holds the middle path: "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).

Pastoral Application

A flood has damaged homes in a town. The Catholic parish, a Reformed church, and a Pentecostal church invite the Wesleyan church to join a united prayer service and a relief effort. One of the Wesleyan leaders objects: "We disagree with them about many things. Will our people be confused?"

The pastor first thanks him for caring about doctrine. He then explains that serving flood victims and praying together for them is the kind of cooperation Wesley's catholic spirit allows, since it asks no one to give up convictions. Before the service he teaches his members three things: what we believe about salvation, why we love our neighbors who believe differently, and how to answer questions kindly. He asks that the prayers be addressed to the Father through Christ, and that no one be asked to deny his tradition. He also decides not to join an act of worship that would require him to affirm what he cannot affirm. Afterward, when a Reformed neighbor asks him about election, he answers with the Bible open and a smile, and invites him for coffee.

Summary

John Wesley taught a catholic spirit: love toward all who love the Lord, without giving up firm doctrine. A wise pastor separates essentials, convictions and opinions. With Reformed Christians we share the gospel and Scripture, and we differ on the five points: depravity, election, atonement, grace and perseverance, to which we give the Wesleyan answers of Units 2 to 4 and 9. With Pentecostals we share family roots in the Holiness movement and love for the Spirit, and we differ on Spirit baptism and tongues as a necessary sign, while receiving them as brothers. With Roman Catholics we share the Trinity and the creeds, and differ on authority, justification, Mary and the saints, and the Supper, while treating them with respect. We avoid isolation and indifference. In all of this, we hold fast to Scripture, speak the truth in love, and rejoice in the one Lord, one faith and one baptism.

Further Reading

• John Wesley, sermon "Catholic Spirit," a primary source.

• John Wesley, A Letter to a Roman Catholic, a primary source.

• John Wesley, Predestination Calmly Considered, a primary source.

• The Canons of Dort (1618-1619), a primary source for the Reformed view.

• The decrees of the Council of Trent on justification (1547), a primary source for the Roman Catholic view.

• The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles, 1906-1908), a primary source for early Pentecostalism.

• Course 1, Units 5 and 7; Course 2, Units 2 to 4, 8 and 9; Pentecostal Course 1, Unit 2.

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