The Works of John Wesley, Volume 12: Doctrinal and Controversial Treatises I

by Randy L. Maddox (Editor)

Overview

The first of three theological volumes, this volume is devoted to four of John Wesley's foundational treatises on soteriology.



These treatises include, first, Wesley’s extract from the Homilies of the Church of England, which he published to convince his fellow Anglican clergy that the ‘evangelical’ emphasis on believers experiencing a conscious assurance of God’s pardoning love was consistent with this standard of Anglican doctrine. Next comes Wesley’s extract of Richard Baxter’s Aphorisms of Justification, aimed more at those who shared his evangelical emphasis, invoking this honored moderate Puritan to challenge antinomian conceptions of the doctrine of justification by faith. This is followed by Wesley’s abridgement of the Shorter Catechism issued by the Westminster Assembly in his Christian Library, where he affirms broad areas of agreement with this standard of Reformed doctrine—while quietly removing items with which he disagreed. The fourth item is Wesley’s extended response to the Dissenter John Taylor on the doctrine of original sin, which highlights differences within the broad ‘Arminian’ camp, with Wesley resisting a drift toward naively optimistic views of human nature that he discerned in Taylor.            

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426744303
Publisher:	Abingdon Press
Publication date:	07/10/2012
Series:	Works of John Wesley Series , #12
Pages:	506
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Randy L. Maddox is William Kellon Quick Professor of Church History and Wesley Studies at The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; and Associate General Editor of the Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley. He is a recognized authority on both John Wesley's theology and the theological developments in later Methodism. Among his special interests are the science and religion dialogue, the nature of evangelicalism, and the theological distinctives of Eastern Orthodoxy. Maddox is an ordained elder in the Dakotas Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Table of Contents

Signs, Special Usages, Abbreviations xiii

Introduction to Wesley's Doctrinal and Controversial Treatises 1

Section I Foundational Treatises on Soteriology 23

Introduction to Foundational Treatises on Soteriology 25

The Doctrine of Salvation, Faith, and Good Works (1738) 27

An Introductory Comment 27

Text 31

An Extract of Mr. Richard Baxter's Aphorisms of Justification (1745) 45

An Introductory Comment 45

Text 53

An Extract from the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly (1753) 89

An Introductory Comment 89

Text 92

The Doctrine of Original Sin: According to Scripture, Reason, and Experience (1757) 117

An Introduction 117

Text 155

The Preface 156

Part I The Past and Present State of Mankind 160

Part II The Scriptural Method of Accounting for This Defended 212

Part III An Answer to Mr. Taylor's Supplement 306

Part IV Extracts from Dr. Watts and Mr. Hebden 352

Part V The Doctrine of Original Sin, etc. 402

Part VI The Doctrine of Original Sin Explained and Vindicated 424

Part VII The Doctrine of Original Sin, etc. 448

Appendix: Wesley's Text: Editions, Transmission, Presentation, and Variant Readings 483