John Wesley on perfection
Today I bought a little book from a used book store, written by "the Rev. John Wesley, M.A. (Oxon.), late fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford," better known to the world as founder of Methodism. It is "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection."Methodists and Quakers together really are (I think) the two Christian peoples that take Christ's command for us to "be perfect" seriously and literally. Methodists called this process of perfecting oneself "sanctification" whereas Quakers called it "conversion" (as opposed to the initial "convincement.") The idea is really pretty simple.
As John Wilbur the Quaker pointed out: during their debates with the Catholics and the Anglicans, who believe in "good works" and "sacraments" and all that, Puritans (i.e. Presbyterians) over-reacted, and in their attempt to emphasize the doctrine of grace, they were so "exclusively and intently fixed on extolling the merits of [the doctrine of atonement] that they very much lost sight of the necessity of the [more practical operation of the Light, Grace and Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ]."
In short, by emphasizing only the atoning aspect of Christ's death and ministry, they failed to emphasize strongly enough how Christians must become open to the Spirit and allow it to make them into "perfect men." Thus, as pointed out by early Quakers, Presbyterians become "pleaders of sin," who believe that even after our conversion we remain irredeemably evil and depraved, and that when Christ mentioned "be ye perfect," all he meant was that through his atoning sacrifice we may become just in God's eyes even if we remain utterly depraved in our lives.
This of course is detrimental to the Christian life. Puritans "finally became so void and faithless of the Spirit and life of the religion that he who made a profession of spirituality became as it were a by-word and a hissing to these great and zealous supporters of the ever blessed atonement."
It was against this backdrop that John Wesley (and the Methodists) and George Fox (and the Quakers) argue that:
1) Perfection is attainable.
2) To be perfect is every good Christian's duty as a Christian.
The reason is simple, and twofold.
First, as Christ has given himself up for us, we as his people must strive to do the same and crucify our former selves entirely so that we may become dead to the world, and alive in the Spirit. In Wesley's words, there is an "absolute impossibility of being half a Christian," and that Christians should become "all devoted to God,--to give him all [their] souls, [their] bodies, and [their] substance." "Will any considerate man say, that this is carrying matters too far? or that anything less is due to Him who has given Himself for us, than to give Him ourselves; all we have, and all we are?"
In a nutshell, Christians must offer up the "living sacrifice of the heart" to the Lord, and "let no creature be suffered to share with [God] [our heart], for He is a jealous God." And he must continually present his soul and body a "living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God"; entirely and without reserve, "devoting himself, all he has, all he is, to His glory."
Then will men be able to carry out the Great Commandments, and love our God and our neighbor.
The second reason is best offered by the Quaker minister and writer, Lewis Benson who noted that: in the Puritanic version of Christianity, Christ is primarily understood as our High Priest, and it is in his Priestly office that our sins are forgiven, even if we remain evil and flawed. Such a doctrine is called "justification." Methodists and Quakers have never denied such a doctrine, except that they argue that Christ is more than our Priest; he is also our King, our Head, our Bishop and our Shephard. As such, he does much more than pardoning our sins. He made us perfect, and his Spirit directs us under all circumstances. Through him, we realize the Kingdom of God "amidst" and "within" us (Cf Luke 17:20, depending on which translation of the Bible you're using), and that we may become not only perfect but one with the Living God through Christ. (John 17:20-23)
What should Christians do then? Be open. Be always ready to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Before that, learn how to try the Spirit by reading the Scriptures and by corporate discernment (the Church Father did both, when they held the ecumenical Councils), for not every spirit is from God. "Be ye therefore perfect; even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:43-48)
posted by James Chang @ 10:50 PM
2 Comments:
Hi James-
As a lapsed Methodist turned Quaker, I found your post intriguing. I have always had a difficult time reconciling Christ's command for us to "be perfect" with the "Don't worry. Nobody's perfect," message drilled into us since childhood. While I certainly sympathize with the intent of the "we're all good enough" self-help movement of the 80s and 90s, I also think it's been easy for us to tack on an excuse to the phrase: "Don't worry. Nobody's perfect. SO WHY TRY?"
We will all make mistakes on our spiritual journeys, but we can yearn to be open to the Spirit in all that we are asked.
Many thanks. I'll be sure to pick up a copy of Wesley's book.
Hi,
I am very glad that you've decided to drop by!
I think that the notion of perfection itself consist of the notion of Spiritual growth. It was Barclay who mentioned that a child cannot be considered perfect if he doesn't grow. So the notion itself is not a static one. Also, being "perfect" in the Wesleyan sense does not preclude having many "imfirmities" (spelling?) of character, etc.
Another book to look at would be Leo Tolstoy's "The Gospel in Brief." It was a re-edited version of the Gospels, and throughout the whole book Tolstoy focuses entirely on being "one" in Spirit with the Father and the achievement of perfection through this mystical union.
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