For churches or universities called "Wesleyan", see Wesleyan (disambiguation).
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Memorial to John Wesley and Charles Wesley in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles Wesley. More broadly it refers to the theological system inferred from the various sermons (e.g. the Forty-four Sermons),[1] theological treatises, letters, journals, diaries, hymns, and other spiritual writings of the Wesleys and their contemporary coadjutors such as John William Fletcher.
In 1736, the Wesley brothers travelled to the Georgia colony in America as Christian missionaries; they left rather disheartened at what they saw. Both of them subsequently had "religious experiences", especially John in 1738, being greatly influenced by the Moravian Christians. They began to organize a renewal movement within the Church of England to focus on personal faith and holiness. John Wesley took Protestant churches to task over the nature of sanctification, the process by which a believer is conformed to the image of Christ, emphasizing New Testament teachings regarding the work of God and the believer in sanctification.
Wesleyan–Arminian theology, manifest today in Methodism (inclusive of the Holiness movement), is named after its founders, John Wesley in particular, as well as for Jacobus Arminius, since it is a subset of Arminian theology. The Wesleys were clergymen in the Church of England, though the Wesleyan tradition places stronger emphasis on extemporaneous preaching, evangelism, as well as personal faith and personal experience, especially on the new birth, assurance, growth in grace, entire sanctification and outward holiness. In his Sunday Service John Wesley included the Articles of Religion, which were based on the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, though stripped of their more peculiarly Calvinistic theological leanings.[2] Wesleyan theology asserts the primary authority of Scripture and affirms the Christological orthodoxy of the first five centuries of church history.[3]
^Wesley, John. "John Wesley's Forty-Four Sermons". Retrieved 11 May 2021 – via WikiSource.
^Melton, J. Gordon (1 January 2005). Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Infobase Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 9780816069835. Among the items deleted by Wesley as unnecessary for Methodists were articles on "Of Works Before Justification," which in Calvinism are largely discounted, but in Methodism lauded; "Of Predestination and Election," which Wesley felt would be understood in a Calvinist manner that the Methodists rejected; and "Of the Traditions of the Church," which Wesley felt to be no longer at issue.
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Wesleyantheology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon...
known as Wesleyan covenant theology, which is consistent with Arminian soteriology. As a framework for Biblical interpretation, covenant theology stands...
missionary work, and today has about 80 million adherents worldwide. Wesleyantheology, which is upheld by the Methodist denominations, focuses on sanctification...
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral, or Methodist Quadrilateral, is a methodology for theological reflection that is credited to John Wesley, leader of the Methodist...
ISBN 978-0-06-236490-6. Grider, J. Kenneth (1982). "The Nature of WesleyanTheology" (PDF). WesleyanTheological Journal. 17 (2): 43–57. Gunter, William Stephen (2007)...
non-celibate gay clergy. Its doctrines, which are aligned with Wesleyan-Arminian theology, are contained in the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline...
outward but inward holiness. Wesley's teachings, collectively known as Wesleyantheology, continue to inform the doctrine of Methodist churches. Throughout...
The Wesleyan Church, also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Wesleyan Holiness Church depending on the region, is a Methodist Christian denomination...
Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical...
The WesleyanTheological Institution was from 1863 until 1914 an Australian Methodist theological college located firstly in Silverwater, New South Wales...
Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1972. Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs. A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism. Kansas...
HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-067523-3. "THE PRESENT FRONTIERS OF WESLEYANTHEOLOGY". Archived from the original on September 3, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-14...
Leslie D. Wilcox concluded that "holiness writers, following the Wesleyantheology, define sin as a willful transgression of a known law of God." The...
of our Wesleyan heritage." The Rev. Dr. Kevin M. Watson, a United Methodist clergyman and Assistant Professor of Historical Theology and Wesleyan Studies...
now-famous Keswick Convention, which differs from traditional Wesleyan-Holiness theology. In the 1870s William Boardman, author of The Higher Christian...
Christianity portal Kentucky portal Evangelicalism Ichthus Festival Wesleyantheology "Outpouring". Asbury University. Archived from the original on February...
(1996). "John Wesley: Father of Today's Small Group Concept?" (PDF). WesleyanTheological Journal. 31: 192. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September...
Roberts Wesleyan College to indicate the transition to a four-year baccalaureate institution and to root itself clearly within the Wesleyantheological tradition...
then. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. The origins of this church can be traced to the John Street Methodist...
Eucharistic theology is a branch of Christian theology which treats doctrines concerning the Holy Eucharist, also commonly known as the Lord's Supper and...
International in 1996), while many theologically conservative connexions in the Methodist tradition (who adhere to Wesleyantheology) align with the Interchurch...
The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia is a Christian denomination with its origins in Wesleyan Methodism. It is the organisational name for contemporary...
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